Swanage Coastguard

DORIS

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000Z

This is part of DORIS or DORset Integrated Seabed Survey. Partly funded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, this is one of the most fascinating displays around and currently being shown at Durlston Castle.

The image of the how the seabed is formed, showing old rivers, where the land use to be before the sea covered them and even wrecks is out of this world.

You can see more at http://tinyurl.com/dorismap, however I would recommend a visit to see this on display.

Lost Property?

2012-01-29T14:50:00.006Z

During last nights incident, one of the teams located a cap....not that unusual, items of clothing are often found on our travels, however this one seemed to have a connection.

We have not been Auxiliary Coastguards for some years (now Coastguard Rescue Officers) and our caps either have MCA on them or HM Coastguard.

It appears well worn, but not by one of the Swanage team?

So its all a bit of a mystery who it belongs too and how it got up there to be found by a Coastguard team !

19:22 Kimmeridge Coastguard Team say its not them either!

Busy few hours.

2012-01-29T14:19:00.003Z

The team were tasked to the Obelisk last night to assist South Western Ambulance with a male collapsed on the path. 'Alpha' team took the path from the bottom by the water works and had the difficult task of searching upwards. 'Bravo team' collected the Paramedics and had the slightly easier/warm approach in searching around the top.

For our new member Roger, it was a baptism of fire walking up the footpath at a pace however it was done rather well reaching the top with nothing found. Rescue 106 joined the search and using the FLIR camera located the group halfway between the Obelisk and Old Harry.

The male was transferred to the helicopter and flown to Poole, the group that had stopped to help the male were then transported to their cars in town as the incident had delayed their walk and darkness had fallen.

Later on just after midnight, the IRT were tasked to again assist South Western Ambulance in the town. A female had a back injury and with a narrow twisting staircase it was going to be difficult to transport her to a waiting ambulance. Coastguards are always up for a challenge and the transfer was completed safely.

It was then an early start as training was scheduled for a 9am start..... lets just say one or two members of "alpha" team did appear to be walking slowly.

Running into people

2012-01-28T15:46:00.003Z

The SO and DSO have just taken the MRU out for a run as in colder weather it needs a run at least every week.

We headed out to Studland and found a load of Police cars and EOD team (Bomb disposal team) in the dunes by the ferry toll booth. A National Trust Warden had found a long piece of corroded metal and unable to identify it called in the Police and EOD team.

Thankfully this time the item turns out to be a solid metal tube, however you can never be sure at Studland and the right people were called in to check.

Keeping safe at the coast

2012-01-26T12:36:00.003Z

The MCA have five key safety messages

Get trained

Check the weather and tides

Wear a lifejacket

Avoid Alcohol

Keep in touch

Simple really and could save a life.....YOURS!

Here at Swanage we would like to add two of our own and these will be our key message for the year.

Be aware of off shore winds

Keep your dog on a lead when near cliffs.

Over the coming months we will featuring these key messages on a regular basis along with who's who's in the search and rescue world.

Muddy Truck

2012-01-24T21:14:00.004Z

Oh no, the Coastguard rescue truck has accidentally on purpose got muddy!

...if only there was a place we could go and wash it on Saturday morning :-).

Oh what's that?
You mean the Swanage Lifeboat crew will wash it for us?
At their SOS Fundraising Event
For only 10 pence?
Really?

Can we trust the crew not to squirt us with water and press the 'nee nars / blue light' buttons?

Water Rescue through the ages

2012-01-24T08:00:00.001Z

Check out the lifejacket

Dogs, Dinner and a Car Wash.

2012-01-23T18:20:00.005Z

I saw on Swanage Lifeboat's Facebook page that they have some video footage up of 'Bobby' the dog.

Also next Saturday they have two charity events planned.

The first is Charity Car Wash at Jewson's yard, Swanage 09:30-16:00 (Note: this is the time it is open, not the time it will take them to wash your car). - You pays your money and they wash your car. You pays more money and they wash it even better.

Incidentally I think the Coastguard Rescue truck needs a run over the muddy cliffs early Saturday morning and I know just where I'll be taking it for a wash at 09:30!

Jewson's Yard.

On the same day is a 'Soup and Sweet' lunch function between 12:00 and 14:00 at the Roman Catholic Hall, Rempstone Road. Tickets £5 from Corbens Estate Agents on Station Road. You pays your money and you get some Soup and a Sweet; in different bowls obviously.

All the money raised will go to their Lifejacket Appeal.

Edge Safety Officers......well a few years ago.

2012-01-22T20:51:00.003Z

Another picture from the past showing how things have changed......That rope really is tied around his chest.....and as for helmets....

Training at Durlston

2012-01-21T15:16:00.003Z

2012 Olympics - Sailing

2012-01-21T11:22:00.001Z

2012 Olympic Sailing (W&PBC)

This week Weymouth and Portland Borough Council released the map showing the Olympic Sailing Competition Area.

Training.....more like a bring and buy sale

2012-01-20T09:11:00.002Z

Austen Chris and Roger harness training - Chris wondering what he's done joining the team

1st proper training session of the year and a chance for the new trainees to see the kit and fight over the one coat unclaimed in the lost property box.

In fact it was amazing what was found in some peoples kit boxes that had not seen the light of day for some years with a common phrase "Oh that's where it went" heard.

Then it was down to the main task of the evening and a form of assessment that the team didn't actually know they were doing (and still don't until they read this!)
Each team member should be able to identify a piece of equipment and explain its name, its uses, its safety points and its location in the vehicle.
1st question....the animal bag....colour....."Blue"......oh dear this is going to a long session - its
red ! Thankfully it improved after this but it gave Allan and I an idea of what and where we need to tackle.
Then on to the harnesses, and a fitting session to see who can fit into a "no 1" or a "no 2" - I guess its one of those moments when slimmers world becomes an option?

Press Coverage

2012-01-19T23:39:00.003Z

The story of Bobby the dog, who fell over the cliff at Old Harry last week, featured heavily in both the national and local press this week:
Daily Mail
Daily Express
Search and Rescue News
Wave 105
and from this week's guest publication: Pet Insurance.co.uk

Dragons Teeth

2012-01-19T05:00:00.002Z

The mystery photo last week was actually the pavement on shore road....not very exciting until you know what was attached to it 70+ years ago as can be seen in the photo above. (courtesy of David Haysom at the Swanage Museum).

There were about 240 of these "Dragon's teeth" along the shore line of Swanage, some can still be seen piled up near the pier.

So next time you are out for a walk have a look for the reinforcing rods still in the pavements - but a word of advice.....mind the edge!

