Eyes on the sea as service celebrates

There will be celebrations later this month to mark the silver Jubilee of Exmouth National Coastwatch (NCI).

NCI Exmouthwill be hosting an open day on Sunday, 23 July when it will be showing the many aspects of watch keeping duties along with the Stay Safe Along the Coast - New Coastal and Water Safety Service.

Earlier this week Exmouth Nub News reported in the group's participation in a national safety initiative.

The local organisation is a long standing member of a national charity with self-funded local stations that are run by volunteer watchkeepers, fundraisers and helpers.

The charity says the stations are passive 'Eyes Along the Coast', and use eyes, optical instruments, ship identification software and CCTV cameras to monitor beaches, sand bars, tide and weather.

"Stations report directly to HM Coastguard if any incidents are spotted, or if activities along the coast could possibly escalate to an incident," says Ivor Jones, Station Manager for Exmouth National Coastwatch.

"National Coastwatch develops stations where they and HM Coastguard see evidence of the requirement from previous incident analysis, local support and relevant locations being available."

"Watchkeepers are on watch during daylight hours, with seasonable variations, but they operate 365 days of the year."

"Exmouth National Coastwatch supplement and support the fantastic service the RNLI Lifeguards offer in the summer season, with a Coastal Water Safety Initiative, Exmouth NCI having a dedicated Coastal Water Safety Officer.

"Our brilliant RNLI is mainly a reactive search and rescue assets, where National Coastwatch is proactive in the passive watching of the coastline and reporting potential incidents and ongoing incidents to HM Coastguard, who would then initiate a rescue response from the HMCG Rescue Teams, RNLI, police etc.

Watchkeeper volunteers need not have maritime or uniform service experience as all training will be given.

Potential Watchkeepers can find out more information on the Exmouth Stations NCI website at www.exmouthcoastwatch.co.uk