Former Penlee RNLI volunteer Ralph Curnow paints for Sheerness Lifeboat coxswain’s retirement

A painting by a former Penlee lifeboat volunteer has ended up marking the retirement of a coxswain at a station a long way from Cornwall.

Ralph Curnow shared the finished commission on Facebook, a piece he completed for the retiring Sheerness Lifeboat coxswain. It is the latest in a run of paintings he has done for lifeboat crews around the country.

Twelve years at Penlee

Before the paintbrush, there was the boat. Ralph served as a Penlee RNLI volunteer for twelve years, working up from crew to second mechanic.

He crewed ‘Mabel Alice’ and ‘Ivan Ellen’. He went through the two-week pre-commission training for ‘Ivan Ellen’ and was part of the crew that brought her back to station.

He was on the ‘Gwel A Vo’ shout. And when Penlee first took on its rib, Ralph volunteered on the inshore lifeboat as well.

A growing list of commissions

The Sheerness painting is not the first time his work has been put to this use. Ralph has painted commissions for Plymouth and Lerwick lifeboat stations too.