I lived for many years on the East Coast of Yorkshire, near Spurn Point which is a nature reserve mainly for birds. It is a peninsula which has changed shape over the years due to erosion by the sea and in winter access is often cut off by high seas. At the end stands a lighthouse and also the Spurn Lifeboat. The Lifeboat crew live in houses at the end of the peninsula because of this, so that they can launch the lifeboat quickly. I painted this originally for a contest.

In the last two years, all the lifeboat men have had to move from the tip and this year (2014) we have had so many high winds and tides that the tip is now an island and the coastguards and lifeboat men can only reach their base via the sea.

I used oils on a canvas block from a photo I had taken of the Spurn lifeboat returning home.