Assisting and saving lives on the Solent coast since 1968
History of Hamble Lifeboat
Hamble Lifeboat was formed by Hamble residents in 1968 as the Southampton Water Inshore Rescue Service (Hamble Rescue). This was in response to the number of casualties occurring in Southampton Water and the Rivers Hamble, Itchen and Test, which had increased to 19 deaths in one year. The RNLI, who at the time had boats stationed at Yarmouth and Bembridge, were approached but had no boat suitable for the area. The nature of the area meant something fast, powerful and capable of operating in shallow water was needed.
The first boat, St Andrew, was a 17’ Dory with twin Mercury outboards. This boat, although far from ideal, provided good service and attended over 100 incidents in her first year. Since then, our boats have been continually improved, due to the generosity of the public, and we now operate two Halmatic Pacific 32 RIBs with twin inboard diesel engines driving water jets.
We moved to our current site at The Quay, Hamble, in 1974, and built a small boathouse and a slipway. With generous support from the public and Local Authorities, in 2017 we replaced our too-small and dilapidated boathouse with one that will support the Service in the years ahead.
Friends Of
Historical Timeline
Since 1968, The Service has evolved from having a small dory to having two of the most powerful 10 metre RIBs in service in the UK.
The Future
The new Boathouse, having been completed in 2017, provides a much-improved facility for training our crews, and maintaining our boats.
We are currently conducting a major refit on the older of our two boats, the Harry Childs, and when that is finished, we will bring the other boat ashore for maintenance. With that, both boats will have been brought into line with the MCA Rescue Boat Code of Practice, introduced in 2013. Thereafter, we aim to run the boats in six-month shifts; one afloat in service and one in the station for maintenance. Each boat will likely require a refit every 5th year.
The crew is made up of volunteers who give their time and effort with the very vital support of their families. Apart from the time spent conducting Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations, crew spend their time training on SAR techniques; Training with and maintaining various key pieces of equipment that we carry; giving educational presentations to schools, sailing clubs, and other groups; and taking part in the fund-raising activities organised by our fund-raising team.
In 2018 Hamble Lifeboat celebrated its 50th anniversary. Things have changed dramatically since we were formed; water-based activities are more popular than ever, the waters of the Solent are more congested, and the beaches busier, which of course means that by the laws of probability, there is more scope for injury. Only through the continued education efforts by the Emergency Services, including ourselves, are incident numbers prevented from increasing in proportion.
With this, and the increases in the regulations that apply to our crew and lifeboats, our crew numbers have doubled in the past 5 years. There will always be challenges ahead, but we are now well placed to continue our life-saving work in the UK’s busiest waterway.
Cost of Running the Service
The cost of running our service has risen over time not only due to expected cost increases, but also due to the progression in our capabilities as a search and rescue asset. We carry additional and more sophisticated equipment, which requires both maintenance and specialist crew training.
Each year our costs will vary due to our schedule for refit activities and equipment replacement. On average, over the past few years it has cost £35,000 per annum to run the service, which will include repairs, servicing, fuel, emergency pager service, slipway maintenance and repair, external training (such as specialised first aid training) along with the expected overheads that come with maintaining a lifeboat station.
To equip a crew member with the required lifejacket, helmet, radio, survival suit and boots costs £1,000 with the equipment life expectancy standing at 3 years. We minimise our costs where available by using volunteer labour, often with the crew undertaking this work.
The trustees and crew at Hamble Lifeboat are always extremely grateful for donations received by:
- Bequests
- Donations
- Fundraising events
- Donation of services such as maintenance parts and/or labour
- Local watering holes and retailers in the villages flanking the River Hamble
- Subscription to our Lifeboat Lotto
Since its inception, the service has attended on average 100 incidents per year. We respond to tasking by the UK Coastguard during weekends, Bank Holidays and pager availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in all weather conditions.