Robina Bream from Langstone Pilot Gig Club kindly provided us with a report of a recent safety training exercise carried out in partnership with the RNLI.
On Sunday 18th Feb the RNLI Hayling Island and Langstone Pilot Gig club joined forces for a training exercise.
Our crews consisted of 16 Langstone coaches and cox’s rowing in two of our GRP training gigs. We rowed out into Chichester Harbour and met up with two Lifeboat crews from RNLI Hayling Island. After a briefing with the RNLI crews one gig was assigned to work with the Atlantic Lifeboat and the other gig with the D Class Lifeboat.
Photo credit: Langstone Gig Club
The objective was to:
- Evacuate all POB (person’s over board) from each gig (individually) onto the RNLI Atlantic
- Extract an incapacitated casualty, from the footwell of the gig
- Tow gig (oars stowed) alongside the RNLI Atlantic
- MOB (man overboard) exercise for each gig, using the RNLI dummy, Dead Fred
This all went to plan and we spent approx an hour on each exercise.
The Lifeboat crew were extremely helpful and patient, allowing all the gig rowers to take a turn in pairs to recover Dead Fred, a lifelike dummy weighing approx 80k. We soon learned that if you follow the correct lifting procedure that this is possible even for two fairly lightweight individuals to achieve.
The exercise to extract a whole crew and then an incapacitated casualty all went to plan.
Photo credit: Langstone Gig Club
The Lifeboat crew had never towed a Cornish Pilot Gig before and were keen for us all to pool our knowledge about the safest way to tow alongside the Atlantic Lifeboat without causing any damage to the gig.
We are very grateful to Phillip Howard-Smith of RNLI Hayling and to Liz Piercey and Natalie Gillespie of LPGC for organising this brilliant event.
We also felt especially proud that one of our ex Junior members, Jack Anson was the Helm of the D class Lifeboat on the day.
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