Going to the beach today?

If you are heading to beach today , please observe the signs and parking restrictions.

Blocked gates or tight access can delay us getting to an incident.

That incident may be for you.

Its the Bank Holiday

Unusually for a bank holiday the sun is shining which means it's a bit busy.

Yesterday both the Swanage and St Albans teams were tasked to a lady fallen at Dancing Ledge. The lady appeared to have suffered a twisted or broken ankle so was carried out by the teams and with her family taken to hospital.

Today's patrol were tasked to the sailing club in Swanage after a sailing dinghy took on water. Swanage RNLI ILB soon arrived and brought those involved ashore to be met by the team. All were well so everyone resumed.

Tonight the team were tasked to Anvil Point to search for a possible person in a dinghy. Due the failing light it was a very quick search but nothing was found and no one has been reported missing or over due.


Swanage Coastguard Rescue Vehicle at Anvil Point

Team assist air ambulance crew

Yesterday the team spotted the air ambulance circling over South Swanage.

The team assisted the crew to the location of the incident and stood by until they returned.

The volunteers are always on call ready to assist where required with helicopter operations being one specialist skill the Coastguard teams have.


The Somerset and Dorset's new helicopter

Busy week for Coastguard volunteers

It's been a busy summers week for volunteer Coastguard teams in the Purbeck area,

3 incidents at Lulworth along with the Kimmeridge team involving people falling from cliffs or hit by rocks.

1 person stuck on a cliff at Swanage with colleagues joining us from St Albans.

1 person airlifted from a path at St Albans last night.

All these incidents have involved the rescue helicopter 175 to assist.

In total there are 48 volunteers on call in the area ready to assist those in trouble or who have been injured.

Never attempt a rescue yourself - what may look like a slope could cause you and others serious injury if things go wrong.

# 999 Coastguard

A very long night

Coastguard teams risk assess their areas and deploy patrols to reduce risks especially if there is an event in the area.

For the second night running the team headed out to an event at Studland that in past years has seen some serious maritime incidents.

At 7pm the team headed out and it wasn't long before it was reported there was some serious fighting going on aboard some boats at South Beach.
On arrival it had calmed down but the team remained around to ensure people were going back to their boats safely.

The team then spotted some persons in danger of being cut off by the tide and went along to point them to a safer location.

Then a large jet ski was found balancing on rocks and along with the owners assisted moving it before the incoming tide caused any damage.

One of the biggest risks whilst at the beach is mixing cold water and alcohol. The team spotted several naked makes swimming at South Beach. The group were monitored and later give safety advice.

Sadly a further fight started on a boat with the team standing by whilst Police attended. The boats parted company and were monitored back to Poole due to their behaviour.

The patrol then located a cyclist in a ditch , first aid was offered along with a suggestion of leaving the bike and catching the bus. This was declined and the cyclist headed off again this time with his white tshirt on rather than his black jumper.
This was good advice from the team as 10 minutes later they spotted the male embedded into a hedge. This time the bike was left at scene and the male dropped at the ferry for his and other road users safety.

Shortly after this incident the team became aware of a female cyclist involved in a accident just after knoll beach.
Whilst this isn't the usual Coastguard area of work as an emergency service the team provided immediate care to the seriously injured female.

Immediate assistance was requested from the other services and due to the females condition deteriorating the Coastguard Operations Centre tasked Rescue 175 to scene.

Police and Ambulance arrived and all three emergency services worked together treating the female.
Due to the possible injuries the ambulance crew confirmed the female should be airlifted so an emergency landing site was set up opposite the Knoll House Hotel.
The female was airlifted and taken to Southampton Hospital.

The team finally left the station just before 03.00 having cleaned and replaced the equipment ready for service.

Busy Evening

It's 2.30am and the team has just returned from a busy patrol in connection with a major event in Studland.
Starting soon after 7.00pm, the team dealt with seven incidents through the evening including a serious bicycle accident,  resulting in a multi agency response which saw a young lady with suspected head injuries airlifted to hospital by Coastguard Helicopter 175.

We'll post a fuller update later.

Swanage Lifeboat Week

Swanage Lifeboat week starts this weekend and runs right through to next weekend.   With loads of activities and things to do, it's the year's main fundraising effort for our colleagues at the RNLI.
Why not visit some of their events, have a bit of fun and drop a pound or two into the buckets?

Chain Ferry update

Good news !

We have just heard the ferry is back on.

