New Eastbourne lifeboat nears completion
Eastbourne RNLI’s new Tamar class lifeboat Diamond Jubilee is on schedule to be launched as planned on 6th Feb to commemorate the date on which Queen Elizabeth 11 ascended to the throne in 1952.
Coxswain Mark Sawyer, Mechanic Dan Guy, and Operations Manager Paul Metcalfe have recently visited the Babcock boatyard at Plymouth where the new boat is being built and were delighted to see how quickly the work has progressed. There is still a lot to do but the builders are confident that all targets will be met.
Crew training to operate this state of the art vessel will commence in earnest in May. Five station mechanics will attend a weeks’ intensive training at the RNLI lifeboat college at Poole followed by another group of core crew who will also undergo a weeks’ full time training. At the end of May Diamond Jubilee will arrive in Eastbourne and the remaining crew will undergo up to a month of further training before being passed out by an RNLI inspector. It is hoped the new boat and her crew will be ready for active service by the end of June.