Whitby's Lifeboat crew are getting to grips with the RNLI's Shannon class lifeboat.
The town will be getting a brand new boat in a matter of weeks.
This week some of the crew are at RNLI Headquarters in Poole for engineering training, while in Whitby itself the rest of the crew are spending some time with one of the organisation's training vessels.
Matt Sharpe is part of the Whitby Crew he says the training vessel that arrived this week is identical to the town's new Shannon boat.
The vessel will be named Lois Ivan after Mr George Ivan Stone, and his late partner Lois, who left a generous legacy to the RNLI, the majority of which has funded the new lifeboat. It is due to arrive at Whitby on June 4th. The lifeboat will carry the number 13-49 and will have the names of ten thousand people etched into it's decals as part of the RNLI's Launch a Memory fundraising campaign.
Matt Sharpe from the Whitby crew says the outgoing boat will be missed but has now exceeded it's expected lifespan.
At a cost of £2.5M, the Shannon is the latest class of all-weather lifeboat in the RNLI fleet. Having waterjet propulsion instead of traditional propellers makes the Shannon the RNLI’s most manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat.
Whitby RNLI's team of mechanics have been in Poole this week getting hands on with the new vessel, their training ahas involved working on engine starts with some ‘faults’ thrown in. They also stripped and rebuilt a water jet, have looked at emergency engine and jet controls. They also did a primary fuel filter change.
During the initial few weeks of training before the new lifeboat is fully operational the current Trent class will remain on service, berthed at the station. The Shannon will be at sea daily as the crew undergo this vital training, so the lifeboat may not be always visible within the harbour.
Later in the year the Shannon lifeboat will sit afloat alongside a pontoon at the lifeboat station. The existing pontoon required modifications to be made to enable the lifeboat to be berthed. Unfortunately, as it is afloat and on a pontoon, there will be no public access down to the lifeboat. However, it will be visible from most parts of the harbour area, even from across the other side of the river.
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