Big day as the Doris Bleasdale arrives
Sept 1993
CLOGHERHEAD’S new lifeboat, the Doris Bleasdale, will this weekend enjoy her official ‘christening’ ceremony - although the 38-feet long boat has already undergone a baptism of fire.
The Mersey Class vessel will be given her name in traditional champagne smashing style this Saturday at 3pm, just over six months since she was placed on station in Clogherhead. And in that time, the £700,000 craft has been launched in earnest five times to come to the rescue of sailors in distress.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has invested £1.2m in the Clogherhead station and boat over the past number of months, making the Clogherhead facility the envy of lifeboat crews all over the country. And to mark the official naming of the Doris Bleasdale - named after a Lancaster-based lady who left the RNLI a legacy to build a boat - the wife of RNLI Chairman Michael Vernon will be on hand to conduct the proceedings.
Mrs. Jane Vernon will make the journey from Poole in Dorset to Ciogherhead especially to press the button that will send the champagne bottle crashing against the hull of the boat.
The state-of-the-lifeboat, known as a fast carriage vessel because it is launched from a carriage into the sea - will then be launched and recovered twice in a demonstration of the effectiveness of both boat and crew.
As befits such a modern lifeboat, the Doris Bleasdale carries sophisticated navigation equipment to help guide the crew to vessels in distress. Its twin engines both rated at 285 horse power, can power the craft to a top speed of 17.5 knots