October 2014

Dear Supporter

Since our first Flagship newsletter just under 18 months ago, the transformation of the construction site has been nothing short of miraculous.

The noisy and dusty demolition on an industrial scale saw the previous Lifeboat Maintenance Centre bulldozed into an area of derelict wasteland, but today we can see the almost-complete RNLI All-weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC). This evolution in front of our eyes has been incredible.

The handing over of the building from the main contractor to the RNLI is another key piece of the jigsaw that will ensure the future of all-weather lifeboat production. With inshore lifeboats having been built for decades at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre in Cowes, Isle of Wight, the ALC completes our vision of bringing lifeboat production in-house.

In this edition of the newsletter we see how the site has transformed over the past 18 months as well as over the last 78 years. We meet Stafford Houchen, Production Control and Boatyard Manager, who takes us through the first few months of the ALC’s life and we look at new beginnings, at the first operations that will be carried out and how our recent group of RNLI apprentices started their new full-time roles in a very different way.

Your generous support has helped us achieve the major milestone of bringing lifeboat building home and we cannot thank you enough for helping us to bring this to reality.

Leesa Harwood,Community Lifesaving Director

FLAGSHIPRNLI FUTURE FUND

Thank you for choosing to become a member of the Flagship Club. Together we will secure the future of saving lives at sea.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SC037736). Charity number CHY 2678 in the Republic of Ireland

Photo: RNLI

The finishing touches to the new All-weather Lifeboat Centre are just around the corner as we take a look at the landmark activities over the last 2 years:

• 188 tonnes of equipment, a 50-tonne boat mover, 11 trailers of essentials and 26 staff moved into an empty warehouse at Cobbs Quay and continued business as normal.

• Demolition of the old Lifeboat Maintenance Centre took 16 weeks.

• The material left over from the demolished buildings provided us with 5,000m3 of crushed concrete. This, and 13,000m3 of dredged material shipped in over a 6-week period, was used to raise the overall level of the site by 1.4m. 187m of sea wall was rebuilt to a higher level to accommodate the site raising to meet Environment Agency standards for flood protection.

• 4m of seabed were reclaimed from Poole Harbour.

• 200 anodes were fitted to the metal piles, adding an extra 20 years to their life by preventing them from rusting.

• While the new slipway was being constructed, a cofferdam (temporary enclosure) kept the seawater out.

• 2,094 concrete columns were inserted 5.5m deep into the ground to form the piling foundations.

• The large steel structure of the ALC building is supported by reinforced concrete pad foundations. The biggest base measures 360m3 and, to make sure the area could be filled in the one day, our contractors had to have sole use of a nearby concrete plant! 50 more ‘pad’ foundations were completed over 2 months.

• The longest spanning beam is over 20m long.

• Approximately 750 tonnes of steelwork form the giant Meccano-like skeleton superstructure.

• It is estimated that around 90km of electrical cables and wiring will be needed for the facility.

Now complete is the roof cladding, floor structure, concrete stairs, upper level floor slabs and ground floor slabs, which have been polished. The fuel farm, housing the large petrol and diesel storage tanks, has also been moved to its permanent position ready for installation and commissioning.

Over the next 2 months, everyone will be working to get everything just right and the contractor is due to hand over the building to the RNLI in December 2014. At the beginning of 2015 our lifeboat maintenance team rejoins the Headquarters site from its temporary work base at Cobbs Quay and the RNLI then begins the internal fit-out.

The next 5 years will then see the centre become a one-stop-shop for building, refitting and maintaining our all-weather lifeboat fleet.

PROJECT PROGRESS

OCTOBER 2014

THEN AND NOW The photo sequence shows the transformation of today’s ALC site over nearly 80 years.

1936

1960

1974

2007

Photo: RNLI

Photo: RNLI

Photo: RNLI

Photo: Peter ChannonPhoto: RN

LI/Nathan W

iliams

Photo: Dennis Barnes

Photo: RNLI/N

athan William

s

2014

In November, Stafford Houchen will have completed 25 years in the RNLI within Engineering and Asset Management

Introducing …Stafford Houchen, Production Control and Boatyard Manager

Q: What were you doing before you came to the RNLI?

I’ve been in the boatbuilding industry for 30 years and I’ve worked on everything from my tools to managing multi-million-pound construction projects. I started out building superyachts. Well, that’s not strictly true as I built my first boat with my dad at the age of 12! I’ve still got the boat today and use it with my family.

Q: What does your job entail now?

I’m the Production Control and Boatyard Manager for the All-weather Lifeboat Centre, in charge of planning all the construction, maintenance and refit work. Essentially I need to ensure that all the parts and materials are ordered at the right time, and the build, repair and refit plans are converted into shop-floor operations safely, cost-effectively, on time and at the right quality.

There’s a mix between the new builds and refits – the planned and predictable – and managing the curveballs of the unplanned repairs. However, we’re aiming to understand the repair side much more so we can endeavour to schedule these too.

Q: Which will be the first boat to be worked on at the ALC?

She will be a Shannon class lifeboat – the 12th in the fleet – whose boat number on the side of the hull will be 13-12 but whose operational number is ON-1319.

The hull and wheelhouse part assemblies for this lifeboat will have been manufactured at RNLI SAR Composites in Lymington.

