Amazing Footage....

Amazing footage of Pilot Rick Roll of the Stornoway Coastguard Helicopter 01APR landing on the back deck of the Mallaig Lifeboat ... truly unbelievable.

Click photo above to watch the amazing video footage.

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Callout

This evening the IRT were tasked by Portland MRCC to assist South Western Ambulance on the Downs with a medical incident.

CRO's Kitching and Simmons attended and were quickly on scene assisting the ambulance service returning to the station in just over 30 minutes.

Fly Tipping

Mr Bentham has only been on "light duties" since his operation and last week saw him return to the station to do some gardening.

Since the station was constructed John has enjoyed making the outside area look smart and tidy - working alongside the Town Council who cut the grass and trim the trees.
So with him missing its been something that has not been done too often.

During his stay in hospital a new drainage pipe was added which now settled has caused some hollows so John found some soil and started to fill them and remove the stones to avoid damage to the Council's mower.

Sadly someone took his actions as "Fly Tipping" and reported his actions to the District Council who wrote to John asking him to account for his actions.

Like a scene from the film " The Great Escape" his actions of dumping soil in the hollows were foiled and he may end up in court!

Thankfully District Councillor Gary Suttle stepped in pointing out that most "fly tippers don't tend to hang around to ensure the pile of soil is carefully flattened and stones removed. Here we have someone recovering from major surgery doing some good around a building they are part of. A letter of apology will be on its way."

Well done John, you have only been back a couple of weeks and caused problems - leave the trees to Council please.

'Fly Tipper  Bentham'
...this time being awarded by the UK Chief Coastguard for his work on the 2008 Napoli Incident.

Pier of the Year

Swanage Pier has won the 2012 Pier of the Year competition!

I'm not sure what the prize is but Anthony Wills, of the National Piers Society, said: "It has been chosen in recognition of the efforts of the Swanage Pier Trust who own and operate it without subsidy, providing an excellent visitor experience, maintaining it in as good a condition as possible - subject to financial resources.

Derek finishes his walk

Sorry for the late notice but retired Coastguard Derek Boorn (SW192) arrived safely in Plymouth on his sponsored walk.

On behalf of the team, well done Derek and can we suggest you drive next time, there again looked what happened in 1992 when you tried to drive the coast path !

Helicopters at Swanage

In the latest in the series of Helicopters landing at Peveril, here is "Navy 172" landing.

Based at Portland - 772 squadron were regularly landing and training with us - very happy days

This photo was taken around 1993 - and worrying I took it !

Round up of the Weekend

Another quiet weekend for the team.

Having got the garden equipment out to cut the grass yesterday the strimmer went "pop" and died - just goes to show how important it is to check all equipment well after the winter.

Ian from Kimmeridge (aka Ian with the moustache) joined the team yesterday for the patrol and within 20 minutes we got a job at Old Harry. A vessel had pressed its emergency alarm but not responded to calls from Portland Coastguard. The Patrol arrived at Old Harry and using "an App" and the mark one eye ball the vessel was identified and monitored whilst it headed back to Poole. Thankfully Portland Coastguard managed to confirm this was a false activation and we were released to carry on our patrol.

This morning it was cleaning time with the Station Officer and chief helper - having been unable to attend the station for the last couple of weeks the station needed that extra clean to get it back to normal (well it smelt clean!).

Austen and Lee headed out for another patrol this afternoon - heading to the remote aerial site for training....I guess they got home?

Derek's big walk

You may remember that retired Coastguard Derek "Blondie" Boorn was carrying out a walk, raising funds for the Royal Marines Association.

Well a little up date.....

His group have reached Dartmoor and is going well, follow the walk at

http://www.rmarepatnetwork.org/per_mare_per_terram_yomp.htm

Well done Derek

What you doing this weekend 3

Yes its that time of year when the mower has to come out of the shed and the garden needs a cut.

Oh suddenly you remember you actually just put the mower away with out a clean and service. Do you

1) Plug it in or pull that starter cable in the hope it jumps into life 1st time?

2) Check all the workings and think it looks ok?

3) Or maybe you did clean it and get it serviced over the winter?

Well just like the mower - the boating season is nearly here what ever craft or boat you have, make sure you carry out a service (or get it serviced by a professional). A couple of hours now can make all the difference and maybe stop that rescue.

Right everyone out and start doing the garden!

Gareth gets an idea

Training again tonight and one of the hardest roles for a Station Officer is to decide what the exercise will be.

So having texted the team yesterday to remind them its training, Gareth texted back and I quote

"We could go to slip watch and pretend to recover a casualty from the mud in the dark"

I don't think Gareth expected the reply - " What an excellent idea and guess who will be the Officer in Charge"

As this is a family blog I can not print the reply. Photos soon!