Nautical milestone reached for iconic Pembrokeshire lifeboat
Today (Monday) marks a nautical milestone for Fishguard all-weather lifeboat, the Blue Peter VII, as it celebrates 30 years of serving the seas of Pembrokeshire.
Chosen as the replacement for the station’s all weather Arun class lifeboat Marie Winstone, the smaller Blue Peter VII was the charity’s most modern purpose-built class of lifeboat when it joined the fleet, and other than a few periods away for essential maintenance and refit, it has spent the majority of the last 30 years saving lives and helping those in distress off the coast of North Pembrokeshire.
In 1993 the BBC children’s television programme Blue Peter ran the ‘Pieces of Eight’ appeal. Children and families across the country gathered all sorts of items which could be sold to raise funds to replace the charity’s existing inshore lifeboats Blue Peter I to VI. Not only did they raise enough money to cover these lifeboats into the 21st century, they also had enough left over to fund the first, and to date only all weather lifeboat to carry the Blue Peter name, and the iconic ship emblem.
The Trent class all weather lifeboats were introduced into the charity’s lifesaving fleet at a cost of approximately £1 million each and were named after the River Trent in England. They are primarily fitted with two 860hp MAN diesel engines which produce a top speed of 25 knots, and carry sufficient fuel to cover a range of 250 nautical miles.
At 14 metres long, all Trent class lifeboats are identifiable by the operational number beginning with 14 on the hull. The second part of this number indicates the order in which they were built.
Blue Peter VII bears the operational number 14-03, indicating that it was the third of the class to be built, however it was placed on station before 14-02 in Ramsgate, making it the longest serving Trent in the fleet with 14-01 having been retired in 2019.
With over 30 years of service, Fishguard’s lifeboat is older than some of today’s crew. Indeed over the years, those crewing Blue Peter VII have changed as crew members come and go. However, some such as volunteer brothers coxswain Chris Bean and crew member Warren Bean (also a current ILB helm) and former full time station mechanic Stephen Phillips were serving crew on its arrival and are still volunteer crew today.
Former station mechanic and current volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager Chris Williams said:
‘When the Blue Peter VII lifeboat came to Fishguard she was very much at the cutting edge of SAR technology. With one of the first computerised navigation systems and a top speed of 25kts or 28.5 mph, she was one of the most up to date and capable all weather lifeboats in the world. Thirty years on, the rest of the RNLI fleet has caught up, but she is still a very capable, and above all, safe, boat, and, approaching a 1,000 “shouts” later, still doing the job she was designed to do.'
Full time station coxswain Gemma Gill, said: ‘It's an enormous honour to be trusted to be in command of an RNLI search and rescue asset, keeping the boat and crew safe, and hopefully saving the life of a casualty too.
"But for me, it's an additional honour to be in command of a Blue Peter craft. I'm from the East Lothian town of North Berwick, and as a child I was an avid watcher of Blue Peter, taking part in all the appeals and being proud of seeing my efforts playing a tiny part in the purchase of lifeboats.
"In 1994 I watched the naming ceremony ofBlue Peter III (D-452) and decided that one day I would be a lifeboat crew member too. That journey started in June 2001 with my initial induction trip and training aboard that very D class and continued with many years of volunteering in Aberystwyth aboard the 75, then 85 and Arancia, the Wales and West flood team, (where I finally got a Blue Peter badge), and then on into employment as a lifeboat trainer in the college in Poole.
"I hope to safely see out the rest of Blue Peter VII service life here in Fishguard, and I hope that any girls or boys who hear about lifeboating through Blue Peter will also be inspired to volunteer once they are old enough.’
Nautical milestone reached for iconic Pembrokeshire lifeboat
Today (Monday) marks a nautical milestone for Fishguard all-weather lifeboat, the Blue Peter VII, as it celebrates 30 years of serving the seas of Pembrokeshire.
Chosen as the replacement for the station’s all weather Arun class lifeboat Marie Winstone, the smaller Blue Peter VII was the charity’s most modern purpose-built class of lifeboat when it joined the fleet, and other than a few periods away for essential maintenance and refit, it has spent the majority of the last 30 years saving lives and helping those in distress off the coast of North Pembrokeshire.
In 1993 the BBC children’s television programme Blue Peter ran the ‘Pieces of Eight’ appeal. Children and families across the country gathered all sorts of items which could be sold to raise funds to replace the charity’s existing inshore lifeboats Blue Peter I to VI. Not only did they raise enough money to cover these lifeboats into the 21st century, they also had enough left over to fund the first, and to date only all weather lifeboat to carry the Blue Peter name, and the iconic ship emblem.
The Trent class all weather lifeboats were introduced into the charity’s lifesaving fleet at a cost of approximately £1 million each and were named after the River Trent in England. They are primarily fitted with two 860hp MAN diesel engines which produce a top speed of 25 knots, and carry sufficient fuel to cover a range of 250 nautical miles.
At 14 metres long, all Trent class lifeboats are identifiable by the operational number beginning with 14 on the hull. The second part of this number indicates the order in which they were built.
Blue Peter VII bears the operational number 14-03, indicating that it was the third of the class to be built, however it was placed on station before 14-02 in Ramsgate, making it the longest serving Trent in the fleet with 14-01 having been retired in 2019.
With over 30 years of service, Fishguard’s lifeboat is older than some of today’s crew. Indeed over the years, those crewing Blue Peter VII have changed as crew members come and go. However, some such as volunteer brothers coxswain Chris Bean and crew member Warren Bean (also a current ILB helm) and former full time station mechanic Stephen Phillips were serving crew on its arrival and are still volunteer crew today.
Former station mechanic and current volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager Chris Williams said:
‘When the Blue Peter VII lifeboat came to Fishguard she was very much at the cutting edge of SAR technology. With one of the first computerised navigation systems and a top speed of 25kts or 28.5 mph, she was one of the most up to date and capable all weather lifeboats in the world. Thirty years on, the rest of the RNLI fleet has caught up, but she is still a very capable, and above all, safe, boat, and, approaching a 1,000 “shouts” later, still doing the job she was designed to do.'
Full time station coxswain Gemma Gill, said: ‘It's an enormous honour to be trusted to be in command of an RNLI search and rescue asset, keeping the boat and crew safe, and hopefully saving the life of a casualty too.
"But for me, it's an additional honour to be in command of a Blue Peter craft. I'm from the East Lothian town of North Berwick, and as a child I was an avid watcher of Blue Peter, taking part in all the appeals and being proud of seeing my efforts playing a tiny part in the purchase of lifeboats.
"In 1994 I watched the naming ceremony of Blue Peter III (D-452) and decided that one day I would be a lifeboat crew member too. That journey started in June 2001 with my initial induction trip and training aboard that very D class and continued with many years of volunteering in Aberystwyth aboard the 75, then 85 and Arancia, the Wales and West flood team, (where I finally got a Blue Peter badge), and then on into employment as a lifeboat trainer in the college in Poole.
"I hope to safely see out the rest of Blue Peter VII service life here in Fishguard, and I hope that any girls or boys who hear about lifeboating through Blue Peter will also be inspired to volunteer once they are old enough.’