Monday
The past weekend, I spent it the way that any islander should - sailing along England's south coast in an all-too rare weekend of good, if at times blustery, weather. A good chance to practice some rusty sailing skills and practice some navigation. When the sky is a nice cobalt blue and the sea looks inviting, it is all too easy to forget just how violent the weather around the UK coast can be. (The same applies to places like the Med; I have seen some very stormy seas around Malta, for example). I tend to take safety on boats very seriously (there are some people I would refuse to sail with on the grounds that they think horseplay and boats go together). All the more reason to salute people who volunteer to save people in distress at sea. One charity that I have a huge amount of admiration and time for is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
At Samizdata, we like to moan about how certain state-registered charities are being pulled into the maw of the state, and I am one of those moaners. The best way to try and keep the state's hands off such organisations is to donate generously to charities and urge their organisers to spurn any state "initiatives". If any charity deserves a bit of help, it is the RNLI. They seem to avoid striking certain platitudes and get on with a crucial task. Here's to them.
Coudnt agree more - 1 of the few charities I donate to without reservation. Its a shame tho that their resources are continually being eaten in to by mindless cretins who appear to have no concept of how dangerous the sea and coastline can be. (ITFC for the Championship this year!!)
Posted by nostalgic at July 10, 2007 08:14 AM
nostalgic - here's hoping!!! I might try and make it to Portman Road when the season starts.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at July 10, 2007 09:10 AM
RNLI - excellent group. My cousin is a very active volunteer in Devon - even appeared in numerous episodes of the BBC programme about the RNLI.
Posted by TimC at July 10, 2007 11:55 AM
Quite right - our lifeboat men and women exemplify everything that really is great about these islands. If I wore a hat I would take it off to them at least once a day. These people deserve every praise and support for their bravery.
Give generously, please, when you can.
Posted by freeman too at July 10, 2007 06:00 PM
I grew up in Orkney, so I'm well aware of the fantastic work that the RNLI do, and how dangerous the sea can be - even though I come from the farming rather than the fishing half of the population.
The bravery of those who volunteer to crew lifeboats is outstanding, but this is an incredible story of bravery and selflessness from someone who wasn't even a regular crew member and had never been on a lifeboat call out before.
Posted by Robert Scarth at July 10, 2007 07:30 PM
I suppose these days, Grace Darling herself would've been nicked for gratuitous violations of elfnsafety.
Posted by Nick M at July 10, 2007 09:34 PM
I suppose these days, Grace Darling herself would've been nicked for gratuitous violations of elfnsafety.
I hope not. At the moment, if a sailor pics up a distress signal (Mayday!) and is in the area, they should offer help and where necessary, let the Coastguard know to be sure that the distress signal has gone out. My sailing instructor has done this several times, in pretty rough weather too.
The sailing world has been affected by the elfandsafety mania, but in most cases a lot of it is common sense. Even in smooth weather, I wear a lifejacket; at night, sailors should be strapped on via a harness (picking up a man overboard at night is v. difficult), and anyone sailing should be familiar with use of distress flares, VHF short-wave radio, and first aid.
I make sailing sound dangerous but it does not have to be. But it has taught me to respect nature, and to fear it; it has also taught me the value of getting away from the stresses of the office and home and how to chill out as I glide along towards a nice mooring with the sun coming down, just in time to stop and crack open the gin and tonic (I don't recommend drinking and sailing at the same time).
(There is no drink-drive law for sailing but you can be done for manslaughter if you had a fatal accident and were pissed).
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at July 11, 2007 12:33 PM
Sailing is a wonderful pastime and a great skill to have: if the global warmer-uppers are right and we will all have to turn the lights off any day soon, having people skilled in how to sail with the wind and navigate by the stars will once again make us a great nation. Our big ships could soon be gracing the horizon once more...
Posted by freeman too at July 11, 2007 01:09 PM
My father remembered vividly for his entire life his mother reading the letter telling that Uncle Harry, his namesake, her little brother, was lost at sea.
I was once looking through the family tree with an aunt and I made a joke about all of the fickle women having serial husbands in our ancestry. She didn't laugh or scold, she just said "lost at sea."
Societies can be judged by how well their members can project themselves into someone else's situation and respond as they would themselves be treated. What more can be said about people who voluntarily leave safety and go out into the most dangerous conditions, risking their own lives to try to save others? As we forfeit these 'services' to 'professionals' our empathy fails and ultimately, our society does too.
Posted by Midwesterner at July 11, 2007 04:09 PM
Yes, the RNLI is a fine charity and one that has kept itself independent of the government.
May I commend another charity to you? Sightsavers International receives also most no money from government (less than 2% of its income) and the majority from individuals. This is truly a charity that helps people to be able to help themselves
They are also efficient - they perform cataract operations at a cost of only £17 (for comparison, the NHS needs between £800 and 1500).
www.sightsavers.org
Posted by HJHJ at July 11, 2007 09:08 PM
