The Sea Reminds You Who's in Charge

I build spirits around the sea because the sea has shaped most of what matters to me. A few weeks ago it reminded me, plainly, that respect for it isn't optional.

I came into the Little Russell off Guernsey at the wrong state of tide, and by the time I was there the fog had closed in and the light had gone. The rest I could have handled. But when the instruments failed, I had a crew aboard to protect, and that changed everything. You make a different call when it isn't only your own neck.

An RNLI crew launched and brought me in safe.

They do this for strangers, in weather the rest of us are running from, funded almost entirely by donations and crewed almost entirely by volunteers. I owe them more than I can put in a sentence.

I'll support the RNLI in ways that genuinely help, not because it makes a good story, but because I owe them one.

If you'd like to support the crews who do this work, you can donate to the RNLI directly.

To the crew who came out in the small hours: thank you.

Jef
Founder, Driftwright & Cooper