A RNLI volunteer of almost 30 years, who had a true love of the sea, has died after an illness.
Alan Sharp, who retired in 2018, served with Llandudno lifeboat for 16 years. Prior to this, he volunteered with the RNLI branch at Kelsall in Cheshire.
In Llandudno, Alan worked as station communications officer. His duties included keeping the public and media informed about rescues, general lifeboat activities, and fundraising.
Alan, husband to the late Patricia, was described by his family as a "lifelong supporter of the RNLI and loved the sea".
He died aged 87 on April 8, and a celebration of his life took place on April 30 at Colwyn Bay Crematorium.
A statement by RNLI Llandudno Lifeboat said: "We said our final goodbyes to Alan Sharp, a well-respected member of the Llandudno RNLI family. Alan passed away in April following a long illness.
"For almost 20 years, Alan served as Llandudno’s Lifeboat Press Officer, sharing the stories of our crew with dedication, pride, and a true love of the sea. Before joining us, he was a committed fundraising chair in Kelsall, near Chester, already giving so much of his time and energy to supporting the RNLI’s lifesaving work as fundraising chair.
"His passion for all things maritime, his professionalism and steady presence will be remembered by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Alan’s family at this difficult time."
Talking about his retirement in 2018 and some of his memories, Alan said: "The reason I’m retiring now is I’m probably the oldest RNLI press officer, and I’ve covered the transition from operating a Mersey class lifeboat, capable of 15 knots, from a boat house in the middle of town, to a new station in the seafront at Craig-y-Don, operating a state of the art 25 knot Shannon class lifeboat.
“I’ll take many memories with me, but the one that really sticks out is dreadful night in April 2012, there was a north easterly gale gusting up to storm force. With that wind direction the coastline of North Wales was getting battered. Llandudno lifeboat was called out together with Rhyl lifeboat to a German coaster which had been loading limestone at the jetty at Llanddulas.
"The conditions were so severe that when the coaster’s skipper tried to get off the jetty the ship was not powerful enough to combat the sea. It was swept sideways and carried straight on to the rocks, where it was getting battered.
“When the two lifeboats arrived there was little they could do. The ship was hard aground with the water too shallow for them to approach, so they stood off with searchlights on illuminating the scene for the two helicopters which had been called out. One of the helicopters lifted all seven of the crew and landed them safely ashore.
“That was certainly the most demanding weather conditions I have known.”
At the funeral service, donations in Alan’s memory were made to the RNLI Llandudno Branch.
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