Crowds gathered recently at Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough for the second open evening to be held by the charity Safer Waters.
Safer Waters is a unique service in Northern Ireland, established in 2020 to provide a Safety Boat service for water-based community events. The service supports events such as sailing, swimming, paddle boarding and windsurfing that have no safety cover of their own or may need additional resources. It will also supplement sailing clubs in events where multiple safety cover is required, such as the huge Irish Youth Sailing Championships at Ballyholme in April, where Safer Waters provided six safety boats.
Although it is Bangor Marina based, the volunteers will serve all communities by travelling by sea and road to coastal or inland water locations.
Safer Waters Mike Meharg (right) with l to r Robin Gordon Training Officer, Johnathan Mitchell Rostering Officer, George King, Vice Commodore, and Karen Dugan Secretary
Using the Open Evening as a recruitment drive was a successful move as from those who attended three have decided to join and two more look possible.
Commodore Mike Meharg, whose day job is a long-haul pilot, explained that there are tasks other than manning the safety boats, such as beachmaster for events, and helping with Risk Assessments and other safety-related issues.
Safer Waters is an RYA Regional Training Centre (RTC) running courses such as Powerboat Level 1 through to Yachtmaster Offshore.
At the moment Safer Waters uses RIBs owned by members as grant aid for new craft is a slow process. One way money can be raised for the charity is through www.smile.amazon.com where a percentage of purchase costs go to Safer Waters.
Mike Meharg was delighted with the response, “This evening’s Safer Waters Open meeting was an opportunity to meet people and raise awareness of who we are and what we do. As well as an introduction to our organisation, our visitors experienced a run to Helen’s Bay along the coast from Bangor in a 300 horsepower RIB and even had a go driving it under an instructor’s supervision. A memorable evening for all concerned and one that hopefully raised our profile and gained us a few new members”.
The next Open Evening will be on Wednesday, 25th May at Bangor Marina, meeting outside the gates.
