Carrybridge RNLI in Northern Ireland has welcomed the success of its volunteer crew member Douglas McFarland, who has completed his Tier 2 pass-out.
The pass-out was conducted by coastal lifeboat trainer Sean Ginnelly, who had travelled up from Achill Island to conduct the assessment on behalf of the RNLI.
During this visit, Ginnelly also assessed Kyle Boyd, who successfully completed his helm revalidation — as did Chris Cathcart who completed his during an earlier visit.
The pass-out, conducted on Tuesday (12 May) both ashore at the lifeboat station and afloat on Upper Lough Erne, lasted three hours and rigorously tested McFarland’s skills across a wide range of operational areas.
Tasks included towing, man overboard procedures, emergency drills, helming, maritime theory and other essential lifesaving skills.
This final pass-out represents the culmination of many years of intensive training, with McFarland having logged hundreds of hours in afloat exercises, hands-on sessions and active service calls in all conditions.
The new revalidation process requires helms to be reassessed every five years on various command activities both ashore and afloat to ensure safe operations of the lifeboat.
Carrybridge RNLI continues to train volunteers in various roles, both afloat and ashore, to the highest standards as part of its mission to save lives on Lough Erne.
Chris Cathcart, who is also volunteer lifeboat training coordinator, said: “I am very happy with the time and commitment taken by Douglas who has reached this milestone on his lifeboat journey. Douglas completed his Tier 2 tasks to a very high standard during their final pass-out, and I wish him every success in their further progression.
“I’d also like to congratulate Kyle on a very successful helm revalidation carried out ashore and afloat today. The level of command witnessed today is a credit to his ability.”
Stephen Scott, lifeboat operations manager at the station said: “I’d like to thank Douglas on successfully completing his pass-out. We are very fortunate to have a really dedicated volunteer crew at our station and I’m delighted that today we celebrate Douglas reaching this significant landmark.
“Chris and Kyle both play a pivotal role in the station at Carrybridge as lifeboat training coordinator and lifeboat trainer assessor respectively when it comes to teaching our other crew, and I’d like to thank them for the many hours of work dedicated to training others. All RNLI crew train to an extremely high level and devote a lot of their time to our charity.”
