JOHN BOUGOURD will retire as coxswain of the St Peter Port lifeboat on Sunday. He has been a member of the crew since 1980 and was made coxswain in 1996, but he celebrates his 55th birthday at the weekend, the set retirement age for the position.

‘I’ll miss it for sure, especially the comradeship of the crew.

‘They have been supportive of me all the way through,’ said Mr Bougourd.

Among his most notable experiences serving the lifeboat station are being awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal for his part in the Bonita rescue of 1981 and the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum for the Sena Sioria rescue in 1992.

Mr Bougourd served under three other coxswains – Mike Scales, Peter Bougourd and Peter Bisson – before taking on the role himself.

He now plans to spend more time with his wife, Bridget, and on his own boat.

‘I’ve got my own little boat, which I built 10 or 12 years ago, so I can spend a little more of my time fishing.’

However, when looking back on his career, it is one of the more sombre moments he remembers most of all, when the crew lost one of their own at sea.

‘A memory that sticks out for me is searching for Michael Guille, one of our crew. He drowned off the west coast a number of years ago.

‘That was a huge downer for everyone.

‘Most of the time you go out there with hope. It doesn’t always end with the right result, but you do what you can.’

Mr Bougourd will be succeeded by Anthony ‘Buz’ White, the current deputy coxswain.

Mr White, a local marine surveyor, has been a crew member since 1982 and deputy since 2004.

Lifeboat operations manager and harbour master Captain Peter Gill said Mr Bougourd’s skill, judgement and experience would be sorely missed.

‘He has provided strong leadership and dedicated loyal service to the RNLI and this lifeboat station over a long period of time.

‘We are fortunate to have such a capable replacement.’

Station chairman Jurat Len Moss wished Mr Bougourd well in his retirement.

‘John has performed his duties in an exemplary manner and merits our grateful thanks for his tremendous contribution. He has always maintained the high standards set by his predecessors.’

Mr Bougourd said he had seen huge advancements in technology in his 27 years as part of the lifeboat crew.

‘Gone are the days of the old Decca Navigator system. Electronic charts have replaced that, which makes it a lot easier.

‘As well as that, radars are a lot better now.’

But he stressed that people still needed to be careful out at sea.

‘With a summer like it’s been over here this year, you have to make sure your equipment is up to scratch.

‘Some people don’t use their boats a lot and then shoot off on them expecting everything to be up and running perfectly, but it doesn’t always work like that.’