Andy Butler on Saving Lives at Sea

Right, as far as I can remember, I joined in 1972 and where we were fishing and we all knew each other in Ventnor and along the shore and what have you, Jim Blake was in charge of the Ventnor Coast Guard and Dave Wheeler, my friend Dave was in it and various other people I knew and they asked me if I’d like to join. At that time, that’s what you did, you were asked to join you know, by somebody that knew you, so that’s how I started, and you originally started … I can’t remember the term now, sort of like a ‘Coast Watch’ or something wasn’t it?

There used to be a hut thing up on Woody Head which is where we went to do bad weather watches.

It was good in those days. We used to do four drills a year, you know, practice drills, you were paid in cash, the Coast Guard would come over from the Mainland with a little suitcase with the cash in, and you were paid in cash and then we had an arrangement with the Walmer Castle which is South Street.

They would put on some sandwiches and stuff and we’d go in there afterwards and would spend … it was only two or three quid you know, so we’d have an evening out on the Coast Guard in effect. It was nice, it was a good thing.

And other than that, all we did was callouts, so you had to be available for a callout so if there was something whatever happened, you had to be available to fire a maroon too.

Sounds archaic now doesn’t it with all the electronics, but that’s how it was, and the maroon was fired from the Coast Guard hut which was in West Street, in Ventnor. And it did go off with a bang too.