20 years after it was first set up, the National Coastwatch Institution has, at last, been granted its own VHF channel.

Channel 65 will facilitate communications between NCI lookouts and seafarers on a variety of routine matters. Stations will be able to respond to requests from passing, as well as local sailing craft and fishing vessels for radio checks as well as actual weather and sea state conditions. They will also be able to provide, on request, information on a range of local facilities including, for example, local moorings, charted anchorages, water taxi contact details and local hazards.

This facility is scheduled to become operational on 1 October 2014 when National Coastwatch stations will go live for the first time on Channel 65. In the meantime, stations will be equipped with a dedicated radio for this purpose.

The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) is an entirely voluntary organisation keeping a visual watch along UK shores. It was set up in response to the closure of lookout stations previously manned by the U.K. Coastguards.

Currently, 50 NCI stations are operational and manned by over 2000 volunteers keeping watch around the British Isles from Rossall  Point in the North West, through Wales, to Wearside in the North East.

The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) http://www.nci.org.uk/

(Information from the Royal Southern Yacht Club’s website. http://www.royal-southern.co.uk )