20 years at Flamborough RNLI: Bridlington man recounts his incredible experiences saving lives at sea

Mr Ibbotson currently lives in Bridlington but grew up in Flamborough. He was part of the Flamborough RNLI for 20 years, and a member of his family has been part of the RNLI for the past 100 years.

Mr Ibbotson said: “I have been down there since I was a kid because my mum was the first female helmsman in Britain.

“She is the deputy launch authority now, so she is still down there. I joined the Army in 1999 at 16, but came out in 2002 so the natural thing for me to do when I was back was to go to the RNLI.

“I have always been involved with the lifeboats, when I was seven years old, Flamborough used to do a special lifeboat event on the village green with a chosen page boy and flower girl.

“I was playing in a mud pit near the cricket field when a local woman came over, dragged me round and said ‘stand there!’ so I was picked to be page boy.

“We were chucked on a boat and went round the village, and ended up at North Landing, down the big slip and was launched.

“I moved to Bridlington, so I am now joining the Bridlington Lifeboat Launching crew. I am not going on the boat, but they are short of crew so I want to help out.

“It’s a young crew now, and I have been tying knots up since I can remember, so I am happy to share what I know with the team and teach them everything I know.

“I love the buzz you get when your pager goes off; it’s a proper adrenaline rush.

“After 20 years I still get that buzz in my chest when you go out. And when you get back it is a proper big sigh of relief.

“There was one job that I went on a few years ago, they didn’t have any helmsmen available and because I was the most experienced I was told ‘oh you’re taking the boat’!

“So I went round the corner and the coastguards were all pointing into the water- there was a big log there. I thought ‘oh it’s only a log!’- and the next minute there was this woman floating face down in the water.

“We got her on board and gave her CPR, but we knew that she might not make it. My cousin, who was with me on the lifeboat said ‘oh I can feel something!’ and the next thing we knew a helicopter was over our heads.

“I had never done a helicopter transfer before, they were calling me telling me to go full speed, so at 39 knots we went speeding across the bay, I managed to keep it level and she was taken up by the helicopter so quickly.

“I got a recommendation from the pilot who said that was the fastest and most experienced transfer we have ever done.

“Our team did manage to get her going again, but on the way to the hospital, she unfortunately died. That was the most heartbreaking call I have been on.

“We have had some fun ones though! At little Thornwick, we were called out to help some people who had been cut off round there.

“It was a Saturday afternoon and they were having a BBQ. They all had quite a bit to drink, there was about 12 people, a family, and we piled them onto the boat and they were singing all the way back to North Landing! It was crazy, definitely the funniest one I have done.

“We have also rescued sheep before! She must have rolled off the cliff, so we went round to Thornwick and I thought ‘I am not touching a sheep!’

“She came out towards us and started swimming towards the boat, I didn’t even know sheep could swim! So we led her close to shore and she managed to get onto the beach and scramble away.

“In 2003, I was fishing off Flamborough Head one day, and it was really bad weather and I ended up being taken overboard. I actually drowned- when the village heard over the radio that a man had gone overboard on the Enterprise, as soon as they found out it was me loads of people came out.

“There were loads of fishermen there, some that weren't even on the crew, and they all went out on the boat to come and save me.

“There was one bloke called Barry Major, he had nothing to do with the lifeboats, but he jumped on and he did 16 or 17 years after that job at the RNLI.

“Another time we went out to this Yacht and there was a force 9 southerly gale, with really bad weather, by the time we got back it was touching a storm 10.

“We had to do a net recovery, because the waves were so bad that we couldn’t back the boat in. So you have to smash it into a net, hook on and get off straight away.

“As we were doing that a big roller wave came, took the boat into the tractor, pulled us back out, and took us broadside and capsized us.

“We all were chucked out of the lifeboat. Again, there were loads of fishermen lined up on the beach watching it all.

“I was getting dragged out and dragged out and I couldn’t stand up because I had my lifeboat jacket on and it was all stoney near the shore.

“The lifeboat got picked up on a wave and was just about to smack on top of me, and this fisherman waded in up to his chest and dragged me out just in the nick of time.

“That was a scary night- it was pitch black dark as well. When I walked up the slip I was shaking like a leaf.

“When I was speaking to the Chief Executive at the certificate ceremony, he said the people that are committing suicide has gone tenfold in the past three years.

“The RNLI are doing more and more every year- it's getting worse, especially in young men.

"They are organising a special team to focus on the mental health of the crew, so if you go pick a body up or something, they support you.

“I recommend joining the RNLI because it gives back to the community, while making you feel better as well.

“It is like a family down here, so you will make friends and learn something new. There are loads of different avenues that it can take you down, you could end up with a job working for the RNLI, or do training for a lot of other things.

“If you give back, they give back to you.”