This book complements a series of enrichment talks for passengers on cruise ships, giving a perspective of his time as a crew member and officer in the lifeboat service and an account of his ancestors link with the lifeboat service in the nineteenth century. Yet there is a wider audience of anyone interested in the sea or seafaring as the focus is on 'people' aspects of the R.N.L.I. and the changes from the 19th to the 21st century. Dr Stephen Musgrave was born in Burnley, raised in Fleetwood Lancashire and now lives in Stalmine. Having trained for a career at sea as a Merchant Navy Radio Officer he came ashore and taught in a mono-technic Nautical establishment that merged to become part of a Further Education College. Before semi-retiring he worked in Higher Education with the Open University managing a professional development programme for staff in the Schools' sector in Information & Communication Technology. He holds a Ph.D in Telematics - the science of Computing and Electronic Telecommunications, with a specialist interest in Portal systems. For twenty three years he was involved in the lifeboat service in Fleetwood, serving as Deputy Coxswain for 12 years. He received the Royal National Lifeboat Institution service award for the most meritorious rescue in the UK in 1984, in a Lifeboat under 10 metres, when a windsurfer got into difficulties in gale force conditions in Morecambe Bay.