Dad always loved the sea, from when he was a small boy and taught himself how to row. He loved being out at sea off the west coast of Scotland, navigating between the islands, through Lochs and past whirlpools. We have many memories of being out on boats with Dad (often in the rain) and of seeing some of the most stunningly beautiful scenery as well as porpoises, sea otters, jelly fish and once even a whale. We have listened to RNLI rescues being played out through our radio, from the first 'May Day' call, then as the lifeboat travelled to find the boat which was in trouble, all the way through to successful rescues. The rescues were invariably miles away from us, on the far side of Ireland or way up in the North Sea. We were always incredibly thankful that the RNLI were there. They do such an amazing job, frequently in appalling weather conditions and they are volunteers. There is a further connection to our choosing the RNLI here, in that Dad's father spent time during the Second World War working with the Air Sea rescue crews off the West Coast of Scotland. We think that he would have approved.