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By Jean Sandell
Thirteen members and friends met on a bright Sunday morning in May outside a large imposing white house on the seafront at Lee on the Solent, now home to Solent Coastguard. We were welcomed by Veronica, one of HM Coastguard officers and shown into the downstairs dining room, now the lecture room. For the next 20 minutes we were shown a video explaining the wide duties and diverse work of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Upstairs we were shown the major incident room, with four computer and communication stations for use by emergency services and any other organisations involved. There were shelves and shelves of files containing contingency plans for all foreseeable major incidents, the largest being for Fawley. Next door was the operations room, where the day to day work is done. Each computer terminal provided all essential information. A touch of the screen brought up further information and controlled radios and telephones. They could even bring up all Portland CG information and control their operations.
It was very interesting to see them at work and put faces to the voices we hear on the radio. They welcomed other club members to visit, so maybe another trip could be arranged. Many thanks to Kath and Chris Rayner for organising this one.