READ between the lines and it is clear that the weekend rescue of sail training vessel Alva was something quite out of the ordinary and it was down to the skill and bravery of a number of people that an incident did not escalate into a tragedy.
When lifeboat and tug crew talk about ‘difficult conditions’, they actually mean gale-force winds, driving spray and terrifying swells, the sort of maelstrom that no sensible person would contemplate putting out to sea in.
An indication of how bad things were can be gained by the inability of the Jersey lifeboat and the Duke of Normandy tug to get a line aboard the Alva despite all their experience in such circumstances.
That left the skipper of the 1930s three-masted schooner fearing that they would run aground on the treacherous Les Minquiers reef off Jersey and wondering how best to get his young Swedish sail training cadets off the steel-hulled Alva and into life rafts before the vessel ran into rocks.
It also says much about the skills and courage of the St Peter Port lifeboat crew that they were able to get a towing line on board.
The reason is that cox Buz White was able to manoeuvre close enough for a heaving line to be thrown up to the schooner so that a much heavier cable could then be manhandled from the lifeboat.
To get that close in a pitching sea in darkness and avoid the risk of the much smaller lifeboat being smashed against the Alva, which towered above the lifeboat and was rolling wildly, required remarkable seamanship and teamwork.
That, of course, was not the end of the rescue. The casualty still had to be towed into St Peter Port Harbour and the sea conditions were such that there was a real risk of the line parting and the rescue would be back to square one.
Those onboard have much to be thankful for because theirs was an exceptional rescue.
Yet the lifeboat crew - along with their colleagues elsewhere in the British Isles - give of such services without thought of danger or reward to pull off heroic acts on behalf of others.
Applauding an amazing rescue feat
READ between the lines and it is clear that the weekend rescue of sail training vessel Alva was something quite out of the ordinary and it was down to the skill and bravery of a number of people that an incident did not escalate into a tragedy.
When lifeboat and tug crew talk about ‘difficult conditions’, they actually mean gale-force winds, driving spray and terrifying swells, the sort of maelstrom that no sensible person would contemplate putting out to sea in.
An indication of how bad things were can be gained by the inability of the Jersey lifeboat and the Duke of Normandy tug to get a line aboard the Alva despite all their experience in such circumstances.
That left the skipper of the 1930s three-masted schooner fearing that they would run aground on the treacherous Les Minquiers reef off Jersey and wondering how best to get his young Swedish sail training cadets off the steel-hulled Alva and into life rafts before the vessel ran into rocks.
It also says much about the skills and courage of the St Peter Port lifeboat crew that they were able to get a towing line on board.
The reason is that cox Buz White was able to manoeuvre close enough for a heaving line to be thrown up to the schooner so that a much heavier cable could then be manhandled from the lifeboat.
To get that close in a pitching sea in darkness and avoid the risk of the much smaller lifeboat being smashed against the Alva, which towered above the lifeboat and was rolling wildly, required remarkable seamanship and teamwork.
That, of course, was not the end of the rescue. The casualty still had to be towed into St Peter Port Harbour and the sea conditions were such that there was a real risk of the line parting and the rescue would be back to square one.
Those onboard have much to be thankful for because theirs was an exceptional rescue.
Yet the lifeboat crew - along with their colleagues elsewhere in the British Isles - give of such services without thought of danger or reward to pull off heroic acts on behalf of others.
Islanders applaud them for it.
Article posted on 7th October, 2008 - 2.29pm