Sir Robin Knox-Johnston once called NCI “one of the best-kept secrets in Search and Rescue”, meaning that while we do what we hope is a good job, very few people have heard about us. The main reason is that our work involves communication with HM Coastguard (and to a lesser extent locally, the Portsmouth Harbour Master), but very seldom with other people. Often, a casualty will call the Coastguard, and be helped by the rescue vessels, without ever knowing that NCI was involved. For example:-
Consider an evening in early July this year. Two watchkeepers came on duty to cover the 4pm to 7.30pm watch. Given that NCI is a maritime safety organisation, watchkeepers can perhaps be forgiven for anticipating and looking for potential problems. However, scanning the area with their binoculars revealed nothing of concern happening up-harbour, and although there were a few people fishing off the rocks near the harbour entrance none of them seemed in danger of slipping into the water. No-one was endangering themselves by climbing over the fences at the top of the Round Tower or trying to ‘tombstone’ (ie jump off the top into shallow water). The swimmers off the Hot Walls were safely close to the beach, as were those down at the War Memorial area. And the crews of the many boats out in the Solent were safely enjoying their time on the water.
A paddleboarder caught the watchkeepers attention as he paddled Northwards towards the harbour. If he had actually entered, they would have phoned the harbour master (aka QHM) to check he was aware; the East side of the harbour, which has a lot of ferry movements, is a dangerous place for such small craft. NCI most definitely is not a police force, but safety is paramount for us.
Happily, the paddleboarder stayed in the Hot Walls area but at one point was seen hanging on to the navigation marker called Victoria Pile. Was he in difficulty for some reason ? No, he let go and paddled on after a minute or so.
Soon afterwards he seemed to be paddling past Victoria Pile and be heading out into the main channel. This is the harbour approach used by the biggest ships, and it was like watching someone on a bicycle start to cross a motorway with 40-ton trucks bearing down – decidedly not a good idea. So they picked up the phone to inform QHM … just in time for the paddleboarder to turn round and start back towards the beach. Another false alarm.
And for a while, nothing much happened.
Until one of our five radios, tuned to VHF Channel 16, sprang into life. A small speedboat just outside the harbour was making a ‘Pan’ call to the coastguard, the engine having failed. The watchkeepers could spot it easily, and started to do what they had been trained to do. One focussed binoculars on the vessel, confirmed how many were on board, and kept a near-constant watch on it. The other plotted its position on our charts, worked it up as a Lat and Long, and phoned the Coastguard to say the NCI had ‘Eyes On’ and give them the position. He also notified QHM that there was a ‘Pan’ event on their doorstep. And made a record of events.
Over the next twenty to thirty minutes as the boat drifted slightly Westwards, they continued to keep watch on the speedboat and update the chart plot. Once in a while the skipper stood and seemed to be fiddling with the engine, which - given the slightly choppy water - caused concerns that he might fall overboard, making the situation worse.
They were just about to call the Coastguard again to give a position update when a lifeboat came into view, so instead they let the Coastguard know that both vessels were in sight and, and that they had radios tuned so they could talk to the lifeboat crew to direct them to the casualty if necessary.
All credit to the lifeboat crew, they found the problem vessel without help, got a line on it, and towed it into harbour in double-quick time. The watchkeepers completed their notes in the logbook and erased the plot from the charts.
Apart from the Coastguard and QHM, did anyone else know what the NCI watchkeepers had been doing? The paddleboarder, no. The crew of the speedboat ? Probably not.
But that’s the work that NCI does. And will continue to do. Don’t keep it a secret !
