Serene as the scene may look, the boat sitting securely at her mooring is fuelled, oiled and ready to go at a moments notice - her volunteer crew summoned by pager from around the town.

Today's Aruns Trents and Sevens represent state-of-the-art high technology survival machines that float, - whichever way up they are. Designed and built to carry their crews safely and at speed to the scene of a casualty - and more importantly, to carry them all home again - often through storm and tempest of a kind unimaginable to a land based person, lifeboats are designed to survive.

Weymouth with its treacherous waters off the Bill, has had 10 lifeboats stationed here since the town's first lifeboat, the Agnes Harriet arrived in 1869. Since then they have launched in service some 1400 times and saved over 800 lives.

In 1998 Weymouth finally got its own Inshore Atlantic 75, called Phyl Clare 3 - a tough, fast, 7.5 metre long bright orange RIB, able to operate in weather conditions up to Force 7.

A coxswain once said that an Atlantic at speed in a 5 to 6 blow 'was like riding a motorbike inside a giant washing machine when the tub was on rinse/spin'. Imagine doing that and trying to navigate and use the radio and avoid the crab pots and stay out of the choppers down draught and see where you're going because it's 2am on a dark cold winters night and it's still blowing a gale! And that's only on the way to the casualty! (a drunk who has fallen off rocks somewhere near Bowleaze) but...
They're only volunteers - average age of the Weymouth ILB crew - 28. One of whom is a lady. A structural engineer by trade and profession.

The Weymouth Lifeboat House and adjacent shop are open most days of the year and is always a good place to catch up on local gossip - in exchange for a donation!