| I never really planned to be a lifeboat volunteer when I came to live in Northsea. |
| I'd been working in London as a website designer, |
| but although that was interesting, I didn't like city life. |
| I'd been really keen on boats as a teenager, |
| and I thought if I went to live by the sea. |
| I might be able to pursue that interest a bit more in my free time. |
| Then I found that the Lifeboat Institution was looking for volunteers, |
| so I decided to apply. |
| The Lifeboat Institution building here in Northsea's hard to miss, |
| it's one of the largest in the country. |
| It was built 15 years ago with funds provided by a generous member of the public who'd lived here all her life. |
| As the Lifeboat Institution is a charity that relies on that kind of donation, |
| rather than funding provided by the government, |
| that was a huge help to us. |
| When I applied, I had to have a health assessment. |
| The doctors were particularly interested in my vision. |
| I used to be short-sighted, |
| so I'd had to wear glasses, |
| but I'd had laser eye surgery two years earlier so that was okay. |
| They gave me tests for colour blindness |
| and they thought I might have a problem there, |
| but it turned out I was okay. |
| When the coastguard gets an alert, |
| all the volunteers are contacted and rush to the lifeboat station. |
| Our target's to get there in five minutes, |
| then we try to get the boat off the dock and out to sea in another six to eight minutes. |
| Our team's proud that we usually achieve that. |
| The average time across the country's 8.5 minutes. |
| I've recently qualified as what's called a 'helmsman', |
| which means I have the ultimate responsibility for the lifeboat. |
| I have to check that the equipment we use is in working order, |
| the crew have special life jackets that can support up to four people in the water. |
| And it's ultimately my decision whether it's safe to launch the boat. |
| But it's very rare not to launch it, even in the worst weather. |
| As well as going out on the lifeboat, my work involves other things too. |
| A lot of people underestimate how quickly conditions can change at sea, |
| so I speak to youth groups and sailing clubs in the area |
| about the sorts of problems that sailors and swimmers can have if the weather suddenly gets bad. |
| We also have a lot of volunteers who organise activities to raise money for us, |
| and we couldn't manage without them. |
| The training we get is a continuous process, |
| focusing on technical competence and safe handling techniques, |
| and it's given me the confidence to deal with extreme situations without panicking. |
| I was glad I'd done a first aid course before I started, |
| as that's a big help with the casualty care activities we do. |
| We've done a lot on how to deal with ropes and tie knots, |
| that's an essential skill. |
| After a year, I did a one-week residential course, led by specialists. |
| They had a wave-tank where they could create extreme weather conditions, |
| so we could get experience of what to do if the boat turned over in a storm at night, for example. |
| Since I started, I've had to deal with a range of emergency situations. |
| But the work's hugely motivating. |
| It's not just about saving lives. |
| I've learned a lot about the technology involved. |
| My background in IT's been useful here, |
| and I can use my expertise to help other volunteers. |
| They're a great group, we're like a family really, |
| which helps when you're dragging yourself out of bed on a cold stormy night. |
| But actually, it's the colder months that can be the most rewarding time. |
| That's when the incidents tend to be more serious, |
| and you realise that you can make a huge difference to the outcome. |
| So if any of you listeners are interested.... |