A busy crowd of around 70 people gathered at The Mermaid Inn on Tuesday 12 May to hear Dungeness lifeboatman Dominic Gregory talk about his new book, Lifeboat at the End of the World, a memoir about the challenges of volunteering for the RNLI at a busy yet geographically remote station.
Organised by The Rye Bookshop and hosted by Rye News editor James Stewart, the event was well-attended as Gregory kept everyone in thrall with a fascinating mix of interview, readings and audience questions.
He began by recounting his early experiences of the RNLI, recalling, “As a child I was inspired by a Ladybird book, which introduced the idea of a lifeboat. I didn’t know it at the time but it featured an illustration of the station at Dungeness.”
He then talked about his gradual involvement at the Dungeness station, “People either love or hate the place (Dungeness). The power station just adds to the vibe. It’s almost as if there are leylines running through it. It gives you a tingle.”
And finally on to his experiences as sea, and the changing aspect of volunteering at sea, “While there are still families who have always been on the lifeboats, there are increasingly first-generation volunteers. Which means the RNLI now has to train people in how to tie knots, use radar, etc.” he said.
In between the sea tales, many of which were harrowing to hear, he read from his memoir and dug deeper into his motivations for writing it, explaining why many of the other crew feature so prominently in the book. He said, ‘When I started, my ignorant assumption was that the book was about me. But when I finished the first draft and read it back, I was bored. So I took out those bits about me, and it was (coxswain) Stuart Adams and the other crew who were left. And it was then so much more interesting.’
Lifeboat at the End of World is published by Harper Collins and is available in hardback for £18.99 from The Rye Bookshop. Signed copies available while stocks last.
Image Credits: Dominic Gregory .