Not everyone who slipped out of Poole Harbour on a stormy night was a smuggler! The lifeboat crews have put to sea in all weathers to save sailors who run into trouble. You can see one of their historic boats in the old lifeboat station just near here.
Unlike other emergency services, the lifeboats are maintained and crewed by volunteers, often using fishermen and sailors who understood the sea - and the scale of the risks they were taking. These crews practice with their specially-designed lifeboats to ensure that in an emergency the launch is as perfect as the weather pemits.
The old lifeboat station is too small for the modern service, and is now a museum. But Poole is home to the RNLI's Headquarters, and from this spot you can often see their new lifeboats moored up or riding the waves at high speed.
More adventures on the shore? ... Go to the BAITER trail hotspot along LABRADOUR DRIVE where the edge of HARBOURSIDE PARK meets the sea, or enter code WINGS.