FIVE RNLI crew members from New Quay have left the Poole Support Centre in Dorset this afternoon onboard their brand new £2.5M Shannon class lifeboat. The crew will begin an intense passage calling at Brixham, Newlyn, Dunmore East and Pwllheli before arriving in New Quay on Sunday July 25.
It is a realisation of a dream for the RNLI crew at New Quay and the local community who have been hard at work fundraising to raise more than £100,000 towards crew training and transportation costs for the Shannon.
The state-of-the-art lifeboat Roy Barker V will receive a welcome on her return home, with a party on the quayside and a flotilla of local boats. Aberystwyth and Cardigan RNLI lifeboats will launch to meet her in the bay.
New Quay’s RNLI Coxswain had the important role of bringing the Shannon home. Leaving Poole was a momentous occasion for Dan Potter, who has been an operational volunteer on three different classes of lifeboat – the Oakley class lifeboat – the Mersey and now the Shannon.
He says: ‘We are thoroughly looking forward to this passage and getting fully acquainted with this modern new lifeboat. It’s going to be a long few days, but something we are all thrilled to have been chosen to be part of.
‘Bringing the lifeboat home to New Quay is a real honour and something we’re all looking forward to.’
