RNLI - Saving Lives At Sea

[Martin]

BBC 9pm tonight shows the start of a 4 part series.
Hope I never need them, but Ill certainly be watching it

[Paul B]

Ohhh bugger I forgot about it, will have to find it on catch up later

[kaman]

A good watch.
It pissed the wife off watching "More bloody boats" so it was a win win

[James]

I missed it. I'll have to see if it is on BBCi Player

[Paul B]

Just watched it on I player, brave buggers ,

[James]

It's a good program. It makes me realise the things they do for people and how they put their own lives at risk for others.

It's a shame the guys don't get a wage. I don't understand why the are not treated like police, fire crews, ambulance drivers and other emergency services.

[Stray]

The inshore boat was buzzing about this morning, (Sunday is practice day), but they didn't come close enough today to give them a wave.

[Martin]

There's a link kicking about that I've noticed, if you purchase from Amazon then 5% of the sale goes to RNLI.
I'll be ringing RNLI asap and getting confirmation for the link. If it's correct, we'll add it to the site links, I'm sure the RNLI would be very grateful if folk use it when ordering from Amazon.
I'll update ASAP when I receive confirmation

[James]

If I was out at sea and my engine packed up, would a life boat charge me to tow me back?
What happens if something bad happens to a life guard while rescuing someone (lets say breaks their back). Do they get compensated in someway or do they just go we know the risks and accept the outcome?

They must love what they do to do it.

[rogerblack]

The RNLI guys and gals do an amazing job. There are five operational stations here around the Firth of Forth and they are each out on practice exercises at least twice a week, sometimes jointly with Coastguard personnel and the rescue helicopters (RN/RAF/CG). There are usually several rescue callouts each week (you can follow these on Twitter and/or Facebook as well as registering for email updates). The RNLI also supply trained Lifeguards to cover many of our coastal beaches during the summer season.

They do not ever impose any charge for rescues, even if some are frankly required through the victims' own stupidity. By that, I don't just mean going out in conditions inappropriate for the type of craft, with poorly maintained engines, etc but folk on toy inflatables getting swept into shipping lanes, drunk groups of lads in rowing boats, you name it. One of the regular local shouts is rescuing people, including families with young kids in pushchairs, from a local island reachable by a causeway which is only passable at low tide. Despite the plethora of warning signs and tide tables posted up, folk still get stuck on a constant basis and call for rescue on their mobile phones. Despite this, I have never heard of RNLI volunteers criticising folk, although they may be given some helpful advice for future.

So in answer to your question, they would not charge you for a tow if you ever required it and if it were required there is no need to hesitate to ask for assistance if you find yourself in danger.

My own take is that if I suffered engine failure or similar in my SIB where I was too far off to row back to a safe shore but there was no immediate danger to life (mine or others), I would first put out a channel 16 PANPAN call on my VHF radio to see whether any other nearby craft could offer a tow. Only if that failed would I then put out a DSC MAYDAY.

As to compensation for injuries, I don't know the answer but would imagine they will either have insurance in place to cover this or they will have a self-financing fund. Interestingly, they don't usually have marine insurance on their craft because the cost of premiums for what is considered by underwriters to be a high risk is considerably higher than the costs they actually incur as severe damage incidents are remarkably rare. I wouldn't be surprised however if they have significant third party insurance in place.