Shadowy figures on a speedboat handing over a package to a paddleboarder off Teignmouth beach – it could have been a scene from a James Bond movie. In fact, it was volunteers from the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) handing over an anniversary flag to the Teignmouth NCI team as part of a national relay.
The specially commissioned 30th anniversary flag is travelling anti-clockwise to each of the NCI’s 60 coastal watch stations and yesterday (July 11) was Teignmouth’s turn.
The 5ft x 3ft flag was delivered to Teignmouth from the Torbay NCI station and brought to shore by record-breaking stand up paddleboarder Brendon Prince who handed it to Teignmouth NCI deputy station manager James Campbell.
At each NCI station, volunteer watchkeepers who help save lives around the coast have been coming up with innovative ways to pass the flag on to the waiting crews at their neighbouring station. Volunteers from Teignmouth cycled to Starcross this morning (July 12) where they took the ferry to deliver the flag to the station in Exmouth.
NCI flag left Teignmouth by bicycle
After a journey of around 2000 miles, the flag relay started on June 3 at Fleetwood in Lancashire and is due to reach its final destination at Filey in North Yorkshire by September. It will have been transported by many different types of transport including boats, tractor and trailer, horse and cart, classic cars, walking and running.
Each NCI station is manned by volunteers who take it in turns to keep a visual and radio watch over the coast looking for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent.
‘We spot, plot and report,’ said NCI Teignmouth deputy station manager James Campbell. ‘
Teignmouth NCI has around 70 members, around a third of which are women. All the volunteers are trained to a professional level and keep watch in three hour shifts at the station at the Eastcliff end of the seafront.
NCI Chair Stephen Hand said: ‘This year’s 30th anniversary is the ideal opportunity to put each station on the map and encourage even more people to join and support us.’