We are starting to get some fantastic support from each Lifeboat Station we visit as word spreads about our challenge. This was highlighted yesterday at a couple of stations. Of course, support is growing from you, our followers and we are delighted to see the engagement and the donations starting to come through. We have raised £100 in a week, so many thanks for supporting us, but more so the RNLI.
We spotted this poster in Eastbourne and we think it hits home just how much goes in to saving lives at sea. Your donations will directly contribute to funding these brave souls.
Portsmouth Lifeboat Station
On to our trip yesterday. The plan was to start at Portsmouth and work our way east along the Sussex coast, joining the dots from Saturday. Being a warm Sunday morning, traffic towards the coast was heavy and remained so through the day. We arrived at the Portsmouth station at around 10:30am. As we were taking the required photo a gentleman approached us from nowhere, said hello. We told him what we were doing in case he thought we were a bit odd and he then asked if we would like to take a look around inside the station. An opportunity not to be missed. Portsmouth have two boats, a D Class, called The Dennis Faro and a larger Atlantic 85 (B-Class) called Norma T. Both were snuggled alongside each other in the boathouse. We were shown around the station taking in the crew rest room and the operations room. We learned about the processes involved in responding to a emergency call through to launching the boat, quite a task.
Hayling Island Lifeboat Station
From the window in the Portsmouth station we could virtually touch Hayling Island just a few metres away but the drive round to the Hayling Island station took us around 40 minutes.
We were slightly unlucky as we had just missed some boat trials and training and the crew were washing down. They were happy for us to take some photos of their Atlantic 85. They have a small museum telling the history of the station.
Selsey Lifeboat Station
Next stop was Selsey and after a quick pub lunch we made our way to the impressive Lifeboat Station and visitor centre. We were immediately made welcome and after explaining what we were doing we were shown around the whole station by Colin. What an incredible experience. Colin showed us the Shannon 13-20 mounted proudly on its launch truck. The engineering involved in the launch and recovery of this boat is incredible and he showed us a video of the process. Selsey also have a D-Class boat called Buzz, who is a relief boat as their station boat is way for repairs. We would like to thank Colin and the team at Selsey for making us so welcome and being so generous with their time and access to the station and boats. This visit will be a lasting memory.
Littlehampton & Shoreham Lifeboat Stations
By now time was marching on and we headed to Littlehampton, arriving just after the shop closed. We took our required photo, spied through the window at their Atlantic 85 and D-Class and, after a cup of tea headed straight to Shoreham. The station at Shoreham is another large buiding housing a Tamar 16-15. It has a visitor centre which we will return to as we have not seen a Tamar Lifeboat on our journey yet. Being the closest station to home, it is only a 40 minute trip to pop down when it is open and we will do that soon.
Just an amazing weekend. 13 stations visited this past week and now looking forward to more adventures. Next weekend we will be popping over to the Isle of Wight.
Keep track of our progress on this website and our social media. All the links are available but most importantly if you are able to support the RNLI please donate what you can.
Until next week!
Allan & Helen
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