An RNLI lifeboat crewman who has saved almost 90 people’s lives has hit a major milestone after heading out on his 1,000th launch.

In his 24 years of service Dave Parry, helmsman at Gravesend lifeboat station has rescued 761 people and saved the lives of 87.

The 51-year-old from Whitstable, worked as a photocopier engineer when he started volunteering for the Whitstable RNLI in 1992.

In 2002 he started as a full time helmsman with the RNLI at Gravesend.

In one of Dave’s most memorial launches, in May 2011 the Gravesend lifeboat went out to help a 170 tonne coastal aggregate barge called the Franchesca Prior.
It was on fire just off Higham while en route to London with a cargo of sand. There was a sudden deterioration in the weather with winds gusting in the region of force 7, heavy driving rain and poor visibility.

The crew helped ventilate the vessel and clear some of the smoke to it would be diverted to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Marine Services Depot at Denton Wharf, where Kent Fire Service were waiting to assist.

Dave managed to snap a picture of the barge and went on to win the RNLI’s Photographer of the Year competition with it.

Dave, whose hobbies include dingy sailing and running, said: “At Gravesend we operate on a 12 hour shift pattern to ensure the station is manned 24/7 - 365 days a the year. This is necessary in order to reach 90% of incidents within 15 minutes of being requested to launch.

“The call to go will come direct from London Coastguard via the phone. But when at Whitstable I am paged in the traditional way and it can go off anytime day or night. I could be shopping, eating my dinner or even asleep when the pager can go off so I will stop or drop everything and make my way to the station a few minutes away.”