Solent independent lifeboats bid fair winds to new Caister boat
The newly dedicated independent lifeboat for Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service (CVLS) was seen on her way out of the Solent in style on Sunday by a small parade of local independent lifeboats.
The new lifeboat was built, reportedly at a cost of £1.6m, by aluminium boatbuilding specialists Diverse Marine at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
Although the build was officially completed in August 2023, and the 90% finished vessel was shown at Seawork last year, the dedicated launch and recovery tractor and beach trailer system was only recently completed at Caister.
The 14m Medina class self-righting lifeboat, designed by Walker Marine Design, based in Hamble, UK features an aluminium hull, deck and coach roof together with a resiliently mounted GRP wheelhouse to reduce noise and vibration for the crew.
The fully air-conditioned wheelhouse layout has been designed for up to six crew, all with designated AllSalt Maritime SHOXS 2000 seats.
Configuration is for a central helm station forward, nav station aft to starboard and an additional dedicated space for stretcher and casualties.
The all-weather vessel is equipped with DuroWipers Class 50 pantograph windscreen wipers, which are the smallest in the DuroWipers range.
Twin Scania DI13-077M main propulsion engines drive twin Hamilton HJ364 water jet units for speeds in excess of 35 knots. Twin helm stations feature Hamilton Jet’s AVX control system and Jet-Anchor functionality for station keeping.
Boats from Solent Rescue, Hamble Lifeboat and Freshwater Independent Lifeboat were in attendance as CVLS 45-01 headed east out of the Solent, with the other crews enjoying a brief tour of Caister’s new flagship offshore SAR vessel.
Boarding the vessel in mid Solent from other boats was made considerably more straightforward by the Hamilton Jet-Anchor system, which kept the CVLS 45-01 head to wind and tide and completely stationary over the ground.
While independent lifeboats represent some 30% of the lifeboat services around the UK and Ireland, they lack the large, centralised fundraising and publicity resources enjoyed by the RNLI, which manages the majority of UK stations.
Visit Diverse Marine on stand SMd, Hamilton Jet UK on stand Q10, DuroWipers Limited on F6 and Scania Power Solutions on Q20.
