Future Events

Thursday 23 September

Choir 86 concert of Summer Melodies including an Oklahoma medley and songs from the James Bond Films

Dartmouth Guildhall 7.30pm Tickets on the door. Bar available.

Past Events

Some of the cycle team with their backup photographed at the Totnes Boating Assoc HQ

Source to the Sea

Having camped overnight on Dartmoor ten volunteers from the Dart RNLI lifeboat team completed a very strenuous fund raising venture, only for the crew to be called out within an hour of the team returning to the Station. The actual run began at 6am at the source of the East Dart River on Dartmoor. They ran 8 miles along the course of the river to Postbridge in 1 hour 40 minutes in heavy drizzle which persisted all day. There they were joined by another four and picked up their bikes to cycle the 18 miles to Totnes. They descended 2100 feet but unfortunately had to climb 1100 feet as well in under 2 hours. For the final leg of the journey they rowed three whalers against the incoming tide the 10 miles to the sea. They were well ahead of schedule and were able to stop at the Ferry Boat Inn in Dittisham for refreshments. The Duke of Cornwall, a 52 foot restored Barnett class lifeboat accompanied them back to Dartmouth where they were enthusiastically greeted by those attending the RNLI Fete as the boats came into the Boat Float. Those taking part were Buster Hart, Jim Brent, Jamie Mathys, Yorkie Lomas, Darren Hopley, Andy Carter, Kevin Murphy, Tony Chapman, Andy Pomeroy, Steve Wallis, Jerry Gilby, Haydn Glanvill, Kevin John, Wez Jones and Mark Strudwick.
Phil Langman from the local Coastguard team also supported the event.

Each of the crew have sponsor forms and it is also possible to donate to the charity on the www.justgiving.com/source-to-sea website. So far around £2800 has been promised.

Visitors enjoying the garden of Julie and Phill Elliott in Stoke Fleming

The RNLI local Garden Safari took place on Sunday 1 August. The persistant light rain did not deter more than 100 people visiting the eleven gardens on offer and £1400 was raised on the day.
Dartmouth Town Gardens
1. Crief Lodge (opposite 29 Clarence Hill Dartmouth)
2. Seafield, 16 Mount Boone, Dartmouth.
3. Geranium Cottage, 3 Fairview Road, Dartmouth.
4. Longfield House, 3 Fairview Road, Dartmouth. (sic)
5. Hartworks house, 21a Fairview road, Dartmouth.
Coastal Village Gardens
1. Westholme , Redlap Dartmouth.
2. Little Redlap Cottage, Dartmouth.
3. Rhowniar, Venn Lane Stoke Fleming (1 - 5pm)
4. Sunnyhurst, Baileys Meadow, Stoke Fleming.
5. Meadowside, Baileys Meadow, Stoke Fleming.
6. Tallis Rock, Vicarage Lane, Strete.

On Saturday 3 July the Ashburton Singers sang their Midsummer Medlies in St Saviours Church Dartmouth to a select audience in aid of the RNLI. They sang music by Dvorac and Bruckner, as well as English partsongs and African folksongs. Two students from KEVICS Totnes delighted the audience with their marimba playing and after the concert members of the Alvington Singers, who were in the audience, joined the choir for a reprise of the works by Bruckner. A real night to remember.

On Sunday 20 June the Fry family, owners of Blackness Marine, held a family day from 2.00 to 6pm. There was a BBQ, Music, Cream teas and ices and a very successful raffle. During a live demonstration with the Royal Navy "Casualties" were rescued by the Inshore lifeboat from a whaler following an explosion on board. The children enjoyed tractor rides around the farm whilst the more adventurous paddled their own canoe on one of the 10 man canoes brought along by Canoe Adventures. It is hoped that a figure in excess of £2000 will have been raised by the event which is a tribute to the hard work put in by Iain Simons of the Dart Fundraising team and the Fry family, as well as to the generosity of those who took part.

