Kirkcudbright's lifeboat crews

The lifeboat crews
THE LIFEBOAT ITSELF is kept at the Lifeboat House, some 3 miles from the town. In November 1997 the RNLI acquired its own purpose-built premises in the town.
The Land Rover, which is used to transport the crew down to the boat, is garaged there and the building also contains a sizeable crewroom, used for classroom training.
The Boat
Arriving on station in 1991 and named "Peter and Grace Ewing" She is an Atlantic 21 fitted with twin 70 horsepower outboard motors giving her a maximum speed of 33 Knots (38 mph in English ). This high speed was a new and welcome parameter to the Search and rescue scene in the Kirkcudbright area. The previous motor lifeboats could manage 9 knots at a push. Although these boats were reliable, they were nevertheless, slow. The Atlantic 21 has day and night capabilities in moderate to fairly rough weather and will self-right in the event of a capsize and be capable of continuing her mission. A crew of 3 to 4 are carried who are well trained in the ways of their craft.
These crews undergo special training at Cowes in the Isle of Wight in southern England and learn how to get the best out of themselves and their boat.
The Atlantic 21 has already proved itself a worthy successor to its larger slower sisters and since its arrival in Kirkcudbright has launched on service 150 times.

 

Present 15 crewmembers are

ROBERT ROSS       Snr Helmsman        
RODNEY MAXWELL Crew      
ALAN BURNS        Crew            
MICHEL CADIET        Helm          
DAWN ANDERSON       Helm          
ROBERT MURPHY       Crew                 
ROBERT GOLDIE       Crew                   
DEREK MORRISON Crew                  
SEAN TELFER       Crew              
JOHN TRAYNOR       Crew                     
IAN GILLONE       Crew
JAMES MIDDLETON Crew                   
BILLY McTAGGART       Crew
MARTIN VALENTINE      Crew
The 4 launching authorities are:

Rab Thomson
Alistair Gillone
John Aitken
Gavin Scott
Shore officials
Chairman: Denis Neil
Honorary Treasurer: Richard Fox
Lifeboat Operations Manager: Rab Thomson.
Mechanic:  John Collins