AS PART of our campaign to support Penarth RNLI's fundraising appeal for a new boat, the Penarth Times will be doing features on members of the volunteer crew who valiantly give up their time to save lives.

First up is the current RNLI Penarth chairman Laurie Pavelin.

Mr Pavelin joined the Penarth RNLI team in 2005 as a deputy launching authority, a role which involves authorising launches and managing the station while the boat is on service or training.

He already had experience of the waters in the Penarth area, as he was also principal of Penarth Yacht Club when he joined.

Mr Pavelin said he had been involved in some memorable call outs during his time with Penarth RNLI.

Among them, was when, on a "glorious" Saturday five years ago, he was paged whilst teaching sailing, and turned up at the station already in a wetsuit.

During the next seven hours, he and the crew were tasked to 10 different incidents, from boats running aground, to people trapped on the shore, boats broken down, an abandoned dinghy, Sully Island, and red flares sighted at Newport.

They used both boats and five different crews on what remains the station’s greatest number of shouts in a single day.

He also recalled a long, cold night-time tow from Newport to Cardiff which started at 2am, and saw a boat finally recovered around 5am as the sun came up.

At 6am the crew either went home to see their family wake up, or went to work early.

It was in 2015 that Mr Pavelin took over his current role as chairman of the RNLI at Penarth.

"The role involves mainly a fatherly oversight and support of the lifeboat station, fundraising branch and lifeboat shop," he said.

Mr Pavelin is also involved with group visits to the station, as well as educational links with local schools.

"It is great that so many people are part of the Penarth RNLI family," he added.

"We tend to focus on the crew, but without those who help in the shop, and work with the fund raising team the boats would not be able to go afloat.

"But we rely upon the interest, encouragement, and financial support of the people of Penarth.

"Thank you to those who have already responded to the Penarth Times appeal and sent us their best wishes for success and financial contributions."

*This week, lifeboat crews rescued two people whose yacht ran into difficulty in the waters off Penarth.

The crew were called out on Sunday (August 7) to reports of a yacht in difficulty just outside Cardiff Bay Barrage.

Penarth RNLI's D-class lifeboat quickly established a tow with the 24 foot yacht, which had two people on board.

The lifeboat was able to tow the vessel into the lock, despite the low tide, and the yacht was then moored inside the barrage.

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SINCE we launched the campaign last week, the appeal has now reached more than £6,500 - around 12 per cent of its target.

Please help us raise the money by getting involved.

No matter how big or small your fundraising event or idea, let us know and we will help publicise it.

We will also try to cover as many events as possible.

Anyone who helps raise money will get special recognition with a Penarth Times certificate and be mentioned in a roll call which will be published regularly.

Send any fundraising ideas to reporter Anthony Lewis at penarthtimes@penarthtimes.co.uk or contact the appeal team at penarth@rnli.org.uk.

To donate directly send a cheque made payable to Penarth Lifeboat Appeal to Penarth Lifeboat Station, The Esplanade, Penarth, CF64 3AU.

You can also donate online by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/penarthlifeboatappeal1