• The salcombe lifeboats

Salcombe’s Lifeboats

All Weather Lifeboat

  • Tamar Class
  • Crew compliment of 7
  • Displacement 32 Tonnes
  • 25 knots speed
  • 250 miles range
  • 2000 bhp Engines
  • Self righting if capsizes
  • Capacity for casualties 44 (self righting) or 118 (non self righting)
  • Initial Cost £2.7m

Inshore Lifeboat

  • Atlantic 85 Class
  • Crew compliment of 4
  • Displacement 1.8 tonnes
  • 35 knots speed
  • Endurance 3hrs at full speed
  • Capacity for casualties 24
  • Initial Cost £240k

The ALB can launch in All Weather conditions, the worst conditions we have in Salcombe are a South Easterly Gale with a Low Spring Tide, this makes crossing the Bar at the entrance to Salcombe harbour very challenging but the ALB and its crew will launch in those conditions if needed. In such conditions it would be unsafe for them to return to Salcombe in which event they may divert to Plymouth or Dartmouth to seek shelter until the conditions improved at Salcombe.

The ILB with its shallower draft can operate in shallower waters than the ALB and will normally operate close to the coast whereas the ALB will operate along the coast but also out to Sea up to 50 miles off Salcombe in the main Shipping Lanes.