Other than the start and the finish, it can’t be said that Channel Swimming is hugely popular as a spectator sport. 

There’s the obvious thrill (!?) of watching our loved ones walk out of their depths into the murky, cold, and potentially perilous English Channel only to disappear from sight sooner than we thought as they reach the choppier water

Then comes the waiting..........

In many other long distance sports events, e.g. the marathon, we supporters can take a short cut and find our way to another location where we know our heroes will pass us so we can shout a few words of encouragement - not so the Channel Swim.

There are no landmarks to show them they’re half way there, in fact, even if there were, with heads down and murky water they wouldn’t see them anyway.

This is where the boat pilots, their skills and technology come in.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has a page for those who choose to cross the Channel in the water and not on it - known as ‘Unorthodox Crossing of the Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme’.

There are more than 400 commercial vessels crossing the Dover Strait every day. The Channel Navigation Information Service (CNIS) broadcast ‘all the latest information to shipping on activities, conditions and navigational irregularities which may affect safe navigation’ - in short - they stop our loved, mad ones, from being run over by ferries and tankers!

The radar anntena at Dover is similar to the one used by the French just down the road from Cap Gris Nez.

Dover CNIS broadcasts on VHF radio channel 11 every 60 minutes (every 30 mins if visibiltiy drops below 2 miles). This makes sure that anyone in the Dover Strait knows where - and what - everyone else is.

NASA images courtesy the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

More to Come.............