Littlehampton lifeboat volunteer to step down after 25 years of service
Andy's saved countless lives in his time with the RNLI
A long standing member of the RNLI’s volunteer boat crew in Littlehampton is stepping down.
Andy Harris has spent almost a quarter of a century saving lives at sea after taking on the job of crewing boats back in 1996.
An experienced seafarer familiar with the local tides, weather and seabed conditions, Andy has guided crews through training and on emergency calls to assist those in distress at sea and in the river Arun.
Andy's said that “the camaraderie, being out on the water, driving our fabulous lifeboats” are among the things he has most enjoyed about the role.
Recalling memorable shouts, Andy was modest, but did mention an incident from 2011 when he and his fellow crew aboard Blue Peter 1 rescued 3 persons from a small 7 foot inflatable toy dinghy who had been reported to be half a mile off Worthing seafront and were waving for help.
When the lifeboat arrived on scene the casualties were nearly two miles offshore showing signs of hypothermia and disorientation having spent a night at sea with only lightweight clothing and no lifejackets.
Among his main shouts to rescues off the coast, Andy was also called into action for a very different reason in 2008 .
Along with volunteers, he was asked to stand in as an extra for an episode of Channel 4's comedy show The Inbetweeners, where Littlehampton stepped in to double as Swanage.
Andy’s daytime job is as a builder working mostly on domestic contracts, but he’s never far from the water though as he runs fishing charters on his boat out of Littlehampton harbour.
Nick White, the Lifeboat Operations Manager at Littlehampton RNLI, said of Andy:
“Andy is a superb helm and held in high esteem by us all.
"We are delighted that he will still be part of the charity’s volunteer team here at Fisherman’s Quay as a mechanic and as a member of the shore crew where, using his many years of experience, he will assist launches and advise other RNLI volunteers on boat and incident handling.”