Two members of the crew of Cullercoats Lifeboat, Tom Bowie and Carl Taylor visited the Lifeboat College in Poole from 13th to 17th March 2006 for a 5 day Inshore Lifeboat Introductory Course.

The course covered every major aspect of being part of the RNLI's inshore crew. Highly experienced and qualified trainers - Dave, Scott, Jill, Andy and Colin were on hand to go over all the necessary units in order to pass the final assessments both written and practical.

Some time was spent in the classroom explaining about the various procedures, but most of the time was spent afloat in one of the 6 Atlantic class lifeboats available for the course students.

The Cullercoats Crew were on the course along with the 14 other crew members from all around the country. From London to South Wales, from Oban in North West Scotland to just along the road near Bournmouth. They were all from a wide variety of different backgrounds including 2 airline pilots ( from British Airways and Thomas Cook), a french/chinese/italian/spanish translator, a nurse, fireman and a head Submarine Commander - just proving the wide variation in lifeboat crews professions.

Twice through the week the students took part in a staged capsize in the survival tank, everyone on the course agreed this was a great experience to have.

On Wednesday the crews spent 5 hours in outside Poole harbour putting there skills to the test with their RNLI instructor. They performed various drills including Searches, High-Speed Maneuvers, Anchor Drills, 3 Point Fixes and more.

Throughout the week there were also a few surprises along the way, however the trainers have sworn us to secrecy so future crews can experience this fantastic course in the same way.

THE COLLEGE

THE CLASSROOM

THE BOATS

TRAINING ON LAND