Here's one to get Aggie, or anyone else, connected with the WM Fire Service to consider.
Around twenty five years ago a team from the WMFS attempted a Round Britain charitable event using a couple of dinghys. I believe they started out from Weymouth (maybe another, more easterly, southern port?) and were to travel in a westerly direction around Lands End and navigate the British Isles in a clockwise direction. The idea was short daylight journeys avoiding being at sea overnight. Their port of call in Torbay was Brixham, at the Breakwater, near the lifeboat station. Two pumps from the Devon F&RS (as it was then called) retained station at Brixham plus local Divisional Officers were there to greet their arrival. A portable tent was provided and the hospitality and facilities of the RNLI station was also laid on. The charity involved, was naturally, the Fire Service Benevolent Fund (now known as The Fire Service Charity).
It was not an easy thing for the men to attempt and once in the area off SW Cornwall (Plymouth and Lundy for those who listen to the shipping forecasts) the conditions in the Western Approaches meant they were forced to abandon their quest. At this distance in time I do not recall all the 'whys and wherefores' and I have mislaid the photos I once had of the team and their boats at Brixham. But maybe in the archives at Aston there might be something to contribute to this thread.