REDCAR’S lifeboatmen and women have a new ‘weather station’ device to help keep sailors safe.
The weather station connects to the internet through the website of the Tees Offshore Community Benefit Fund charity which has donated the equipment.
It means the RNLI volunteers have easy access to up-to-the-minute information on wind speed and direction.
Together with a webcam which shows the sea conditions, the website is also used by scores of sailors, windsurfers, fishermen, and the lifeboat crew itself, each day to see in real time what conditions are like.
Tony Jamieson, Redcar RNLI’s coastal safety advisor, said: “We’ve spoken to people from as far away as Leeds who have said they look at the weather information on lifeboat station’s website and if it doesn’t look safe they don’t even set off.
“Even if one life is saved because that person decided not to go to sea then the weather station has more than paid for itself.”
The Tees Offshore Community Benefit Fund is provided by EDF Energy Renewables who operate the Teesside Wind Farm off Redcar.
The grant application was made through the Tees Valley Community Foundation, who administer the fund on EDF’s behalf.
The RNLI website can be found at www.redcarlifeboat.org.uk
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