Dai Richards, DLA, in charge of the Bar BQ at Blackness fun day

Canoe Racing Sunday 23 May 2010

Unfortunately last years excellent position could not be repeated and this year we came sixth out of ten. Some of the races were incredibly close and Dart won their first race by 0.00.2 seconds despite breaking a paddle within a few strokes of the start. The local team, "Hands on" from Harberton won the event. A great day in the sunshine was had by all. Profits from the day of £800 were generously divided by Canoe Adventures between the RNLI and the Totnes Chernobyl Children's Project.

Three of Poole's RNLI inshore lifeboat crew are in the team rowing a 32ft (9.75m) Cornish gig from Land's End to Poole dressed as pirates. Helmsman John Vine and Crew Members Mike Fearn and Mark Ponchaud took to the water in the pirate boat "Arrypaye" on Saturday 15 May as part of the Pirates of Poole team and are rowing a staggering 260 miles to Poole Quay. ILB Crew Member Ray Murphy rowed two legs from Mevagissey to Plymouth.
They are completing the 2-week row in full fancy dress, collecting treasure (money) along the way for the RNLI and four other charities - Macmillan Cancer Support, Wessex Heart Beat, Headway, and The Royal Marines Charitable Trust.
They have already stopped at several seaside towns and harbours along the way including Penlee where they started, Falmouth, Mevagissy, Fowey, Plymouth and Salcombe.
Today, the 21st, they have rowed from Salcombe, round Start Point and across Start Bay to Dartmouth where they were met offshore by the Dart inshore lifeboat.
They will be calling on Saturday 22 May at Exmouth, Sunday 23rd at Lyme Regis, Monday at Portland, Tuesday 25th at Weymouth, Wednesday at Lulworth Cove, Friday 28th at Swanage and finish in Poole on Sunday 30th.

Life Jacket Clinic

The annual free Lifejacket check offered by the Dart RNLI Sea Safety team on Saturday 17 April was a great success from all points of view. One hundred and seventeen lifejackets were examined by the Ocean Safety team from Plymouth. Of those forty nine failed and were not fit for purpose. Fortunately these could all be repaired and only a further nine were condemned. The commonest problems were with faulty firing mechanisms or corroded or outdated gas cylinders.
Thirteen boat owners also requested free Sea (Safety Evaluation Assessment) checks for their boats by the Dart Sea Safety team when their boats were back in the water. These can be organised by contacting John Yunnie, the Dart RNLI Sea Safety Officer. (mobile. 0776 800 7365)

Tues 12 Jan. An excellent illustrated talk by Mike Rowley at Dartmouth Yacht Club on Tuesday 12 Jan on "The sinking of HMS Victoria" was well attended on a foul night and raised £230.

The Dart fundraising team beat the Operations team in their inaugural skittle match at the Dartmouth Yacht Club Saturday 14th November. In the end it all depended on the final member of the fundraising team, Sandra Myers, and she rose magnificently to the occasion. Harry Escott, Chair of the victorious team, generously announced that there would be a another chance for the Ops team to improve their performance next year in a return match.

John Risdon gave a fascinating illustrated talk about his walk across Exmoor and Dartmoor along the Mariners Way at the Dartmouth Yacht Club on Tuesday 13th October. Sponsorship of the walk in June raised over £600 and a further £225 was raised by supporters coming to the presentation.

Choir 86 from Newton Abbot gave a well received concert at the Dartmouth Guildhall on September 24th. The programme included medlies from Guys and Dolls as well as songs by Simon and Garfunkel. The Song of the Jolly Roger, sung by the Men's chorus went down particularly well. £453 was raised for the Dartmouth RNLI.

Regatta 2009 Helicopter exercises

There were two exercises. The first with RAF 22 Squadron from Chivenor took place on Wednesday 26th August at 17:30. The second, with RN 791 Squadron from Culdrose, was at 12:00 on Saturday 29th. The demonstrations and the two practice exercises with the RAF in the days before enabled several crewmen and helms to be signed up for their helicopter competancy and was an invaluable experience.

