THIS dramatic picture shows the conditions faced by the Poole lifeboat crews near the Bar Buoy when they went on a rough weather exercise in Poole Bay last Sunday morning.

With near-gale force winds, gusting at 38 knots, the hardy volunteers were certainly put through their paces.

Volunteer coxswain Jonathan Clark said: “We all need to exercise in bad weather, as that’s when we’re usually called upon to help.”

Later, the inshore lifeboat went through driving drizzle to locate and retrieve a drifting 21ft motorboat that had dragged its anchor at Goathorn Point and been blown across to a pier south of the Royal Motor Yacht Club.