Lyle Gun - The Beach Apparatus Gear

The Beach Apparatus Gear

The Lyle gun was just one component of the items carries on the beach cart, many other pieces of equipment were crucial to the proper execution of the beach based rescue. The breeches buoy drill as it was sometimes called, was practiced by the Keeper and all surfmen every Thursday at 2pm as per the manual at all stations. Crews that couldn't perform the drill in adequate time faced dismissal from the service. It was the crew's responsibility to maintain each piece of equipment in ship-shape as the safety of the crew and the success of the rescues depended upon it. Other items on the beach apparatus equipment list included:

• Shot line and flaking box: The shot line is tied to the projectile and is the first line to reach the shipwreck. This is the thinnest line used in the drill and is stored in a special pattern the flaking box. This special pattern allows it to pay-out freely as the gun is fired. After the drill, the shot line is returned to the box by carefully laying it in the flaking pattern ensuring that it is ready for the next use.

• Heaving Stick: The heaving stick was used in case the lyle gun could not be deployed and substituted as a line throwing device. This was a most dangerous technique, as the surfmen would often have to wade deep into the surf in attempt to get a line aboard the ship.

• Tally board: The tally board is used to deliver instructions to the vessel in peril. It is simply a board with printed instructions (English on one side and French on the other) telling the mariners how to aide the surfmen in their rescue efforts. The tally board is tied to the shot line by the keeper at the same time as the whip line and hauled aboard.

"Make the tail of this block fast to the lower mast well up. If the masts are gone then to the best place you can find. Cast off shot line. See that the rope in the block runs free & show signal to shore."

• Whip line and block: The whip consists of two whip reels mounted on the beach cart, the whip line, and the whip block. Once the shot is fired across the wreck or wreck pole, the shore-side end of the shot line is tied to the tail block. At that point is hoped that there is an able bodied seaman aboard the ship capable of hauling in the shot line and attaching the tail block high aboard the ship. Once it is determined that the line has been secured to the vessel, the whip will be used to haul items such as the hawser, breeches buoy and sometimes the life-cart back and forth between the beach and the wreck. This operates in the same manner as an old fashion clothes line with pulleys operates with the surfmen pulling on either the windward or leeward half of the whip from shore.

• Hawser and traveling block: The hawser is the work horse of all the lines. It is a thick, strong rope made from manila with a traveling block attached . This block travels along the hawser and carries the breeches buoy back and forth from the vessel by means of the whip.

• Breeches buoy: The breeches buoy essentially is a life ring sewn into a pair of short pants. It is used to transport the wreck victim from the ship to the beach. It is attached to the traveling block which rides along the hawser and pulled back and forth by the surfmen manning the whip line.

• Fall: The fall is a block and tackle pulling device used to place tension on the hawser. The fall consists of an inner block, and outer block and has a ratio of 4:1 giving five surfmen the pulling strength of twenty. The outer block is painted blue to indicate that it faces seaward and the outer block is painted white to indicate that this block faces shoreward and is attached to the sand anchor pendant.

• Strap: The strap is a rope tied to itself to form a loop and is used to attach the fall's outer block hooks to the hawser by means of a knot named a cat's paw .

• Crotch pole: The crotch pole is used to keep the victims and equipment traveling along the hawser above the crashing surf. It consists of two boards approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) long fashioned together similar to a pair of scissors. Once tension is placed on the hawser by means of the surfman pulling on the fall the Keeper will give the command to raise the crotch pole in position. Now the hawser is high above the surf and is ready to transport equipment.

• Sand anchor: The sand anchor is used to secure the shore-side of the fall to the beach. It consists of two wooden planks connected loosely together with an eye bolt with pendant attached. The pendant is used to attach the fall to the sand anchor. A narrow trench is dug in the fashion of a cross to a depth of approximately 2+1⁄₂ feet (0.76 m). The anchor is placed in it and buried with care given not to cover the pendant.

• Pick, shovel, and bucket: The pick and shovel are used to dig the trench to place the sand anchor. The bucket is used carry water used to wet a section of the shot line and to flood the lyle gun barrel in the even of a misfire.

• Hawser cutter: The hawser cutter is used to cut the hawser near the ship after the last victim is rescued. The cutter rides along the hawser and is pulled back and forth by the surfmen pulling on the whip line. The blades are carefully angled so the hawser cutter moves freely along the hawser when being pulled seaward, but, slices the hawser in two when pulled toward the shore.

• Beach cart: The beach cart is a most essential part of the beach apparatus. Without the cart, it would be impossible for the surfmen to transport the equipment to the site of the wreck. The cart is pulled by two surfmen, pushed by two and steered by two. The beach cart rides on two wheels and fully loaded can weigh nearly 2,000 pounds (910 kg). It also is crucial that the cart is loaded in a specific order where the first item loaded is the last item unloaded.

• Lyle gun: The Lyle gun was used to shoot the shot line.