‘In all weathers’ is one of the key messages that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) promote. Standing on a windy quayside, watching the waves crash over the harbour wall and seeing the local lifeboat launch, I wondered about the types of people that risk everything they know and love to get on a lifeboat and go out in the very worst of weathers. Even back in the late 1700s, when brave folk took to a tiny wooden lifeboat to save desperate souls, through to the modern self-righting lifeboats that some stations have now—the concept of plunging into stormy seas, would be, for most of us, utterly terrifying.
Jo Simpson
I genuinely believe that the RNLI (and independent lifeboats) are the unsung heroes of the sea. I distinctly remember visiting a RNLI station with my kids and as they scrambled excitedly over the lifeboat, I watched the crew patiently showing them their kit, explaining the boat and telling them about rescues. I remember thinking Who are these people? Who are these amazing people that leave their homes, their wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, partners, children, to get on a boat and go into a sea where perhaps a storm is raging. They leave weddings, christenings, family dinners, Christmas lunches to go out and try to save a stranger. What incredible people these must be. What bond must these people have with each other in these situations and how tightly they must be interwoven into their local communities?
I know for a fact that sometimes the shouts are relatively minor, the weather good. But with the coast there is always the chance that things will change. However, the commitment from the crew, every time there is a shout, never wavers. They go out in ‘all weathers’ to help someone in trouble. To save lives.
The actions of these brave people formed the beginnings of the concept for the first book in my Castleby series, Sea State. I wanted to write a story that was real; genuine and authentic. So, I had the idea of using the lifeboat, crew, and some rescues as a backdrop because I wanted to try and showcase, albeit through fiction, the strength that many of these characters have and their relationships outside of the lifeboat station. I liked the idea that the crew were vulnerable too, not just physically, but emotionally. That the characters would have experienced loss and that there would be emotional struggles and self-doubt, even in the midst of a rescue. I needed to show that these heroes are human. They have emotions, grief, guilt and a conscience. If things go wrong, then they have to live with it. They have to accept it. This to me, makes them all the more heroic.
Sea State is a character-based suspense thriller, based in the fictional town of Castleby on the Welsh Coast and is available now on Amazon in paperback and eBook. The second in the series, Sea Change, is out in early March on Amazon.
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