Is there a problem with Solent Coastguard?

[southseaian]

Thats all very wel BUT, Dover had to call Thames Coastguard "Immediate" to get their attention & virtually tell them to extract the digit pdq

Not sure of your point here.
Do remember to achieve full VHF coverage of the coastline there is bound to be some overlap.
If you mean what I think you do, then you should be reassured by what you heard.
Boats users often only hear Coastguard side of comms due to the limited VHF range of boats.

 

[henryf]

What may not be realised by the general boating public is that there are two groups of people working in the Coastguard stations.
Watch assistants and Watch officers.

The people you hear on the radio will usually be Watch Assistants who will be under the supervision of Coastguard Watch Officers.

I appreciate we are indeed lucky to have a service but hope that the mere existence of a service doesn't render it immune from critical comment where appropriate.

I can appreciate that routine radio checks could be handled by a well trained Monkey but safety related radio / telephone work might need the services of a Watch Officer rather than someone unfamiliar with which questions to ask and what advice to give. I can almost imagine someone whispering in their ear, "Ask them if water is flooding into the boat." "Tell them to try and bang the Fray Bentos cans together to make a noise", etc.

The reality is you have to calm people down, take control of the situation and extract information whilst giving advice, alerting other boats and managing supporting agencies. That's a difficult job and beyond the pay grade of a trainee Watch Keeper, certainly the ones I've heard.

I do however thank the CG for their work.


Henry

 

[prv]

please be assured that there will be fully trained professionals overseeing.

Who are they, then? Given that practically all of the existing staff either resigned or were managed out as part of the reorganisation?

Solent Coastguard has numerous aerials which will be monitored by several staff.

Solent Coastguard no longer exists, except as a radio callsign used by the NMOC when an aerial in the old Solent or Portland sectors is selected. In due course the plan is to adopt the callsign "UK Coastguard" nationally.

Pete

 

[nicho]

We were sailing up Southampton Water when the call went out from SolentCG. It was very vague, just transmitting a Mayday Relay and asking if anyone in the Solent could spot a "blue and white speedboat" with five people on board. As it happened, we were right next to a blue and white rib which was stationary, so I hollered across to see if they had transmitted a Mayday - the answer was negative. Then a yacht radiod to say he had spotted a similar boat in Osborne Bay - the CG asked if there was a dog on board (which raised a little smile on board our boat) - again, the answer was negative, so that was dismissed.
There was little detail given by the CG, but in fairness, it is reported, the boat had no nav gear or radio with which the CG could liaise, and the crew called 999 on their mobile when their engine stopped and they were shipping water (it was pretty rough for a 16' speedboat).
The CG launched three fast rescue boats (we saw one speeding out of the Hamble), an offshore lifeboat, and a helicopter, so they took some action pretty quickly.
Evidently, the helo eventually spotted them, and coordinated the rescue with I gather no injuries.

 

[benjenbav]

I wondered if there is a connection to be made between the message which sparked this thread and this thread: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?437511-Are-two-engines-better-than-one?

 

[Dick Atcherley]

Could be worse, of course, you could find yourself talking to this chap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MUsVcYhERY

 

[sorabain]

Could be worse...
http://youtu.be/j9pVCFYndFg

also this.. helps if you know how confusing the danish number system can appear to those unfamiliar with it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrGIhrs3HkI

(for number system see http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/danish.html)

 

[Jonmendez]

Personally I think we were spoilt and used to superb service, now sadly rather avarage. The time taken of late for simple questions to be asked and answered worries me greatly and that calmness that was always totally reassuring has gone. I fear the worst and sincerely hope I am never proved accurate.

 

[tom52]

Last Saturday I heard one Solent Coastguard radio operative end a call with "over and out" !

 

[mm42]

Last Saturday I heard one Solent Coastguard radio operative end a call with "over and out" !

On our rescue boat that's an immediate fine of a crate of beer for the team.