Kimmeridge Emergency Response Volunteers (KERV)

2012-01-18T13:54:00.010Z

Photo:- John Palmer.

Kimmeridge Emergency Response Volunteers (KERV) were called out at the weekend to a walker who had slipped on the rocks at Kimmeridge. Rescue 106 provided a medivac - more information is over on their website. They work closely with our colleagues at Kimmeridge Coastguard who are on Facebook.

KERV are all volunteers and self funded so if you can help with their 'wish list' that would be great. One of their Lenser P7 search torches for instance is £30, and will save help lives. To get in touch please go KERV's Facebook page.

New year - New Start

2012-01-17T18:03:00.002Z

Tonight the new members of the team come to the station for a safety briefing and the issuing of pagers and kit.

Training of new Coastguard Rescue Officers (Volunteers) can take about 2 years by the time you have covered, rope rescue, searching, water rescue, driving, 1st aid and many other bits.
We will be covering the various training sessions as we do them.

Mud Rescue

2012-01-16T05:50:00.002Z

Colleagues from along the coast in Highcliffe were involved in a mud rescue on Saturday afternoon along with some of the other emergency services.

We don't train for mud rescues in Swanage; each station is prepared for its local terrain and so whilst some teams are mud rescue specialists, our core strengths are in cliff rescue and coastal searches.

Good news

2012-01-15T19:57:00.003Z

A comment received on our Facebook page:-

Hello I am the daughter of the owners of Bobby and because they do not have facebook I have been asked to post that all is well he has a broken toe and slightly chipped tooth but is all safe and well at home thank you again for everything you did for Bobby. :)

Driver training

2012-01-15T09:23:00.005Z

Driver training this week at Studland.

Bloggies

2012-01-14T14:07:00.018Z

If you're wondering what 'Bloggies' are at the bottom of each blog post, they are simply links / labels to more of the same topic, simply click on these to learn more. For instance at the bottom of this blog post is the Bloggie 'Austen'. Click to see how much abuse he has had to suffer over the last few years.

Bloggies

An alternative is to click the Bloggies link on the right hand side of the blog. There's a fairly large list, the larger the text the more Bloggies there are on that subject.

Bloggie List

Techo blog stuff.

2012-01-14T10:07:00.001Z

It should look like this!

The refreshed blog has been up about 14 days now, and hopefully we've ironed out any problems. However, if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) as your web browser then the site may not display properly and you may wish to upgrade.

We've tried to ensure the site works across all computer systems and mobile devices BUT, if there are problems please let us know and we'll try and sort. For instance we think it works on mobile phones using 'Android' but have no way of testing this.

Dog falls from Old Harry

2012-01-13T17:41:00.010Z

Swanage Coastguard IRT were tasked at 15.00 along with the crew of the Swanage ILB to "Bobby" who had chased a seagull and fallen about 90ft.

Fearing the worse the owners from Poole quickly dialled 999 and asked the Coastguard for assistance. 17 minutes later Coastguards and lifeboat crew turned up to find the dog in shock and a broken paw.

The ILB crew brought the dog ashore at South Beach to the waiting Coastguard team and owners. The dog was taken to the vets in Swanage but due to the broken paw and advice from the vet the dog was transferred to the main vets in Wareham.

The owners were very grateful to both the Coastguard and the RNLI, where else in the World would you receive such swift service from volunteers?

As usual we would like to remind owners of dog to keep them on leads when on cliffs, the owners today confirmed they had just taken 'Bobby' off the lead and turned their backs for a minute when he disappeared.

The Swanage Lifeboat crew have just released their video

Setting the standards

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000Z

Clearly standards have dropped having seen this photo this week. No longer do we go over the cliffs dressed in our "No 1's" (best suit). Note this is quite a senior Coastguard with 3 rings on his sleeve, probably a District Officer......oh how times have changed

How do you all get to an incident?

2012-01-12T17:09:00.000Z

Not like this anymore....thats for sure

He's on his way back and he's got a couple of tasks

2012-01-12T06:30:00.001Z

Another welcome visit to the station today by John who readers will know has been quite ill for about 18 months now.
The MCA have been very supportive in John's recovery and not rushing him to return to front line duties.
So now he is feeling a little better it was time to give him a couple of little jobs.....!!!

We have a lot of old photos in a box...no good in a box and certainly no good when you do not know who the photo is of. So having served for 31 years John will go back and name who he can and put the photos in some sort of order.

Job number two, how do you mark 2012 and especially the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year.....?
We have lots of history going back to 1842......?
I wonder if over the years the team has been out on every day of the year......?
One of our new team members has provided a large diary.......

Bingo.....give John all the records, the diary and that's one amazing project.

"Every day of a year" a unique record of incidents on every day of the Coastguard year.

We will see how he gets on.

Mystery picture

2012-01-11T14:43:00.000Z

OK..........picture of the week.....

Where is it.....what is it?
A little clue its war related.

Drum

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000Z

Out and about this week, the plastic drum washed up a couple of years remains at Sheps Hollow.
I think we have been called to this 3 times and await the District Council to arrange its collection.

Normally we would say if anything washes up never touch it and call the Coastguard, however in this case......we know about it thank you.

Paddleboarding

2012-01-10T17:37:00.003Z

Our 1st incident of the year involved two paddleboarders crossing the entrance of Poole harbour. This form of water sport is gaining a popular following, however there is a difference between the picture above (warm conditions) and what we saw on sunday.

The MCA's safety campaign is about being prepared.............. so in the case of the paddleboarders

Checking weather and tides

Correct clothing

Safety equipment, a woolly hat is not safety equipment.

Help us to help you....be prepared

The New Zealand Connection

2012-01-09T11:00:00.000Z

Very sad news last night that the "Rena" split into two. The authorities in New Zealand have been working very hard to try and remove the cargo in scene very similar to the Napoli before the weather beat them and you see the results.

One of our new team members is just returning from staying no further than a few miles away from this so I'm sure he will have a few tales when he arrives home.

Slipwatch

2012-01-09T07:10:00.000Z

Tide out this week so a view from a little further back......

I was also caught by one of our readers coming back from taking the picture!

What's been going on......?

2012-01-08T20:32:00.002Z

It been a little busy up at the station over the last week.....

The main task has been the annual paperwork clearance, followed by bringing up to date all the teams record (CG13's).

Further interviews for the final team position were carried out and I'm pleased to say that in the coming weeks we shall be introducing you to the new team members.

