There has been a lifeboat based in Bridlington, on the Yorkshire coast, since 1805. The earliest lifeboats were simply rowing boats and must have required a huge effort to row to the scene of a disaster. This one is much later, probably the 1880s, and is sail-powered ‘though, if there was no wind, they would have resorted to the oars. Even so, hauling large, heavy, wet sails whilst battling a heavy sea must have taken a gargantuan effort by volunteers who put their own lives at risk to save others.

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