During my lunch break today I went down the beach again. The wind coming off the sea was so strong I had difficulty in standing up. It was high tide at 1pm and I wanted to practice taking photos of the waves which crashed down on to the beach. The best of them you can find on my new blog “A New Decade Dawns” which will form solely of photographs and chart my mastering of the Nikon SLR.
The photo above gives you idea of the fantastic waves, and I wish I could include sound, just imagine the shushing of the pebbles as the sea washed over them. Don’t jump over to the new Blog just yet though because, when I was taking photos, I noticed a lot of people watching the Coast Guard Rescue boat and I thought it may be about to take off, so wandered over there to see what was going on. I soon realised that there was a young lad practising swimming against the waves.
He was very slight and finding it a struggle against the waves. On one or two occasions the waves rolled in so high, he disappeared completely and it was good to see him bob back up again. It made me think that if someone’s life was at risk how lucky we are that there are people like this young man who are prepared to battle out in exceptionally strong and high waves. He was part of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service.
Worthing has two 5.4 metre rigid inflatable Safety Boat patrols boats, powered by 75hp 4 stroke outboard engines, fitted with VHF radios, GPS navigation, flares, 1st Aid equipment and hand held radios. The two man crew are trained Marine Coastguard Agency standard and they are all volunteers.
Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers can be called out by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) at any time of the day or night, in all weathers, to respond to those in trouble or missing, to seek confirmation or further information of a report, or to participate in a joint response to an emergency.
They deserve a heap of admiration and loads of respect.
Please visit my new blog by clicking on this link - “A New Decade Dawns” or the blue flower icon on the side bar – and check out the photos of how fierce the waves were this lunchtime.
