Kayley Turner and Laura Wallis, who serve with the Hartlepool Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station, have recently passed their tier two qualification
This now means they are judged competent to respond to emergencies at sea.
Kayley, who is an executive assistant to a chief executive, said: “For anyone outside the lifeboat world, tier two is a pretty big milestone. It’s the point where months of training ashore and at sea all come together, covering everything from seamanship, helming, towing and anchoring to a bit of navigation, emergency procedures and working effectively as a crew when things get busy.”
She added: “Basically, proving you can stay calm while the sea does its best to make life difficult. There’s been a lot of learning, plenty of early starts and, for me, more than a few moments of ‘that could have gone better ’, but it all came together in the end.”
Fellow volunteer Laura Wallis, who is a business owner, said: “We have both dedicated a lot of time and energy into our training, especially over the past few months. It has been an extremely rewarding process knowing that we get to be a part of saving lives at sea.”
Hartlepool RNLI coxswain Matt Adams added: “With the amount of time and effort Laura and Kayley have put into their training, it was no surprise that they successfully completed their tier two plans. Laura and Kayley are both great examples of our dedicated crew at the lifeboat station. I’m looking forward to seeing them both put these skills into action, saving lives at sea.”
