CELEBRATING 200 YEARS
As the RNLI marks its 200th anniversary this month, Roger Buxton, in charge at Scarborough Lifeboat Station, tells us how it feels to rescue, and be rescued, at sea
Roger Buxton has half a century’s commercial and leisure experience of the sea, is a former commodore of Scarborough Yacht Club, and has been the volunteer LOM (lifeboat operations manager) in charge of Scarborough Lifeboat Station since April 2022.
‘I was born in Leeds but when my dad died when I was four my mum moved to Scarborough. Mum married a fisherman and I spent all my spare time at the harbour alongside him, hauling lobster pots rather than doing a paper round. Tragically, my stepfather lost his life in a shipwreck.
‘After giving up fishing in the early-1980s, I worked for a fruit and veg company for a short while, then was installation manager for a sign company and travelled all over the country, so I couldn’t be actively involved in the RNLI but was always on the periphery, knowing the coxswains and so on; I was always there. That image of a lifeboat going down the slipway just enthused me as a child and I’ve never lost that, and have retained a lifelong interest in the charity. I took up sailing and yacht racing in the meantime though.
‘I’ve been out in all sorts of weather but I’ve been out there because Ihad to be. The lifeboat crew choose to go. I entered the annual North Sea Race from Scarborough to Ijmuiden in Holland but just over halfway across had my rudder fall off. Ijmuiden lifeboat came to our aid, taking an hour to reach us and eight hours to tow us back through the night. Water was coming into the boat and we were in danger of sinking by the time we reached port. We pumped out, dried out, and after a couple of days’ rest set off back. We borrowed an outboard to get us out of the harbour as ours had been submerged. We sailed back, but off Flamborough the wind died and the motor failed. The Coastguard sent Flamborough lifeboat to tow us into Bridlington. This trip was a perfect illustration of how things can happen. ‘On another occasion I was sailing back from Whitby after a race there the previous day. We knew a gale was coming, but thought by setting off early we would be back before it arrived. It arrived early and I fell off the boat. The crew, including my godson, Sam, tried to rescue me several times before finally getting me on the boat. When the Scarborough lifeboat arrived and assessed me, a helicopter was called due to the time I’d been in the water, so I was airlifted to Scarborough Hospital. That’s the only time in my whole seagoing time I thought: ‘This is it; this is how it ends.’ Again, it just shows if you spend enough time on the water things will happen to you. Given my
