For some time now I have wanted to learn more about the Broughty Ferry lifeboat station and the work they do to save lives on the River Tay and the surrounding areas.
That all changed this weekend past when I was so kindly invited by the RNLI to attend one of their training exercises on the Tay, and have a tour of the city from the boat.
This is something they rarely do and to have the opportunity to get an insight into the workings of the staff and volunteers was an incredible privilege.
I arrived at the station and met Peter Hay, the coxswain of the lifeboat station, Colin Davidson, their media officer and Janice Spence, the engagement chairperson who were all excellent and guided me during the exercise.
It was great to see background operations at the station and get to know about their fundraising initiatives and community involvement.
I then met some of the volunteers who were coming on the training exercise, and they were the kindest people.
Finding out that these volunteers have careers in different fields was just fascinating.
The volunteers I met are firefighters, postal workers and paramedics to name a few.
After a short briefing we walked down to the changing room and got suited up for the exercise.
It felt very special walking towards the lifeboat and I was excited to see what was to come.
We left the station and headed out towards Tayport.
The rain was drenching but the experience was fantastic. Tayport looked lovely and as we turned arounds towards Dundee, there was a huge rainbow in the grey sky above the city.
Up next was undoubtedly one of my favourite parts of the exercise, when we headed back into the mouth of the Tay and towards the Tay Road Bridge.
There, I got the opportunity to drive the boat in between two of the pillars and right through to the other end – it was an unbelievable experience.
If you had told six-year-old me I would be driving a boat underneath the Tay Road Bridge, I would have not believed you.
We then travelled towards the RRS Discovery and V&A Dundee where people outside were taking pictures as we got to the shoreline.
When we went back out into the Tay the training exercise begun. We had to retrieve a fender from the river using a stick and a lifebuoy to simulate a person in the water.
The sun started to come out of the clouds as we headed towards our last stop, the Tay Rail Bridge.
I had never seen it up close in person before, so I was very excited.
What the RNLI do is so important – saving lives at sea is a challenging task and their efforts are inspiring.
To be part of the team was so special, an experience like no other.
I was lucky to get the chance to be part of the training exercise and I would love to do it all over again.
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