Firstly apologies for another post about lifeboats but I seem to have caught the bug recently and well...it's a break from pictures of racing cars. If you ever visit Norfolk then the Caister Lifeboat museum is worth a visit.
Today we looked over Shirley Jean Adye which was in service until 1991. I found this quite amazing as she seems pretty prehistoric when compared to the new lifeboat. She was built in 1953 for the RNLI and was in service at Sy Abbs Head in Scotland until 1969 when she was sold and was used as a fishing vessel. The Caister Volunteer Rescue Service bought her in 1973 and put her back into service to save lives. Along with her crew she saved 57. The workmanship is just astounding.
The wooden structure you see below is made from mahogany and is held together by copper rivets.
My daughters had a great time dressing up in helmets and life saving equipment. As you can see, things have come a long way since 1991! Between then and 2004 the boat was called Bernard Matthews after the Norfolk Turkey man.
Bernard Matthews had a top speed of around 20mph (18 knots) and was a big leap forward.