JOINT TRAINING FOR TWO LIFEBOATS!
Pictures & Text - Paul Stevens - PRO & Crew Member CTBere RNLI Lifeboat

Two lifeboats providing emergency cover to the Bantry Bay area had a joint training exercise in Bantry Bay recently.  Castletownbere’s all weather lifeboat, the 52 foot Roy & Barbara Harding, and the Bantry Inshore Rescue Boat, an inflatable ribbed boat, carried out joint manoeuvres in an area off Shot Head early one Saturday morning.

The Bantry  Inshore boat was established in 1988 and covers a total of 22 miles of coastline from Bantry west to Shot Head and to the south shore of Bantry Bay.  The boat has a volunteer crew of 20 but with three going to sea on an emergency call-out.  The boat is now well established and over a recent three month period had a total of 12 call-outs to a variety of emergencies.  Perhaps one of the greatest milestones has been that the rescue service was audited by the  Irish Coastguard in June 2000 making it an officially designated lifesaving service which can be tasked by Valentia Coastguard.

Castletownbere’s lifeboat has been in service since October 1997 and to date has responded to over 60 emergency calls.  The lifeboat has a volunteer crew and provides 24-hour cover 50 miles from the coast in an area from Mizen Head to Kenmare Bay, including Bantry and Dunmanus Bays.

As both lifeboats provide cover in the Bantry area, it was felt that a joint exercise would be beneficial to both services.  Boat handling, search patterns, recovery procedures, transfer of life-saving apparatus and pump, and communication skills were all practised by the two lifeboats.  The training officer of the Bantry Inshore Lifeboat, Shane Begley, commented that “The exercise was of great benefit to the Bantry crew.  It was an excellent opportunity for both lifeboats to become familiar with each other’s operational procedures”.  The Deputy Launching Authority of Castletownbere, Joe Turner, was in agreement and stated “Both lifeboats, the Coastguard helicopter, and Cliff & Costal Rescue worked on an emergency together late last year.  Similar exercises are planned for the future on a regular basis.”