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The Hayling
Island lifeboat crew are all volunteers. The
crew are divided into three Watches, Red,
Blue and White. A Watch period begins at
07.00 hrs each Tuesday with one week
on duty, one week off duty and one week on standby duty
in case a crew change
is required.
Each Watch
has a Senior Helm who will manage the boat
crew. A number of the Hayling Island
Lifeboat crew have qualified as Atlantic
75 and D Class helms. Trainee boat crew
follow the RNLI's national Competence Based Training
Scheme.
A Watch
Leader manages the shore crew
who are the "unsung heroes" of the station
but their role is just as vital as the boat
crew. The shore crew are responsible for
driving the tractors that launch the
lifeboats, managing the safety of the beach
during a launch and refuelling and servicing
the boats when they return to the boat
house.
The boat and shore crew
respond to pagers when there is a request to
launch the lifeboats. The decision to launch
is made by the Lifeboat Operations Manager or
one of the Deputy Launching Authority
personnel depending upon who is on duty. All duty
crew are on call 24/7 during their watch period. In practice, however, as some crew do
not work on the island any crew member who
is
available during the working week will
respond to the pager. Duty crew who work off
the island must be available from 18.00 to
06.00 Monday to Friday and all weekend.
All crew undergo
extensive training including courses on first
aid and VHF radio operation. Training takes
place every Wednesday evening and Sunday
morning when the lifeboats may be launched
on exercises.
The Station is
supported by a number of other volunteers
who all play a valuable part in the team by
organising the fuel supplies, boat and
tractor maintenance, administration and
technical support.
There is a station
committee of senior members of the
operations team together with representatives from Chichester Harbour
Conservancy, the Police, HM
Coastguard, local sailing clubs and
local residents.
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