RNLI Selsey lifeboat crew kept busy as lockdown restrictions ease

Coxswain Rob Archibald said the crew entered ‘quite a busy period’ as soon as the restrictions on movement began to ease – and put it down to many people being desperate to get back on their boats after weeks cooped up at home.

Call-outs have mostly included boats being grounded and having hiccups with navigation, and yachts suffering machine failure.

These are the kind of calls the crew would expect to see nearer the beginning of the season, as vessels are taken back out onto the water for the first time after a break.

There has also been the odd missing diver, missing windsurfer and sadly a couple of self-harm incidents.

“Jobwise it’s been a bit of everything,” Mr Archibald said.

The busy period has seen the crew launch the lifeboats around two or three times a week.

One benefit of this has been keeping the team active during a time when training sessions have had to be called off.

The crew usually trains together around once a week – but the pandemic forced these sessions to be put on hold.

Their first training event in three months was held on Saturday, July 25.

Attending service calls amid the health crisis has created additional challenges for the team.

Normally when they are preparing to attend a call, the crew will gather in the changing rooms for an initial briefing.

But due to social distancing rules they have had to wait outside and take turns to get ready inside.

On the lifeboat itself, crew members inside the wheelhouse must wear masks. And if social distancing on the deck is not possible, then they have to wear masks there too.

“It’s a nuisance obviously, the masks and stuff,” Mr Archibald said. “It’s not easy to work with ropes when you’ve got gloves on. You have to take them off and put them back on again.

“It’s challenging and it takes longer to do everything. But it’s just one of those things. You’ve got no choice, you just have to get on with it.”

In other ways, the lockdown has led to changes in life at the RNLI station.

Mr Archibald said: “It’s strange because we haven’t been able to have any social events, which is a big side of being on the lifeboat as well. Everything had been put on ice.”

Mr Archibald took over the role of coxswain at the beginning of May, right at the peak of the pandemic.

However it was a smooth transition as he was already well-known among the team, having first started volunteering with the Selsey crew in 1994. “That made a massive difference,” he said.

The freeze on social events means there has still not been a proper leaving do for the former coxswain Martin Rudwick.

Social distancing measures have seen the lifeboat station fall quiet.

“There’s no one coming in and viewing the lifeboat,” Mr Archibald said. “The shop is closed, so there’s no money coming in from that.”

Last week would have seen the station celebrate its biggest fundraising event of the year – the RNLI Selsey Lifeboat Station Lifeboat Week – but unfortunately this had to be cancelled.

It means the RNLI, which is a charity, will be ‘tens of thousands of pounds down’ in funds this year, Mr Archibald said.

Looking ahead, the Selsey crew are expecting things to ‘even out’ in terms of service calls.

However Mr Archibald said sunny weekends throughout the remainder of the summer will definitely result a handful of incidents, simply down to the large number of visitors heading down to enjoy the Sussex coast.

To support the RNLI during this time, visit the online shop here.