A day with the Poole coastguard
Diplomacy goes a long way
People are often confuse the coastguard for the police and expect them to have similar powers.
Pip says: ““I’m not a policeman, but what I do do is inspect fishing boats to make sure they have the right amount of safety gear and that the fishing 
boat is of a good standard and ready to go to sea.
“I can stop the boat going to sea and it will basically be because of a health and safety issue, but it doesn’t happen very often.”
As the day goes on, I’m beginning to learn that my visions of rushing of to rescue people dangling off cliff ledges or clinging onto the wreckage of a sunken ship are misplaced.
Although Pip is involved in rescues, the majority of his time is spent talking to the public or other agencies to make sure that such situations occur as infrequently as possible.
It is nearly the end of the day and Pip should be heading back across the chain ferry if he wants to make it home in time for dinner.
But a family visiting Studland stop to ask him about the area and he spends 15 minutes chatting to them about the coastline and the area in general.
Pip says it is this part of the job he enjoys: ““It’s rewarding just talking to the people, like we did there. Lots of people are doing lots of things and you can just come along and give them some advice so it’s all enjoyable.”
I can see why it’s a challenge to be home for dinner, and today is no exception.
