Brockenhurst College Use Icom Two Way Marine Radios For On the Water Training
Icom two way marine radios have become an important tool for Brockenhurst College, a foremost provider of maritime training in the south of England. The college uses Icom IC-M35 Buoyant VHF Marine Transceivers to assist in the tuition of their maritime apprentices and RYA students on the water.
Gary Hales, Head of Marine Technology at Brockenhurst College
www.brock.ac.uk/marine, ‘The maritime department was created about 18 months ago. We now have 6 staff who cover a wide range of subjects which includes marine engineering, boatbuilding, composites, marine upholstery and of course RYA courses which we provide down at Hengistbury Head. The age range we cater for is 16 plus...our oldest student is 60 years old. All our courses are full and our marine engineering courses are oversubscribed by 200%.’
Pete Jowell, Head of Technology at Hengistbury Outdoor Centre which is part of the College said, ‘Brockenhurst College uses the IC-M35 Buoyant VHF Marine Transceiver in our on the water training; a lot of the students come down here and learn to sail as part of their curriculum. If they are learning to become a boat builder or marine engineer, the sailing environment provides the relevancy to what they will do in the future.’
He added, ‘the Icom radios we use are important to us because they allow us to communicate on the water, letting us pass on relevant information to make training more effective and making sure our students are safe. They provide a very good safety point especially as most of our students start from 16.’
Asked why they use Icom, Peter Jowell said, ‘the radios have become more and more important. It wasn’t until two years ago that we had VHF marine radios. Before that we had little licence free walkie talkies...two way radios that left a lot to be desired...so nobody ever bothered using them. It took a while for everyone to get use to using VHF but now it is a common tool that we all use...so useful.’
Peter added, ‘Icom was here when I joined the centre and I have found it to be a very good product and Icom UK have provided really good backup.’
29/11/2012
