An RNLI Lifeboat Station is a familiar sight in a lot of seaside towns around the coastline of the UK. The RNLI is a charity that that works tirelessly on saving lives at sea, its funded by voluntary donations and the boats are crewed by brave men and women who volunteer to put themselves in harms way to save lives.
My grandfather was the mechanic on Mineheads first motor driven lifeboat until WW2 took him away to serve in the merchant navy on the convoys. Following in his footsteps I served for 25 years at the same station as volunteer helm and later as boats mechanic.
A few weeks ago my camera was lucky enough to find itself on the deck of Ilfracombe's Shannon Class Lifeboat when it launched on a routine engine run exercise.