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25 April 2009
When I was a young boy growing up in Salcombe I was always fascinated by the lifeboat. It's been a focal point of our town for hundreds of years. I remember my father painted a beautiful poster documenting some of the rescues the old Tyne class lifeboat had undertaken and sold prints to raise money for the RNLI.
When I moved away to Manchester I forgot all about the Salcombe Lifeboat. I returned in 2008 and set my office up on Victoria Quay in Salcombe. One evening I was standing out on the waters edge admiring their new £2.7M Tamar class lifeboat and then I realised the location of my office makes me the closest person to the pontoon where the boat lies.
Next thing I know my fathers had a word with the coxswains wife and before I know it I have a pager strapped to my belt and I'm a full crew member of the Salcombe RNLI.
This has without a doubt been the single best thing I have ever done in my life.
Salcombe doesn't have a huge community of people with multi media skills, so before long I was made Press Officer of the station, in charge of keeping the community informed of the services the lifeboat undertakes, and what better way to do this than through the internet.
I've now launched the official Salcombe Lifeboat website. You can see videos and photos of rescues and read full reports on each. I'm very proud of this website, so please check it out and show your support for Salcombe RNLI's volunteer lifeboat crew.