Would you rather be cosy in bed or careering through waves?

If the alarm sounded at an ungodly hour, some of us may be tempted to stifle the beeping of the pager with our pillow and snuggle back under the covers. 

But the lifeboat crews around our coast are made of sterner stuff. Around 40% of lifeboat launches are carried out in darkness. And the volunteers of Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station near Land’s End are used to wild winds, big Atlantic seas and 24/7 call outs. This, after all, is the station that took the brunt of Storm Eunice when it ripped the roof of the building. After a quick clear up, the crews were ready to save lives just days later.

‘It’s what we’re here for,’ affirms Sennen Cove Coxswain Ollie George. 

The crew don’t hesitate to help

Ollie describes the call out in the early hours of 2 November 2022 as a ‘bread and butter’ rescue. It was rough with force 7 winds, but nothing out of the ordinary for the lifeboat crew. Four fishermen were in trouble and the lifeboat crew, rudely awoken from their slumber, didn’t hesitate to help. 

They launched the Tamar class lifeboat City of London III just minutes after being paged. Ollie chose an experienced crew of six. Between them they had more than 100 years of lifeboating under their belts! They have trained and rescued together for decades, so they took the rough weather in their stride.

The fishing boat had lost power and was rolling in the darkness 3.5 miles south of Longships Lighthouse. Left drifting, they could be a danger to others too in the busy waters around Land’s End.

The Tamar was the right lifeboat for this shout

They’ve had the Tamar at Sennen Cove since late 2009 and it’s perfect for rough weather rescues. ‘The Tamar is built to withstand a beating.’ According to Ollie, that’s down to the well-designed hull, two powerful engines and manoeuvrability that means you can drive around swells. ‘They’re great boats,’ he enthuses. ‘We’ve had this Tamar out in some very nasty conditions – we have huge confidence in the boat.’

The lifeboat crew found the boat quickly and communicated with the fishermen by radio. ’They were seasoned fishermen, so they were calm and used to rolling seas,’ reflects Ollie. ‘And they’d done the right thing by calling for help early on.’

The crews worked together to set up a tow and the lifeboat crew took the four fishermen and their boat to safety at Newlyn. The journey back to Sennen Cove was more of a trial, running into the wind and the waves, but the Tamar and crew took it in their stride and the volunteers were back in time for breakfast, more than 5 hours after launching.

The routine rescues – they’re the good ones

‘It all went like clockwork,’ says Ollie. This sort of shout might not make the news headlines, and may not even be remembered by the lifeboat crew themselves as the years pass. The four fishermen won’t forget it though. Ollie reflects: ‘It’s good that it was routine – they’re the good ones! You do the job, get home safely and everyone gets on with the rest of their lives.’ 

It’s the sort of rescue that our amazing crews are doing day and night, without a fuss. They choose to leave the comfort of their own beds and will face the storm to save others. But they’re only human. Ollie confesses: ‘The early start was probably the worst thing about this shout - half four in the morning is never popular!’

Would you abandon your cosy bed to launch to the rescue? If so, have you considered joining the crew? If you’d rather help save lives at sea from the comfort of your own home (like most of us!), please consider donating today to our lifesaving crew.