Tony Chapman is winched aboard

Regatta 2009 Sea safety

From Thursday (27 August) through to Saturday 29 August, the RNLI's Sea Safety volunteers were on the water at the Dartmouth Regatta. They were aboard their 4.8m demonstration Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) Evelyn M Murdoch. They undertook nine free full Safety Equipment Advisory (SEA) Checks for boat owners as well as twenty advisory checks on flares, EPIRBs and VHF. Fifteen other checks were on engine maintainance and a further thirty were on life jacket maintainance. Any boat owner in our area can request a free advisory Sea Check from John Yunnie, our RNLI Sea Safety Officer, through contacting the Lifeboat Station. (see contacts)

RNLI Flag day 1st August

The Flag day in Dartmouth raised the magnificent sum of £1770. This was the best we have ever achieved by over £200. Congratulations to the organisers and many thanks to all those who collected as well as those who gave.

RNLI FETE 7TH AUGUST 2009

The day dawned sunny and this created the best atmosphere of all, happiness. A lot of effort had been extended to make this Fete happen and the reward was to see fantastic weather which allowed us to welcome crowds of visitors, and they were prepared to spend money. £1995 was raised on the day before expenses.

The Tea Hut was a great success as was the entertainment for the children in the form of Sink the Pirates and Splat the Rat. They even proved to be popular with the adults.

Our own D Class lifeboat was in attendance and proved to be a good crowd puller, lots of photographs of grandchildren on the boat with helmets on. All the volunteer helpers worked extremely hard and I feel sure that the results will show that. The Souvenir stall proved to be a great attraction and lots of visitors bought their Christmas cards early, as well as lots of gifts.

We finished the day with Raffle Draw, which was well stocked with prizes from some very generous sponsors. All in all, a very happy day that did a lot to cement the relationships of the RNLI with both locals and visitors.

Saturday 6th June There was a free Lifejacket Clinic at the Dart Lifeboat Station.

Qualified service engineers from Ocean Safety pointed out any faults, offered to rectify them on the spot or to take them back to their service centre at Lee Mill, Ivybridge, if more work needed to be done. Chris Robinson from Shipmates Chandlery was on hand to show and supply a full range of lifejackets and buoyancy aids for all ages.

Despite poor weather 84 lifejackets were presented of which 15% were condemned. Many others needed minor adjustments and replacement parts. Out of date cartridges and loose gas bottles were the most common faults.

AGM of the Dart Fundraising team

The AGM took place in the lifeboat station at 7pm on Monday 2nd March.

Clare Blight, Senior RNLI Fundraising Manager for the South West, opened the meeting by introducing herself and welcoming so many people, both old and new. She thanked the Committee for their hard work during the last year and urged the team to make the most of the contacts they have made. She then called for the Treasurer's report.
Colin Myers produced the Annual Report, which has been audited, showing Banked Income of £77, 208.50p which included two large donations of £30,000 and £15,000 plus Gift Aid of £15,000. There have been donations from all over the country plus Europe. Contribution Boxes raised £5397.88p. Branch events raised £8,200 and £3,300 was spent. The Local Membership Scheme started and run by Bob has raised £1200. The Newsletter run by John Fenton seems to be breaking even and is giving us lots of coverage.
Clare resumed the Chair and stated that we needed a new Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Souvenir Secretary. Before asking for nominations she wanted to record our thanks to Terry and Sandra Knight for their very hard work as Chairman and Souvenir Secretary ever since the Branch was formed.
Harry and Jo Escott were nominated as Chairman and Souvenir Secretary respectively, Clare Thorp as Hon. Secretary and Mike Holliday as Vice Chairman. Diane proposed and Anna seconded and they were duly elected. Colin Myers will remain as Treasurer, Bob Hattersley as Membership Secretary and Gordon Pepperell as Box Secretary with Brian and Anna helping with clearing boxes as before. Anna Perry has asked that she should become Events Co-ordinator and take more of a Communication role.
Brian and Diane Leighton, Alan Sherratt, John King and Iain Symons indicated their willingness to stand as Committee members.
Clare thanked the Committee again for their support this year, especially the retiring members and handed over to Harry as the new Chairman.

