5 Knots means no faster than 5 knots

For the 3rd time this week Coastguard Rescue Officers have had to speak to the owners of craft speeding close to the shore.

Swanage has a 5 Knot speed limit for craft from the beach out wards marked clearly by yellow marker bouys.

All owners denied knowledge of knowing there was a speed limit although the same boat now has been spoken to twice!

The Coastguard will be passing the vessel details to both Purbeck District Council ( Enforcement Authority) and Dorset Police. Ultimately should an incident occur the person in charge of this vessel would be personally liable for damage to other boats, or injury to persons. 

The speed limit is vital for the safety of other users of the bay.

Please respect the limit and ensure the safety of swimmers especially.

Ferry Road going to be closed over night

Message from the Ferry Company - the road is going to resurfaced over night.

Once the final ferry is run the surface dressing will begin.

Road Closed by the old toll booth (near to Knoll Beach)

Swanage Carnival Volunteer by day - Swanage Coastguard Volunteer by night.

The full Swanage Coastguard Team were deployed to a dog over cliff at Old Harry - a cliff rescue. Not our favourite place, Old Harry, given the cliff face.

Luckily the dog 'Tarka' survived the fall and was picked up by a passing vessel and taken to South Beach, Studland.

Colleagues from St Albans Coastguard were also paged but stood down when the dog was recovered by a passing boat.

Dogs on leads - how apt.

The team reunited the owner with their dog.


Highlight of the evening was our very own Eric Hudson who turned up at the job - dressed in his Swanage Carnival red shirt and sporting face paint - dog paw prints! 

Well it was the Swanage Carnival Dog Show today!

...as ever - please keep your dog on a lead when walking near to cliffs.

Carnvial Procession

See how tall the Station Officer really is !

Tall Stories

There's a bit of light hearted banter and some fierce rivalry amongst the team about who's the tallest. And more importantly who isn't. You see there are three members of the team whose uniform sizes read XS and yet they're still too big.

So yesterday we decided to judge once and for all

On the far left and right we have the judges, Jayden (coastie overalls) and Roger (minion hat - no, we don't know why either). In the centre of the shot, the three competitors, Ian in the high viz, Kerry in the shades and Terry in the, in the.....Terry, where are you?  Terry?, Terry?....oops, clearly not quite tall enough to make the photo.

So that's it, Terry's the most down to earth member of the team, the one who still gets half price at the cinema and the last to know its raining when he goes outside. And as for the other two...has Ian spiked his hair up?  Is Kerry on tip-toes?   The reader must decide.

Swanage Carnival 2016

Swanage Carnival 2016

Save the date...next year it's 30 July - 06 August 2016

More on Swanage Carnival 2016 here - http://www.swanagecarnival.com

Finally The Sun Came Out

After the heavy rain .......finally the sun shone


Colleagues from St Albans came down to support us and we borrowed the Bosses car for the weekend.


We hope the Carnival managed to collect some donations for their many chosen charities.

Coastguard and lifeboat deal with grounded vessel

On arrival at the forward operating base , the team spotted a drifting vessel about to hit the banjo jetty.

The team immediately deployed to assist calling the NMOC.

Both Swanage RNLI lifeboats launched along with the Coastguard deploying for a possible water rescue.

The lifeboats arrived and quickly got the vessel under tow. The two on board the boat were surprised their anchor had dragged and with the weather pushed them ashore.

The Team never lets a bit of rain spoil a good breakfast.

Unusually this years multi agency briefing was attended by less than a few people.

In fact it was just the Coastguard and ......




Gareth briefing the team on how many sugars Roger has in his tea

Carnival at 16:00

The Carnival procession has been put back until 16:00 to allow the weather to clear.

Carnival begins

Long day for the team starting with a military parade.




Coastguard providing safety cover to the rear of the parade.




A fair amount of tea was drank whilst the team waited for the 1st incident based in the forward operating base.

The 1st incident was a yacht collision in Studland and the team called to locate the owners.




We worked closely with the police today , another incident which Coastguard and Police attended was when the team observed a speed boat close inshore to the quay at high speed and turning dangerous.
Speaking to the persons on board they claimed they had a medical emergency but declined both a lifeboat or ambulance.

Strong words of advice were given due to the risk to swimmers and had they had an emergency perhaps calling for assistance would have been better.

Finally the fireworks before returning to the station at 22.30

Carnival Day Weather - I'm sure it'll brighten up!

