FOUR Wearside lifeboatmen are helping to crew a restored lifeboat being rowed down the North East coast.
The men aim to raise up to £50,000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The 99-year-old pulling lifeboat, William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington, is manned by York-based pub regulars, the Ales Angels, who have been raising funds
for charity since 1999.
Volunteers from Tynemouth, Sunderland, Hartlepool and Staithes & Runswick RNLI stations are also assisting on various legs of the 60-mile voyage.
William Riley arrived at Sunderland Marina last night, flanked by Tynemouth and Sunderland lifeboats.
She was due to leave for Hartlepool at 2pm today, when Sunderland RNLI crew members, Sam Grant, Jon Pollock, Duncan Gomes and Anthony Jobling will be among the 10-strong team of oarsmen.
Anthony said: "It's a fantastic opportunity for current RNLI volunteers to turn the clock back almost 100 years and experience what it was like to form part of a lifeboat crew using manual oar power alone."
Built at London in 1909, William Riley began her RNLI career at Upgang – to the north of Whitby – and played a key role in rescuing 145 survivors from the British hospital ship, SS Rohilla, which was wrecked at Saltwick Nab in October, 1914, with the loss of 84 lives.
After moving to Whitby in 1919, the 34-footer served as the town's number two lifeboat until being decommissioned in 1931.
Rediscovered at Barnstable in 2005, after being spotted on Internet auction site, eBay, she has just completed a two-year restoration by Whitby Historic Lifeboat Trust, financed by donations and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
William Riley is expected to reach Whitby at 3pm on Sunday, where she will take part in the town's RNLI flag weekend.
The full article contains 300 words and appears in Sunderland Echo newspaper.
