Rob Archibald’s new job involves plenty of seaside fresh air, though maybe a little too much of it at times. Since May he has been coxswain at Selsey Lifeboat Station, responsible for its two lifeboats – a high- performance all-weather vessel and an inflatable inshore boat – and often personally leading rescue missions.
The job does not come up very often. The previous coxswain, Martin Rudwick, held the post for 22 years and when he retired had clocked up 47 years of service with the RNLI. Rob himself has been with the organization since 1994. Selsey-born and bred, he remembers joining up at the age of just 19.
“At that time the honorary secretary of Selsey Lifeboat Station knew my dad and was looking for crew,” says Rob. “I had always spent a lot of time around the beach, swimming, and diving. I wouldn’t quite say I was told to join but I really wanted to do it anyway – I’d been looking at it for a while. I’d been life-saving with the Royal Life Saving Society and felt as if joining the RNLI was something I should do.”
Rob is able to draw on a wealth of experience in his new role, including mechanical expertise and almost ten years on fishing boats. He works full-time in the lifeboat station on Selsey seafront and is also a standby helmsman and mechanic for other stations throughout south-east England, able to step in to help crews from Southend round to Swanage.
Throughout his day in the boathouse, and after he has gone home too, he remains conscious that his pager could go off at any time, indicating a fresh emergency out at sea.
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