Sea Rescue

The 150th Anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was celebrated on this FDC, although Guernsey had actually maintained an earlier lifeboat and station since 1803 at St Sampson which is a few miles from the hazardous Casquet Rocks, a major shipping hazard.  This lifeboat position was eventually taken over by the RNLI in 1861 and a new lifeboat, the John Locket arrived in 1875.

1978: 150th Anniversary of the RNLI

The stamps show how things have advanced over the years. The rowers on the 2½p stamp are in the 1874 'John Lockett', a gift of Mrs Lockett and her daughters of Liverpool.  Rowing in a storm must have been horrendous.  The next stamp is the last pulling/sailing lifeboat 'Arthur Lionel' which served the islands for 17 years from 1912.  This one was a gift of Sir Thomas Robbin of County Cork.  The first motorised vessel arrived in 1929 but the one shown on the 8p stamp is the1954 Barnett-type boat 'Euphrosyne Kendal', named after the women whose generous legacy enabled the craft to be purchased.  As a charity the RNLI are dependent on donations and as vessels increase in sophistication their cost goes up, the lifeboat shown on the 10p stamp cost £78,000 (today an all-weather lifeboat costs over £2 Million).  The 'RNLB Arun' was financed by gifts from Birds Eye Foods, Miss A M Johnson and four legacies. Launched in 1971 she arrived in Guernsey in 1972. It was the first prototype of the successful Arun class which the RNLI would use around the coasts of the UK and Ireland for over 30 years.

1977: Centenary of St John Ambulance (Design - P Slade and M Horder)

Also in the seas surrounding Guernsey is the marine equivalent of an emergency ambulance the 'Flying Christine II' (the present marine ambulance is Flying Christine III).

1987: New Size Definitive - Views

But relax no emergencies at the moment just a beautiful day on the water near Havelet Bay.

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - Watercraft - sail away for more at See It On A Postcard.