Lifeboat Station
About the Lifeboat Station
The Lifeboat Station
The Lifeboat Station is home to 'Sealink Endeavour', an all weather 15m long Mersey Class lifeboat capable of a top speed of 16 knots - the equivalent of 20 mph. The boat was brought to Hastings and St Leonards on February 14 1989 and since then it's saved over 30 lives.
Sealink Endeavour weighs 14 tonnes when fully laden with crew and equipment. It's responsible for the area from Dungeness to Beachy Head and will go up to 50 miles out to sea - just 6 miles off the French coastline. The furthest that it's gone out to date is 28 miles. It can travel at its top speed for 10 hours and burns 55 litres of fuel per hour at 16 knots.
Below deck, the lifeboat is divided into five watertight compartments and is completely self-righting in 6-8 seconds. The boat remains afloat even if three of the compartments become flooded. She can carry 8 people in the main cabin and 10 in the survivor cabin (which is further forward) plus the 6 crew, and still be self-righting. In calm weather conditions, the boat can carry up to 53 people. The lifeboat also carries an inflatable life raft which can carry six people.
When you first enter, it's impossible not to be amazed at the variety of radar screens, radios and charts but once explained it's obvious that each is essential to the lifeboat's job.
The radar has a 96 mile range and can pick up positions of other ships in the surrounding channel. It can be used to search for casualties and vessels in bad visibility and also to avoid collisions.
There's an Electronic Chart System which replaces the old paper charts. The old charts were used to draw up different search patterns for finding anyone or anything lost or in distress - depending on the point where they were last seen and sea conditions like wind and tides. Now, all the different search patterns are stored in the computer. You can select the right search pattern for the conditions and the computer will then draw it out for crew to follow. It relies on the Global Positioning System. Each search pattern will make sure you cover the ground thoroughly so you find the person/vessel you're looking for.
In the corner of the cabin there's a tall stack of radios so that all the frequencies that different boats carry can be picked up. Different radio frequencies have different ranges. VHF has a frequency of around 30 miles, MF is up to 200 miles and HF has a massive range and is used by sailors on around the world yachts.
Hastings Lifeboat Station is also home to the Inshore Lifeboat or the ILB. The ILB goes out more often than Sealink Endeavour. There are plenty of rescues to be done - people stranded on cliffs because they've been cut off by the tide, people falling off cliffs and windsurfers, boats and lilos being swept out to sea. It's easier to approach a swimmer in difficulties in the water because of the ILB's size - but be warned - it is a bumpy ride, more like being in a dodgem car at the fairground than a boat!
The lifeboats are also alerted when there are fires in engine rooms, when boats have not arrived at their destinations by their expected times, when there are collisions, when swimmers are in danger and when there are accidents at sea such as a man overboard.
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