We had some sad news....... Paul Brown who this week reached 20 years of service decided to step down from the team. Paul was very unique as he could say that he was a true volunteer as he would never take any payment from the Coastguard.
Many year's ago the team were called to a cliff injured at the base of cliffs at Anvil Point. I was treating the male and expecting the helicopter to arrive but suddenly told it had been diverted to another incident in the channel. The next thing I knew Paul was along side me with the stretcher and we were both trying to work out how to get this climber safely back to the top of the cliff. Just then out of no where the Royal Navy helicopter turned up and airlifted the male, Paul and I were never so relieved.
On behalf of the team we would like to thank Paul for his years of service and we know he will be staying in touch.

Give Blood - Do Something Amazing......

2012-01-08T15:09:00.002Z

Brian's Shed

2012-01-07T11:55:00.001Z

Coastguard Papa (Also known as Brian) is on IRT with me today.

I'm told that this morning he is fixing his shed roof that blew off in the gales earlier this week. In light of this knowledge we have put the rescue helicopter and 'shed extraction team' on full alert should things go pear shaped.

A shed load of work needed.

If you do hear the tell tale scream of a grown man falling through a shed roof, don't worry we have it covered.

Note to self:- Imagine how bad I'll feel if he does actually fall through the roof!

Don't drown.......

2012-01-04T21:23:00.004Z

Yesterday Coastguards dealt with an incident which could have ending in tragedy had the person not been wearing his life jacket.

It appears the person was rowing his dinghy either from or to his yacht in Portsmouth and due to the weather conditions ended up on a sandbank and then airlifted to hospital by coastguard helicopter.

Weather conditions at the time were reported gusting up to Hurricane force 12 and going out in any boat let alone a dinghy would be questionable.

Whilst checking your boat on a mooring is important, it should always be done when conditions are safe, if it doubt contact the Coastguard.

A little bit of history

2012-01-03T21:10:00.007Z

Photo courtesy of Dr M Aryes - Swanage Town Council

Some time ago I asked via the blog if anyone knew what was originally at the site of the new Coastguard Station at North Beach Car Park.

Well there I was in the Town Clerk's Office and there on the wall........a picture of North Swanage and the development of De Moulham Road.

The picture shows De Moulham Road with allotments and the development of Bonfield Avenue around 1920, perhaps?

The site of the future station is just waste ground? It doesn't even appear to be farm land.

The stream doesn't seem to exist let alone the car park.

Slipwatch 2012

2012-01-02T16:08:00.005Z

It's back for the new year and more "mocking" from the team......

With all this rain (more forecast for tomorrow) more mud has slipped down.

On the blog front, we hope you like the new style, my very special thanks to Swanage Oscar for all his hard work, some minor adjustments will be made in the coming days so stick with us.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T09:11:00.000Z

Happy New Year for 2012!

HM Coastguard - Coastal Safety

2011-12-31T18:21:00.002Z

The final scores for the year

2011-12-31T09:17:00.000Z

To assist Allan our Sector Manager yesterday the final paperwork for the year was submitted so closing the 2011 book.

So unless anything happens today (31st) the statistics for the year are:

The second busiest year ever (after 2010's 165 incident) 2011 - 135 incidents.

The year saw some tragedy following two major searches but also an excellent result when the team found an elderly female on The Downs in very cold conditions.

1 EOD incident
5 incidents involving animals which is a good result compared with 2010.
68 Maritime incidents involving boats, swimmers etc.
4 Miscellaneous incident
4 Cliff Rescues
22 Medical related incidents
8 Investigations
23 Searches for missing persons.

The full team went out 18 times

The truck drove 2240 miles

The team put in 2071 recordable hours during the year

Sunday at 2pm remains the busiest time for us.

No figures are held for the amount of biscuits eaten.

I will take this opportunity to thank all the team for their professionalism throughout the year and thank you to all our readers, supporters and partners.

A Happy (and safe) New Year to you all.

Portland Coastguard Manager appointed OBE

2011-12-31T08:16:00.008Z

The Swanage Coastguard team wish to congratulate Mark Rodaway on his appointment of an OBE in the New Years Honours List.

Mark is the Rescue Co-ordination Centre Manager at Portland Coastguard which co-ordinate rescues in Dorset and part of Devon.

No wonder we are called the Silent Service

2011-12-30T18:50:00.004Z

For many years HM Coastguard have been referred to as the 'Silent Service' as unless you are linked to the coast you wouldn't know what we did. Even when we do go out people are still confused of our role in the community and what we do and this is often because the press have mis-understood the difference between the Coastguard and the RNLI.

So in this weeks Advertiser my attention was drawn to an article by George Willey under the title " A sobering picture" with a picture of a lifeboat.....

"This year an information sheet has been issued by the Coastguard service....... " oh this is interesting what this all about....

It goes on "did you know the Peveril Point Lookout is manned 364 days a year " .....hang on this does not sound right......the Coastguard left Peveril Point in 2009 after 142 year and moved to North Beach Car Park.....we don't have a look out, that closed around 1991/2(ish) and Coastguard's are on call 365 days a year (readers will know we had an incident on Christmas day).

On it goes about binoculars and having radios.......Then at last it mentions Coastwatch....ah that's better.....oh no then it refers to the Coastguard again....this is getting confusing and I am a Coastguard.

What George's article is really about is the National Coastwatch Institution at Peveril Point, a group of volunteers who man the lookout and report to the Coastguard.
NCI along with the RNLI are referred to as "declared facilities" i.e. a group that meet a certain (high) standard and are recognised as an asset in the UK Maritime Search and Rescue network.

Sadly the article goes on to quote "Swanage Coastguard" initiated the response to 14 incidents and also helped other agencies in another 15 incidents....this has just added to the confusion of the article of who's who's.

This article is just one reason we have our own websites so we can promote the work we do and the work our partners like the RNLI and NCI do.

There is no doubt NCI Swanage do a excellent job and we fully support their work.

Thanks to Swanage Oscar who has kindly supplied a question and answer blog to clear the air.

Questions.....questions

2011-12-30T15:05:00.008Z

Q. How many full time HM Coastguards are there in Swanage?

A. None. We are all volunteers. Two team members are on Immediate Response (The IRT- Team) while the other 10 are there as a Back-Up Response Team – (BURT). Under HM Coastguard rules we are not officially allowed to work to a rota, so we work to an ‘agreement’ amongst the team, this produced monthly.

