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On Saturday the 9th October 2004, the wind at the Mumbles
in South Wales, was a cool easterly but the sun shone and the
rain held off.
The local arrangements saw the crew
and the Launching Authority preparing for the naming ceremony along
with the Institution's Divisional Manager, the Regional Fund Raising
Manager, the local lifeboat Chairman, the local Vicar and, not least,
the Ladies Guild to name but a few.
The Peterborough brigade turned up to
do the honours and included the Branch Chairman and Treasurer together
with his lady wife and the Publicity Officer. Then came the
representatives of the generous donors of the lifeboat - the CAMRA
committee whose support is combined with the generosity of the Beer
Festival supporters generally to raise the cash to support the vital
lifeboat service.
Not only did the CAMRA
representatives turn out to do the business, but they came well
prepared to christen the fine new boat with "White Dwarf" brewed
by Oakham Ales at the Brewery Tap,
Peterborough.
The naming of the boat followed the
formal sequence of events - first she was presented to the
Peterborough RNLI Branch by the CAMRA Festival Chairman Mike Lane and
then by Branch Chairman Tom Field to the RNLI. The Institution, in the
person of Divisional General Manager John James, then handed the boat
to the Mumbles station in the person of the local Launching Authority
and Lifeboat Operations Manager, Captain Roy Griffiths.
Captain Griffiths expressed the deep
gratitude of his crew for the support and generosity of the Beer
Festival "punters" and workers and explained how the new boat would
assist them in their vital work "for those
in peril on the sea"! The Reverend Keith Evans dedicated the boat and
all who sail in her to the care and protection of our eternal Lord and
we all felt the welling up of emotion as we sang with deep feeling
"The Lord's my Shepherd" and "Oh hear us when we cry to thee for those
in peril on the sea."
Then came the "naming" as Clare
Botton and Mike Lane dampened the bow of the boat with the "White
Dwarf" which they had brought with them in the mini-bus to baptise the
boat and share with the crew. With prayers and ceremony completed, the
crew were called upon to launch the boat on to a choppy sea and show
us all what she and they could do!
May God bless and keep safe the
latest generation of the ever gallant "Men of the Mumbles" and grant
them success in their missions which, in just two months since they
received the boat, have already seen Peterborough Beer Festival 2
launched many times to the rescue of numerous people.
October 2004
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