Taste of life on the ocean waves proves a great experience

So what is it like to save lives at sea?

Courier reporter Jonathan Watson spent a morning on exercise with the Kinghorn RNLI crew.

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning on the Fife coast as I arrive at Kinghorn lifeboat station.

After meeting the crew – Neil, Megan, Richard and Sam – I’m given a quick safety briefing, suited up and sent out to the beach where my ride awaits me.

The Tommy Niven Atlantic 85 boat screams speed and as we’re pushed into the water Megan opens up the throttle, the bow rises and 230 horsepower is soon spearing us towards the horizon.

Not for long however, because as soon as we’re up to speed we’re turning, really turning, first to our right — sorry, starboard — then swinging back to our port side.

From the shore this might look like fooling around, but it is crucial that the crew know that when they need to operate on the limit, both they and the boat are up to the task.

We head to Burntisland, where the crew show me how they tow powerless boats, a real hazard in the busy shipping lanes of the Forth.

This is serious work, and with crew members putting their own lives at risk out on the water, every practice session needs to be treated as if it were the real thing.

From then on we navigate our way to Inchkeith, using radar and navigation gear as the Forth haar envelopes us.

After familiarising ourselves with the local coastline, we are heading back to the station, making rapid progress over the smooth sea.

There’s no doubt that it can get rough out on the Forth, but the Tommy Niven is solid and after just over an hour in the boat I have confidence that it will protect me from even the biggest waves.

We return to shore where I’m given the chance to drive the launch tractor, a hugely important job at the station and proof that volunteering is not just about life on the ocean waves.

After returning the boat to the shed, a couple and their son want a quick tour of the station and a member of the crew is happy to oblige. This is a clubhouse where everyone is welcome.

There is no clique and, as we finish up our morning over a cup of tea, it is me facing a question for once: “Would you join the crew?”

“Yes. In a heartbeat,” I reply, and I mean it.

However, to do so you have to live in Kinghorn and sadly, for now, I don’t.

However, for those fortunate to live there, there’s no need to think twice about it.

every practice session needs to be treated as if it were the real thing