Q. Where is the Swanage Coastguard Station?

A. It is at North Beach Car Park, Swanage.

Q. Are rescues co-ordinated from the Swanage Station?

A. Sort of. The Operations Room is in Weymouth known as a Maritime Rescue Co-ordiantion Centre (MRCC), as you may have heard in the press sadly this is due to close in about 5 years time and will be replaced by a central Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) based in Fareham. The Coastguard Rescue Team will remain in Swanage. When the MRCC task us we meet at the station and formulate a rescue plan before prosecuting the rescue.

Q. Do you operate the Lookout at Peveril Point?

A. No, but many people think we do! The lookout at Peveril Point is manned by the volunteers of the National Coastwatch Institution; (NCI) a fine group of hard working people who give up their time for the community. They rely on voluntary contributions and are wholly separate from HM Coastguard. We often pop in to see them when out on Patrol.

Q. Do you keep your boat down at the Lifeboat Station?

A. Well we don’t have a boat, the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) are a separate charitable body that are requested by the HM Coastguard Operations Room to respond. We work in close contact with Swanage Lifeboat them and will continue to do so. The main difference between us and them is that we make better tea and eat more biscuits, – I hope I haven’t started a tea war now!

Q. How much do you get paid?

A. Well we receive a small amount for our time, it’s basically the national minimum wage, so £5.73 an hour. This covers training and kit maintenance and of course rescues; extra hours such as Carnival week are unpaid. No one on the team does it for the money! Last month I took home just under £35.

Q. So there are three separate organisations in the town that keep people on the coast and at sea safe?

A. Yes, HM Coastguard (Swanage Coastguard) provide a Search and Rescue capability with Coastguard Rescue Officers and Helicopters who work from the land. The RNLI (Swanage Lifeboat) who provide the rescue capability at sea, and the National Coastwatch Institution (Swanage) who oversee the bay from Peveril Point Lookout.

999 is for emergencies only

2011-12-30T09:00:00.001Z

Colleagues in South Western Ambulance released details this week of a call from a member of the public saying he had run out of toilet paper - not something an emergency service needs.

I've also heard of calls from people not happy with their Christmas presents this week.....

999 is for genuine emergencies, life at risk - persons in distress. Not for ordering a taxis, not ordering a pizza and not a form of directory enquiries....all have and are regular requests to the emergency services.

Perhaps people do not realise that the miss use of the 999 system can result in a fine, all calls are recorded and traceable. Its simple really....here's some pointers

Serious Medical issue.......Ambulance
House on fire.....................Fire
Crime in progress.............Police
Person in distress at sea..Coastguard

All the services have an "non emergency number" if the incident is not urgent - use the system properly.

Dont drink and drown

2011-12-29T10:22:00.003Z

The MCA runs a campaign to reduce the number of incidents related to drinking related drownings - 7000 people in the last 15 years drowned in the UK, 1000 of these were drink related.

In the last 3 months in Swanage we have seen several incidents where people have ended up in the water after going late night drinking........

We want people to enjoy themselves this New Year Eve, we do not want to join the Police knocking on someone's door in the early hours of January 1st to break bad news.

Drink sensibly - alcohol and the sea don't mix - the sea temperature is approaching its coldest.

Triangulo de las Bermudas

2011-12-28T19:06:00.004Z

‘Where’s the Bermuda Triangle?’ asked one of my work colleagues the other day. I was going to give a fairly quick ‘ …um near Bermuda’ response but thought better of it as it was a genuine question.

Anyway it is located between the Bahamas, The Straits of Florida and well yes, Sherlock Holmes…the Island of Bermuda.

Oooohhh....it sounds even more mysterious in Spanish.

Meanwhile I tried to calculate the exact location of the ‘Pen Triangle’.

This is a smaller triangle, which it is suggested, is located between the steering wheel of the rescue truck, the driver’s side door and the gear stick. No matter how many pens we put in the truck they always go AWOL. Readers you would not believe the amount of pens that disappear, hundreds. And yes we can write stuff.

Now some wag has suggested that Austen eats them, which is not true. Others that casualties swipe them, (I’m sure a diver with the bends is more worried about his own health than think it was a crafty opportunity to swipe a pen!) I like to blame the Lifeboat Crew; to be fair they never come anywhere near our truck but its always good to pin it on someone, so it might as well be them. Saying that Nick is never short of pens; and his name obviously fits too....must be him.

Anyway I bought four pens with key ring attachments down in town, I’m going to tie them all to the gear stick on a piece of elastic so they can't disappear into the Pen Triangle.

Cheap and plastic

Which reminds me.

....for Barry Manilow Fans, I knows you are going to like this.

A little bit of history.........when helicopters were big!

2011-12-27T06:00:00.001Z

September 2005, Durlston Bay......rescue of a person from the side of the cliff on the Downs.

Coastguard helicopter "parked" on the Downs

The Christmas Cake connection

2011-12-26T21:27:00.003Z

The other day my neighbour was busy in her kitchen creating her...well Christmas cake.....

Oddly it reminded me of several things.

1) This picture of an anti tank mine that two young chaps pulled out of "little sea" a few years ago.

2) It was soon to be Boxing Day and as in previous years the team have been out waiting for the EOD team to arrive to dispose of something someone had dug up!

Well thankfully Boxing day has passed and we have not been out, but I did see several people out this morning with new metal detectors which no doubt as their skills develop so the "finds" will increase.

So a little reminder.....

Be sure you have the landowners permission to use a metal detector - certain areas have a ban

If you find something and are not sure what it is...STOP.....and get advice.

DO NOT dig it up, DO NOT transport it to home or to a Police/Coastguard Station

Stay safe.....

As for the neighbours Christmas Cake ......EOD will be round on Thursday to carry out a control detonation....

Operation Lemonade

2011-12-26T08:44:00.007Z

Operation Lemonade – An Updated and 'Refreshed' Blog for 2012!

The current Blog was set up about 4 years ago on a hand written code template; thanks to Dave Turnball at Swanage RNLI. It has served us well but was starting to creak at the seams. We have therefore decided to move to a new blogger template, which will allow more flexibility in the design and posting options. It will be easier to maintain and add items without writing html code, which is a right pain.

In moving to the new template we have taken the opportunity to 'refresh' the look (Operation Lemonade = Refreshing). We have tried to keep the same corporate colour so that it appears familiar to our readers but sharpen the page up to a more contemporary style. It’s also been optomised for mobile viewing on iPhone, iPads and Raspberry Phones; hopefully Android users also.

A Sneaky Preview Screenshot..

The new template will be full screen on PC and iMac and allow supersize images and video to be posted, plus more interactive content like the incident map to be used properly. There will be loads more integration with Facebook and Twitter.

