Visit the RNLI HQ
Meet the CrewExplore our boatsShoutsFun for kids of all agesSafety at SeaLinks to other websitesCalendar of Events

Welcome to Poole lifeboat station's website

Latest news and events

Statistics for 2007 Published

The RNLI maintain detailed records of each launch and its outcome and the statistics recorded for the two Lifeboats stationed at Poole have just been published. They can be reviewed here.

Funds for Good Shepherd from church flock

Twenty years ago this week (14 April 1988), our relief Tyne class lifeboat was named by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury in London following an appeal to churches up and down the country. The proceeds of this national ecumenical appeal, a number of generous bequests and contributions of special projects had funded the relief lifeboat Good Shepherd.

Good Shepherd is at Poole station until City of Sheffield, our station lifeboat, returns from her 3-yearly refit. Since being at the station she has carried out 9 call outs and 10 exercises.

The Tyne Project

We have a third update on Christian's progress with building a model of our Tyne class lifeboat. You'll see from these photographs that an incredible amount of time goes into recreating the City of Sheffield with such detail and accuracy.

Our friend returns

On 6 March 2008, our B class Atlantic lifeboat, B-710 Friendly Forester II, came back to the station, 4 months after she left for her 3-yearly refit.
The relief boat B-769 Coventry and Warwickshire was then returned to Weston-super-Mare lifeboat station. During her time at Poole lifeboat station she was involved in 18 lifeboat services and took part in 18 exercises.

What a catch !

DORSET TEAM CATCH NATIONAL POLICE TROPHIES AND SUPPORT THE RNLI.

Four sea anglers representing Dorset Police in the recent Police Sport UK national sea angling boat championships caught the eye when they won both the team and individual trophies – and landed a prize catch of over £4,000 for the RNLI. Read more about the story here

A (re) fitting start to the year !

The City of Sheffield left the station on 22 January 2008 for its 3-yearly refit. Crew members from Poole and Weymouth took the boat on passage from Poole via Eastbourne and Ramsgate to Goodchilds Boatyard in Great Yarmouth. They also took in the sights and dodged the floating wood piles from the cargo vessel Ice Prince that sank off Portland Bill on 15 January.

The station now has the relief Tyne class lifeboat 47-012 (ON-1115) Good Shepherd for the next 3 months. She was previously a relief boat at Shoreham Harbour lifeboat station. You can find out more about our lifeboats here

The City of Sheffield in Whitby


The All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) City of Sheffield, now stationed at Poole, has been on station in Whitby in the past and we have been sent some pictures from her time there.



And all that jazz …

‘All that jazz’ raised over £3,000 for Poole lifeboat station on 18 November at Sandbanks Hotel.

It was blowing a gale outside, the ice cold rain was relentless and the waves were crashing onto the beach by the hotel. In spite of this, inside the hotel the air was electric and a jazz band kept the room buzzing and the audience completely captivated. read more

 

Have you been introduced to the crew yet ?

Read about some of the colourful characters that make up the crew here at Poole Lifeboat Station. Visit the crew pages by clicking the link above or by using the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Become a virtual RNLI lifeboat
crew member

The RNLI are encouraging the public to show their support by downloading a new virtual ‘lifeboat launch alerter’ from www.rnli.org.uk/pager.

People can become ‘virtual crew members’ from the comfort of their own homes or workplace by logging on and registering their details to receive a free ‘pager’ that displays on their computer desktop when a lifeboat is launched. Follow this link for details

Realism is the key in exercises

Explosion onboard Poole ferry

A suspected gas leak caused an explosion onboard the Poole ferry Purbeck Princess on 26 July 2007, which left 10 people with multiple injuries and needing urgent medical attention. With 102 people and 3 crew members onboard, panic ensued. (Read more about the excercise).

 

Postcards

We have a new selection of postcards on sale at 35p each, printed by the RNLI print room so all proceeds go to fund our station. Email us at ‘Contact us’ if you wish to buy any.
Poole lifeboat pin badges, sweatshirts and polo shirts are also available.

RNLI website for young people

The RNLI have launched a new site for young people, crammed full of exciting activities and games, from seeing how fit you have to be to become a lifeguard, to working out how to successfully launch a massive lifeboat and rescue people using your skills and knowledge. Check it out here

 

Planning to go out to sea?

Understanding the Weather is one of the most important aspects of going out on the Sea, be well prepared and use the wealth of resources available on the Internet to help plan your trip.

Here's just a couple of useful links with weather information:-

The Met Office

RealTime Weather in Poole Harbour

To ensure boat owners don't make an unscheduled appearance in our "Shouts" section Coxswain Jonathan Clark would like to remind them of a few simple checks before putting to sea Read More.


