Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay

Climb aboard a French lifeboat at Saint-Quay-Portrieux

Picture 1 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 2 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 3 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 4 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 5 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 6 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay Picture 7 Meet the French lifeboat crew at Saint Quay

In the Port d’Armor, at Saint-Quay-Portrieux, you can meet the crew of a French lifeboat – climb aboard and get to know the volunteers who brave all weathers to assist those in peril at sea.

Rencontre avec les sauveteurs en mer de la SNSM

Dressed in fluorescent orange,William, the president of this branch of the SNSM (French National  Sea Rescue Association) welcomes us with a firm handshake. Next come Charles, the lifeboat's skipper, Yannick the mechanic, and latest recruit, Raynald – a strapping lad formerly in the French navy and now “our baby”.  Would he say this was a vocation? “I was a soldier in the Marine Corps, it's true, but I think that this is more a case of fulfilling a childhood dream.” You don't necessarily have to be sailor to join the team though. “You just have to be co-opted. And not get seasick…”. The Saint-Quay team has 28 members, divided into 5 crews, each of which is on call for a week, all day and all night. All are volunteers who live nearby, because they might be called out at any time. Joining a lifeboat crew is a serious commitment that impacts on the whole family.

Protected by Saint Anne

Julie et Marilou, futures sauveteurs en mer

Next we are admitted to the lifeboat station's inner depths – the changing room. “This is where we get our drysuits on and pick up our equipment”. We get to examine one of the drysuits, displayed on a dummy, and see they have any number of watertight pockets. Then we are given the very exceptional honour of being invited aboard the lifeboat by its skipper, Charles. The boat is the pride of the SNSM fleet. Not only is it unsinkable and self-righting, but“It can maintain a speed of 25 knots in waves up to 4 metres high”. Our jaws drop in amazement. Nevertheless, Charles points out that it has a watertight escape hatch, “just in case…”. Moving on to the bridge, we are invited to try out the captain's seat; we see it's well equipped with a radio direction finder, radar screen, depth finder,  map reader, sat nav, integrated video and so on – in fact it looks more like the dashboard in the cockpit of an aircraft. And whose job is it to keep an eye on all this? “That's done by the radio navigator, who stays glued to his post no matter what.” But we've come across a little statue of Saint Anne, so he isn't quite alone in his task. “You won't find any old timers who'll go to sea without her,” says Charles. In the bow there's a fire hose, rescue and first-aid equipment – everything is neatly stored and ready for action. “You have to be ready to set sail at any time!” Even with we visitors on board – the alarm could sound at any minute!

Into the heart of this jewel of the sea

Nous sommes autorisés à pénétrer dans la salle des machines

Last of all we are allowed into the engine room, with its two 500 hp engines. Today the sea is totally calm and the engine room is quiet. But, when it's in operation, temperatures can soar to 70 degrees and the noise can hit 90 decibels! It's not hard to imagine what it must be like on the boat as it speeds headlong into the waves! Speed is of the essence, because to survive a shipwreck every second counts. When the alarm sounds, the crew has 15 minutes to get the boat underway. Charles gives us an example: “Two young, inexperienced lovebirds decided to take father's boat out in the middle of the night.” A gust of wind, too much heel - “they panicked and tried to swim back to the shore!” It could have been a very costly mistake to make, but for the rescue team, who only took “seventeen minutes to fish them out again”. That's a feat that must have made them feel very proud, or, according to Charles, very satisfied. The satisfaction of a job well done. Done quietly, done anonymously, done well. We were privileged to have just a little glimpse of that job, in the company of Charles and his colleagues.

Text : Christine Barbedet