Swanage Carnival Weekend!

http://www.swanagecarnival.com

Cliff Training - Station Officer takes a turn

Last night was cliff training on the Downs and we had a swap of roles.

Nick took charge of the operation whilst the Station Officer took the role of Cliff Technician.

The scenario was to carry out an assisted decent and Roger was the assisted person !




Ian and Roger down the Downs ! Very loose cliff face with a large rock slip to the left of this photo.


Sunset over Swanage , the Senior Coastguard Operation Officer (SCOO) aka Allan joined in the exercise. ( wearing the white helmet )


The team felt we looked like a couple famous double act...... I couldn't think who?

Lead by example

When visiting the coast with your dog(s) please put them on a lead near cliff edges.

With the school holidays starting we want visitors to the coast to enjoy their days out not watch as their beloved pet tumbles over the edge having chased a rabbit or bird.

"Lead" by example,

In an coastal emergency, never try and rescue your dog - dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

Coastguard Rescue team have specialist equipment for dog rescues.

Swanage at its best.

Anyone looking out the window this morning will see a damp misty view.

So let's whizz back to Saturday morning and have some sunshine.





Remember in an Maritime Emergency, on the beach , cliffs and out to sea - call the Coastguard.

999 or VHF Radio

Thank you from Spott

We would like to thank the coastguards who helped us yesterday on 19/07/15.

Our little dog Spott fell over a cliff and we thought we had lost him.Fortunately the Swanage coast guards were able to help and they contacted the RNLI who sent out a boat to rescue our dog.

We would like to send of heart felt thanks to the coastguard who were brilliant and to the RNLI who rescued Spott.

Thank you so much for your kind help and your professionalism through out this ordeal.

Kindest regards

Spott's owners

Spot the Dog reunited with his owner

Not looking too bad after his ordeal of jumping off a 90ft cliff , being rescued by some climbers and then a boat trip care of the RNLI.

Spot the dog

This afternoon the patrol were at Anvil Point when they were approached by a lady reporting that her dog may have gone over the cliff.

The patrol searched the area before requesting the launch of the Swanage RNLI inshore lifeboat.

Someone then spotted the dog on a ledge so with the help of the patrol the lifeboat was guided to the right spot to collect the dog.

The patrol then took the owners to meet the lifeboat and reunited all parties.



Always keep dogs on leads near cliff edges - never try and rescue a dog that has fallen from cliffs - dial 999 and ask for Coastguard.

Swanage Lifeboat photos

Lifejackets

Training Counts

It's ironic that this months training is focused heavily on First Aid and yesterday's incident saw those tuned skills put to the practise.

In the photo, Chris is demonstrating taking control of a patient with spinal injuries and using a collar on Kyle.
Both Chris and Kyle were at yesterday's incident but in different roles and it showed how well the team works and train together with the other services to provide a service to the community.

Coastguard Rescue Officers train hard to maintain their skills, from First Aid to Rope Rescue those skills are worked on at every opportunity.

Male airlifted from Studland Beach

This afternoon the patrol assisted the National Trust with a male with a spinal injury on Studland Beach.

The male had been exercising on a yoga ball when the ball burst and he landed on his head causing a spinal injury.

The team attended and due the location requested assistance of a helicopter before the arrival of ambulance staff who took over the care until the helicopter arrived.

Dorset Police very kindly arrived to assist in the clearance of the beach.




Rescue 106 landing on Studland Beach

The male was flown to Poole hospital for further treatment. As ever our thanks to the public for their patience during this incident.

Searching

What's going on here?

A wildlife check ?

Eric dropped his wallet again ?

A detailed line ahead search ?

A recent training session where the team were practising the different search method of searching.

Coastguard team regularly assist Police in searching for missing persons

Royal Marines Memorial

On the side of Emmetts Hill near St Albans Head (very close to the location of the incident on Friday) lies a memorial to Royal Marines fallen in conflict around the world.







On Sunday the local Royal Marine Branch held its annual memorial service and I was very kindly invited to attend.




A Coastguard helicopter did a fly past acknowledged by those attending the service.

My special thanks to John at the St Albans Team for allowing me to attend the service on his patch.

Some sad news

It is with great sadness that we have learnt the sad death of Zeus from the Seagull Cafe.





Zeus was out with his owner Ali when he collapsed and sadly died.

