Sunny Morning

It's a beautiful Autumn morning in Purbeck as these photos show - taken by Coastguard Austen at Studland earlier. 

If you're out and about on the Coast today, have a great day and stay safe.
Keep an eye on the tides and watch out for slippery footpaths if you're walking.

Sunny Studland

Plenty of folks enjoying the unseasonably warm weather at Studland today, along with a group of kayakers about to return to Poole.

Just because the weather feels good, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way. Don't be caught out - check tides and weather forecasts and pack the right gear.

Man Rescued from Old Harry

The team were busy yesterday along with Dorset Police, Swanage Inshore Lifeboat and Rescue 106 Helicopter in locating and then recovering a male from the base of the cliff at Old Harry.

Whilst the team observed from the cliff top and kept onlookers away from the edge,  the police launch and lifeboat moved in to recover the individual and assess his condition. Rescue 106 carries a paramedic winchman and although there was initially a thought to lower him onto one of the boats to attend to the casualty, it was decided to take the man by boat to Studland beach where the helicopter landed alongside.

After a thorough assessment by the winchman the male was airlifted to Poole hospital and the volunteers returned to the station for a debrief; a good example of multi agency working and another successful operation.

Purbeck Running

The team rearranged its patrol today to coincide with the Purbeck Runners 5km race in Studland.

The race is very well organised with good safety provision, but there's no harm in having the local Coastguard team on hand just in case, with its 4 wheel drive capability and good knowledge of the Studland Heath area. 

Well done to all who took part, including a familiar face from our CG colleagues at St Albans!

Well done Ian!

What did you do at the weekend ?

A little reflection of the weekends events.

We went to a beer festival , ( on patrol for those at HQ)


What a beautiful sun set down at Studland


We met our friends ( Police and Ambulance ) on the Ferry Road and got close to nature.


We went for an early morning run along Studland beach and met some more friends ( The RNLI inshore lifeboat crew from Poole)


The Swanage Coastguard model railway club popped to Harmans Cross after a little incident at Studland.

The Patrol popped up to see more friends at Seacombe ( St Albans and Ambulance ) before every body came back to Swanage Beach and met up with the Police, RNLI and Ambulance.




The crew of 106 popped over to visit

And to end the weekend it was back to Studland to have a search and meet our Police friends again.

#allwaysoncall

What did you do at the weekend?

They Don't Grow on Trees....or do they?

This is Barney and his son Reuben from Andover who were out in Studland on Saturday when they spotted what looked like a bomb in a tree and contacted the Coastguard, although by the time of this photograph the ordnance, dating from WWII, had been declared safe.

Once the ordnance had been declared safe, the family pose for a quick photo before the item was returned to the EOD team for removal and disposal. 

The heavily corroded item was found lodged in the branches of a silver birch tree on the harbour side of the Ferry Road in Studland and so, having cordoned off the area, police and Coastguard called the Army bomb disposal experts for advice.  The Army EOD team suspected the device could still be explosive and set off from their base in Wiltshire. 

The Coastguard Team assisted with implementing and maintaining a safe cordon

On their arrival, the device was X-Rayed and analysed whereupon it was found to be solid inside rather than liquid.  It was confirmed to be safe and removed from the site by road.  It is believed the item was an armour piercing solid shot, although quite what would have fired it or left it there is unknown.  Had it been highly explosive, the intention was to bury it and detonate it on the beach, and the further team members would have been paged to 'sweep' the beach and keep it free of people.


Declared safe by the Army EOD team, this ordnance never contained explosives.

We ran some blogs on ordnance only a few weeks ago, and this is typical of the many pieces of ordnance to be found in and around Studland.



 

The armour piercing shot was lodged several feet up in a tree

So how did it get in the tree?  Good question, and the only logical answer is that someone must have picked it up and put it there.  The tree certainly wasn't there 70 years ago for it to land in!

Was that a good idea?  Not really.  Whoever picked it up couldn't have been sure what it was and disturbing it could have set it off. 

What should have happened?  Whenever you find ordnance, or something you suspect to be ordnance in and around the beach or coast area, 999 Coastguard.   (If you find ordnance further inland call 999 Police.  And if you cant decide who to ask for, call 999 anyway and describe what you have found).  Stand well clear and wait for further instruction.

Once the item had been removed, the road and ferry which were closed for about 3 hours were reopened.

Sinking Jet-ski

The team were tasked last night to a jet ski which had broken down off Old Harry and which was starting to sink.

The rider who had been in the sea for approximately 30 minutes attracted the attention of a group of picnickers on the top of the cliff who called for help.

Swanage ILB was launched and the coastguard team monitored the rescue from above as well as checking the welfare of the picnickers who were potentially distressed at what they had seen.

The ILB crew tried to tow the jet ski back to its hire base in Salterns Marina in Poole but it was steadily taking on water and so a decision was made to take it into Knoll Beach where it and it's rider were handed over to the care of the coastguard team.  Whilst we looked after the rider and got him warmed up, we also liaised with the owners, arranged for them to collect the jet ski from the beach and oversaw the removal operation.

Sadly, it appears the jet ski rider was equipped with a VHF radio, but didn't know how to use it in an emergency. Fortunately for him that the picnickers managed to spot him before it was too late.

Rider thrown from Horse at Studland

The team were tasked to Pilots Point on Studland Beach this morning to deal with a young lady who had fallen awkwardly whilst out horse riding. 

Working with SW Ambulance paramedics, and joined by colleagues from St Albans, the team stabilised the casualty before moving her to a safer location away from the incoming tide and sheltered away from the fresh wind.

The Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance was despatched from Henstridge and duly flew the casualty to Poole Hospital.

Our thanks go to the National Trust and the Neighbourhood Police Team for their assistance and offering a 4-wheel drive capability in this remote location.

Little Sea

Little sea at Studland

14 year old airlifted from Studland Beach

Dorset Police and South Western Ambulance requested Coastguard assistance at Knoll Beach Studland after a 14 year old male had been reported missing.

The male was located in the sand dunes  but found to have a dislocated knee along with possible neck and spinal injuries.

Due to the location, the injury and the temperature the Coastguard team requested a helicopter evacuation ,so the National Maritime Operations Centre tasked Rescue 106 from Portland.

With the help of the National Trust , a safe landing area was secured and the services all worked hard to ensure a speedy and safe evacuation.  Rescue 106 flew to the Poole landing site at Whitecliffe where they were met by Poole Coastguard.

All services left the beach just before 7pm

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.

Minor incident

Yet again, Ian from Kimmeridge went on patrol and yet again he found a incident.  We popped down to Studland and found a fishing boat high and dry, whilst picking up his nets his anchor slipped and he ended up on the beach.

 This is the 2nd boat in a week that's ended up on the beach at Studland however this time this boat was safely on the beach waiting for the tide to come back in.

Having liaised with the skipper to ensure he had some fresh water and food we departed leaving him to wait about 5 hours for the tide to come back in.

Serious Incidents off Studland

With the fine weather it was not going to be long before the pagers went off and just after 4pm a report came in off 3 Kayaks in trouble off Old Harry Rocks.  Swanage Lifeboats, ILB , Rescue 106 and the IRT proceeded as best speed.

Thankfully the 3 had been picked up by passing boats so the helicopter was stood down on arrrival at Swanage and the Lifeboat and ILB  after checking all was in order returned to station.

The IRT met the 3 on the beach to take their details and check their welfare.  Condtions off Old Harrry were rough and had been to much for them.  Thankfully they were well equiped with lifejackets but had forgotten their VHF radio - a mobile phone had been used to raise the alarm and they were lucky it worked in that location.

Having finished that incident, the IRT liaised with the National Trust and found they had been busy with two medical emergencies on the beach......we then got an immediate call from Portland coastguard asking us to proceed to North end of Studland Beach, a yacht was coming ashore in the surf.

We arrived to find a 33ft yacht aground in heavy surf and concern for the single male on board.  Both
Swanage Lifeboats were launched again with the ILB arriving 1st.

The ILB crew did an outstanding job and actually got the yacht off, unfortunatley the yachts engine was in gear and had a damaged rudder - this resulted in the yacht turning 180 degrees and grounding again but broadside.

The male on board had decided to get off at this stage and came ashore to the IRT on the beach.  The Swanage Lifeboat arrived and again with some excellent skill got the yacht off, towing it to deeper water to be checked.  Thankfully no damage other than the rudder so it was towed to Poole.

But the incident did not quite end there......the male on board then became unwell so had to require some medical treatment.  Having had that, he had a short trip to Shell Bay and a lift via Poole ILB back to his yacht.  Poole ILB then took over the tow from Swanage for the final stages of the incident.

Thankfully thanks to the skill of a few, today's incidents have all ended without serious injury.

Incident at Studland

The Swanage IRT were tasked by Portland MRCC just before midnight to a report of a missing male in a yacht tender at South Beach Studland. 

Conditions at the time were poor with heavy rain and gusting winds and the IRT arrived at the same time as both Swanage Lifeboats.  The male was transporting a party from the shore to a yacht moored off the beach and failed to return for a second group waiting on the beach.

Having searched the immediate area, the full Swanage Coastguard team were paged to search the whole of Studland Beach and Rescue 104 was tasked from Lee on Solent to widen the search and assist the Lifeboats searching at sea.

Just after 2.15am Rescue 104 located an up turned tender and very quickly after a person was spotted in the water by the helicopter crew who guided the Lifeboat crews to the location.  Rescue 104 then airlifted the person from the lifeboat to Poole but sadly the person was pronounced deceased.

Dorset Police Officers also attended the scene to assist in the search.

Our thoughts are with the friends and family.

Wild conditions at Studland

The scene at Studland yesterday morning whilst on patrol.  Look one single person out for a walk ! 

It was raining hard yet the movement of sand across the beach was huge, quite an unusual view. 

Happy New Year

Having survived the night, the team gathered at the station this morning for a bacon roll and hot drink. (Its the only way I can confirm the team is up and functioning!)

As I turned my mobile on Portland MRCC phoned to say a local fishing boat had trawled up a piece of ordnance in his nets and a Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Team were on their way from Portsmouth. So plans had to be adjusted, bacon rolls eaten quick and the team deployed.

Kitting Up

Having been left on station to wash up I headed out to Studland (heck it was busy, nearly as busy as Bournemouth Beach in the middle of summer!), on arrival the team briefed me and we were waiting for the EOD team to confirm what they had, oh what was that .......its fallen out the net.......oh well what ever it was, its been out there for 60 plus years we will wait for it to pop up again......this will be continued.

John and Gareth took the bomb squad for breakfast at Middle Beach Cafe- any excuse for bacon sarnies.

Launch

Studland Beach Wardens

As a member of the Studland Beach Users Action Group, we have fully supported the new beach wardens at Studland.

These new wardens work along side the National Trust Wardens and Dorset Police to reduce crime on the beach

http://www.dorset.police.uk/default.aspx?page=3383