Read Online Lifeboat! by Margaret Dickinson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Margaret Dickinson
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the other little lad.â
As Nigel was lifted into the lifeboat, Macready spoke to the pilot of the Sea King over the radio link and swiftly explained the situation. âOne boyâs reasonably okay, but the otherâs in bad shape. He needs immediate hospital treatment.â
The pilotâs voice came over loudly, âMake ready to receive the winchman. Over.â
Macready acknowledged and handed the phone back to Pete. âKeep in contact with him.â
Fred Douglas arrived in the coxswainâs cockpit and took over the wheel, holding the lifeboat steady whilst Macready went forâard to look at the boys. Squeezing his way beneath the protective tarpaulin covering the forâard cockpit he glanced at one of the boys sitting huddled in blankets, but attacking a chocolate bar from the emergency rations on board. Martin Milner was still suffering from shock, but Macready could see that he was in no danger now. He turned his attention to the motionless form on the stretcher being wrapped warmly by Tony and Phil.
âThe pilotâs all set to lower the winchman as soon as weâre ready?â It was a question as well as a statement.
âAbout two minutes, Coxân,â responded Tony Douglas, all the while his fingers deftly wrapping the boy in a warm blanket whilst Phil Davis was making sure the boyâs nose and throat were clear and that he could breathe.
Macready returned aft to retake the wheel and relay the message through Pete to the helicopter pilot.
âSaltershaven lifeboat, this is Rescue Five-five. Suggest you steer course on bearing two-three-zero as we begin our approach. Over.â
Macready promptly turned the helm to bring the lifeboat pointing in the right direction.
â⦠Proceeding on course two-three-zero. Over,â Pete informed the pilot who at once began to manoeuvre his machine to hover about forty feet above the water astern of the lifeboat approaching at an angle of thirty degrees to the port side of the lifeboat so that the winchman and winch operator had the lifeboat in view all the time as he descended from the opening on the starboard side of the helicopter.
Macready watched as the winchman appeared and, swinging slightly, was lowered down towards them whilst Macready kept the lifeboat at a steady speed. The air was filled with noise, the draught from the whirling propellers flattening the waves around the lifeboat as the helicopter came nearer and nearer. The winchman landed on the flat surface of the box at the stern of the boat and immediately disconnected himself from the winch line. The helicopter swung away for a short distance until Nigel Milner had been strapped and secured to the Neil Robertson stretcher the winchman had brought down with him.
The signal was given that they were ready and Pete called up the helicopter which moved in again. The winchman caught the swinging cable and attached it to himself and the stretcher and then steadily they were hauled aloft, swaying and twisting round and round, towards the helicopter.
The faces of the lifeboat crew were upturned towards the Sea King still droning noisily above them, until they saw that the stretcher was safely aboard. The helicopter lifted and swung away towards the coast.
Within minutes the boy would be at a hospital.
Macready swung the wheel and turned the Mary Martha Clamp towards Saltershaven, pausing only whilst two members of his crew retrieved the inflatable from the water. Pete Donaldson was speaking on the R/T to Breymouth informing them that the boys had been found, the service completed and that the lifeboat was returning to Saltershaven, the estimated time of arrival being 17.45.
When the lifeboat beached, Joe and Blanche Milner were waiting on the sands with a policeman. So was Jack Hansard, who came right to the waterâs edge in his landrover to pick up the casualty. At the end of Beach Road, an ambulance waited.
The lifeboat drove in, bows foremost,
As Nigel was lifted into the lifeboat, Macready spoke to the pilot of the Sea King over the radio link and swiftly explained the situation. âOne boyâs reasonably okay, but the otherâs in bad shape. He needs immediate hospital treatment.â
The pilotâs voice came over loudly, âMake ready to receive the winchman. Over.â
Macready acknowledged and handed the phone back to Pete. âKeep in contact with him.â
Fred Douglas arrived in the coxswainâs cockpit and took over the wheel, holding the lifeboat steady whilst Macready went forâard to look at the boys. Squeezing his way beneath the protective tarpaulin covering the forâard cockpit he glanced at one of the boys sitting huddled in blankets, but attacking a chocolate bar from the emergency rations on board. Martin Milner was still suffering from shock, but Macready could see that he was in no danger now. He turned his attention to the motionless form on the stretcher being wrapped warmly by Tony and Phil.
âThe pilotâs all set to lower the winchman as soon as weâre ready?â It was a question as well as a statement.
âAbout two minutes, Coxân,â responded Tony Douglas, all the while his fingers deftly wrapping the boy in a warm blanket whilst Phil Davis was making sure the boyâs nose and throat were clear and that he could breathe.
Macready returned aft to retake the wheel and relay the message through Pete to the helicopter pilot.
âSaltershaven lifeboat, this is Rescue Five-five. Suggest you steer course on bearing two-three-zero as we begin our approach. Over.â
Macready promptly turned the helm to bring the lifeboat pointing in the right direction.
â⦠Proceeding on course two-three-zero. Over,â Pete informed the pilot who at once began to manoeuvre his machine to hover about forty feet above the water astern of the lifeboat approaching at an angle of thirty degrees to the port side of the lifeboat so that the winchman and winch operator had the lifeboat in view all the time as he descended from the opening on the starboard side of the helicopter.
Macready watched as the winchman appeared and, swinging slightly, was lowered down towards them whilst Macready kept the lifeboat at a steady speed. The air was filled with noise, the draught from the whirling propellers flattening the waves around the lifeboat as the helicopter came nearer and nearer. The winchman landed on the flat surface of the box at the stern of the boat and immediately disconnected himself from the winch line. The helicopter swung away for a short distance until Nigel Milner had been strapped and secured to the Neil Robertson stretcher the winchman had brought down with him.
The signal was given that they were ready and Pete called up the helicopter which moved in again. The winchman caught the swinging cable and attached it to himself and the stretcher and then steadily they were hauled aloft, swaying and twisting round and round, towards the helicopter.
The faces of the lifeboat crew were upturned towards the Sea King still droning noisily above them, until they saw that the stretcher was safely aboard. The helicopter lifted and swung away towards the coast.
Within minutes the boy would be at a hospital.
Macready swung the wheel and turned the Mary Martha Clamp towards Saltershaven, pausing only whilst two members of his crew retrieved the inflatable from the water. Pete Donaldson was speaking on the R/T to Breymouth informing them that the boys had been found, the service completed and that the lifeboat was returning to Saltershaven, the estimated time of arrival being 17.45.
When the lifeboat beached, Joe and Blanche Milner were waiting on the sands with a policeman. So was Jack Hansard, who came right to the waterâs edge in his landrover to pick up the casualty. At the end of Beach Road, an ambulance waited.
The lifeboat drove in, bows foremost,
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