“Joh W. I have now established that the Coastguard have decided that they do not need an aircraft here at all, and so have not renewed the contract with the operator, Air Atlantique.

I have no idea why the SAR helicopter was moved. While the volume of traffic in the vicinity will undoubtedly have been a consideration, it will not have been the only one. I am not aware of any incident where loss of life in the waters surrounding the East Kent coast has been attributed to the removal of the SAR facility from Manston, and so the powers that be would presumably see that as vindicating their decision. You, of course, may know otherwise.

I should say that I have no view on the wisdom moving helicopters from Manston, but was prompted to comment by the growing tendency following almost any adverse incident to blame or criticise the absence of facilities in the immediate vicinity, apparently blind to the need to balance the various calls on limited resources. For what its worth, Wattisham is less than 50nm from the North Kent coast, probably less than half an hour's flying time for a SAR helicopter.”

“Re w.kerr. Margate, I don't know now who to believe you or the coastguard. I understood that the aircraft was removed from Manston on 31.12.09. Who is right you or them ??? Perhaps you could tell me why the british SAR Helicopter was ever removed from being about 5 minutes away from the busiest shipping lane in the world ?? That was an even more stupid decision !!!”

“John W: How many helicopters do you suppose would be needed to ensure attendance within less than 40 minutes at any point around the coast? As to the Coastguard aircraft, its home base has always been Coventry, as it is owned and operated for the Coastguard by Air Atlantique, who are based there (or were until Coventry closed a week or so ago). For day to day operations however, it is still based at Manston. The answer to your question, therefore, is not stupid at all.”

“I find it totally unacceptable that we have to rely on the Belgian Air Force to provide Search and Resuce in British waters, why on earth is this ??? Perhaps someone could answer this !!! The way this government is running things down and doing without, watch out Dover Coastguard, keep your eyes on your masters !!!!! When I first moved to the area in 1972 we had a perfectly good Search and Rescue helicopter at Manston provided by Bristows Helicopters, they were eventually slung out, the RAF then turned up to provide a service and to use it for training pruposes. The next thing is that they are moved to Wattisham in Norfolk, what for I don't know. The Coastguard spotter plane based at Manston Airport has now been moved to Coventry Airport. How stupid is that, based at an Airport almost as far from the sea as you can get in the UK. The next things to go will probably be the Coastguard Tugs that mooch about in the uper reaches of the separation lanes !!! Just look at the situation we appear to have now--A helicopter service provided from another country, a spotter plane based somewhere up-country, not readily available in an emergency, how long would it take to get from Coventry to mid channel off Dungeness ?? Does this help the CARBON FOOTPRINT situation ???? Perhaps it's about time to bring back Bristows to Manston or if they are not wanted there perhaps Lydd.”

“I agree with bob above, it's disgraceful that the closest sar cover is belgium. Although the approx eta from that distance is only 45mins, thats a lifetime when it really matters. The word on the grape vine is that the Helis that are usualy stationed within the UK are being used for more military purposes in various middle eastern countries. I say, nice priorities there people! What i find rather comical is the timing of the journey. These two gentlemen decided it would be a good idea to set sail from ramsgate at approx 2am, 3 hours before low tide. This was also obviously in pitch black and around force 5 conditions. They then decide to try to navigate the vessel through a channel with a owest recorded depth of less than the draft of the ship!!! As is said above, risks should not be taken at sea. These men were lucky.”

“I find it quite disturbing that the nearest SAR cover is Belgium. Why did the RAF SAR move to Wattisham from Manston?”

“I wonder who has to pick up the bill, There surely is no justice.”

“Well done, once again, to Kent lifeboat crews and everyone else involved in this rescue.

Once again, though, we've seen a demonstration that it does not pay to take chances at sea - the North Foreland and Margate Sands in a Northerly blow are no place for yachts, especially those like Justice, with deep fin keels, at night - state of the art navionics are no substitute for prudent seamanship - and wise seamen would not have put themselves in that situation in the first place.

I suppose Justice's crew have learned from their experience - but the course fees look to have been a tad high.”

“Got some nice pics of the yacht do you want them?”