Lifeboat Exercising by Night

The boys are off on some night time exercises, so I couldn't resist playing with the camera...

View from Spurn Lighthouse

Last week we had the chance to go up the lighthouse, which is normally closed. The men were allowed to come, but had to take their bikes incase the pager went off! It was only when we were right at the top that we wondered how long it would take to get back down all of those steps....luckily we didn't have to test that one!
There were some really beautiful sights from the top - taken on Pete's phone!

On a lighter note...

After the depressing pictures of the poor whale, I thought I'd lighten the mood with some of the more picturesque photographs I have taken over the last couple of days. Spurn Point is such a beautiful place...

Any of these images can be purchased as prints, and are also available as printed canvases. Please email hannahnelphotography@hotmail.com if you are interested in ordering any copies.

Baby whale washed onto Spurn Point on 11/09/11

When I heard that the baby whale had now washed up onto the beach at Spurn Point I had to go and have a look. Here are some of the pictures.

There were glittery streams of salty water running down the side of the carcass, which looked strangely beautiful in the bright sunshine.

10/09/11 Baby whale washed up the Humber River

A few days ago we saw on the news that a baby whale was being rescued at Immingham Docks, up the River Humber. This afternoon, with the incoming tide, the body of the whale was spotted floating close to the Humber Lifeboat and the pilot pontoon on Spurn Point. We went to investigate...

Its a very sad story and no-one knows yet what happened to this fantastic creature.

Beautiful skies

Thought I'd share some of the fantastic views we get from upstairs in our new home...

New home...

At the end of July we made the 6 hour car journey, from Hayling Island, to Spurn Point - which is a three and a half mile long sand spit which is home to Humber Lifeboat, the crew and their families. We were travelling all this distance because it always has been Pete's dream to work on a Lifeboat and now this dream was within reach as a new position had come up. Our first impressions as we drove through the gates and onto the long road down the spit were that it was amazing and quite surreal, but very beautiful. A good sign. We spent two days on Spurn and had an amazing time - and it was just as we left that we were told that Pete had the job and four weeks later we would be moving...

So we moved onto Spurn Point on Sunday 28th August. As we pulled upto the houses we saw the lifeboat crew climbing onto the boarding boat on their way out to a shout. Pete and Jamie were a bit gutted but I pointed out to Pete that we live here now so I'm sure he'll get plenty more chances to get out on the boat. I've got to say that a little bit of me was pleased we missed it otherwise we would never have got the van unloaded! So we got to work unloading our things into the house. We had no trouble picking which room would be the bedroom, as it has a spectacular view over our very own garden and the Humber River - and more importantly we can see the Lifeboat (first thing in the morning and last thing at night!)

Sure enough, that afternoon the boys got two more shouts! One was a land rescue for a man who had fallen and got stuck in the gauze - which they had to try and find. Then just as we were about to sit down to eat the sirens went off again and off they went to take over a tow job from Skegness Lifeboat. So, first night in our new home and I go off to bed alone.
On the second day I left Spurn to go and get some food shopping - it took an hour to get to a big shop! I spent lots of money filling the cupboards and had help unloading the very full car as there hadn't been another shout. We got all the way through the day with no pager or bells going off, however just after dinner Pete and the other crew had to go and help some visitors off the point and dig some of their cars out of sand. The high spring tides combined with strong winds had covered the road in sand and parts of the road were being beaten by waves. Second night here and I went to bed alone!
On the third morning we expected the road to be a bit beaten in places but were shocked to hear that actaully a large section of the road had actually been washed away completely...the only way of getting on and off the point being by the RNLI 4x4 (very glad I filled the cupboards).

That afternoon there was another shout, this time for a local bait fisher that had got stuck in the mud with the tide rapidly rising around him. The sirens went twice - the signal that there is life in danger. This means the men have to get the gear on as fast as possible and get on their bikes to get down the jetty faster! I watched Pete head off on his bike and then carried on with the unpacking, until I heard a helicopter overhead. I rushed to our bedroom - which has the amazing view - and watched as the helicopter sent down the winch man and picked up the casualty.
Since then there have been a few different shouts and we have had a great time adjusting to this new, quiet and peaceful way of life. We have now been here nearly two weeks and we're struggling to imagine not being here as it really is like nothing else.