Links
In this section you will find helpful links to web sites with important information like sea safety, Coastguard, weather, beaches details in our area and other lifeboat sites that we are linked with.
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Maritime Related Links
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
As an island nation, 97% of the UK’s trade by weight is by sea, and there can be no doubt that shipping is vital to the UK economy. Our fishermen and fishing communities also rely on the sea for their livelihood, and many of us use beaches and the coast for leisure and sport. We have 10,500 miles of outstandingly beautiful coastline.
This Agency is responsible throughout the UK for implementing the Government’s maritime safety policy. That includes co-ordinating search and rescue at sea through Her Majesty’s Coastguard, and checking that ships meet UK and international safety rules. We work to prevent the loss of lives at the coast and at sea, to ensure that ships are safe, and to prevent coastal pollution.
Safer Lives, Safer Ships and Cleaner Seas.
Going to the sea side is one of our oldest and favourite past times.
Sea Side holidays are all about having fun or even if you live by the sea, your family & friends want to have fun on the beach and in the sea.
But every year there are many accidents that could so easily be prevented by following so basic rules.
please use the MCA SEA SMART web site and be SEA SMART - USE the MCA link above
The team operates under the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and its duties are extremely wide.
They are responsible for responding to incidents within their operational area, which starts from the West at Blackgang going to the East ending at Sandown Pier and helping people who are in trouble.
Some of their calls involve searching for missing people, rescuing people / animals from cliffs and observing boats that are in difficulty amongst many other things.
Within our patch there is one lifeboat station this being Sandown & Shanklin Inshore Lifeboat.
Solent Sea-Rescue Organisation Lifeboats
The Solent is the busiest recreational waterway in the world and as such, demands dedicated highly trained lifeboat crews to assist the many people that find themselves in distress within its 160sq miles.
There are nine highly-trained Rescue units & Inshore Lifeboat stations within the SSRO, these are based at key locations around the cost lines of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Hamble Rescue, Stanswood Beach Rescue, Solent Rescue, Cowes Inshore Lifeboat, Fresh Water Lifeboat, Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service, Portsmouth & Southsea Voluntary Lifeguards, Ryde Inshore Rescue and Sandown & Shanklin Inshore Lifeboat.
Freshwater Lifeboat is an Independent Lifeboat Station, they have two boats on 24/7 standby for slipway launch and are based on the Isle of Wight also.
Freshwater Lifeboat was formed in 1972 and the crew are on call with Solent Coastguard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Ryde Inshore Rescue is an Independent Lifeboat station run by volunteers and supported entirely by public donations.
Like SSILB RIR also work through HMCG, it is responsible for providing sea rescue facilities in the north east area of the Solent throughout the year. On call 24hrs a day we attend between 40 and 50 incidents a year, rescuing or assisting about 100 persons.
As a declared Search and rescue facility the coastguard can call upon us to attend a wide range of emergencies, from searching for missing children on packed beaches to attending stricken craft at sea.
RIR are affiliated to the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS).
Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service
GAFIRS is an Independent Lifeboat Station, that provides free marine rescue cover in the Solent, from Portsmouth Harbour to Titchfield Haven.
It's lifeboat crew are on call with Solent Coastguard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Solent Rescue is an Independent Lifeboat Station, Based at Lepe Country Park, they were established in 1971 initially as a beach rescue unit operated by auxiliary coastguards. Solent Rescue has since then developed into a fully operational lifeboat station, which operates under the direct control of HM Coastguard and is responsible for approximately 33 square miles of the central and western Solent.
Other Lifeboat / Rescue Related Links
Independent Lifeboats UK has been set up to help bring together Independent Lifeboat Services from all around the UK and to make public awareness of these services greater.
In and
around the UK there are around 66 Independent Lifeboat services that are non
RNLI run or RNLI funded. These service like the RNLI do not receive any
government funding of any sort and rely totally on voluntary donations and
contributions to run these services.
Some of these services have been set up to replace lifeboats that the RNLI have
decided are no longer required due to the fact that surrounding lifeboats can
cover the area, but the people of the towns and villages have thought
differently and have come together to form the Independent Lifeboat services we
see today...
The RNLI provides a 24-hour lifesaving service around the UK, Republic of Ireland and works with the Independent Lifeboats in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR)
BDMLR was
formed in 1988 in response to the mass mortality of Harbour seals in the Wash
area of East Anglia.
From these early beginnings, when a few like minded divers got together to help
marine wildlife, a committed 24 hr rescue service has grown. BDMLR now train
over 300 Marine Mammal Medics a year and have 12 whale rescue pontoons located
at strategic points throughout the UK waiting to help stranded whales and
dolphins.
SSILB Work with the local BDMLR team
Location & Weather
Related Links
The Premier site for the traditional English seaside resort of Shanklin on the beautiful Isle of Wight. Here at VisitShanklin.co.uk you will be able to establish where to stay, what to do, and how best to enjoy your Isle of Wight holiday.
Hotel, Guest House and Self Catering holidays are the stock in trade of Shanklin Hotel and Accommodation Association, and Shanklin is a typically English seaside resort, where you can enjoy all the traditions of a Great British Holiday, and yet still have the whole Island, 70% of which is an area of outstanding natural beauty, to explore at your leisure.
Each year millions of people enjoy the beauty of Britain’s beaches.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Beach Guide will help you to plan your trip to the seaside with information on clean seas and (where available) lifeguard cover, facilities, activities, parking and transport.
Here we have provided links above for our areas.
The BBC has pulled together coast & sea weather forecasts and observations to help you plan your activities around the UK's shores.
Visit their web site for up to date reports.
The BBC provides a 5 day weather forecast for the above locations.
The website is updated every 5 minutes from the data collection point at Hayling Island.
The site gives the latest measurements in wind, sea conditions and atmospheric conditions.
The Isle of Wight Index (Wight Index), is a well established index of Isle of Wight based websites and has been set up since 1997.
