Back to work !

[Dunc]

Well this coming Monday ( 22nd ) will see me back at work as a Seasonal Navigation Ranger for the Broads Authority and will see me right through till the begining of November .I can't wait and it will be nice to have some money coming in again and something to keep me busy .

For those of you who are a bit confused I have 3 jobs    The Broads Authority as a Quay Ranger for 7 months of the year . I also do voluntary work for them as a Auxilliary Nav Ranger which includes driving the motor Launches on patrol . Thirdly I'm a Coastguard Rescue Officer for H.M Coastguard which is where I am on call for S.A.R .

So be prepaired for lots of photos and tails from the river bank 

Dunc

[Craig]

Congratulations
Best of luck for Monday.

[AHB]

I wanna be just like you, Dunc..  

Good luck mate..  

[ryan1835]

dunc an action hero  

does the coast gaurd pay or not?

[Dunc]

dunc an action hero  

does the coast gaurd pay or not?

Action Hero    That is so not me 

Yes but its minimum Wage and your only paid for a set number of training hours a month and on callouts . 95% of coasties don't do it for the money though .Just how many callouts you get a year depends on where you are stationed and actual incedents occurring.The fun bit is you just don't know when its going to happen  

Dunc

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Nice one mate

[cerbera147]

That's great news Dunc 

Sounds like a really interesting job In fact all of them do

Does the local Fire Brigade not need people? 

I know a guy who volunteers with the RNLI and is a part time fireman as well as full time job 

Similiar to yourself; an action hero 

Do you have something like this? 

[Dunc]

I can't join the Fire brigade as I live too far from the station and I don't think they would let me do both . I left my local lifeboat crew of 8 years to join the coastguard and they told me I couldnt do both as its a conflict of interest . If the pagers went off do I go in the lifeboat or head to the Coastguard staion ?  9 out of 10 times they both get called to the same incedents .

As for the action hero 

[cerbera147]

I've got a civvie question Dunc.

What is the difference between the RNLI and the Coastguard? 

My understanding is the RNLI is a charity working solely on donations whereas the Coastguard is a 'governmental' organisation. Also the Coastguard will mostly call on the RNLI rescue boats.

The US Coastguard appears to be a fully fledged branch of the armed forces.

[Dunc]

I've got a civvie question Dunc.

What is the difference between the RNLI and the Coastguard? 

My understanding is the RNLI is a charity working solely on donations whereas the Coastguard is a 'governmental' organisation. Also the Coastguard will mostly call on the RNLI rescue boats.

The US Coastguard appears to be a fully fledged branch of the armed forces.

Thats a good question and one thats often asked .

The RNLI are a charity that saves lives at sea , they answer directly to the Coastguard (MCA , Maritime and Coatsguard Agency ) .H.M Coastguard is responsible for things below the high water mark and all along the coast where any Seach and rescue is coordinated from Coastguard Rescue centres .Coastguard Rescue teams ( Me ) are paged to attend 999 calls on our patch . Very often we will work with lifeboats and be there to recieve casualtys from them when they return and to offer safety advice or have strict words with people who are not following safety guide lines . We also take down any details and can be called to meet Heli's at hospital where casualtys are taken .

We also do cliff rescue and mud rescue and searching for missing people .The Coastguard will often take charge over the Police on Seach and Rescue .

Hope that make it a bit clearer .

A few more facts ....

Down South the Coastguard has its own Tug off Dover to assist shipping .

They aslo have their own Helis and some but not many rescue boats .

We do not have powers of arrest .

We do have blue lights and sirens .

Please feel free to ask more question as I love talking about it and have a real passion 

[J-sews]

Mud rescue? How often do you get called on for mud rescue?

[AHB]

Mud rescue? How often do you get called on for mud rescue?

Maybe there's alot of mud wrestling going on there...    

[Dunc]

Mud rescue? How often do you get called on for mud rescue?

We don't in my location and are not trained for it but in some areas of the UK its a huge problem and they have full mud rescue teams .

So glad I don't get involved in that .

[J-sews]

Yuck! Not much glamour in that I imagine

[Neil]

But I bet they have great complexions

[Styerman]

Without powers of arrest , what are you supposed to do with drunk boat operators etc . ? The buggers should give you some LE powers .

Chris

[cerbera147]

Agreed 

The Coastguard really should have more powers. I'm sure most of your work wouldn't require it but even still.

[ryan1835]

this is why he got the boat

"quick robin launch the duncmobile"

[Styerman]

The Canuck Coasties  while not as militaristic as the US , do have powers , and even small quantities of light arms .

Chris

[Dunc]

They do have some powers but not the powers of arrest . Any trouble like that and we just call the Police .On the other hand certain departments of the coastguard have powers to stop ships sailing and to seize them if needed .All though to be honest I don't know too much about that side of things .

Dunc