Lifeboat day haul

 

Obviously, I can't spend the day with lifeboats, without picking up something from the supporters' stand. And it's never too early to do your Christmas shopping and pick up some cards! And an umbrella. 

Over on the Bring'n'Buy stand, I'd placed a small pile of old plastic RTR boats as part of my current clear-out. I've hung on to three Tri-ang models, because I collect this make, but Scalecraft and similar have gone - yes I sold them!  

£45 in. £8 out. One plaque seen above, with an RNLI badge on it (a rare thing, according to someone who knows about this stuff), and a battery charger. 

A fiver for this. It doesn't have the mains connection, but it does have all the output leads, some of which I'm missing from my current charger. At some point, I will make up replacements, but this solves the problem for now. 

Finally, a couple of vintage badges. 

Apparently, these are very old, and came to the Enthusiasts section as an estate sale. I'm assuming I can't claim to be President, but I do have a model Brede, and this now lives in the box with it. 

Lifeboat day 2026

Lifeboat day dawned grey and cloudy, but when I arrived at the lakeside, everything was set up, and looking good. I'd even got there early to help, but I think that despite the emails during the week, much of this work had been carried out the night before. 

Good news as it turned out, because people had travelled to the event from quite some distance, including a group from the Blackpool MBC.  

There were all sorts of orange boats, plus a few blue and white earlier vessels to be seen. I'd taken my Brede, and launched it early in the day - at that point when everyone seems unwilling to get their hulls wet. It performed well, but ran out of electricity before the main parade. Never mind, we struggled around a bit, and at least stayed on top of the wet stuff. 

Not everyone did. 

Speeding off, and then slamming the brakes on, saw this superstructure jump off the hull, and need resucue by someone in a wetsuit!

Incidentally, the funny colour of the water is a fish-safe chemical that keeps the weed down. 

By lunchtime, the sun had come out, and I was enjoying a sausage in a bun, followed by some cake.  

All in all, a really pleasant day by the water. I even made a profit on the Bring'n'Buy stand!

You can see more photos over on Flickr. 

A couple of lifeboats

Sorry, I'm a bit busy right now, so not much time for personal modelling, or blogging. Please enjoy a couple of photos from the recent KMBC open day of some visiting vessels. I like orange boats, wish I had to time to build more...

Saturday Film Club: Then and now: RNLI lifeboats over the years

Lifeboats are brilliant, and this is a film about their development. Seriously, how brave did you have to be to go out in a rowing boat? I wouldn't fancy it much in a modern vessel!

Warehouse Wednesday: Minehead RNLI station

Built in 1950, and enlarged in 1993, Minehead's lifeboat station is home to a D Class and Atlantic 25. Both are launched by Tooltrack tractor. 

An attractive building, made of the local red stone, it can be found at the quayside end of the prom. 

Outside, one of the many Maidstone metal figures guards the doors. 

Saturday Film Club: 100 years of RNLI tractors

We always look at lifeboats, but for the technically inclined, the machines that movel them around are even more fascinating - and would be frustratingly difficult to model!

KMBC Lifeboat Day 2022

Last Sunday dawned sunny, but with the threat of rain later. Never mind, I was determined to attend our boat clubs' annual RNLI day, and just as importantly, sail a boat or two. If nothing else, I really needed a day away from trains...

The good news is that both my Trent and Brede lifeboats performed impecably. All the more surprising when you remember that the Trent has never been on the water in my ownership, and the Brede hasn't got it's hull wet in over five years. 

At the peak, we had 13 boats on the water, and everyone, both members and visitors, seemed to have a good time. I picked up an interesting book on lifeboat development with plans of all the vessels up to the 1970s, very handy for identifying models in the future. The cake wasn't bad either.

I could ramble on, but you'd probably prefer some photos, and here they are over on Flickr.

Model lifeboat day 2021

 A nice sunny day and lots of orange boats, what more could you want on a Saturday morning? 

Cake? Yes, there was some of that, but I can't find my photo. 

The chance to buy some stuff from a second-hand stall? Yes, I managed a few bits of wood, a random bag of plastic propellers and a couple of tools that I'll bring to you later, once I've had a proper play. 

