Cowes restaurant proprietor Rod Ainge showed his support for the local lifeboat on the day of the classic Round the Island Race in the best way he knows how – by providing a free breakfast for the crews.
Over a dozen lifeboat and shore crew members took up the generous invitation to his High Street restaurant early on the morning of Saturday (1st June). The first RNLI personnel sat down to their meal at about 04:00, prior to them taking to the Solent half an hour or so later. Then later in the morning it was the turn of crew members due to take over the boat at 07:30.
Mark Southwell, the Cowes station’s operations manager, said:
“We are very grateful to Rod for ensuring our two early crews did not go to work on an empty stomach so early in the morning.
“Although our lifeboat had the quietest Round the Island for many years, the race generally was the best organised in terms of lifeboat cover. This was why our own lifeboat stayed in the central Solent area where very little untoward happened. Even so, it was still vitally important Cowes had a professional plan ready for when things do go wrong.”
Cowes lifeboat had altogether three sets of crews during the day, with the final crew standing down at around 17:00.
