PM listeners' sounds: Lifeboat launch

Listener Steve Williams sent in this recording of RNLI Swanage's Mersey class lifeboat being launched into a force five southerly wind.

Steve writes: "While the boat is still in the comfort of the boathouse, the first sound heard is the mechanic's alarm as the batteries are switched on. After the props are confirmed to be clear, the engines are fired up and checked to be operating normally. Later, when the boat hits the water we throttle up to make for deeper water. The radio operator contacts Portland Coastguard to alert them that we are at sea should they need to contact us."

"This sequence of sounds has been with me now for fifteen years," he added.