The RNLI - Surviving the Storms: Extraordinary Stories of Courage and Compassion at Sea

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea, providing a lifeboat service, lifeguards and safety education. Like generations of selfless lifesavers before them, todays volunteer crew members are ready to rescue around the clock, all powered by passion, talent and kindness.

The charitys founder, Sir William Hillary, vowed that with courage, nothing is impossible. His vision of forming a rescue service funded by voluntary donations became a reality in 1824 and, almost 200 years on, the charity has saved more than 142,500 lives. Everyone who gives their time or support to the RNLI is a lifesaver.

A minimum of 8,000 from the sale of this book will be paid in support of the RNLI. Payments are made to RNLI (Sales) Ltd, which pays all its taxable profits to the RNLI, a charity registered in England and Wales (209603), Scotland (SC037736), the Republic of Ireland (20003326), the Bailiwick of Jersey (14), the Isle of Man (1308 and 006329F) and the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Alderney, of West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

The stories in this book are based on the individuals recollection of RNLI shouts. The RNLI, authors and publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text. The crew members featured all followed RNLI training and operational procedures that were in place at the time. These are written with the safety of our crews and lifeboats in mind and are subject to change so the actions described in this book might not follow todays procedures.

HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

HarperCollinsPublishers

1st Floor, Watermarque Building, Ringsend Road

Dublin 4, Ireland

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2020

FIRST EDITION

Text RNLI 2020

Cover design by Caroline Young HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2021

Cover photograph RNLI/Nigel Millard

RNLI name and logo are trademarks of RNLI used by HarperCollinsPublishers Limited under licence from RNLI (Sales) Ltd

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Nikki Girvan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008390129

Ebook Edition June 2021 ISBN: 9780008390136

Version: 2021-05-18

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

• Change of font size and line height
• Change of background and font colours
• Change of font
• Change justification
• Text to speech
• Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008390129

This book is dedicated to all the lifesavers and their families around the UK and Ireland.

We are one crew.

by HRH The Duke of Kent

In the fifty years that I have had the honour of serving as President of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, it has been a pleasure to meet hundreds of courageous volunteers all around the coasts of the UK and Ireland. I can tell you that no two lifeboat crews are the same; they are each made up of volunteers from many different backgrounds, launching from stations with their own unique histories and coastal challenges.

Yet there is something that binds every RNLI lifesaver. They show a special sort of kindness that compels them to answer calls for help from strangers. That is the spirit that led to the formation of the Institution nearly 200 years ago. The charity looks very different in the twenty-first century, with its sophisticated craft, and the development of newer ways of saving lives through lifeguarding and education work. Many things have stayed the same, though the selfless spirit still runs true.

I was, therefore, delighted to hear that a book would be produced that celebrates RNLI rescues from the twenty-first century, recounting remarkable rescues in the lifesavers own words. In these pages you will read dramatic yet typically modest accounts from brave and skilful people. Many of them were recognised with special awards for their actions, and it was a privilege to present Medals for Gallantry to some of these lifesavers personally.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to all the crew members, lifeguards and survivors whose true stories appear in this book. It will raise crucial funds to help the charity save more lives at sea.

I hope you enjoy reading every page as much as I did. I also hope you share my utmost admiration for the remarkable people of the RNLI, who volunteer to save lives around our coastlines every single day. Thank you so much for your support.

by Mark Dowie, Chief Executive of the RNLI

Have our nations ever owed more to those who put themselves in harms way to help others in a crisis? In recent times, we have seen how the best of people are prepared to combine their skills, courage and kindness to ensure that we can survive the storm. For the RNLIs lifesaving communities, that sort of sacrifice has been a way of life since 1824.

Prior to joining the RNLI as Chief Executive in May 2019, I was privileged to serve alongside the volunteer crew at Salcombe Lifeboat Station. It was my responsibility to make the call on whether to deploy a lifeboat, sometimes in the most extreme conditions, requiring careful judgement in balancing the safety of the crew and saving lives at sea.

Having seen their selfless courage and commitment first-hand, they deserve recognition, even though its the last thing on their mind when they answer the call for help. Each lifeboat crew member and lifeguard who features in this book has their own unique, fascinating story. As well as recalling the drama involved in saving others at sea, they also share their motivations and emotional stories from their own lives.

There is, of course, no book big enough to do justice to every RNLI rescue and rescuer. There are hundreds of lifeboat stations, and thousands of crew members and lifeguards. Between them, they have helped so many people survive the storms. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to send my sincere thanks to Every One who has played a part in saving lives at sea over nearly 200 years of the RNLIs history. As the owner of this book, that now includes you too.

This is Our Watch for the RNLI. Like generations of lifesavers before us, its our job to keep this special charity safe and secure for the next 200 years, so it can continue to save lives while being loved and treasured by so many.

Thank you for buying this book, and for supporting the RNLI. May it bring you hope and warmth after stormy times.

Mark Criddle, Torbay 2008