Dunbar RNLI’s new mechanic is a Scottish first
Dunbar Lifeboat Station has made history by appointing the RNLI’s first female full-time mechanic in Scotland.
Phoebe Douglas has taken up the position and, once fully trained, will be responsible for maintaining the station’s two lifeboats, as well as serving on the crew.
Phoebe, 23, is a mechanical engineering graduate who previously worked for the face-to-face team raising funds for the charity that saves lives at sea, which this week celebrated its 200th anniversary.
Phoebe said: ‘I’ve always wanted to work on boats and wanted a job where I could be outside and hands-on practical rather than being in an office. It’s an ideal job for me in many ways. I also wanted to join the crew but thought that might come later in life. I didn’t think I could get a job where I’d be able to combine being a volunteer too.’
Originally from North Yorkshire, Phoebe studied at Edinburgh University, where she was vice commodore of the sailing club, running the yachting side and organising expeditions on the west coast of Scotland, in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, as well as weekly yacht races. An experienced sailor, she is a qualified dingy instructor and skipper. After graduating last summer she joined the fundraising team for the charity that saves lives at sea, before applying for the role at Dunbar.
She said: ‘I have been sailing since I was 11 years old and every year back in Yorkshire I taught dingy sailing on a reservoir near Whitby.’
Phoebe’s interest in engineering was sparked at a young age. ‘There was a scheme called Engineering for Girls while I was at primary school. There were loads of projects, visits and trips aimed at young girls,’ she explained. ‘I was always mathematically minded in subjects and so it was the obvious choice for me. I was ten years old at the time and that scheme was a massive influence on me.
‘I wanted to study engineering because I like practical stuff, learning about engines, getting hands-on and finding out how things work. At university it was very theoretical and research based, so this job is coming back to the reasons I wanted to get into engineering in the first place.’
Phoebe is currently undertaking intensive training but once passed out she will be looking after the station’s in-shore lifeboat (ILB), tractor and Land Rover at Dunbar and the all-weather lifeboat (ALB), boarding boat and launching davit at Torness Power Station. She takes over from Gipper Ainslie, who left last year after ten years in Dunbar, and works alongside full-time coxswain Gary Fairbairn. While there already female volunteer mechanics operating at Scottish stations, Phoebe is the first full-timer and becomes the sixth woman to join the RNLI team at Dunbar.
While she has a lot to get to grips with, Phoebe said she is already enjoying life in Dunbar: ‘I have a lot of training to do but I spent a lot of time at lifeboat stations with the fundraising side of things so I know how they work. It’s been great so far. Dunbar is a very strong community and, although I had only visited the town a couple of times while fundraising I liked what I saw and only heard good things about it.’
As for being a trailblazer as the first full-time female mechanic in Scotland, Phoebe said: ‘Engineering has always been a massively male dominated industry so I was already aware of what I might be getting myself into. I figured it would be quite unusual but it doesn’t bother me. Doing engineering and the sports I do are already very male dominated so I am well used to it.’
And Phoebe is no stranger to a challenge. Last summer she walked the South West Coast Path, England's longest and most challenging National Trail, running for 630 miles running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset, raising £2,255 for the RNLI in the process. She said: ‘Storm Antoni wrecked my tent, so I had to sleep under my bivvy bag for a week and a half. Out of the 36 days there were only five days when it didn’t rain, everything was mouldy so I had to throw out a lot of my clothes. But it was worth it!’
Lifeboat Operations Manager for Dunbar, Ian Wilson said: ‘We are delighted to have Phoebe on board and we’re sure she’ll do a great job once she’s fully up to speed.’
ends
Notes to editors
Established in 1808, 16 years before the formation of the RNLI, Dunbar Lifeboat Station is one of the oldest in Scotland and is located on the south side of the mouth of the Firth of Forth. Since its formation, its volunteer crews have been honoured with 12 awards for gallantry.
It operates two lifeboats – the Trent class all-weather lifeboat (ALB) John Neville Taylor, moored at Torness Power Station, and the D-class inshore lifeboat (ILB) David Lauder, which launches from Dunbar Harbour.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
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