Stornoway Lifeboat

 

A couple of days ago the Stornoway Lifeboat came into the bay below GB’s and we watched it on an exercise, launching and re-stowing the Y boat.

For 121 years, Stornoway lifeboat station on the Isle of Lewis has launched an all weather lifeboat from the natural harbour into the often wild seas of the Atlantic. The crews have been presented with nine awards for gallantry. More can be discovered about the RNLI on their website.

The lifeboat station at Stornoway was established in 1887 and a boathouse and 43m slipway were built at a cost of £1,000. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1995, a new mooring berth was built with a mooring pontoon and access bridge.



In 1999 the Severn class lifeboat Tom Sanderson arrived at the station. The Severn class lifeboat was introduced by the RNLI in 1995 and shares the same hull shape as the earlier Trent class.


The Severn class lifeboat carries a powered Y boat that can be launched and recovered by a lightweight crane to enable rescues close to shore. Its propellers are protected so it can take to the ground without damage.