SOS events in Dartmouth

Supporters of the Dart RNLI lifeboat raised nearly £2900 with events for the national RNLI SOS scheme. The local fundraising team, the operations team and the educational volunteers all organised events. Other supporters held private functions. Peter Lucas held a dinner to commemorate their trip to the historic lifeboat rally in Gothenburg last summer and Jim Brent at the Ship In Dock donated £5 for every steak he sold that night. J. Sainsbury's had supported SOS day throughout the South West, and for the first time the Dart fundraising team were at the local store, packing bags and handing out literature.
The children from three of our local primary schools donated money to come to school in fancy dress on the day. Dartmouth Primary School went for Spots Or Stripes. Stoke Fleming Primary School were Smooth Or Scruffy and St John the Baptist School dressed up nautically. Between them the children raised £280.
All the children from Stoke Fleming School visited the lifeboat station during the week to learn how an Inshore Lifeboat operates, as well as seeing living examples of the words Volunteer and Charity.
William Smith, an ex-pupil of St John Baptist School, won the competition held last summer to suggest a name for the new Inshore Lifeboat. He was presented on SOS day with a photograph of the lifeboat, to be hung in his old school.
The Operations team ran a whole series of events on Saturday 31st of January in the lifeboat station. Over 100 Sausages were Sizzled and Soup was Slurped. The greatest draw however was to see how the hairiest helmsmen, Chris Tracey, stood up to having his back waxed. The event was supervsed by Jo Tinning, Beautician and Crew in waiting. Strip Our Skin raised the magnificent sum of £1340. An extra £45 being donated by his colleagues for the dubious honour of doing the deed. It was a rip-off!

Saturday 8th November

The Dart lifeboat station was open to visitors for the morning. £200 was taken in sales of souvenieres and cards and several people joined the "local membership scheme" RNLI Christmas cards remain on sale from Shipmates chandlery in Newcomen Road, Dartmouth.

Dartmouth Lifeboat Week. 26th July to 2nd August 2008

Saturday 26th July. The Flag day in Dartmouth in support of the Dartmouth Lifeboat Appeal was organised by Elizabeth Essex and was very successful.

Monday 28th July. Tony and Chris Scorer opened their "sub tropical garden" at Crieff Lodge, Clarence Hill. They were finalists in "The Times" Small Garden Award in 2002. Refreshments and some plants were available and £150 was raised.

Friday 1st August. The local RNLI Fete was held in the Royal Avenue Gardens, Dartmouth. In spite of the uncertain weather there was a good attendance and £949 was raised.

On the 3rd of July eighty RNLI supporters boarded the Cardiff Castle for a "Gipsy river cruise." They were entertained with music by Marc Walpot, troubadour, and consumed a glorious candlelit feast prepared by Philip Watts.

Robin Shiffner, Chair of the Dart Management team thanked Bob Hattersley and his team for all their hard work and for raising over £700 for the Appeal.

John Risdon, Deputy Head of Dartmouth Community College in the 1980's, completed a sponsored trip to Dartmouth on June 27th. raising £600 for the Lifeboat Appeal. He walked 70 miles along the old Mariners Way from Bideford Quay to Totnes and then boarded a yacht for the final stage to Dartmouth. He was met by members of the local fundraising team and crew members, including Kevin John who had run the Coastal Marathon for the Appeal back in February.

The Dart lifeboat crew reached a gallant third place in the annual Canoe racing at The Malsters at Tuckenhay on Sunday 1st June. This was inspite of posting the second fastest time round the course. A large crowd of supporters and onlookers had a very enjoyable afternoon on the quayside in the hot sun. Over £400, raised from the Bar B Q, Tombola and Raffle was donated to the Dartmouth Lifeboat Appeal.

An excellent evening of entertainment was enjoyed at The Flavel on 7th April. Bearne's Antiques hosted an evening of "Call my Bluff". They sent three of their Heads of Department who each spelt out exactly what the object of antiquity was before us - unfortunately two of the three were lying! £696 was raised for the Lifeboat Appeal fund.

