Lyme Bay Coastwatch

Lyme Bay Coastwatch

As recipients of the coveted Queen’™s Award for Voluntary Service, and having also been awarded “œDeclared Facility Status” by HM Coastguard the NCI Lyme Bay Coastwatch team are delighted that West Dorset District Council have now approved our planning application to build a new permanent Look-Out at West Bay.

Although we will be moving from our present temporary location at Burton Bradstock to West Bay, the NCI Lyme Bay project seeks to serve the whole of the coast and coastal waters within our purview, stretching from Langton Herring in the east to Lyme Regis in the west.

With this in mind we have recently launched a new website www.lymebaycoastwatch.co.uk which not only describes what we do, promotes our role, publicises our activities and serves as an application facility for new volunteers, it is also designed to be a “one-stop source” of information as regards safety and resilience along the Dorset Jurassic Coast.

This new website  provides easy  access to information  including the Bridport 5 day weather forecast, the Inshore Waters Forecast, Gale Warnings & The Shipping Forecast,  Tidal Information including both times and heights, Flood Warnings & Alerts,  and includes  links to  The Met Office, The Border Agency, HM Customs, the RNLI, HM Coastguard, the Dorset Coast Forum, the Maritime Volunteer Service, the Royal Yachting Association,  the Merchant Navy Association etc. as well access to  interesting “on-line” websites covering the movement of ships and aircraft.

Given that the National Coastwatch Institution is a charity dependent entirely on voluntary funds, and that each local station including NCI Lyme Bay of course has to raise all its own funds we are continually looking for new sources of revenue and to promote events that will help to generate the income we need to cover our operational costs; even though all our watchkeepers are volunteers, buy their own uniforms and don’t receive any travel expenses  our operating costs are still of the order of £4,000 per annum, so we certainly cannot afford a “marketing budget” to promote our activities.

So I hope you will agree that not only does our visual and radio watchkeeping service contribute significantly to safety and resilience provision along our beautiful coast – which will be much enhanced from our new location at West Bay –   but our new website will also  provide a useful resource both for local residents and holidaymakers alike.