Currently we can have between 250 to 1500 unique readers a day, dependent on what’s going on, including 200+ regular facebook followers. Most readers are local although some are from much further afield. Hello (Hola!) to the people from Chile.

Next year it’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics, some of which will be held 15 miles down the ~~road~~ sea in Weymouth. Oh, and let's not forget Coastguard Dee's big day, she is getting married to a lifeboat chap also. It’s going to be an exciting and busy year, and to meet this challenge head on we’ve got some new recruits joining the Swanage Coastguard Team.

We will migrate to the new template 01 January 2012. It will be in exactly the same place, but will look new.

... and that’s because it is!

We hope you like it.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T09:41:00.002Z

Christmas Morning
The team are out on an emergency this morning. Once the casualty is taken care of there are still 4 dogs to deal with....

...and some biscuits on return to station.

santa's been.....pagers gone off

2011-12-25T07:48:00.001Z

its 7.38 and the pagers have gone off.....

southwestern ambulance have requested assistance on studland beach........more soon

Track Santa

2011-12-24T06:13:00.000Z

Often the Coastguard get called out to reports of lights, flares and objects in the sky so Coastguards around the country will be monitoring Santa's movements tonight to ensure no false alarms.

Rudolph's red nose could easily be mistaken for a red flare but your call is important so never put off calling 999 if you think something is wrong - the Coastguard will do the checking.

15:15 He's been spotted in China....

Out in the cold

2011-12-23T22:02:00.003Z

Kit night on Wednesday was not just about eating sausage rolls.....there is a serious side despite being in December the equipment is still washed, refuelled ready for the next incident.

Call Out?

2011-12-22T08:17:00.000Z

Call Out?

Its odds-on for the pagers to go off today as one of the team is going abseiling. See you about 11.00am then Nick?

Christmas Milestones

2011-12-22T06:53:00.003Z

There are some dates that are historically significant when it comes to Christmas.

1884    The Great Christmas Frost Fair on the frozen River Thames
1843    The first Christmas card was sent.
1931    The Coca-Cola company ‘invent’ a red suited Santa Claus.
1983    The first truly commercial Christmas sees parents fighting in shops for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.

And a new date for the archives:-

2011    The Great Swanage Sausage Roll Feast.

Due a communications mix up a truck load of sausages rolls turned up at the station for the last Kit Night of the year; strangely enough they had a short shelf life and needed eating.

The Swanage Team are always up for a challenge and saw the said sausages rolls off the premises in double quick time. Seven Coastguards put away over 120 sausage rolls (cocktail style) in under 90 minutes. For those of you interested in statistics this equates to 17 Sausage rolls each, or 15 inches each when measured end to end; the collective eating rate was 1 roll per officer every 5 minutes and 19 seconds. The graph below shows sausage rolls per officer, Gareth in Red, Austen in Green...not sure what Brian in Blue was up to?

Two tubes of Pringles provided ‘afters’.

After all those sausage rolls we have double checked the cliff rope specifications i.e. breaking strains. We remain within the ropes' safety tolerances …but only just.

Something New Coming Soon..........

2011-12-21T19:42:00.004Z

New Book

2011-12-21T14:00:00.002Z

We had an email last week via our other website from Pete Leak.....

Pete was a Coastguard on the East Coast for 27 years, 12 of those in charge, he has written a book and looking on his web site there are some interesting photos.

Fishing boat sinks off Cornwall

2011-12-21T09:44:00.003Z

Colleagues in Cornwall were in action last night with a sad outcome.

The BBC news report.

A Christmas Message

2011-12-21T07:00:00.002Z

Its that time of year when we reflect on the year and hopefully sit down for 5 minutes and catch up with friends and family.

1st of all some thank you's - To the team members, families and friends, with out them supporting the team out on incidents we just would not function. We are no longer a team of 12 or 13 its more like 200 when you count up everyone you supports us.

Special thanks to the staff of the MRCC at Portland who have not had the best of news regarding their future. Despite this they continue to co ordinate incidents to the highest standards.
Thank you to the St Albans team who continue to join us on a regular basis to support certain incidents. To Rob (Weymouth Sector Manager) who looked after us until Allan arrived.

Our partners - Swanage Lifeboat crew who we enjoy working with all the normal banter that happens. National Coastwatch Swanage, their work at Peveril Point is very valuable and enables us to cover other areas whilst they sit and monitor the bay. South Western Ambulance - Swanage crews for their continued support, Dorset Police for the many times this year we have worked together and Phil's team at Dorset Fire and Rescue (Swanage).

Swanage Town Council for their continued support especially the beach wardens and staff at the tourist information centre.
All the wardens and staff at the National Trust around Studland.

Middle beach cafe, Bankes Arms, Ocean Bay, Pier Head cafe and the many other places where the team are looked after on their travels !

Finally the community of Swanage who support us so well.

A Merry (and safe) Christmas from everyone at Swanage Coastguard.

Nyan Cat - What?

2011-12-20T18:43:00.006Z

Can anyone offer an explanation as to why 'Nyan Cat' was the 4th most watched video on youtube this year?

Half cat... half pop tart...

Anyone?

Rescue 106

2011-12-20T10:03:00.003Z

Rescue 106 was in action on Saturday supporting our colleagues from Wyke with the rescue of an injured surfer .

Photos

2011-12-19T20:29:00.000Z

It's about this time of year when we run out of things to write so fall back on photos from the year......

Lifeboat chaps having some fun.

Messing around with Coastguard 106

Coastguard Dee's for breaky.

106 in flight.

Breakfast Baps after an all nighter...

Beer Festival at the Bankes Arms.....

The photos above are in large format but we have a sneaky plan for the new year to allow us to add extra large photos. Watch this space for more info of 'Operation Refresh'.

Slipwatch

2011-12-18T09:23:00.001Z

the latest picture.......whilst out for a walk yesterday.

So....who is 40?????

2011-12-17T23:22:00.003Z

Awwww isn't he cute.

Big birthday for the big man.....

A top secret birthday party was held in town tonight. Top dancing, curry, and a chilli ....and a cake.

Weather Updates

2011-12-14T18:43:00.001Z

Showers will continue to affect parts of central and western Scotland, at times this evening, tonight and into Thursday morning.
Clearer spells between these showers will lead to a risk of widespread ice, mainly on untreated roads. In addition some accumulations of snow are likely on some high level roads in the Highlands, mainly above 300m.
A widespread frost will also develop on Wednesday evening, overnight and lasting well into Thursday morning in N Ireland and parts of N England. Untreated roads will become icy especially where rain sleet and snow has fallen. On Thursday morning showers may spread in from the southwest into N Ireland, and fall onto frozen surfaces, increasing the ice risk.
Rain clearing Wales and SW England later in the night may well lead to icy stretches on Thursday morning even on roads previously treated.