The Nautical Quiz at the Royal Castle Hotel, Dartmouth, on Sunday 17th Feb was great fun as well as raising around £700 for the Lifeboat Appeal. Geoff Evans of NONSTOP Sail had arranged general knowledge questions, as well as setting some very difficult nautical ones. Those who knew the most abstruse answers were automatically disqualified and recieved a prize for coming last! A few had ventured into nautical dress but were no better at their demonstation of the Hornpipe that those who had not! The Dartmouth RNLI Fundraisers are very grateful to the local businesses that donated such generous raffle prizes.

SOS fundraising day Friday 25th Jan. 2008

The Coffee morning in the "Over 60's" Rest Room,in Dartmouth Market Square raised £80.

Dartmouth Primary School

The entire school visited the Lifeboat Station, class by class, during the week leading up to SOS day. Much of the weeks teaching was based around the work of the RNLI, including introducing the pupils to concepts such as volunteering and Charitable giving, as well as problem solving, Mathematics and History. On SOS day the pupils arrived in decorated Wellies, for which there were prizes. Each class had ideas on how they would make money for the RNLI at the School Fair and £306.98 was raised.

Arthur Curnow, ex Coxswain of the Torbay lifeboat, gave a most entertaining, off the cuff, talk to an enthusiasic audience at the Dartmouth Yacht Club on the 19th of January. £100 was raised for the Appeal Fund and we are all looking forward to seeing his slides on a future occasion!

Dartmouth Lifeboat Station Open day Saturday 10th November.

Over 250 visitors were shown round the station by members of the volunteer crew and operations team. It was the first opportunity for the public to come inside the new building and the facilities were well recieved. Many left donations to the Appeal Fund.

Dartmouth Lifeboat week 2007

The magnificent sum of £9100 was raised over the week towards the Dartmouth lifeboat station Appeal. D520 was shown to the public for the first time at the Fete in the Royal Avenue gardens where a cheque from the Dartmouth & Kingswear Society for £500 was handed over by their Chairman Doug Twigg.

Saturday 12th May 2007

Dartmouths new lifeboat crew found themselves up the creek with a paddle at the annual Canoe racing event hosted by Canoe Adventures at the Maltsters Arms, Tuckenhay. After closely fought races against 'White Feather' and 'Stoke Up' the crew powered home to their fist victory against 'Luscombe Might', coming home a full 20 seconds in front. (picture) However, their luck didn't hold and they were beaten in their final race by a canoe full of Morris Dancers, 'Great Western'. Crew captain Chris Tracey said 'It was a great day, The team worked well together and we are already looking forward to coming back next year." Several local firms sponsored the crew and gave money for crew tee shirts. £415 also went to the Dartmouth Lifeboat Appeal.

Wednesday 16th May 2007

The Studio room at the Flavel was packed to hear Kevin Pyne read excerpts from his books of poetry, "Further up the river" and “First across the line”. Tickets included wine and nibbles and £200 was raised for the Dartmouth Lifeboat Appeal.

Friday 27th April 2007

David Morgan, RNLI Director of Engineering, gave a fascinating talk on Lifeboat development. The meeting started with a buffet at the Royal Dart Yacht Club Kingswear and £313 was ahnded over to the Lifeboat Appeal.

On the 3rd March 2007 sixty five guests and supporters had a very enjoyable evening at Alf Resco's with Hanging Johnny singing their rumbustious Sea Shanties.

The Health and Safety group of the MCTi in Dartmouth was very aware of the need for an inshore lifeboat and in the Spring of 2004 sent their recommendation to the RNLI in as well as making it one of their key projects.

The MCTi (Market and Coastal Town initiative) held a public display of all their projects at the Guild Hall, Dartmouth between 2pm and 9pm on Thursday 9th Feb.

John Tucker, District Councillor, came straight from Committee in Totnes, to announce the news that SHDC was prepared to negociate terms for the RNLI to use the site of the condemmed pavilion on Coronation Park as a temporary lifeboat station.