Duddon Inshore Rescue

On Sunday at the Duddon Sports and Social Club we emptied our collection bottle.

Guess the weight was a joint win, shared between John ‘Minty’ Myers &           D.Rhodes and Paul ’ Pixie’ Grainger, was closest to guessing the total amount, of £419.44.

With the added money from the guess the amount & weight, a total of £445.00 has been raised.

Many thanks Duddon Sports & Social for fundraising a fantastic donation to Duddon Inshore Rescue.

As we have recently purchased a new ‘D’ Class lifeboat we had asked the RNLI for a joint training exercise to learn more about its operational capacity and to see how the RNLI operate their boat. As a result we visited the RNLI at their Roa Island Station on Saturday.

’D’-Class inshore lifeboats like ours do not ‘self-right’ should they capsize in bad weather whilst afloat. In order for them to be righted in any weather conditions, the crews have to practice the drill for doing so. 

Following a safety briefing by Andy Baxter, the capsize boat and Barrow RNLI’s own lifeboat 'Vision of Tamworth’ were launched into an incoming powerful tidal current and a choppy sea with a Force 5 easterly wind. We were able to watch from close quarters aboard the Barrow lifeboat whilst the Barrow team took it in turns to capsize and then right the capsize boat.

John Falvey, the RNLI’s Operations Manager at Barrow said, “Our team gained more practice in the drill of righting a capsized boat and the Duddon team gained a lot of knowledge which they will put into practice with their boat should the need ever arise…We will definitely be organising more events like this which are of mutual benefit to both teams”.

An extended thank you goes to the RNLI for involving us in this training session and we look forward to working together in the future.

On Thursday crew took our new boat out for a training session and to familiarise themselves with updated equipment including testing MOB on the plotter.

The video below gives you a little insight into the new boat!

Today saw the delivery of the new Duddon Inshore Rescue Boat. It arrived in the afternoon via an RNLI Delivery wagon. 

The afternoon was spent sorting equipment and preparing IB1 for service.

 On board equipment includes DSC Radio & Plotter for Navigation and Ais meaning we are able to track ILB every time it goes out on the sea. 

Everyone at Duddon Inshore Rescue wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Remember to stay safe and if you have an emergency on the beach or in the water dial 999 and ask for the CoastGuard.

All the best and we look forward to 2016!

December has been a busy month for Duddon Inshore Rescue.

We have given a couple of talks to local groups and attended the BAE “Give as you Earn” charity presentation where we were presented with a generous cheque.

The annual Askam Christmas Fair took place on 13th December and received a good write up in the North West Evening Mail:

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/News/—-Crowds-turn-out-for-Askam-Christmas-Lights-Switch-On—–b1a7f444-8c8b-4726-8ebb-b07b0d995013-ds

The significant movement of the sands on Askam Beach was reported by Ian Standing early in December. The story was reported in The North West Evening Mail website with a warning for walkers to pay attention to where they are walking especially after any storms.

Team members have completed a variety of training this month and we have responded to two call outs with successful end results.

One was in response to a missing person report and the other was a 14ft boat that went adrift from Askam. Crew found the boat at 1 mile south from Haverigg base and towed it back to Askam to be reunited with its owner.

Due to continued stormy and wet weather we recommend everyone to stay vigilant and think of their safety before venturing out.

One of the reasons the sands in our local area are so dangerous is the fact that the channels and sands shift and change. This ever changing environment can catch people unaware and lead to dangerous situations.

The photo below shows a deep channel that’s moving closer to Askam Pier.

The photo below shows the drop off into a channel, again highlighting how dangerous the channels and sand banks are.

If you’re heading onto the sands ensure you’ve checked the tide times and also looked to see where channels are and how the sands have changed.

We’ve also been out on the quads and the boat completing some night training this week.

On Sunday 18th October we held an open day so members of the public could pop in and learn a little more about who we are and what we do. The Open Day was to help celebrate 45 years of Duddon Inshore Rescue.

After a number of weeks of preparation including giving the boat house floor a new lick of paint we opened our doors at 11am.

With activity books for children, a raffle, historical photos and our equipment on display we hope that everyone who attended had a good time.

A number of visitors commented that they had passed the building on lots of occasions but that they had never actually been in and found it especially interesting going into the lookout tower.

Some of the younger visitors got to try out practical first aid as well as seeing what it felt like to try on some of our equipment.

A big thank you to all who attended and we hope to see you all again soon.

Last week we took delivery of our new trailer and tonight it was used to launch our boat for the first time.

With a full compliment of crew members we all got to try out launching the boat from the trailer and, equally as important, getting the boat back onto it from the sea.

This trailer differs from the old trailer as the boat launches forward and has to be reversed back onto the trailer for recovery. With the keel lower than the side plates, which have rollers built in, it doesn’t take much water and launch is achieved, so recovery manually is preferred in water 3ft+ 

All launch and recovery activities went smoothly and crew were pleased with the trailers performance.

This week (week commencing 13.07.15) has been a busy one for everyone at Duddon Inshore Rescue….

On Monday we had a class of about 22 primary school children visit from Askam Primary School. They had the opportunity to look around our premises and see our equipment as well as learn about water safety and playing safely on the local beaches.

On Tuesday we were called out due to concern over a fisherman being cut off by incoming tides. We received praise for the proactive actions taken in what had potential to be a serious incident. 

We have also spent a few days providing support to the pipeline survey team who have been surveying pipes between Askam and Millom. Support has been provided with both a boat and quad bikes in addition to observation from our look out tower and monitoring over radio.

Thank you to all crew members for their help in completing these tasks.