Behind the scenes at Penlee Lifeboat Station this October

Most people only ever see a lifeboat once it is already at sea, throwing spray. Next Wednesday (28 October), a small group gets to see what happens before it leaves, from the room where the crew pull on their kit to the boats themselves, close enough to touch.

Penlee Lifeboat Station is opening its doors for a VIP behind-the-scenes experience, and the volunteers are clear this is not their normal station tour. The idea is to get visitors closer to the crew and the people who keep the station running, and to the engineering of Penlee’s two lifeboats, Ivan Ellen and Mollie & Ivor Dent. The price of every ticket goes towards funding their lifesaving work.

📷Penlee lifeboat Ivan Ellen. Credit: RNLI

What the VIP tour includes

The tour runs for 90 minutes and takes in the whole station. You will see the lifeboats up close and get inside the kit room, where the crew get ready before they head out to save lives.

An expert guide leads the way, explaining how the station works and answering whatever questions you have about the RNLI.

📷Penlee lifeboat Ivan Ellen. Credit: RNLI

A cuppa and a few rescue stories

There is a free hot drink in the crew room, and that is where the volunteers share some of the station’s more exciting rescue stories.

Everyone leaves with a certificate of thanks from the Penlee crew, as their way of saying thank you for the visit and for supporting what they do.

📷Credit: RNLI

Booking a place

The session runs between 10am and 12pm. It is the last of four VIP tour dates the station has held this year, following ones in July, August and September.

Tickets can be booked through the Penlee Lifeboat VIP Station Tour Experience page on Eventbrite, and the QR code on the station’s poster leads there too.

Next Wednesday falls in the middle of Cornwall’s autumn half term, which runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October.

📷Penlee's inshore lifeboat Mollie & Ivor Dent. Credit: RNLI