Dates for your diary in 2025

Caister Lifeboat was paged last night (17/04/24) at 22:51 by Humber Coastguard with reports of 2 distress beacons 20 nautical miles NE of Caister. Our all-weather lif eboat, Bernard Matthews ll, was launched by 22:59, and the crew proceeded at best speed towards the coordinates provided. At 23:18 a call came through from the Coastguard to say it was a false activation from a military aircraft and to stand down. The lifeboat returned to the station by 23:36 for a full wash down and fuel up , ready for the next shout. 

This footage is taken from the third emergency call-out of the Caister Lifeboat tasked yesterday to reports of a swimmer in difficulty off Winterton.

Caister Lifeboat will open to the public on Easter Sunday with a new range of clothing and souvenirs going on sale. New T-shirts featuring the Never Turn Back motto and another design showcasing Caister's all-weather boats since becoming an independent charity. Delivery of the T-shirts are due in the next few days and pre-orders will be packed and posted as soon as they arrive. Other gifts, including three new designs of mugs to complement our existing one to make a full set of four, will also be launched. Cushions, bearing our image, will make a perfect accessory for the home or holiday caravan and a new range of teddy bears to comfort young and old. The new Medina Class lifeboat features in some of the designs, including a new pin badge - something we have been unable to stock owing to design and supply issues in the past. However, visitors are being warned that with construction works on site until mid-May - to allow for the new boat - access may be restricted or involve a diversion. That, along with some supply issues and the installation of new till systems, has caused a slight delay in getting opened this year. We would like to apologise to anyone who has missed us being open as early as we usually would.

Caister Lifeboat is selling it’s all-weather Bernard Matthews II lifeboat, launch carriage and tractor on the auction site eBay . With a brand new £1.6m lifeboat under construction, the directors and crew are hoping the sale of the current boat will help pay some of the costs. With a starting bid of £300,000 and a Buy It Now price of £420,000, it comprises the entire package of the lifeboat, it’s unique hydraulic launch carriage and fully-marinised Caterpillar tractor. Guy Gibson, the coxswain of Caister Lifeboat, said: “We’ve designed the next generation of lifeboat for Caister, but the old boat and launch system still have a lot of life in them. “For £300k to £400k another independent lifeboat charity could have an absolute bargain here. “When we became independent of the RNLI in 1969, we had virtually nothing. Our first lifeboat, the Shirley Jean Adye, cost us £4,200 (£73k in 2022 prices). “We didn’t have enough money to pay the instalments and the crew chipped in £50 each. “With the fully-serviced boat with just 800 hours on the clock, bespoke launch carriage and fully marinised Caterpillar Challenger tractor, it’s got everything you need except lifejackets and the shed.” In December Caister Lifeboat announced it had placed an order with Diverse Marine in Cowes on the Isle of Wight for a 14m Medina Class Lifeboat. The sale of the existing Valentijn class lifeboat will not be completed until the new vessel has been delivered and accepted into service in Autumn 2022. Mr Gibson said: “The new Medina Class lifeboat will give us many more capabilities than the Bernard Matthews II. We will have electronic navigation systems to send search patterns from a shore base to the lifeboat and comfort for our crew and casualties will be greatly improved. “That said, the Bernard Matthews II has been a very good boat for us; has saved countless lives and with her speed and agility at sea has a great future in lifesaving with another organisation. “However, there is all kinds of other uses that potential bidders might see; and we welcome all bids from serious contenders.” See the full listing HERE