Film water safety at Dungeness
Dungeness is a headland of shingle pushing out into the Channel: fishing boats hauled up the stones, black wooden huts, two lighthouses and the power station under a huge sky. The sea in front of it is open, cold and fast.
Seaworthy safety boats brought round by sea, safety crew trained in first aid and rescue, and a written safety plan and risk assessment for your production. For scenes at the water's edge we put cover on the shingle as well as on the sea, as a breaking wave can knock someone off their feet on the steep stones.
Who is in charge. There is no harbour authority off the point. HM Coastguard watches this coast, and when the Lydd ranges to the west are firing, which is most days, their danger area reaches out to sea. We check the firing times and keep clear of it.
Steep shingle. The beach shelves steeply, so the water is deep within a few steps of the edge. Cast stay above the reach of the waves unless a boat is in position.
Tide and cold. The tide runs strongly past the point and the Channel stays cold most of the year, so time in the water is kept short.
The reserve. The shingle is a national nature reserve, so crew and kit keep to the existing tracks.
Drones. The point sits inside the Dungeness restricted area (R063) around the power station, and Greatstone, up the coast, inside Lydd Airport's flight restriction zone. Both need permission before the day, and the ranges' danger area, a short way west, has activity times we check.
Our productionsCrew Transfer Photography: Tug Operations at ChathamAerial photography of a workboat crew transfer at first light on the Medway: a Damen Stan tug working onto the dockyard wall at Chatham to put crew ashore.Read the job
ProductionsKid Apollo, i let the sun back inA 30-metre flat-top barge under tow as a moving stage at dusk, for Kid Apollo’s i let the sun back in video.Read the jobFilming somewhere else? See all our film boat hire locations, or tell us where and we will find the right boat.
The beach shelves steeply, so the water is deep within a few steps of the edge. Cast stay above the reach of the waves unless a boat is in position, and we put cover on the shingle as well as on the sea.
When the Lydd ranges to the west are firing, which is most days, their danger area reaches out to sea. We check the firing times and keep clear of it.
The point sits inside the Dungeness restricted area (R063) around the power station, and Greatstone is inside Lydd Airport's flight restriction zone. Both need permission before the day.
