LOOE’S volunteer lifeboat operations manager Dave Haines is stepping down as volunteer operations manager after 32 years.

Dave Haines was one of the first members of the community in Looe to volunteer as boat crew when the inshore lifeboat station was re-established in Looe on June 15, 1992.

He quickly progressed to helm the D Class inshore lifeboat until he reached the age of 45; the upper age limit for volunteer crew at that time.

He stayed on with the station volunteering as a launch authority and shore crew, and was asked in 2004, to take on the station’s lifeboat operations manager role which he has undertaken until his retirement on Wednesday, October 30, which coincidentally was his 70th birthday.

The RNLI volunteer crew organised a surprise birthday party at the lifeboat station to celebrate Dave’s 70 years but also recognise his contribution to the RNLI and Looe Lifeboat Station.

On the day, Dave was told to wait for a visitor outside. He said: “The crew room upstairs was very quiet, and I thought the crew were concentrating on their navigation training; even when my daughter Emma came to find me, I had no idea of the complete surprise awaiting me as I walked into the crew room to a sea of familiar faces.”

He was greeted by cheers from his family, RNLI current and former crew and the station fundraising members who have worked with Dave over the years.

Regional lifesaving lead for the RNLI in the South West, Tom Mansell, joined the party via video link to personally thank Dave on behalf of the RNLI for his 32 years of voluntary service to the RNLI and community of Looe. Tom recalled ‘twisting’ Dave’s arm to act as caretaker operations manager until someone was appointed, and the rest, as they say ‘is history’.

Senior helm Clive Palfrey, who will be taking over the lifeboat operations manager role continued the story: “During Dave’s 20-year tenure as lifeboat operations manager, he has accepted three inshore lifeboats into the care of the station — the D Class Ollie Naismith in 2010, the Atlantic 85 Sheila and Dennis Tongue II in 2016, and the Ollie Naismith II in 2022.”

He added: “In Dave’s 32 years of service the lifeboats in Looe have been launched on service 1027 times, crews have assisted 826 people and saved 65 lives. This ‘saving lives at sea’ legacy is something that Dave can be very proud of.”

Shore crew member, Carol, presented Dave with the station’s One Moment One Crew photograph signed by the RNLI crew, together with an IOU from the crew for a weekend away to relax after switching off his pager.

Thanking Clive, Tom, and everyone in the room, Dave recalled the early days, when, before they had a quad bike or tractor, they had to push the D Class down the beach to launch and said: “It was heavier to push back up the beach afterwards!”

He remembered with pride: receiving the three inshore lifeboats, moving the station to Middleton’s corner, opening the Albatross boathouse, welcoming his Majesty the King when he was the Duke of Cornwall to the station in 2014, and representing the station at Westminster Abbey for the RNLI 200 service earlier this year.

Dave thanks the crew for supporting him over the years and even though this, as lifeboat operations manager is coming to an end with his 70th birthday, he will not be severing ties with the RNLI or Looe Lifeboat Station.

He said: “I have accepted the important role to chair the station’s Lifeboat Management Group. My new role coordinates the operational and fundraising activities of the station and represents the RNLI in our local community.”

Dave added: “I’ve had time to reflect on my lifeboat career, over the last 32 years, and I am very proud of our achievements and all the crew, boathouse guides, shop and fundraising volunteers I have met and worked with over the years.

“I look forward to following the exploits of my current and future crew in the years to come under Clive’s leadership.”