Familiar faces

Piers Baker has been producing a weekly cartoon strip "Stan, Eric and Quentin Too!" in aid of the RNLI for several years. Readers of the RNLI's Storm Force magazine will be familiar with some of the characters.

 

Volunteers

If anyone is interested in volunteering either for the crew or for any other aspect , click on the picture above for details.

.

Recent rescue activity:

2008 launches (9 May)

25 ILB
12 ALB

 
2008
8 May 2100 After the sighting of two red flares by several people, both lifeboats were launched to search the Wareham Channel and upper parts of the harbour. The ILB checked the Wareham River area up to Ridge Wharf while the ALB searched Balls Lake and Upper Wych Channel. A mobile coastguard unit also investigated the Ridge Wharf area and after a short while they came across six youths, who, after further scrutiny, were taken into the care of the Police. Both boats returned to station at 2155.
6 May 1220 While out sailing in a Drascombe Scaffie, a man jibed and fell overboard. He struggled in the water for 25 minutes before the local pilot boat crew helped him out of the water. The inshore lifeboat crew then arrived and checked him out in case he needed medical attention but, apart from being wet and slightly cold, he needed no first aid. The lifeboat crew took him onboard the ILB and then towed his vessel back to Baiter Park where he was met by coastguards.
The lifeboat returned to station at 1330.
5 May

0115 In the early hours of the morning the all-weather lifeboat crew was paged to a 12.5m yacht in difficulty 6 miles south east of the harbour’s entrance. On arrival at 0200 the lifeboat crew found four people onboard the vessel, which had run out of fuel. The owner had bought the boat that day and was sailing from Poole to Gosport and had assumed that it had a full fuel tank.

One of the lifeboat crew went onboard to help rig a towline and the vessel was then towed back into Poole Harbour to the fuel berth next to the lifting bridge by the Quay. The lifeboat crew returned to their beds (or early breakfast) at 0600.

4 May 1441 The inshore lifeboat launched to a 7m speedboat aground at the entrance to the Wareham Channel. With four people onboard, including two children, along with a Doberman dog, the ILB managed to tow the vessel off the mud and tow them to Redclyffe Yacht Club. They returned to station at 1615
2 May 1947 While out practising, a Zapcat capsized near Branksome Chine and the two people onboard were thrown into the water. The Bournemouth Belle was close by, keeping an eye on them, and a helicopter was scrambled in case they needed urgent medical attention. When the inshore lifeboat arrived on scene the two men had managed to right the craft so the lifeboat crew fixed a tow and towed the boat to Salterns Marina. Both men needed no medical attention and the ILB returned to station at 2018.
30 Apr 2215 Earlier in the evening a man had left Lake Yard in a 3m RIB to go to his yacht on some moorings in the harbour. As he hadn’t been heard from since 1945 his girlfriend had reported him overdue. The ILB launched to search the harbour and decided to check out the moorings first of all. The man was found safe and well onboard his yacht and explained that, as he had got wet and cold, he had changed and then fallen asleep and had inadvertently forgotten to call his girlfriend. The ILB returned to station at 2245.
20 Apr 1935 With two incidents going on at the same time, the pagers went off for both Poole lifeboats to launch on Sunday evening to an overdue jetski and a motor cruiser (with four people onboard) broken down in the Wareham Channel. As they launched, the Coastguard radioed that the jetski had turned up safely and this incident had been resolved. The lifeboats continued up the Wareham Channel to the motor cruiser – it soon became apparent that it was the same vessel and crew that had kindly called the Coastguard when two people became stuck in the mud in the Channel earlier in the week (see 14 April). On this occasion their engine had overheated. The ALB was not required so it returned to station while the ILB towed the boat and crew to Ridge Wharf before returning to station. Once again the new trainees got a flavour of how it feels to be part of a busy lifeboat station as the pagers went off just as some of them were sitting down to their Sunday evening roast dinner!
16 Apr

1820 On a gorgeous but breezy and chilly evening, Poole inshore lifeboat (ILB) launched to a 6m Fletcher aground just outside the harbour’s entrance. The three men onboard were cold but otherwise unhurt. The ILB managed to tow the vessel off the beach and the men were then transferred to Poole’s all-weather lifeboat (ALB), which was already out in the harbour on exercise, to warm up. The ALB and ILB then made their way to Baiter Park and transferred the boat and men to the shore where Poole coastguards met them.

The ILB then returned to station and the ALB continued with its exercise. Five trainees, undertaking part of their year’s probationary training, were on this call out and exercise, and for four of them this was their first shout after receiving their pagers just over a week ago.

