If you live or work near the coast, you could be involved with the RNLI in producing innovative Water Safety Sand Signage. These signs are used to highlight local hazards and conditions.
Read MoreThe RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) relies on help and commitment from members of the public in numerous ways: donating money, giving up their free time to volunteer in souvenir shops, fundraising projects, crewing lifeboats, lifeboat launch teams, station visit officers, water safety and educational roles; or lifeboat Launch Authorities.
Regularly at community events our team are asked why should you carry a VHF radio if you are a kayaker, dingy sailor, paddle boarder, personal water craft user, or off-shore fishermen when they could use their mobile phone instead if they get into difficulty? Even if you are not going far offshore you might not be able to get a mobile phone signal. Wet mobile phones don’t work very well and who knows what sea or weather conditions you may experience.
Read MoreThere is nothing better than enjoying a lovely walk with your dog at the coast taking in sea air, grabbing some exercise and enjoying time with your friends and family. However, lifeboat crews and Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) are frequently called out to rescue dogs that have entered the water for one reason or another or fallen over the edge of a cliff. Sometimes their owners will enter the water to try and rescue them too. In 2019 RNLI crews were launched 157 times to incidents involving dogs.
Read MoreThe Isle of Thanet coast has some of the most beautiful beaches and coastline in the UK which draws visitors at all times of the year (nineteen miles of coastline in fact). Exploring the coastline on foot is an excellent way of enjoying valuable time with family and friends, whilst grabbing fresh air, exercise and at the same time relaxing. Holiday times are great occasions to get out and enjoy the coast.
Although we give out a lot of advice about how to check for tide times, we still get a lot of enquiries about the fundamental issue of ‘what is a High and Low tide’. Here we try to explain this a simply as possible.
RNLI Volunteers and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams remain on-call, ready to help others during lockdown. However, we urge everyone to think carefully about using the sea for exercise or recreation incase you get into difficulty.
Storm Darcy has been named by the Dutch Met Office KNMI and is set to bring strong winds and heavy snow to south east England late on Saturday and on Sunday, with this weather easing through Monday. The Met Office have issued their own weather warnings for the UK from Friday 5th February.
NATIONAL COASTWATCH INSTITUTION – Herne Bay
Pre-COVID-19 pandemic two of our team were fortunate to visit the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) look-out at Herne Bay and enjoyed a tour by two of the Watch Keepers Richard and Julia.
You can keep up to date with the Thanet RNLI Community Safety team on all the popular social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram !
News stories and communications about our events and activities as well as safety advice are posted to these social networks virtually every day….so it is worth following us. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols our team have not been able to hold any public facing community engagements. Therefore we have tried our best to share as much as possible across our social media channels.
Brew Monday kicks off on Monday 18th January, the third Monday of the month which is usually known as ‘Blue Monday’. We will be helping to flip ‘Blue Monday on it’s head and turning it into something positive by taking part in a Team Cuppa/Coffee morning. We are encouraging everyone to reach out and catch up over a virtual cuppa because now more than ever, it’s so important to stay connected.
Every New Years Eve, sadly Coastguard Rescue Teams and RNLI lifeboat crews are called out unnecessarily after people set off flares rather than fireworks. Flares are to request immediate assistance when someone is in grave and imminent danger at sea.
If the UK Coastguard receives an alert at or near the coast where a flare has been launched, it will always respond and won’t know the difference if they are being used as fireworks. This would put search and rescue teams at heightened unnecessary risk particularly during COVID-19 pandemic and potentially diverting from a legitimate emergency.
Flares are typically red or orange and don’t last long – they are an internationally recognised distress signal.
Fireworks are typically colourful and often accompanied by a sound, leaving a smoke trail.
How do I dispose of time expired flares or pyrotechnic’s?
Firing off time expired flares or pyrotechnic’s is illegal and you could be prosecuted. It is illegal to fire them on land or on a harbour, fire them off at sea for training, testing or as fireworks; dump flares at sea or on land; and damaged and or out of date flares should not be used. Flares should be disposed of safely and as soon as possible.
Only contact the HM Coastguard when all other means of disposal have been exhausted:
Thank you for reading and from all of our team we would like to wish to a safe and enjoyable New Year.
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Acknowledgements
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
HM Coastguard
HM Coastguard Rescue Team
Adrossan HM Coastguard Rescue Team
