Meet Your Coastguards: Joel Harding, Senior Maritime Operations Officer

Why did you join HM Coastguard?

After studying Composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Joel’s path as a musician took a turn after a change in circumstances led him towards a new opportunity at HM Coastguard. 

Without any prior maritime experience, it was the satisfaction of knowing he’d make a difference that sent the budding bugler towards a Watch Assistant role at Great Yarmouth Coastguard. 

Joel jokes: “When I applied, I had to put ‘have read Swallows and Amazons’ down under Previous Experience, but the role looked and felt achievable and important, so I leapt at the chance.”

Swiftly sharpening his maritime knowledge and skills by volunteering for 12 months as a Coastguard Rescue Officer for Lowestoft Coastguard Rescue Team, Joel soon developed the experience and skills needed for a new operations role in Wales. 

“I moved to Holyhead Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and became a Senior Maritime Operations Officer, and God willing I’d love to be able to do this until I retire,” he adds. 

What is the most unusual incident you’ve worked on or coordinated?

“Sometimes, you need good humour to get you through certain elements of our work,” says Joel, whose confident and cheerful disposition helps him handle some of the quirkier mishaps, accidents and unusual occurrences he’s seen.

By contrast, Joel also recalls a night rescue of two terrified people neck-deep in incoming tidal waters, located with the help of 999 call location data, and the dramatic medal-winning rescue of a surfer just seconds from death by an RNLI crew.

 What is the most challenging part of your role?

“I think it’s hard knowing that despite the best efforts of all of us emergency responders, there will still be people for whom help came too late,” Joel says. “Ultimately, we do the best we can for everyone that we get the opportunity to help, whenever that opportunity arises. Through our work, we know that we make a difference.”

Which local beach is your favourite and why?

As a Holyhead local, Joel’s been able to choose from many picturesque beaches, including Porth Trwyn Mawr, a stunning, wide (and often completely empty) sandy beach hidden at the end of a farm track. 

“Then there’s Newry beach, which is sheltered and good for a swim with plenty of sea life visible in the harbour’s clear waters, or the popular Porth Dafarch, with its rocky bay and scenery. Really, we’re blessed with an abundance of fantastic local beaches,” he adds.

 What do you enjoy most about being a member of the team?

Joel appreciates the teamwork and camaraderie that comes with responding to incidents, with each of his colleagues pitching in to ensure that casualty needs are met smoothly and efficiently – even if they aren’t at the scene themselves, they’re a huge part of saving lives. 

“It‘s great to be able to have absolute trust that every other person in the room is working towards the same goal as you, to be so ‘well-oiled’ and experienced together that if one of us answers a 999 call, there’s somebody else tasking assets, and somebody else looking up the mapping or the Standard Operating Procedures.”

He adds: “It’s also a beautiful thing to be part of training a new team member up and bringing them into our systems and ways of working.”

What does being a Coastguard mean to you – are there essential lessons, tips and skills you’ve picked up?

Joel’s wife would say that he’s very calm, these days, whether it’s an emergency at the coast, or an emergency in the kitchen! 

But for Joel, it’s about connections. “It’s being part of an organisation that brings thousands of completely otherwise unconnected people together around our coasts to perform hundreds of everyday miracles,” he says. 

“Being a Coastguard is knowing that I’m part of an elite group that has been saving lives for over 200 years and there’s value to the willingness and ability of our whole team, regardless of rank, to muck in and do the hard graft.”

“I’m very proud to wear the uniform each day. I love walking into my children’s bedroom at night to hear the regular question, “Did you rescue anyone today?"

When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?

Often passing the time with his music on, Joel plays trumpet and piano and is a church goer and self-confessed ‘unsuccessful angler’. When he’s not watching the coast, he’s reading science fiction, writing poetry and alongside his wife, handling a busy household of three (soon to be four) children.