Life Savers' Motto

 "  You have to go out, but 

you do not have to come back!"

"A ship was stranded off Cape Hatteras on the Diamond Shoals and one of the life saving crew reported the fact that this ship had run ashore on the dangerous shoals.  The old skipper gave the command to man the lifeboat and one of the men shouted out that we might make it out to the wreck but we would never make it back.  The old skipper looked around and said, "The Blue Book says we've got to go out and it doesn't say a damn thing about having to come back."

Clarence P. Brady's account (Retired US Coast Guard) of Patrick Etheridge's remark while Commanding Officer and Keeper of the Pea Island Life Saver Station       

Wooden Oar Life Saver Rescue Boat Which Brought 42 of the Mirlo Crew to Shore

Chicamacomico Life Saving Station 

1874-1954

Who might have used this type of boat and for what reason?
How did a 1,000 lb. boat of this nature get from it's storage shed to the ocean to conduct the Mirlo rescue in 1918?
What kind of physical condition did the seafaring crew need to be in to make rescues in high seas?
What might they have done to train for such rescues during this time period?
What can you infer from this photo about boat technology of the time period?
What does the photo tell us about the life and times of the people who made it and used it in their occupation?
Why has the boat survived for almost 100 years?