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National Coastwatch Institution
PORTLAND BILL
Equipment
The prime
purpose of NCI is to maintain a visual and a listening watch.
We are, therefore, primarily dependent on our
binoculars and radios, but we are also fortunate in
having
additional items to help us, which have all been obtained as a result
of
generous contributions or gifts, or as the result of fundraising by our
members.
Click below for details.
Radios
Radar
AIS & Electronic Charting
Weather Station
NAVTEX
Installed and
Handheld
Binoculars
We use one radio to listen
constantly on VHF Channel 16, the distress, safety and calling channel,
for
anyone needing help, especially for any messages that the
Coastguard may not have heard. We will quickly
relay
any
MAYDAY
or
PANPAN
message,
or
any
other
request
for
assistance,
as
necessary. On
another
set, we monitor the local
Coastguard
working channel (Channel 73), a Marine Safety Information channel
(Channel 86)
and the Weymouth and Portland port operations channels (Channels 12 and
74).
We monitor the Digital Selective Calling system for any automated Distress, Urgency or Safety messages.
Although
we will only transmit of VHF if directed to do so by the Coastguard in
the
event of an emergency, all of our watchkeepers are trained and
certified to
Short Range Certificate standards.
We have a Raymarine Super High Definition Digital radar, with a 6ft Open Array. The characteristics of the set are especially useful in helping us to differentiate between genuine targets and the sea clutter that is the result of the regular turbulence in the local area and the height of our lookout.
Automatic
Identification System and Electronic
Charting
We
make
full
use
of
recent
advances
in
automatic
identification,
which
relies
on
satellites
to
control
the
transmission of ships’ data
obtained from onboard
sensors (such as GPS and compass) every few seconds, and from manual
inputs by
the crew, to keep other vessels and shore authorities informed of its
position,
course, speed, rate of turn, navigational status, etc. For
technical
descriptions
of
AIS
see
the
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System
or the USCG website at:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=AIS
(but note that US and UK carriage requirements are different).
We overlay information from Class A (mandatory for large ships) and Class B (optional for leasure craft) AIS, and from Search & Rescue resources, using a dual channel receiver, on the excellent ‘seaPro Professional’ electronic charting system kindly provided by Euronav at http://www.euronav.co.uk/
We also use the electronic charting
tools to good effect to plot quickly the position of any vessel needing
help.
So, the
watchkeepers on duty will always be ready and willing to give you an
actual
weather report. They will be able
to tell you about times of high and low water and the current tidal
range. Please call them on 01305 860178. They will not, however, give you a
personal forecast of either the weather or the likely future state of
the
Race. But see NAVTEX below.
We
have a
NAVTEX unit that receives the NITON 518 KHz international Maritime
Safety
Information broadcast for Area E and the 490 KHz national broadcasts of
Strong
Wind Warnings and Inshore Waters Forecasts for Portland to Lyme Regis
and
adjacent coastal areas out to 12 miles offshore. The
watchkeepers
should
be
able
to
tell
you
whether
local
Gale
Warnings
and/or
Strong
Wind
Warnings
are
in
force. They
can also provide the General
Situation Forecast, the 24 hours Inshore Forecast and the Outlook for
the
following 24 hours. Again, please
call them on 01305 860178.
Installed and Handheld Binoculars
The main binoculars we use were given in memory of a young man, a fisherman, who was tragically lost at sea just off Portland Bill in 2006. They are permanently mounted on a track specially made for us by local craftsmen who are also Friends of Portland Bill. The binoculars can be raised and lowered easily and moved sideways to give uninterrupted views over a 290˚ arc - across Weymouth Bay in the east, through the Portland Race to the south, over Lyme Bay in the west, and to the cliffs behind us to the north - some 600 square miles of the South Coast and English Channel.
We
also
use a telescope, especially for cliff observations, and hand held
binoculars.