And, of course, and RNLI stall, who took some money off me too.

Prize of the day though, is a lifeboat I've always wanted. And by chance, a friend who does a lot of work for the RNLI had acquired one. On his book stand, there was a 1930s tinplate collecting tin, and I happened to mention that I coveted the plastic lifeboat launch version - and for a small donation, it was mine. 

I remember these as a kid, and am chuffed to get my paws on one. There will be more on it once I've figure out how it works. And then the chance to donate yourself when I do a show in the future. 

Sadly, it was a bit of a flying visit for me as I had some work to do in the afternoon, but at least I was able to see the magnificent Clyde lifeboat launched. 

There are more photos on Flickr.

Model Lifeboat Day 2016

No-one likes car parking duty much but as I own a hi-viz jacket and am quite happy to stand around being useful, I volunteered to do it for the KMBC lifeboat day this year. Apart from a tantrum from one of the members who wanted to park next to the water rather than 30 feet away so those with boats could have prime position, it went very well. A lovely morning in the countryside pointing vehicles at one of three areas in the sunshine.

Once we had filled the space enough that any latecomers would have to work it out themselves, I ditched the yellow coat and headed down to the lake to enjoy the orange boats. A rough count suggested that there were almost 40 of many different designs and sizes.

A highlight was an Aerokits Solent class.

I've always though this to be a rather boxy and ugly boat, but once fully detailed, it comes alive. I suspect all the previous models I've seen have just used the supplied bits, whereas this builder (who is also a railway modeller) has gone to town making his own fittings. Now I want one.

In the afternoon, there were talks from RNLI people. The first involved owning a Rother lifeboat as a classic vessel. The group of friends who do this take it on fundraising trips to show an old RNLI craft. The highlight was the very wet Royal Flotilla a couple of years ago but there have been many enjoyable trips beside this. Owning a real lifeboat sounds fascinating, if a lot like owning a classic car with all the trials and tribulations but with an added restriction on where you can take it. No chance of doing that around here, you need more water than a canal!

The second talk was on the new Shannon lifeboat. Quite a detailed look around both the boat, tractor and trailer. All of these are really impressive bits of engineering.

The highlight of this talk was a final bit of video. The Shannon can be retrieved from a beach. Getting it there is very impressive.

Now THAT is how you park a boat. Something many of our members have demonstrated in the past when attention wavered!

An excellent day with fine cake thanks to both the boat and model railway club. You can see my photos on Flickr.

Launch the lifeboat!

Persons of a certain age will remember these collecting tins for the RNLI in shops. Put a coin in the slot in the top of the boathouse and you launch the lifeboat!

Once launched, you had to carefully slide the boat back up the ramp until it catches and stays put. Naughty boys can push it most of the way up, let go and see it roll again. I never did that.

Fantastic fun.

Don't forget the RNLI still needs donations to keep them afloat.

Lifeboat toy ahoy!

I'll admit I'm a bit of a sucker for RNLI stuff. When it comes to supporting a charity, one that involves volunteers heading out on dangerous seas in all weather to try and save lives gets my vote every time.

That and I like orange things, especially orange boats.

All this means that if I find an RNLI shop, I'm going to be spending money and probably buying all sorts of stuff that I don't really have a need for.

Which is how I ended up with a clockwork lifeboat. It's a funny looking thing. You rotate the little man to wind up the motor and he spins gently as the model sails along.

If water is not available, the toy has wheels so can be run around the floor like a car.

I know my lifeboats well enough to know that the RNLI don't have any amphibious vehicles, but perhaps they should consider one based on this.

Of course I can't just sail my boat in the bath. It needs a try out on the model boat club lake. Despite sitting very low in the water, the model performs but the clockwork motor isn't really man enough for these conditions. The run time is pretty hopeless too - although to be fair I don't think the designers we thinking of me when they were chewing the ends of their pencils.

I did ponder fitting a motor, possibly a servo converted to drive the model, but that looks like a lot of work. For a start, how would I get at the insides?

Back to the bathtub with this one I think.