Missing Person - found safe and well

2011-12-14T17:57:00.003Z

The IRT assisted Dorset Police this afternoon in a search for a missing male from the town.

With the hours of daylight limited and the predicted weather forecast, the team deployed using defined search patterns - thankfully the male was located safe by Police Officers about 4 miles from his home.

****************************************************************************

As the bad weather continues perhaps we can remind readers to check on any vulnerable neighbours or relatives. Whilst we do not have snow and ice (yet) working with our Partner Agencies we encourage people just to help and support each other.
Perhaps check they have enough shopping - couple of extra tins of soup in the cupboard for example.
Check they are warm and not using heating appliances which are dangerous.
If they need to go out, perhaps you can help with a lift, strong winds can be dangerous with items blowing around in the street.

Helping each other helps us as Emergency Services and Partner Agencies help those at greatest risk.

Further bad weather

2011-12-13T17:19:00.002Z

The Met office have issued further weather warnings for the week. This time last year we were battling ice and snow this year its wet and very windy.

Stay safe, plan your journeys if they are necessary and always check the forecast.

Weather update

2011-12-12T13:26:00.000Z

Gale warnings - Issued: 2146 UTC Sun 11 Dec
Southerly storm force 10 expected later
Shipping Forecast - Issued: 1130 UTC Mon 12 Dec
Wind
West 5 to 7, backing south or southeast gale 8 to storm 10, veering southwest 7 to severe gale 9 later.
Sea State
Rough or very rough.
Weather
Squally showers, rain for a time.
Visibility
Good, occasionally poor.

Someone had a birthday

2011-12-12T08:43:00.001Z

We missed something very important this week and on behalf of the team we must apologise for this.

John Bentham had a very special birthday on the 8th and his daughters arranged for this very special cake to mark the occasion.

Readers will know John is still on the mend and slowly returning to life in the team, supported by the team and the MCA.

We also would point out that any similarities between the bold character above and Pip our old Sector Manager are purely a coincident.

So....sorry John, Happy Birthday.

Festive Hat

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000Z

Gareth sporting his Festive Hat. Apparently it's a Cornish thing.....

Storms - Yellow Warning

2011-12-11T20:08:00.003Z

BBC:- Two further storms will be making their way from the Atlantic towards the UK over the coming days, this as parts of Scotland recover from the widespead disruption brought by last Thursday's storm.

The Met Office have issued a yellow early warning for a period of very stormy weather next week, with severe gales or storm force winds expected to affect southern and western parts of the UK by Monday night and during Tuesday.

A quieter period of weather mid week will be a brief respite before a second storm sweeps in from the west on Thursday afternoon.

There is the potential for some severe disruption from both storms.

Nick's Vegetarian Option

2011-12-11T20:06:00.003Z

And he blamed the wine today !

The Christmas Dinner and the Party Hat

2011-12-11T12:40:00.007Z

A very nice dinner at the Courtyard at Kingston this year saw the team get together to look back on the year.

It was nearly a multi agency party at one stage when Dee's party hat fell off into a candle, this turned into a flaming ball on the table, quickly flicked onto the floor. Dee and Daz then started the Swanage Coastguard version of the River Dance which extinguished the flames and meant we didn't have to share the dinner with the Fire Service.

John Bentham was voted as the "President" of the Swanage Coastguard Association (aka the tea fund) to reflect his 30 years service. Being El Presidente meant the dinner was on us and gave him the power to fine anyone not wearing a party hat.

Table decorations make great hats.
Dee doesn't like party hats so she set fire to hers.

A round up of the year saw the annual presentation of the Swanage Coastguard of the year award, in memory of Mike Williamson to Nick Field. Nick - a co author of the blog and in his 2nd year with the team has been very supportive in the daily working of the team.

The Award ....this photo was defo in focus last night,
mmm perhaps something to do with the free wine.

I sure the photos of the evening will slowly appear in the next 48 hours. Our thanks to the St Albans team for covering us during the evening, especially as we were on their patch !

Weather Warning

2011-12-11T12:35:00.004Z

After last weeks strong winds in Scotland, it appears its our turn with strong wind and rain.

The Met Office is currently issuing a "yellow warning" for Monday and Tuesday.

Christmas Meal

2011-12-10T18:16:00.002Z

Tonight is the team's Christmas Meal; it's the only time in the entire year the Swanage Coastguard Team ever go fully 'offline'.

Our colleagues at St Albans are covering, and thanks to them for doing so.

Last year we drank the restaurant out of beer...which wasn't too much of an effort as they only had six bottles; so we drank wine instead.

More sprouts Ian?
Prrrrrph... perhaps not, judging by Sandie's reaction.

Heat Camera

2011-12-10T11:53:00.004Z

Here's some photos from the search exercise the other night. Wet windy and dark, and slippy underfoot made this a tricky exercise.

The casualty was 'hiding' in a valley near Tilly Whim caves. After about 20 minutes of searching the first team managed to get a small 'contact' of reflective fabric using a high powered LED torch. A slight movement allowed the team to decide to investigate further. Given the topography a second team were called down to the far side of the valley and conned onto the contact position.

At night, at a distance it was hard to see what was going on.

Reflective Jackets (what you can't see is how close they are to a rocky drop off)

The first search team had the heat camera which is far more effective than an infrared night sight.

Dee used this to film the action.

It's hard to convey in photos how useful the heat camera is! You can pick up a rabbit in the dark at 250m., it's that sensitive.

In this search it allowed us to cover a hours worth of ground in under 10 minutes. On a cold night that could be the difference between a successful recovery, or a fatality.

...sadly its only on test and has been passed back to the manufacturer. It's £6k of equipment, which in the current economic climate, means we will have to do without.

The Cunning Plan

2011-12-08T19:49:00.002Z

"So how tall is Ian?" asked Tom.

"In feet and inches, ...or digestive biscuits?" said I jokingly

"Digestive biscuits" replied Tom, calling my bluff.

Not one to have my bluff called I looked at the biscuits in the cupboard and formulated a cunning plan. It was a very cunning plan....a very cunning plan indeed.....to quote Blackadder:-

Gareth and Tom working on their cunning plan (You choose who's who)

Blackadder: Baldrick, I have a very, very, very cunning plan.

Baldrick: Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?

Blackadder: Yes, it is.

Baldrick: Mm... That's cunning!

The plan went like this.

