Our boarding boat, as the name suggests, is used to accesss the moored Tyne-class lifeboat. However, it has also proved invaluable in many other areas including searching, helping moor large boats that have been towed in by the other lifeboats, taking persons out of the water, fast access to shallow or close-inshore waters near the stational and more. In fact it is probably used as much as the other lifeboats at the station.
Pictured above one can see the Boarding Boat on its own special launching trailer with a small Ford tractor to bring it to and from the slip. The trailer is not as rugged as the DoDo (Drive-on Drive-off) trailer used by the Atlantic-75 class inshore lifeboat but then it is not launched in the same severe conditions as the Atlantic-75.