From all the Swanage Coastguard team we send our condolences to the Temel family, Zeus will sadly be missed.

Don't Dump at sea.

The cause of yesterday's incident in Swanage , when a local pleasure craft had its propellor fouled by a discarded plastic dump sack.

Not only does this cause an environmental problem but had if not been for the prompt arrival of an RNLI lifeboat seen the situation turn out very differently.

Thanks to a local diver the sack was removed and the craft carried on it trips for the rest of the day.

Photos from Fridays Multi Service Rescue.

Some photos just before the storm hit....

Cliff Top Rescue Team 1.
Assisted by HART Team and Swanage Fire

Cliff Top Rescue Team 2.
Assisted by Fire Service Rope Rescue

Thunderstorm

As a volunteer Coastguard sometimes you wonder why you do it.

It's dark and four hours into a rescue, you're standing on the top of a sheer 100m cliff with two cliff techs on the rescue line and a thunderstorm rolls in. The rain is torrential. The helicopter is standing off alongside, waiting to assist. Do we stop and run for cover, or do we risk getting hit by lightning and continue to prosecute the rescue?

There is a flash of lighting and an immediate thunder clap and the whole of Weymouth Bay and Portland are lit up in a purply white light for the briefest of moments.  

In that split second you get to see 20 Coastguards absolutely unphased, and the silhouette of our cliff top safety officer Roger Patrick - steadfast - watching out for the safety of the cliff techs below. 

That mental image is the reward.

The teams work through and successfully complete the rescue.

Multi agency rescue at St Albans Head.

The Swanage Team were tasked to back up the St Albans team at Emmitts Hill after a male became trapped under a boulder.

The male had been walking along the cliff when the boulder moved trapping the male by his legs.

The St Albans Coastguard were tasked backed up by the Swanage team just after 19.30. Rescue 106 arrived and started to search for the male , shortly joined by Dorset Fire and Rescue , which included their specialist rope rescue team.

Photos: C Dragatis - Swanage CG Team

Photo: Swanage CG Team

Fire Officers were flown down to the trapped male along with paramedics from South Western Ambulance. The Kimmeridge Coastguard were tasked to provide further support at the location.

Thankfully the male was released by the team at the base of the cliffs and airlifted to Dorchester County Hospital. This then required 9 rescue personnel to be recovered from the base of the cliff and the Coastguard teams went into action.

Rescue 104 was tasked to assist in the recovery of the personnel however a major thunderstorm hit the area and in horrendous conditions the rescuers were recovered with their equipment.

The teams all returned with equipment and rescuers very wet just before 1am.

A day to remember - Brighton & Hove Seaside Safety

HM Coastguard assisted Brighton and Hove City Council in the making of this hard hitting video - it is one of a series to be shown over the summer highlighting the issues of beach safety ... fairly hard hitting.

Hudson-Patrick Tan Test ©

It was rather sunny earlier today....but it looks like the sea fog has just rolled in.

Eric Hudson had his legs out at the station showing off his suntan, he’s been in Tenerife - he's always in Tenerife!; Roger Patrick had his shorts on too trying to get a tan, he’s also been in working somewhere exotic - Corfe Mullen. 

It's fair to say Eric beats Roger hands down on the tan - by way of comparison.

Eric's legs

Roger's legs

Terry's head is as brown as a hot cross bun, although without the cross, and no raisins....or orange peel come to think of it. Duncan was looking slightly pale, but he's a teacher and gets the next 16 weeks off on summer holiday so plenty of time to catch up.

Tom looked quite brown which is odd given he works nights, sleeps during the day and is scared of the sun; not a big fan of garlic either I'm told.

In order to stop disputes as to who is the brownest I’ve decided to implement the Hudson-Patrick Tan Test © which will be based on a colour chart by a well known wood stain manufacturer, rather than chicken legs.

This will allow HM Coastguard tans to be graded fairly.

At the moment Eric’s legs are somewhere between an ‘Oxford Brown’ and ‘Saddle Tan’, whereas Terry’s bonce is closer to ‘Redwood’ than ‘Sequoia’.

I’m afraid Roger's legs are currently ‘Cape Cod Grey’ although he’ll probably be ‘Harvest Brown’ by mid July.

Oh the Coastguardy bit, make sure you take care in the sun and cover up betweeen 11:00 and 15:00 when the sun is at its hottest. ...What sun I hear you say!