Chain Ferry Suspended

We have just heard the Sandbanks Chain Ferry is suspended due to being grounded.

It is unlikely that it will be back in service tonight due to the tides.

Ridge Wharf

The team was tasked to support our colleagues from Kimmeridge Coastguard at Ridge Wharf this afternoon when an elderly lady aboard a pleasure cruise on the Wareham River was taken ill.

The skipper called the UK Coastguard by VHF radio and then moored up alongside at a place accessible to ambulance and Coastguard Rescue Officers.

Assistance was provided to the paramedics, and the lady and her friend were helped off the boat and into the waiting ambulance.

With concerns about the falling tide, once the transfer had been made, the boat was soon under way again back into Poole Harbour and the teams returned to base.

Dog Recovered from below the Downs

The team was called for the second time in a day yesterday afternoon, assisting with a dog that had been found at the base of the cliffs at Swanage Downs.

Whilst a full rope rescue was an option, the position of the animal was such that it was feasible to walk the Coastguard team in along the beach and to carry the dog out and reunite it with its grateful owners.

The dog was taken to the vet for a check-up and the team, supported by our colleagues from St Albans,  returned to base.

Early Start

Back to work for most of the team today after the Carnival last week,  but not before a 07:20am tasking to investigate a red dinghy that had been found adrift off Ballard.

Our first concern in such cases is to assess whether anyone has fallen out of the boat,  or whether it was simply washed off the beach or set adrift deliberately.

We established that there hadn't been anyone on board and so the potential for a sea search was removed.   We then set abut trying to identify the owner, and by 11.00am with help from the local community of commercial  fishermen, the owner had been located and reunited with his boat.

Investigations are ongoing but it would appear that it was initially taken from the beach early on Monday, perhaps with malicious intent, but then later discarded.

And Relax.....

So Swanage Carnival is over for another year and the team can take a breath.
Like us, the Swanage Carnival Committee are all vounteers and they work tirelessly all year to make the Carnival happen - and we do our best to support them by covering the waterborne and coastal activities or those where large crowds are likely to attend.  Two of the team, Eric and Steve, are part of the carnival committee, and Tom spends much of his week helping man the carnival information caravan, so all three have been particularly busy all week, along with their wives.

This year we provided patrols for
- the beach race
- the bay swim
- three firework displays
- the biathlon
- the Red Arrows display.
The SO and DSO also took part in the junior crabbing but we can't really count that!

Incidents were down on previous years  which is good to report, the most serious being a lost 4 year old child, missing for half an hour on carnival Sunday, and a 10 year old on a kayak blown out to sea nearly half a mile during the Red Arrows display.

Finally, time for a quick photo with the local neighbourhood policing team after the Saturday fireworks (we work very closely with the Police all week) and a chance to hear the last band in the marquee before it comes down for another year.

Two incidents during Red Arrows display

The team put a patrol out this afternoon to provide safety cover for the thousands of visitors in Swanage for the visit of the Red Arrows, but moments before the display started they team was tasked by the UK Coastguard control room.

Two separate 999 calls had been made when a young lad on a sit-on kayak was suddenly taken by the wind from the shallows below the Grand Hotel northeastwards towards Ballard.  The boy's father tried to swim after the kayak but he was no match for it and it also evaded a group of long distance swimmers training in the bay. The patrol alerted the Dorset Police Rib which was afloat in the bay, but before it had time to reach the boy, a motor boat at anchor for the display slipped its mooring in pursuit and soon had the boy aboard and the kayak under tow back to the safety of the beach.  The boy's mother had actually been holding the kayak and had just let go to turn it round when it disappeared from her reach. She was shocked how quickly the situation had developed and how the boy came to be several hundred metres adrift after just a couple of minutes.

Whislt keeping watch on the kayak through binoculars  the team also witnessed an individual on the rocks at the base of Ballard Point. Swanage NCI also saw the same and although the two units later liaised with the Ops Room, the individual could not be seen again and was assumed to have departed by one of several boats in the area.

So for the chaps that missed the Red Arrows, here's what you missed.
(All photos courtesy of Jayden Capper)

Coastguard join in junior crabbing

Carnival continued today with the team active in the background.

Last night the team provided safety cover for the swim along with the RNLI and a few locals helpers.

This morning it was the junior crabbing competition so advice was on hand ...... Some got a bit carried away and showed some hidden talent.








#alwaysoncall