About the Lifeboat station
Spurn point is home of the countries only full time lifeboat crew. Out of 232 life boat stations throughout the whole of Britain and Southern Ireland; Humber is the only boat with a full crew of paid employees
The crew consists of seven men and their families who live in the RNLI. Houses supplied. The crew consists of a Superintendent Coxswain, a second Coxswain, mechanic, an assistant mechanic and a crew of three backed up by 10 relief crew that can be called upon to relive at the station.. All the crew are trained in first aid. A local doctor can be called upon if a doctor is needed aboard a ship. In all other stations there is an honorary secretary who is responsible for granting permission to launch the lifeboat. He administers the paper work and the running of the station. At Spurn there is no honorary secretary so the Coxswain carries out these duties, This makes Spurn a unique station within the RNLI. The station has always operated in this manner, purely due to the geography of its position. There is no better position to site the lifeboat, as it is along side the deep water channels at the entrance to the Humber Estuary This gives very easy access to seaward of the station. The boat's position is protected by Spurn point from northerly through east to southerly winds. Winds from the Southwest to Northwest leave the boat in an exposed position, making boarding a very dangerous task. The crew will then go and work from the dock basin at Grimsby until the wind eases, allowing the boat to return to her moorings.
The present crew and their families make up a total population of 29 people living at the station.
Each crewmember does five days on duty and then gets one day off and one weekend off in seven. While on duty the crew are not allowed to leave the station area. Apart from station duties and call outs they are free to do what they please, as long as they are available for callout 24hrs. A day. This makes life very hard for the spouses and families. The spouses have to do every thing from shopping to getting the car fixed.
The children cannot go to the pictures or go to a football match with dad unless his leave day falls right. The children go to school in Easington for the infants and juniors and the seniors go to Withernsea High School.
The seniors have a mini bus that picks them up at the station at 7.45am, taking them to Easington to catch the coach to Withernsea. The smaller children are picked up at the station at 8.45am.
The lifestyle at Spurn can be very hard at times as every shopping trip has to be planned so nothing is forgotten. The nearest shop in Easington is a round trip of 16 miles.
The present lifeboat stationed at Spurn is the Severn class boat called " Pride of the Humber" that was totally funded by the people of Humberside and the Northeast. A total amount raised of £1,400,000 is was largest single amount raised in one appeal at the time. The new boat is 17 m (55ft 9ins.) long, has a beam of 5.5 m (18ft.) a displacement of 37.5 tonnes a top speed of 25 knots, and a total range of 250 nautical miles at top speed. She is powered by twin Caterpillar engines each one producing 1200 bhp. The hull is a hard chine construction of fibre reinforced composite (FRC). Tunnels and a deep bilge keel protect the propellers, so it can take the ground if needed. After capsize the boat will self-right, usually in less than 7 seconds. The wheelhouse contains permanent seating for six crew and a doctor and a position for a stretcher.
The Severn is also fitted with a bow thruster the electronics fitted to the boat are Radar, GPS. (Satellite navigator), Laser chart plotter, Echo sounder, MF radio, VHF radio, MF/VHF direction finder, speed log, anemometer and a full intercom system. She also carries an inflatable Y class boat for use in shallow water.
