Hovercraft rescues yachtsman

Former MSBA Secretary, Gavin Parson, was trying out his new hovercraft when he heard a Mayday call on his VHF radio from a yachtsman who was taken ill. Gavin said, “the coastguard on channel 16 showed complete lack of local knowledge and was badgering the guy, who was clearly suffering, for a Lat and Long when he’d already given a clear description of his location. Also, the ambulance operator didn’t know where the Strand was and asked for postcode.” As you can see in the video, Gavin took the gentleman on board his hovercraft and quickly delivered him to the waiting ambulance in a way that would not have been possible with any other craft.

6 thoughts on “Hovercraft rescues yachtsman”

    1. There is no Medway coastguard station. It is all done from Fareham. They show a shocking lack of local knowledge on many occasions! As do the local ambulance service who seem to be unaware of the emergency access points to the river.

      1. It’s a little known fact that there is actually a coastguard station based in the Medway City Estate.

  1. Well done Gavin. Always knew there would come a time when hovercraft would come into their own. (Joke!) but more seriously, it is very worrying when all the Coast Guard can cope with in a river is LatLong, and the 999 operators need a post code.
    There is a new system that uses a 3 letter code that narrows down location in UK to within 1 square meter; A phone App tells you what it is for where you are. Probably needs more publicity, but not sure if it covers inland water like Medway, or stops at the shoreline.

    1. Sorry, got that wrong; the system is what3words, and it is 3 meters square. Still easier to put across to someone on the end of a call.

      1. Lat/Long and OS grid references are well established and free methods for locational reference to any level of accuracy needed. I don’t understand why anyone would want to adopt yet another method that is proprietary and depends on one language and specific pronunciation.

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