The first phase at the ALC starts in February with the preparation and painting of the hull and wheelhouse in the spray booths (pictured right).

Stage 2 fit-out follows, which includes the engines and wiring looms, before stage 3 sees the wheelhouse and hull bonded together for final fit-out.

She will then go on trials before the eagerly anticipated delivery to the coast.

Then, in March, the first full Shannon, including the composite hull and wheelhouse, is due to start production. ON-1321 will be the first of a long line of Shannons that will be built completely in-house by the RNLI.

Q: How will the Shannons fit in the building?

There are five boatbuilding bays, three spray booths and a blast booth in Building A, along with an inshore lifeboat maintenance hall for the College training fleet. There are seven boat bays in Building B – the paint-free ‘clean’ area. Each bay, which can fit the largest Severn class lifeboat, is 20m x 10m.

We start in Building A (layout pictured below) with the separate Shannon moulds for the composite hull, deck and wheelhouse.

After lifting out of the moulds they are then moved to Building B to the two right-hand slots. Stage 1 fit-out takes place before they are moved to Building A again to the spray booths for painting.

Once painted, the hull and wheelhouse are moved back to the two left-hand slots in Building B for stage 2 fit-out. The joining of the hull and wheelhouse and final stage 3 fit-out takes place in the middle slot, to avoid any cross-contamination from any refit and maintenance activities taking place alongside the Shannon build.

Q: What other jobs are scheduled in for the first few months?

Lifeboat refits start in January with a Tamar class coming in as part of a modification programme. This is followed in March when Ramsey’s Mersey class lifeboat comes in for an 8-week refit, starting an 18-month Mersey refit programme.

Q: What are you looking forward to most of all?

I can’t wait to see the site as a fully functional boatbuilding facility and to start producing lifeboats. We started the feasibility study for this project in 2010, so to see the original concept come to life in the form of the ALC will be a very satisfying experience. Building A

Building B

Mezzanine

Boat bay

Boat baySpray

booths

Inshore lifeboat hall

Boat bay

Boat bay

Boat bay

Boat bay

Boat bay

Photo: RNLI

Photo: RNLI

Boat bay

HIDDEN

SECRETS

NEW BEGINNINGS

During any demolition process, hidden gems can be unearthed from long ago. Also, during new builds, everyday objects are sometimes hidden away for future generations to discover.

During demolition of the old Lifeboat Maintenance Centre, an old teapot and bottle tops were discovered, along with a few buttons from a Blue Peter appeal in 1984. Huge concrete crane bases were also uncovered from the previous Bolson Shipyard (the cranes can be seen in the photo right).

Forty years ago on 30 October 1974, as the foundation stone for the RNLI Headquarters building was being laid, a sealed stainless steel capsule was placed under the stone containing a number of historic documents and photographs, as well as examples of the Institution’s colours. We plan to divulge its contents on the RNLI’s 200th anniversary.

The All-weather Lifeboat Centre plans to follow this tradition and bury a time capsule on the site, with objects that tell a story about the RNLI of today. The capsule will be opened in 2074 on the RNLI’s 250th anniversary, so who knows what these objects will disclose.

For several years, the beginning of September has been a significant time for many young people as they have embarked on the RNLI’s 4-year apprenticeship training programme.

In September 2010, five apprentices had first-day nerves as they started their intensive training, but 4 years later they fulfilled their dreams and started their full-time career in building lifeboats at the RNLI – David Stone, Glyn Wyatt and Sam Edwards will work at the new ALC, Joshua Carter at the ILC and Sam Williams at RNLI SAR Composites.

David, Glyn, Sam Edwards and Joshua were thrown in at the deep end on their first day of work with a week’s camping and activities that tested their leadership and teambuilding skills.

They had been put forward by the RNLI for The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights Queen’s Silver Medal Award for the Shipyard Apprentice of the Year. Out of over 100 candidates from yards all over the UK, all 4 were successful in gaining a place on the highly sought-after event at Kielder Water in Northumberland.

At the end of the week David said: ‘It was awesome, but had I known what I know now about how challenging the course is, I wouldn’t have agreed to go!’

We won’t know until December whether they have been successful, but one previous apprentice who knows exactly what they’ve been going through is Portpatrick Crew Member and RNLI Systems Technician Tom Panter, who went through exactly the same thing on the same day the five started their apprenticeship!

In 2010 Tom received the Derek Kimber Medal for the Best Craftsman, the first person in the RNLI to be awarded the distinguished honour.

Tom says: ‘It gave me the confidence to go on to apply for the job I’m now in and I really hope it inspires other people to think about becoming an apprentice.’

Tom followed in his father’s RNLI footsteps – he was Second Mechanic at the station – and 2014 sees another son follow his dad’s path as 18-year-old Harry Perrin embarks on his apprenticeship ambition. Kevin Perrin was a divisional technician and became Divisional Maintenance Manager North with the RNLI.

Harry (pictured centre left below) and five other apprentices started their apprenticeship with us on 8 September 2014, the same day our 4th-year apprentices secured their new roles.

So it’s new beginnings all round and we wish them luck.

Photo: RNLI

Photo: RNLI

Photo: RNLI/Sim

on Matthew

s

Photo: Shipwrights Q

ueen’s Silver M

edal Programm

e

Photo: Shipwrights Q

ueen’s Silver M

edal Programm

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