Despite the poor weather, he joined the crew for an exercise scenario that saw the all-weather craft, as well as the inshore lifeboat, locate a “missing swimmer” on rocks near the Demi des Pas lighthouse.
It also required the all-weather lifeboat to launch its own, smaller craft – known as the Y-boat – so that two members of the crew could administer first aid and prepare the “casualty” for an extraction to the inshore lifeboat before they were transferred to George Sullivan.
Vice-Admiral Kyd is himself an experienced and distinguished mariner, having served as a Royal Naval officer for more than 30 years – including time spent commanding HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK’s largest aircraft carrier.
Pictured: The Lieutenant-Governor, Vice-Admiral Jerry Kyd, served as a Royal Navy officer for over three decades.
He said: “Having been a professional mariner all my life, I wanted to come and see for myself the crew at work. It’s a complete privilege to be here with Gibby and his excellent crew today seeing their professionalism and the slickness of all this. It’s a great reminder to everyone in Jersey about the safety wrap we have around the island that’s here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to people in trouble offshore or on the beaches. It’s wonderful – I’m very, very impressed with what I’ve seen so far.”
Nigel Sweeny, RNLI Jersey’s Lifeboat Operations Manager, added: “We feel hugely privileged to have hosted the Lieutenant Governor onboard our all-weather lifeboat. It really lifts the spirits of the crew to have such a distinguished visitor taking an interest in our work, and we are very grateful to the Lieutenant-Governor and his team for making the time to see us.”
He continued: “RNLI Jersey is entirely dependent on public donations to be able to train the crew, maintain the equipment and launch the lifeboats and it is a testament to the generosity of this island community that we have two RNLI Jersey stations providing excellent cover to the whole island.”