Devon & Cornwall - Day 5

Our challenge will obviously involve travelling to Lifeboat Stations that are located on islands around our coastline. So far, apart from the Isle of Wight, we have had our feet firmly on solid ground. Today we would venture to the beautiful Isles of Scilly, 45 kilometres (24 ½ nautical miles) from Land’s End. The original plan was to take the RMV Scillonian III passenger ship from Penzance. The day before our trip we received a call from the company advising us not to travel if we were just visiting for the day due to the large sea swell and potential for an uncomfortable crossing. Our plans appeared to be in tatters. Helen, does fly, hates flying, is usually sick and very very anxious. She suggested we take the small SkyBus service operating out of Land’s End Airport. It was a windy day and I was concerned how Helen would fair on the small twin otter aircraft. We  had a few tears, a few white knuckle moments and she went very pale but she made it. I was so proud of her. I was just hoping and praying that she would get back OK.

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St Mary’s Lifeboat Station

We arrived on the Island of St. Mary’s at just after midday and had arranged our visit to the Lifeboat Station for 12:30pm so we timed it perfectly. As it turned out the Scillonian III was late departing Penzance due to the tides and arrived on the island as we were at the station, about an hour later.

When we arrived at the station the shop was still open and we managed to purchase a pin badge and have a look around the small display of the history of the station. There were originally two lifeboat stations in the Isles of Scilly, one on the island of St. Agnes and the other on the largest of St. Mary’s. Two lifeboats operated from St. Mary’s from the 1837 until 1855. The RNLI reopened the station in 1874 after two shipwrecks in the area. The station at the current location, with its slipway, were constructed in 1899 and then rebuilt in 1915. On arrival of the larger All Weather Lifeboats a mooring was provided in the harbour from 1981 and the boathouse then used as a crew building and a housing for the boarding boat.

As we were looking around the museum, Coxwain and Mechanic, Pete and crew member Jimmy arrived on their bikes to welcome us. We  had a long chat about the history of the station and the boats over a lovely cup of tea overlooking the stunning calm blue waters and sandy beaches of the other islands. Their Severn Class Lifeboat was moored just a few metres from the shore. 17-11 The Whiteheads is one of the oldest Severn Class boats in service arriving on station in 1997.

Their Boarding Boat is unique. It was housed on the slipway on a carriage and looked similar to a D-Class but noticeably larger. It is a twin engine RIB which is large enough for the crew of 7 required for the AWB.

After our visit we walked around the harbour and popped into a café for a bite to eat before heading back to the airport for our short hop over to Land’s End. Helen made it back OK in slightly calmer winds and back to our accommodation for a strong cup of tea, if only we had brandy.