(a) Stack packs of biscuits up against the door.
(b) Tom calls Ian to the office.
(c) Gareth takes photo.
(d) Run like hell.

Got Him!

7 Packets of Rich Tea

So he's 7 packets of Rich Tea Tall, or 147 Rich Tea Biscuits in total.
(Reader:- But that doesn't tell us how tall he is in digestive biscuits - which was the actual question!)

Well using the well known european biscuit conversion table this equates 92.3 Standard Digestives or 90.12 Chocolate Digestives.

Windy Night?

2011-12-08T19:22:00.000Z

Looks a bit windy up north.

Update

2011-12-07T10:38:00.004Z

The ship in the earlier blog has swung round now, revealing itself to be the Trinity House Vessel Galatea.Galatea is a multi function tender, providing support to the Trinity House lighthouse service in tasks such as maintenance work, buoy deployment, wreck location marking and towing. She is also able to carry out additional tasks such as hydrographic surveying and wreck finding and contract commercial work. Today I see she has a couple of navigation bouys on the aft deck.

Her normal home port is Harwich, so its not hard to see why she'd want to spend a couple of days with us in Swanage.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-07T09:49:00.002Z

Its another lovely morning in Swanage and I see we have a visitor in the form of this boat moored in the bay. Don't know what its doing here, although I expect someone will tell us.

It arrived yesterday actually and was lit up like a Christmas tree last night. It was also here a couple of weeks ago, stayed for a day and went again.

The answer is:-

2011-12-05T20:36:00.000Z

Over — I have finished talking and I am listening for your reply. Short for "Over to you."

Out — I have finished talking to you and do not expect a reply. Correct Gold stars!

Over and Out - You can't be over and out at the same time. If you do say this someone will probably laugh / start foaming at the mouth and shouting at the radio.

Roger- I understand what you just said. ...He also lives next door to Ian.

Bye Bye - Heard only once in my coastguard career..."Thank you Rescue 106 for your assistance today, Bye Bye......um out"...followed by a load of ~~good natured~~ abuse from us and then the ops room and helo pilot bursting into laughter.

Access All Areas

2011-12-05T16:26:00.003Z

One of the purposes of our regular local knowledge and accident prevention patrols is to check access routes. Here's Dee on patrol near Durlston a few weeks ago.

The padlock on this gate had rusted up and needed oiling and a lot of persuasion before it would open. In an emergency we could have found other less subtle ways to open it, but we don't like to upset local landowners! So maintenance is another of our patrol objectives.

Sunday's Weather

2011-12-04T10:57:00.000Z

A rare event

2011-12-03T20:30:00.003Z

Every now and then something happens which is too good to miss.
A bit like a visit from Halley's comet , its rare and something to see.

Well one of key supporters has unfortunately lost her voice and the opportunity to see this rare and peaceful event is just too good to see/hear!

We are of course talking about the Deputy Mayor...Cllr. Patrick, often seen drinking tea at the station or arranging lots of people to sign up to facebook and costing me money as the total membership went over 200.

So why not pop along to the Council Meeting on Monday night to witness this key event!

I'm probably now in serious trouble, however we of course wish to send her our best wishes to get better soon.

Search in the rain

2011-12-02T19:17:00.002Z

Last night Portland Coastguard put the team through its paces in a search at Durlston.

Conditions were far from pleasant however we do have to go out in conditions far from warm and dry. The story was that a man had called his friend to say he was walking in the country park when he started to have chest pains - he failed to call again and his mobile was just ringing out.

Austen was in charge and we were joined for real by the Police as often we work closely on these searches. Two teams deployed and began searching using the thermal camera.

After about an hour the team found the male hidden and then played out the situation presented using first aid and then extraction from a difficult position in very difficult conditions.

Back to the station for hot drinks and a debrief. I am pleased to say the team did very well and proved they were competent to carry out the different searches the Coastguard carry out.

Our thanks to the staff at Portland, Allan, Ros, Malcolm (also known as Poppy the casualty) and John for assisting in this exercise.

Only one problem now......lots of drying out to do now !

Man shot in buttocks by dog.

2011-12-01T10:39:00.001Z

In non-Coastguard related, firearm wielding dog on boat news.....

"The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the (decoy setter) in the buttocks."

"Neither the dog, which has not been identified, nor any ducks within range at the time of the accident, were injured."

Kit Night

2011-11-30T23:30:00.003Z

Kit night last night went smoother than normal due to the fact the Station Officer and Deputy both were not their to start with !

Craker, Kitching, Field, and Bowden had all the equipment out and checked by the time we arrived.

Just because its November does not mean there is nothing to do.

Answer....get someone with a tractor.

2011-11-30T18:56:00.002Z

Early start yesterday morning, having spoken to the Council one of their contractors turned up with various machines and removed the huge amount of heavy rope.

With a 30 tonne winch on the back of a tractor the 2 tonne of rope was removed safely.

Thanks to Swanage Town Council and Mr Audley

What do you do with a load of rope

2011-11-29T11:00:00.000Z

The IRT were tasked on Saturday to this rope.....not alot they could do, but thankfully having liaised with the Town Council, they know a man with the right bit of kit to recover this.

So why go to all this effort?

Imagine that getting caught around a ships propeller? or a swimmer getting caught up in it?
The Coastguard promote cleaner seas......we do our bit to make that happen.

Peveril is back in Swanage

2011-11-29T04:00:00.001Z

Readers may remember the blog ...."Take a Letter" where the new sign posts at Peveril Point actually gave a position off Exmouth.

Well it appears the man from the Council did respond to my phone call.....

With a sharp chisel, wood glue and some off cuts....the "SY" has turned into the correct "SZ" !

Breaking News

2011-11-28T16:14:00.005Z

My phone has suddenly jumped into life....have you heard the news?? What news??

The Portland helicopter is going......! What??

Read more......... care of the BBC. No official news from other sources yet but we will keep you posted on events.

Hills on fire

2011-11-28T16:00:00.000Z

View of Ballard today.....controlled burning thankfully.

Saturday Night Search

2011-11-27T10:32:00.005Z

The Swanage Coastguard Team were tasked early yesterday evening to search for a male, age 74 who had gone missing earlier in the day. Austen (DSO) took charge and devised a search plan taking account of the information provided.

Three search units deployed to the coastline.

Search Team 1 (The Coastguard MRU) were tasked to the Studland Chain Ferry and then proceeded south along the beach, and up onto Old Harry and Ballard.

Search Team 2 deployed from The Grand Hotel northwards along the beach, while Search Team 3 went south along the seafront, through town and onto Peveril Point. The teams combined to search through The Downs; on completion we were given the stand-down, as the man had been found safe and well inland at Valley Road.

