A new volunteer crew member at Fishguard lifeboat station has completed a vital part of his crew training, thanks to funding by the Lloyd's Register Foundation.

Robert Davies recently travelled to the RNLI College in Poole to complete the charity's Trainee Crew Course.

The facilities in Poole include a wave tank and a fire-fighting simulator, allowing trainees to experience first-hand some of the scenarios they may encounter at sea including abandoning ship, coping in a life raft in simulated darkness and how to deal with fires aboard lifeboats.

"The five day course was amazing, hard work but really useful and I'm sure it has helped prepare me for what I might experience on a shout," said Robert.

"Although I was aware of the simulation tank, nothing can really prepare you for what they can do there. It was amazingly realistic, they created waves, darkness and even sound effects – at times it really felt like there was a helicopter and its searchlight above us as we were in the life raft in the darkness.

"The quality of instruction throughout the week was outstanding. I'm really proud of what we achieved and certainly better prepared.'

Fishguard lifeboat operations manager, David Williams, added:

"The support given by the Lloyd's Register Foundation is hugely important to the RNLI. We are extremely grateful that it has chosen to fund sea survival training, which teaches vital core skills to our volunteer crew."