14 Apr

1115 Poole inshore lifeboat (ILB) launched to a report of a yacht and two men stuck in the mud in the Wareham Channel. A 6m bilge keel yacht had set off from Redclyffe yacht club, where the yacht had been over-wintered, with two men onboard. The men were on the way to North Haven yacht club close to the harbour’s entrance but, as they were heading down the Channel, they ran aground at the point where it reaches a bend and bears towards Rockley Point.

One of the men, aged 74 years, had climbed into their dinghy but had fallen overboard. The tide washed him a little way down the Wareham Channel as it caught him unawares. He managed to clamber ashore and although exhausted, he waded through the mud back towards the yacht. Read more of the story here.

11 Apr

1115 During squally weather, with winds gusting to force 6, a 10m yacht (with two people onboard) was being towed by a tender onto a mooring. Just as they were trying to pick up the mooring the tender lost power and the yacht but was blown ashore on the outer edge of the Blue Lagoon in Poole Harbour. Both lifeboats launched with the inshore lifeboat (ILB) arriving on scene first to find that other vessels were also trying to assist. The new Coastguard helicopter, Rescue helicopter 106, was also hovering overhead. Read more of the story here.

6 Apr

0930 Both lifeboats launched on exercise on a snowy morning in biting northerly winds. As they reached Brownsea Roads, near Bell Buoy and the entrance to Poole harbour, they came across a 13m yacht with two people onboard. The yacht had just turned to head into wind to hoist the sails when one of the men onboard was hit on the head by the boom, producing a gash on the forehead. Mechanic Paul Taylor and Deputy Second Coxswain Paul Singleton carried out first aid, applying pressure and two bandages to the injury, while at the same time ensuring that he had no neck or back pain. He was then taken onboard the ALB and taken back to Poole lifeboat station.

While this was going on, the inshore lifeboat came alongside and escorted the yacht into Poole Quay Boat Haven – one ILB crew member, Neil Ceconi, went onboard the yacht to assist. This was his first shout as a probationary crew member. The injured yachtsman was then taken to hospital by ambulance.

4 Apr

1500 A man was rescued from Round Island in Poole Harbour after a lawnmower ran over his foot. The man and his wife had managed to bandage his foot but this didn’t stop the bleeding. Poole inshore lifeboat took only 10 minutes to reach the island where the lifeboat crew took him onboard, added more bandages to try to stem the flow of blood and then raced back to Poole lifeboat station where a waiting ambulance and paramedics transferred him to Poole Hospital at 1540. It is thought that the man lost one of his toes in the incident.

2 Apr

1740 Exactly 12 months on from the day that Senior Helmsman Paul Singleton suffered a compressed fracture of his spine on a call out just outside Poole Harbour, Paul was at the helm of the inshore lifeboat when the crew were called to a broken down jetski. The ILB and crew made their way to the north end of Brownsea Island where one person was in the water after a suspected fire in the jetski’s engine. The ILB took the gentleman onboard and then towed the craft to Baiter Park slipway.

Also onboard the ILB for this shout was Simon Mumford, who was also onboard on the fateful day 12 months ago. The other crew member today was John Vine.

28 Mar 1835 Just as the sun was setting, the ILB launched to a 6m sailing dinghy that was caught under the pier at East Dorset Sailing Club. The gentleman onboard had motored from Rockley and was trying to pick up a mooring. In the squally conditions, and with only a 4hp engine, he was blown onto the pier. The ILB crew managed to free the boat and towed it to his mooring, made it safe and then took the gentleman onboard to the shore to waiting coastguards. The lifeboat returned to station at 1915.
23 Mar 1450 On Easter Sunday afternoon, the ILB launched to a small tender that had broken down 1½ miles south west of Bournemouth Pier. Once on scene, the ILB towed the boat and two persons onboard to the beach east of the pier to waiting coastguards
22 Mar

1345 In biting northerly winds, gusting to force 6, the ILB launched to a 5m Dory that had broken down in the Lower Wych Channel. With choppy conditions in the harbour, the ILB crew took five children onboard, while one person stayed onboard the casualty along with a member of the Marine Police. The ILB towed the boat into Baiter Park where the children were taken ashore and able to warm up.




Prior years' launches

1990
128
1991
111
1992
131
1993
181
1994
184
1995
232 a vintage year
1996
188
1997
167
1998
170
1999
142
2000
112
2001
193 including a dramatic rescue near the chain ferry,
2002
158
2003
179
2004
137
2005
153
2006
144
2007
107

History of the station

Would you like to find out more about the station's history? Read More >>>

In 2001, Meridian TV made a documentary called 'Lifeboat', featuring the work of Poole lifeboat station. Watch the trailer in
Real Media format >>>
High / Low
or Windows Media >>> High / Low
(with permission of the copyright owners)


 

 

Click to contact the crew Click to return to the homepage Click to go back a page