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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 20^th 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