As nothing had been left when the RNLI Station had closed, a whole new wardrobe was required. Decisions were made about drysuits, undersuits, helmets, gloves, lifejackets….everything was researched and carefully thought through. One incredibly generous benefactor stepped forward to purchase all the drysuits and a move was obviously made away from RNLI yellow to a fetching orange with the navy logo emblazoned on the pockets and shoulders. A crew team photograph was taken – the first of many to come – but a very emotional first image. Above the door, new “independent” signs were being fitted in matching colours as new life was gradually breathed back into the lonely Station.
On 17th and 18th July three crew members had hot footed it over to the MST factory to give the finished boat its first sea trials on the River Mersey. After extensive testing, the grins from ear to ear confirmed that the new state of the art boat was in fact the bees knees and the dogs……well yes…you get the drift…a lot of drift on the Mersey probably…it’s a mighty river. To put it politely, the crew were hugely impressed with the boat’s capabilities.
The new lifeboat was nearly ready.
On the fundraising front, The St Abbs Trading Company had been set up in June with one formal share issued to St Abbs Lifeboat SCIO, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of the charity. The entire profits of the company would therefore be gift-aided over to the charity at each year end. This legally formalised the trading activities of St Abbs Lifeboat which by this stage had grown extensively.
To be continued……on 28th July with “The Thomas Tunnock”…..
If you were involved in the campaign at the time and have any memories you’d like to share about what you did and what it meant to you, please use the link above to post your thoughts.
If you have any photos you’d like to include in this album we’d love to see them so please email them to [email protected]
