A SURPRISE £80,000 donation has been made towards St Davids RNLI's fundraising appeal in memory of a local man who knew the importance of respecting the sea all too well.

The boathouse appeal has now passed the £130,000 mark thanks to the generous donation from Miss Ella James in memory of her brother, Captain Bleddyn James.

Captain James passed away in July 2013 at the age of 91, but had travelled the world experiencing many adventures before retiring to live in Fishguard in 1979.

Born in Ysgeifog on the outskirts of St Davids in 1922 as the son of a respected clog maker, Captain James chose not to follow in his father’s footstep but was instead drawn to the sea, joining the Merchant Navy aged 18 in 1940.

Cadet James quickly experienced the power of the sea when the ship, Cape of Good Hope, was torpedoed without warning by an enemy U-boat and sunk in the South Atlantic Ocean. Thankfully all the crew survived the attack but were left stranded miles from land in an open life raft. After 13 days of non-stop rowing the crew eventually landed near Torlola on the Virgin Islands.

This experience was not enough to dampen the young cadet’s spirits; after the war he attended college in Cardiff to gain his Master’s Ticket. Over the years the young man from St Davids worked hard, slowly climbing the ranks to be called captain.

During his career Captain James sailed the world on various American oil tankers. Such his respect as captain, he was part of the consulting team for the design of The Texaco London – the largest oil tanker ship of its time. The ship was commissioned in 1975 and skippered by Captain James until his retirement in 1979.

Dai John, Coxswain of St Davids RNLI lifeboat said: “It is an honour for St Davids RNLI to accept the generous donation in memory of Captain Bleddyn James. The significant donation has helped us, the lifeboat crew and fundraisers, enormously as we work hard to reach the boathouse appeal target which was set last summer.

“Bleddyn James was a respected captain who understood and knew first-hand the dangers of the sea. St Davids RNLI will always be grateful to Miss James for the generous donation to help us provide a safe haven for our new Tamar class lifeboat RNLB Norah Wortley."