Burnham-On-Sea’s lifeboat crews joined forces with the town’s gig rowers on Sunday morning for a rare joint training exercise that brought two of the area’s most active marine groups together on the water.
The Burnham-On-Sea Gig Club, which trains regularly with its two gigs – one traditional wooden boat and one modern fibreglass craft – launched from the slipway with their station dummy, known affectionately as ‘Dead Fred’, already aboard.
At the same time, both RNLI lifeboats headed out for their usual weekend exercise, setting the scene for a coordinated session designed to sharpen man‑overboard skills and explore towing techniques between very different types of vessels.
The collaboration was arranged as part of the close working relationship that often exists between Burnham’s marine groups, but this particular exercise offered something new.
With ‘Dead Fred’ repeatedly going over the side, gig rowers practised recovering an unconscious casualty while the lifeboat crews observed, advised and later stepped in to run a full mock rescue together.
Burnham Training Co‑ordinator and Helm Nathan said the session proved valuable for both teams.
He explained that gig club members “practised exercising and recovering with Dead Fred as a man overboard and unconscious casualty.
They then called us in for the mock exercise of an unconscious MOB and we trained and exercised together after that.”
Nathan added that the lifeboat crews worked closely with the rowers on casualty transfer techniques and offered guidance on the safest ways for gigs to recover a person from the water.
Both lifeboats also carried out towing trials with the gigs, giving volunteers experience of handling vessels they do not often encounter during real‑world shouts.
“It was a useful exercise for the RNLI volunteers to work with vessels we don’t often come across,” Nathan said. “Working out how to transfer people and identifying the best points to tow from was really valuable.”
The morning ended with both organisations praising the benefits of shared training, strengthening ties between Burnham’s rescue volunteers and the town’s growing gig‑rowing community.
