At the end of Cromer Pier, in the county of Norfolk, England, you'll see a ramp descending into the sea from a large brown building. Inside this branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, you'll find the Tamar, the ship that slides down that ramp and sets out to aid those in peril on the sea.
With its dual, 1000 horse power engines, the Tamar can race off to a vessel in distress. The rescuers inside, clad in their waterproof gear, sit in seats designed to absorb the impact of hitting storm waves at anything up to 25 knots per hour. Once the crew arrive, they can pull a vessel out of dangerous waters, or tow it back to port, even if it weighs up to seven tons.
Should they need to transfer people to their ship, or pull them out of the sea, they have any number of rescue items easily within reach. Metal arms swing out. Ropes and winches deploy. The threatened are hauled aboard to safety, and either transferred to a helicopter, or transported back to shore. Despite its compact size, the Tamar can hold as many as one hundred people, although passengers might find conditions a little cramped.
In E. F. Benson's novel Mapp And Lucia, society matrons Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas are swept out to sea when a storm hits the English seaside town of Tilling. Friends spy the two clinging to Lucia's dining room table amid roiling waves. They send out a plea for rescue to local fishing vessels, the coastguard, and the Lifeboat station. But none of the ships can reach the women fast enough. After awhile, with no further sightings, the ships give up their search for the women, supposing them lost to the sea.
Had powerful and capable ships like the Tamar existed in the 1930s, E. F. Benson would have needed to work harder to convince his readers that the local Lifeboat station had failed to rescue the leading lights of Tilling society. As for Lucia's dining table serving as a short term raft...well, that's timeless.
Dragon Dave
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