Places Features

NCI Solent has a wide variety of people on watch as part of a 50-strong team who man the lookout at Lee-on-the-Solent seven days week all year round.

The Solent Coastwatch team on the beach

Several years ago HM Coastguard closed most of it's visual observation posts including the Tower at Calshot.

Groups around the South got together and started to plug those gaps using local volunteers to open up coastal lookout stations to monitor their immediate coastlines. 

Where it all began

Alan (Sandy) Powell from Gosport helped start NCI Solent in 2007.  In the early days it was run out of the back of his car at Stokes Bay - but now they have progressed to having their own hut, which is well-equipped to help assist the public and the coastguard alike.

The station’s primary remit is to watch any activity on the sea - from bathers to super tankers and everything in between.  The team's patch spans from from Ryde to the Fawley Power station chimney at the mouth of Southampton Water and across to Cowes, one of the country’s busiest waterways.

Bob checks out the coast with the telescope

Despite all the technology used by the Solent team, Jock McGriggor (40 years Royal Navy experience) sums up the team’s most valuable tool simply as - “when the chips are down and the technology fails nothing is able to beat the mark one eyeball!”

If they spot an emergency they report the situation to the Solent Coastguard.  They also work closely with Gosport and Fareham Rescue Service.

Camaraderie

Having chatted to a selection of the volunteers it is clear that they absolutely love this job and are very fond of each other.  The camaraderie is obvious and, for many, this is a lifeline.  Most have either lost their partner or retired and wanted somewhere they could meet people and feel worthwhile.

Sandy goes on to say: "I've spent my life on, by, or in the sea so it's great to be back working with the water again.  But what's really special is the social life I have found here.  The guys are first class and the ladies give as good as they get!"

Chart of the Solent

NCI is made up of volunteers aged 18-85 from all walks of life and, despite what you'd think maritime experience is not the primary criteria for membership as training is provided. 

Chris Church from Stubbington was worried his lack of seafaring knowledge in this area would mean he couldn't volunteer:

"My background was in banking.  I'd only crossed the Solent on the Isle of Wight ferry! But the people here are really welcoming and have trained me from scratch.  I was a watch-keeper within about three months."

Areas of expertise covered in training include VHF Marine Radio procedure including the phonetic alphabet,  recognition of distress signals, weather recording, Admiralty chart and Ordnance Survey map reading skills and understanding tidal calculation. 

NCI Solent at their watch hut

Never a dull day

Sandy says: "There's always something going on - cruiseliners, tankers and container ships are passing all the time.  Then there's the yacht clubs' sailing days and Cowes Week.  And you can never take the sea for granted - a child chasing a ball or a person on a lilo, can easily be swept away by the tide."

The volunteers need to constantly scan the horizon logging vessel movements, keeping a sharp ear on radio traffic, plotting incidents on of the station’s charts and answering question from passers-by such as "Is that Isle of Wight over there?" and "What's the name of that big liner?"

Helping the public is a highlight of the job for Peter Gregory from Stubbington, who has been a volunteer for eight months: "I love meeting people and helping them out - it's great when a mother tells us she wants to watch her son come in on a ship so we can point her in the right direction and even give her a look through our telescope!"

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for NCI Solent call 023 9255 6758