Ryde Inshore Rescue Service 1.33

Ryde Inshore Rescue Service is a voluntary run lifeboat station located in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Ryde Inshore Rescue is an independent lifeboat station within the United Kingdom, is not part of the RNLI and does not receive funding from the RNLI or the government.The station is on call to the Coast Guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service operates an inshore lifeboat from its station at Appley Lane. The organisation training is to a high standard and the volunteers are expected to be able to give at least 1 day a week to ensure that they meet the exacting requirements of the organization.HistoryThe first lifeboat service in the town started in 1858 and was run on a voluntary basis. On 8 May 1869 the town's rescue volunteers service was supplied with a new lifeboat called The Captain Hans Busk which was kept and launched from a slipway on Ryde Pier. The cost of the new lifeboat was met by Hans Busk. The lifeboat was built by J. Samuel White at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. She was 30ft in length, 6ft across the beam and had a depth of 2.4ft. The lifeboat had 24 oars and she was fitted with two sailing masts. She was steered with a galvanised iron tiller. For transit the lifeboat had its own carriage and wheels and could be moved over land if the situation required.First BoathouseThe first station boathouse was constructed on the west side of the town’s pier in 1870. In 1894 the running of the station passed into the hands of the RNLI. The station operated pulling lifeboats from here until closed as an RNLI station in 1923. The decision to close the station was made following the placing of a motor lifeboat at nearby Bembridge Lifeboat Station.