VIEW FROM THE TOWER!

Are you planning to go ?   The show is on from the 15 th to the 24 th September. If you do attend, please take a minute or two to drop by the NCI stand.   Watchkeepers from various stations will be manning the stand during this ten-day period; on the 19 th it’s watchkeepers from NCI Gosport.   They will be very happy to meet you, swap stories with you, give out information (and perhaps some goodies!), and have some safety tips to share.

Looking back over our records, it’s interesting to note that engine failures and groundings consistently make up almost half of all the incidents that we in NCI Gosport record in our official log.   In 2021, there were 9 were engine fails or groundings out of 19 logged incidents.   In 2022 the figures are 16 out of 36.   For this year so far the figures are 10 out of 21.   These events – which mainly ought to be avoidable – usually put an end to a good day’s sailing or boating.   It makes you stop and think.   How do you avoid falling foul of them ? In the case of groundings, the short answer is to know your position , understand the charts , and understand the effect of tides .   A GPS-based navigation system and a depth sounder are a big help, but to keep it simple, if you don’t stray into shallow water you wont get stuck on the bottom. For engine failures, she short answer here is maintenance and fuel .   We cant know how many of these re...

  Coastal safety received an extra boost this summer with the official launch of ‘Stay Safe Along The Coast’ from National Coastwatch. As well as their traditional task of keeping a lookout for vessels and persons in distress on the sea and along the coastlines, NCI Watchkeepers will be taking a more proactive role in promoting coastal and water safety. NCI stations which are public facing will offer practical safety support, distributing wrist bands for children to carry their guardian’s contact details so they can be quickly reunited, waterproof phone pouches, and stickers for owner’s contact details for paddleboards and personal watercraft. The charity’s volunteer watchkeepers will also provide information on local sea and tidal conditions, and local weather. Stephen Hand, National Coastwatch Chair said: “We’ve been active in promoting coastal safety for some time but the official launch of ‘Stay Safe Along the Coast’ is an important step forward. We also wo...

    Our station was visited today by a lovely couple – Derrick and Linda - who very kindly presented us with a substantial donation, having made a collection for NCI at their recent Golden Wedding celebration.   We were delighted to see them (and to accept donation) and in return were very please to present them with our ‘Thank You’ certificate.       Keen sailors, the couple have a catamaran in one of the local marinas; they always call Gosport NCI to do their radio checks, and promise to always give us a wave as they sail past our lookout.  Congratulations on their Golden Wedding Anniversary and we look forward to hearing their calls and seeing them !   Derrick later posted this on Facebook... "At our Golden wedding anniversary we told our friends and family that we did not want any presents but if they wanted to make a donation we would donate it to a worthy charity and in our view the National Coastwatch institution fits the bill admirably...

If you regularly shop online with big name stores such as John Lewis & Partners, Expedia, Amazon, Argos, and Just Eat (and up to 7500 others), you can donate to NCI Gosport at no cost to yourself !  You shop, they donate, it's that simple !  It's all explained here... https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ To sign up to support Gosport, just go here...   https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/ncigosport/ In addition, if you sign up before 21st August, you will help increase our chances of winning an extra £10 donation prize... again at no cost to yourself. Many thanks !  Your support means a lot to us.

  Just to let you know that yours truly will be interviewed on air by presenter Chris Pearce for Express FM on Thursday 17 August at 8.30pm, the topic being NCI in general and NCI Gosport in particular.  Hopefully this should give us some positive publicity; please cross your fingers that it all goes well !  Please do listen in, this should be a great opportunity to learn more about what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. Express FM is available on DAB and 93.7FM