A Horror Warning

Tonight is Halloween and there's nothing more scary than dressing up like Terry Nutkins or a Panda.

Combine the two and it's horrific!

...as our 'overseas coastgaurd' Austen Rockett demonstrates.

Terry Nutkins / Pandaman

ok ok i'll put a nice photo of him up too.

Just after rescuing a dog in full dress uniform!

Another Weather Warning

Another weather warning has been issued for tomorrow (Friday)

Heavy rain is expected during Friday going into Saturday along with strong wind along the coast.

Don't misuse flares.

A person has been fined for misusing flares when not in distress which resulted in a unnecessary search and rescue incident.

With Bonfire fire night fast approaching this serves as a reminder that it is illegal to fire maritime distress flares when not in trouble.

Bonfire night is not an excuse to get rid of out of date flares either, flares should be disposed of properly.
Here in Dorset the collection point for out of date flares is the Security gate house at the RNLI college at Poole.
However please DO NOT just turn up as an appointment has to be booked with the staff. They can be contacted on 01202 336336.

Please also note its an offence to leave flares at Coastguard stations and RNLI lifeboat houses. Previous incidents of flares being left at these premises have caused huge problems with safety and seen areas being evacuated.

Have a safe bonfire night.....be responsible

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Think of your safety

The sun may be out (here at Anvil Point) but conditions are still hazardous.

The sea conditions are still rough with large sea swells and waves.

Please stay safe and view the conditions from a safe location. We recommend you stay out of the water for at least another 24 hours till condition improve.

Trees will have been weakened in the strong winds and there is still a risk of fly debris in the gusts.

Don't put you or others at risk, if you see someone in trouble call 999 and ask for Coastguard.

Dorset Flood Alert

15:41 The Environment Agency have put out a Flood Alert for the east coast of Dorset.

'....a flood alert has been issued for the east coast of dorset due to weather conditions tonight. Very large waves plus strong winds between force 7 and force coinciding with heavy rain will have effects, especially between 5.00am and 6.15am Monday.'

Call Floodline on 0845 988 1188, select option 1 and enter Quickdial number 04532 to get more information

'St Jude Day Storm' Radar Plot

STORM WARNING ... STORM WARNING ...

15:45 BBC Weather Update

HM Coastguard will be monitoring the storm over the next 24 hours. Whilst it's exciting to watch mother nature at her most powerful please keep yourself safe, especially close to the shoreline and on the cliffs. As of yet we still don't know the precise storm, track but given Swanage's exposed coastal location we are taking all precautions. The team are currently out liaising with coastal users.

The Swanage Coastguard Team normally provide a 2 person 'Initial Response Team' 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Tonight at 19:00 we will be increasing this to 6 Rescue Officers with the rest of the team on immediate team call.

Met Office - Infra Red + Radar for Swanage

Dorset Storm Warning

BBC's Weatherman Matt Taylor provides an explanation of how the storm may develop.

 

Met Office and HM Coastguard are also putting out a High Seas Forecast and Storm Warnings

Met Office Storm Warning Swanage Dorset

STORM WARNING ... STORM WARNING ...
A weather warning has been issued for Monday.

An amber warning has been issued for storm force winds.

Partnership working

Tonight's training saw a visit by a couple of staff from the Environment Agency come and talk about the Swanage Flood plans.

Following last years heavy rain and landslips we have been drawing up a working agreement with the Environment Agency to be able to observe events on the ground during flooding.

The team have been briefed on the areas to check along with the different types of flooding which could occur in the town.

Our primary roles hasn't changed in this type of work its just about working with new partner agencies and feeding key observations back to confirm what the electronic sensors are showing.

Looking at tonight's weather, tonight's training could soon be in use.

Dornier pulled from the channel

Readers may have seen that a rare World War 2 bomber was recently lifted from the English Channel and taken for restoration.

The Dornier 17 has been taken to RAF Cosford where its been sprayed with a solution to stop it decaying before it can go on display. I managed to get a good close up view of the work being done this weekend.

There are laws protecting items recovered from the sea and this is where the Receiver of Wreck steps in

Rowing Club Progress

I notice that Swanage Sea Rowing Club are making good progress with their new boat house in Eldon Road, opposite their temporary Polytunnel.
If you cant get down for a look yourself, then there are some pictures here:
http://swanage-sea-rowing-club-boathouse.blogspot.co.uk/#!/

Water Rescue Training

There is only one problem after training with the new water rescue kit......the drying of it.

The new dry suits are super and give us safer capability to enter the water if required.

Real Rescues

The Swanage Coastguard Team featured on Real Rescues today.

The incident was the young lady who fell off Agglestone Rock at Studland during the summer. The air ambulance attended and had a camera man on board filming the incident. The Coastguard attended to assist the ambulance due to the remote location.

You can see the video by using the BBC I player - Real Rescues Series 10 episode 10.

Emergency Phone Anvil Point

After many month of being broken, the emergency phone is back working at Anvil Point.

This phone is vital in this area as the mobile phone signal is very poor in fact you often pick a French signal up only.

All calls from this phone go direct to the Coastguard as BT were unable to provide a normal 999 service.

In a time of cutbacks we would like to thank those involved in maintaining this vital life saving phone.

Spike - we remember you.

The 7th October 2004 is a dark day in the history of the team.

One of our team Michael "Spike" Williamson collapsed and sadly passed away, a day team members will never forget.

This afternoon Steve and Ian attended the Godlingston Cemetery to pay our respects and remember a great team member.

Yacht washed up at Studland

The scene facing the initial response team last night when they were called to Knoll Beach Studland.

Regular readers will know this isn't the 1st time the Coastguard has attended this yacht.

Landslip drop in meeting

Things that go bump in the night

Just after 10pm last night Dorset Police requested assistance in searching for a local male missing from his home.

Normally the Coastguard would search an area called the coastal strip however to assist the Police we searched further in land , around the streets and paths of the town.

Thankfully the missing man was located safe and well, however the sight of several of our search teams in high viz clothing looking around garages and using torches triggered several calls to the Police.

So apologies to the residents we disturbed, we would like to reassure residents that all our clothing is clearly marked with Coastguard logo's and team members would be wearing safety helmets. We would also only be on public land and only search private areas with the permission of the owners.

Belgian Registered MotorYacht

RNLI assistance was provided to a 40-foot Belgian registered motorboat in Swanage Bay last night.

The vessel with three people onboard was in difficulty in the bay some 60m off Swanage Pier and due to the worsening weather Portland Coastguard requested that Poole lifeboat attend to help the boat continue its voyage to Poole.

The lifeboat was launched at approx 19.15 and was on scene approx 40 minutes later. 

Further details at Poole Lifeboat's website http://www.poole-lifeboats.org.uk/recent_launches.shtm#oct_anchor