Squiff RNLI
Squiff - RNLI
News from the Dart Lifeboats
A new Deputy Launch Authority (DLA), Owen Mallia, was appointed to the Dart RNLI Lifeboat earlier last year to make a total of four volunteer DLAs.
Owen has a touch of the wanderlust and travelled widely. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked in a variety of jobs in different Latin American countries. He has a business management degree, but above all has always loved the sea and in particular fishing.
It was not until 2008, when h spent several months in Falmouth helping out a friend who was scalloping, that he realised what he really liked doing best was angling and so the germ of an idea for a new business began.
He and his fiancée, Tracey, who comes from Brixham, came to live in Dartmouth in late 2008 and by October 2009 he had completed the purchase of Outlaw of Dartmouth, his new fishing boat.
They are both partners in the growing business - chartering out the boat for deep sea fishing trips for up to twelve fishermen, mostly over the numerous wrecks scattered along the South West coast. His management business still continues in Bristol and he is now a member of the Dartmouth Rotary Club so perhaps he is putting down roots at last.
Owen was friends with some of the Torbay RNLI crew and also knew Chris Tracey, a helmsman on the Dart lifeboat. When Rob Clements, Operations Manager, approached him about becoming a DLA, Owen was delighted to accept. He already had many of the necessary nautical qualifications and knew it was a volunteering role he would enjoy.
Initially, he was trained by shadowing the duty DLA on their shouts. He will also be going to the RNLI College at Poole to participate in an intensive training course in the near future.
As part of his contribution to the RNLI fund raising in August last year, Owen hosted a fishing trip aboard Outlaw. He took a group out to fish over three wrecks and donated the funds raised from the angling day to the RNLI.
The largest fish, a cod weighing 17lb, was caught by Andy “Squiff” Howitt from Dartmouth who by coincidence is a volunteer helmsman of the Dart lifeboat, and he was presented with a winner’s plaque. (see picture).
Asked how he felt about being part of the RNLI team Owen said “I always feel embarrassed to receive Christmas or birthday presents. I would much rather give than receive, and this applies to my feelings about giving my time as a volunteer to the RNLI.”
First Published February 2011 By The Dart