SUMNER LIFEBOAT INSTITUTE

Press, Volume C, Issue 29454, 4 March 1961, Page 6

SUMNER LIFEBOAT INSTITUTE

Fine Record Of Service

[Specially written for “The Preet" by RON LUCOCKi A BOVE the noise of the storm a siren is heard. Telephones ring and, after brief conversations, six men leave whatever they are doing and rush to a boat-shed near Shag Rock. In a few minutes a boat is launched, and once again the crew of the Sumner lifeboat is out on a mission that could mean the difference between life or death for a yachtsman or battier in difficulties at sea.

Since 1898—the year In which the Sumner Lifeboat Institute was formed—the lifeboat crews have been responsible for rescuing more than 800 persons over an extensive area of sea and surf and have salvaged for nothing hundreds of pounds worth of equipment.

A history of the Institute would of its very nature Include many stirring stories of rescues—and attempts at rescue.

A relatively recent one was the rescue of 45 members of the crew of the steamer Kaiwarra, which ran aground at Motunau on December 4, 1942. For this the institute received the Royal Humane Society’s award. Although none of the crew of the lifeboat has lost his life, Mr H. J. Marriner had a narrow escape from drowning on March 29, 1931. As Rescue I was crossing the Sumner bar, an unexpected, doublecrested breaker upturned the boat, throwing the crew Into the sea. Mr Marriner was trapped inside the vessel for an hour before the crew and helpers were able to right the boat and free him.

Constant Radio Contact

Once the boat Is launched, constant radio communication is kept with the shore or wltth aircraft. Maps of the rescue area, divided into small squares, enable the search area to be pin-pointed. Dressed In oilskins and wearing life-jackets, the crew take up their positions in the boat. At the helm is the skipper, Mr J. Kerr, who has been a member of the crew for 20 years. Just forward of the helm is Mr B. Kerr, the engineer, and under the protection of a spray cover is the radio ’ operator. Mr W. Baguley. Members of the crew have to be prepared to stay out in the worst of weather for anything up to 10 hours at a time, for search area stretches from the Estuary to Kalkoura and Akaroa.

Because of this, speed Is a vital factor and constant practice ' has made for the minimum of delay. The crew pride themselves on having the boat launched within seven minutes of the sounding of the alarm. This was at 6 a.m. on October 17, 1959, when an 18-foot yacht got into difficulties on the Sumner bar. To increase the efficiency of

rescue work at night, the institute is seeking to procure parachute flares. Although the Air Sea Rescue Organisation is behind the idea, an application for some was rejected at a recent conference in Wellington.

“We needed the flares in the double fatality which occurred some months ago,” said the secretary of the institute, Mr Baguley. “If we had had them then there might have been a different story to tell." Silting of the slip at Shag Ro*k, and the difficulty In berthing when the tide is going out, are problems that will be overcome when the lifeboat shed Is moved to Scarborough. An advantage of the intended site is that it will be outside the Sumner bar. As most of the calls are to boats in trouble on the bar, the lifeboat would not have to cross it to reach the vessel in distress.

With the large number of persons rescued, and the service so willingly given more recognition is felt to be owing to the institute.

Request To Council The institute has written to the Christchurch City Council requesting the use ot the tower on the top of Cave Rock. If the application is successful, the tower will be used as a base for a radio telephone, signalling lights, and other equipment The present lifeboat is Rescue I£, which replaced the oar-propelled Rescue I in 1930. Built by. Samuel Wright at Cowes in 1929; it was the only one of its type "built. At each end of the 30-foot boat are water-tight compartments which ensure that the boat never sinks. If it capsizes, the boat immediately rights itself, stops its engines, and empties 1 the water out, all in 30 seconds. Driven by a three cylinder engine which uses two and a-half gallons of fuel an hour, the boat can remain at sea for 10 hours on end before refuelling. The crew are firmly of the opinion that there is a need for the lifeboat, and point to its record of service. It there was no lifeboat, they say, an average of 13 persons a year would be drowned who would have otherwise been saMpd. Now that Rescue II is 31 years old a new lifeboat is envisaged. Recently a £30,000 appeal was begun for the acquisition of a new lifeboat in about 15 years.