The Sea
The Sea.
It’s
the sea that has shaped the life of the inhabitants of the British Isles for
centuries. It has a profound influence on the country’s history. The sea
defended the British from enemies and provided them with sea routes that helped
England to become a mighty empire that maintained a strong navy to defend its
interests. Besides that there has been the economic significance of the sea for
the country. The state received great sums of money from the usage of trade
routes and the powerful trade fleet that dominated any other until the 20th
century when its significance began to decline.
The sea in Great Britain is believed to be a
part of people’s life. Many people are into shipbuilding. They work in
shipyards and it’s typical of the British coast. Besides that a lot of people
have a family tradition to have the same profession for generations saying that
it’s a belief that the sea is in their blood.
Many British have their own vessels,
varying from big yachts to dinghies. It is extremely popular in Britain to
sailing for it is considered to be really exhilarating and a good relaxation.
It provides one with a good opportunity to escape from everyday routine.
But at the same time the sea can be
dangerous. In Great Britain it is not obligatory to have safety equipment on a
vessel. That’s why accidents are not rare in the sea. In order to save people
special life-boat stations are scattered throughout the coast. There are about
200 of them and every of them has its own rescue crew. Every crew consists of
14 members among whom only one is a real professional, mainly coxswain mechanic
and others are volunteers. Having received an alarm it takes just 6 minutes to
launch a life-boat and leave the mooring. Rescue crews are called out 5000
times a year and save 1500 lives during that period of time. These people are
especially addicted to the sea, because nothing can be compared with an extremely
rewarding feeling of satisfaction after saving one’s life.
The sea makes
people respect it and it can beat anyone if they try to equal it.
Alexander V. Myskin, gr. 3o1