Depending on the tasking we either deploy quickly to make a ‘Hasty Search’ of key areas (For instance when a despondent person may cause themselves self harm) , this is done almost running and covering as much ground as quickly and safely as possible. Or the case of a potentially vulnerable adult we undertake a ‘Meaningful Wander’ slightly less risk to ourselves and slower and more methodical.

It was also an opportunity to test out the new torches, which performed well.

Micepies ---ooops typo..... Mincepies

2011-11-27T09:40:00.005Z

Blimey, later this week it will be December...already!

Christmas puds, mince pies and christmas cards with a Robin on.

I'll have to dust off some of the usual seasonal blog posts ;-) and probably reuse that one about Ferrero Rocketts - four years on the trot I've used that blog.

Kite Surfing

2011-11-27T07:53:00.004Z

We had a bumper turnout for training last week. The reason: we were told that it was a kite surfing session. Only mild disappointment then that it was a presentation, rather than a chance to get wet.

To be fair, the presentation was very good, and I'm not just saying that because it was delivered by Tom, our colleague from the Ops Room (MRCC Portland). Tom's also a volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer himself (ie. when he's not being a full time coastguard), and he's also pretty good at kite surfing, being a BKSA qualified instructor, which brings us back to the subject.

The talk discussed the kinds of difficulties kite surfers are likely to face and what we as Coastguard Rescue Officers should do if we are tasked to a kite surfing incident, particularly how to bring the kite under control and how to prevent it from taking off again unexpectedly (no....no knives involved!) Matt and Darren from the lifeboat crew came along as this knowledge is useful to the RNLI too.

Afterwards we went outside to practice stopping a runaway kite and turning it upside down and into the wind to prevent it from flying away again, and I can honestly say there are no photographs anywhere of the Station Officer wrestling the kite and the kite winning. No, seriously, there aren't. Are there?

By the way, that 10 square metre kite behind Tom in the photo is worth about £1000, and if you want to know whose hand is just creeping into the shot far right, look here. The hand is probably worth about £30.

Thanks to Tom, not only for a thoroughly useful and enjoyable evening, but also for writing us a manual to keep on station so we don't have to pretend to remember everything he said.

New York Cheesecake.

2011-11-26T17:47:00.002Z

The team was this evening tasked to Peveril Point to investigate an object that had washed up. The object turned out to be a berthing hawser from a large vessel. (A big rope- 5 inch diameter about 50m in length). Given the spring tides it was likely that this might refloat and become a hazard to shipping. On this basis it was secured until morning when a better assessment can be undertaken.

A Slice of the Action.

On the way back to the station Brian said he was looking forward to his tea . Tonight Brian is having a curry, with naan and two side dishes – bombay potato and sag alloo. He had also 'rescued' a New York Cheesecake which was on special for his afters. He will then watch Strictly Come Dancing, but not X Factor.

..and A Slice of Cheesecake.

**18:34 - Looks like Brian's Tea is on hold as we have had a full team page to search for a missing person.

Missing People

2011-11-26T05:00:00.003Z

We get involved in searching for people in two main ways:

1) People overdue from walks or activities around our area.

2) Requests from the Police to assist in search for people.

With the second category people go missing for lots of reasons, its our role to assist where we can but the community play their part.

We have added a link (to the right) to the Dorset Police Website and the Missing Persons Page - there is also a link to a National Missing Persons site.

Take a few minutes to have a look, the news someone is safe is all the families want to hear especially in the run up to Christmas.

Lifeboat AGM

2011-11-25T20:52:00.003Z

Last night Austen and I represented the Coastguard at the Swanage Lifeboat Supporters and Guild AGM at the Pines Hotel.

We heard about the fundraising efforts during the year, reports from the Operations Manager, Coxswain, Press Officer and an excellent talk about the new future boat which will be on station around 2015.

Good effort by a lot of people.....keep up the good work

Hogwarts Training

2011-11-24T18:47:00.002Z

We know things are changing in the Coastguard World, but Allan's approach to training now involves "How to fly on a broom stick" - I believe this comes under Miscellaneous duties on our competencies.

We think we are being entered into a Quidditch competition (see Harry Potter if you are unsure what this is) but 1st we have to learn to fly.

Rescue Helicopters

2011-11-23T18:57:00.000Z

Rescue Helicopters

This is the story I read to my daughter tonight. She's not quite 3, but she already knows all about rescue helicopters!

Coastguard - The Future

2011-11-22T17:13:00.000Z

The Coastguard has made this announcement today on the future of the Coastguard

"I am writing to let you know that following the independent review of the responses of the second period of consultation on our proposals to modernise Her Majesty's Coastguard the Secretary of State for Transport has today announced the Government's decision. This can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-searchandrescue.htm

This means that we have now begun the process of moving to a national networked Coastguard operation with a Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) at its heart. We're also able to announce today that the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.

In addition to this centre there will also be Coastguard centres. at Dover, Aberdeen, Shetland, Stornoway, Belfast, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Falmouth and Humber all operating 24/7. The London coordination centre will continue to be co-located with the Port of London Authority.

We are also improving the leadership of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service by strengthening the numbers of existing regular Coastguard officers based in these coastal communities and I'm also pleased to be able to announce that the Coastguard Rescue Service will be strengthened by an increase of 50% to the number of full time officers available to the volunteers for operational attendance, leadership and advice.

This will allow much more flexibility in the management and training of our volunteers and help to remove the current uneven distribution of Coastguard Rescue Teams between their management.

It will also give a greater presence of Coastguard officers in coastal communities and provide increased opportunity for interaction with other emergency services and coastal leisure and commercial bodies.

These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in;

Existing Centres

Lerwick

Aberdeen,

Bridlington,

Walton-on-the-Naze,

Dover,

Falmouth,

Swansea,

Liverpool,

Belfast

Stornoway.

Additional Centres

Moray Firth

Northeast England,

Southampton/Portsmouth,

Dorset,

North Devon,

Cardigan Bay,

Strathclyde

Oban/Fort William

I know that you like me will be acutely aware that whilst this announcement is the beginning of a new era for HM Coastguard it will a time of massive change for colleagues currently based in Yarmouth, Thames, Solent, Portland, Brixham, Swansea, Liverpool, Forth and Clyde whose stations will be closing before 31 March 2015.

This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK's rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers, our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient. We will continue to provide a quality safety service to the mariner and coastal user and I'd like to thank you for your continued support as we move forward."

Full details on the MCA website