James Russell

Ever since I was a child I have been out on the water boating with my family and loved seeing the lifeboats launching or out on the water. I always thought you had to have a professional maritime background to join the crew so never thought I would have the opportunity to get involved. However, after watching Saving Lives at Sea, I realised this was not the case. The training provided by the RNLI, both on and off island, is world class and I have learnt skills that I will retain for the rest of my life. My most memorable rescue was on the ILB for a person who had abandoned their yacht into their dinghy. The pager went off around 11pm and both the ILB and ALB were launched. The casualty only had a mobile phone and could not give us an accurate position. After hours of searching, the ALB eventually found the casualty in their dinghy safe and well. We had the task of locating the drifting yacht and towing it back safely to the harbour. It was a long night and I got back home at about 4am and was back in the office at 9am!