After many months of training and assessments, New Quay RNLI volunteer crew member Huw Williams recently passed out as a coxswain and is now qualified to take command of the Mersey class all-weather lifeboat based at New Quay Lifeboat Station in Ceredigion.
Father of two Huw, 48, underwent twelve months of training, including courses at the RNLI College in Poole and a series of assessments, both afloat and ashore, at the station. On Thursday 13 October, this culminated in one final assessment as Huw was put through his paces by RNLI Assessor Hugh Davies.
In the pass out assessment, several scenarios are set to ensure the candidate is capable, compliant, and safe to take command of the lifeboat and crew for exercise and service calls, and Huw passed with flying colours.
Huw, a consultant engineer said, “Growing up by the sea and spending my childhood in and around boats gave me the passion to volunteer for the RNLI. I first joined the crew at the age of 18 but had to move away for work. Re-joining the crew in 2015 has been great, being part of a team and helping save lives at sea is very satisfying.
“Over the past months, the boat crew and the shore crew have supported me and given up a lot of their free time for my training and assessments, and I want to thank them all. Without their support, I couldn’t have done it.
“It has been a lot of hard work but I’m looking forward to the challenge of being an all-weather lifeboat coxswain and welcoming the new Shannon class lifeboat next year.”
RNLI Assessor Hugh Davies said, “Huw demonstrated an excellent level of knowledge and was calm and controlled through the whole of the pass out. Huw will be an excellent coxswain for New Quay lifeboat station. Well done Huw.”
Roger Couch, New Quay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager added, “We would all like to congratulate Huw on this great achievement. We are constantly training to develop and improve our team here at New Quay RNLI, to ensure we are ready for any scenario. We now have another coxswain to add to our team, which gives us more flexibility and resilience to maintain a 24/7 search and rescue service.”
