Evolution
Sunday, 29th August 2004 heralds the beginning of
another chapter in the evolution of the Caister
Lifeboat station with the arrival of the new
Valentijn Class Lifeboat. Caister has finally
progressed from oars, sail and propeller, to
water jets. From being credited as the last
lifeboat to carry out a rescue under sails, then
the first to rescue in conjunction with a
helicopter, to the first UK station to have the
new water jet propulsion system. We have come a
long way since 1845 when the station was first
formed. It is also a remarkable coincidence that
David Stogdon MBE, who was District Inspector of
lifeboats for the RNLI in the 1950s and 60s,
covering the Caister station, later carried out
the development of water jet propulsion for the
RNLI finally completing the work with the Dutch
KNRM, hence the Valentijn 2000 vessel.
Vision
This day is the culmination of David's vision to
see a water jet propelled offshore lifeboat on
station in the United Kingdom. Caister now
possesses a modified tractor coupled to a new
launching carriage, a lifeboat equipped with the
latest technology and a state of the art lifeboat
house designed for efficiency. This will bring to
an end the lifeboat being housed in the old
lifeboat station, which was built at the outbreak
of the second world war, and has provided shelter
for four generations of offshore lifeboat.
Valentijn Class Lifeboat
The first of the latest class of the vessel was
placed on service at Katwijk un Zee, Holland in
2000. It is capable of negotiating both shallow
water conditions like the ones present on the
offshore banks directly off Caister and the
treacherous seas common to this part of the
Norfolk coast.
Extensive
Trials
Towards the end of 2002 the Caister crew carried
out extensive trials with this vessel, both in
Holland and at Caister, where it became clear
that this was the boat they not only wanted but
also needed, to provide a much more rapid
response for emergency situations. However, it
soon became apparent that besides purchasing a
new lifeboat, which would not fit into our
present station or on our launching carriage, the
tractor would also need adapting, hence the Ł800,000
cost of the project.
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