An 18-month stint in Bermuda more than 50 years ago gave Commodore Philip Pearce-Smith a love of the ocean.That love inspired him to create the League of Venturers Search and Rescue (LVSR), a registered charity dedicated to training British youths in marine rescue operations.Visiting the Island for the first time since 1957, Commodore Pearce-Smith said that since its inception, the LVSR has been involved in thousands of rescues, and provided teenagers a unique learning opportunity.“I think they like it because they do something real,” he said. “Once they are trained, they operate the boats, they carry out the rescues and they train new people.”Originally stationed on the Island with the Duke of Cornwall Light infantry, he and others built a motor cruiser using an old Bermuda dinghy, a discarded engine and the wood from an abandoned church.“That’s how I got my love of the ocean,” he said. “It inspired me to start the Venturers. The Bermudians were so kind to us. On Christmas day, they invited us into their homes.”