The pull of the lifeboat Hannah Chittock tells how she came to join the RnLi ‘family’ When my husband Jon was a child, he and his friends would peer through the window of the old RnLi station in Lymington for a glimpse of the lifeboat and, behind it, a photograph that captured their young imaginations.

that black and white picture showed a lifeboat in flight over the waves of the solent. it was an image that encapsulated the selflessness and bravery of those who volunteer for the RnLi, and one that was extremely exciting for a young boy with a taste for adventure and a love of the water.

so, when Jon got offered a job at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club last year, back where he had learned to sail, he jumped at the chance. and as he would be working right next door to the lifeboat station, he became determined to volunteer for the RnLi.

the sea courses through my veins too. i was born in Liverpool to a family with strong maritime links and spent my early years on the north west coast, where the smell of the sea provided one of the strongest memories of my childhood.

Later we moved to north Yorkshire, and i have vivid recollections of visiting Whitby, Bridlington and scarborough and marvelling at the lifeboats i saw there and their volunteer crews, who braved the often grey and swirling waters of the north sea and the rough winds that battered the shore.

as adults, Jon and i have found ourselves back on the coast, despite a rather circuitous journey that included extensive travel for me as a freelance correspondent (including south america for the BBC) and Jon spending several years in the Parachute Regiment.

now, volunteering for the lifeboat provides Jon with that same essence of camaraderie that he enjoyed in the army and a ready-made group of good friends. since volunteering he has been driving the tractor to launch the atlantic RiB, but has recently been asked to join her crew – working and training alongside some of the people who were onboard the very boat in the picture that so inspired him. Beyond the station, the other young lifeboat crew families provide a valuable network of support.

almost a generation after we first became aware of the great work of the RnLi, we now have a child of our own. We are determined to raise her with an enjoyment of and a healthy respect for the sea. azara may still be less than a year old, but her interest in the RnLi seems to have begun already – when she saw Daddy driving the tractor to bring in the lifeboat after a recent launch, the picture on her face was priceless. .