Coast Guard Auxiliary Shows its Stuff
My neighbour Jan Volker recently invited me to an open house for our local Coast Guard Auxiliary, otherwise known as the North Shore Lifeboat Society. Jan introduced me to various members of the team, including Craig Rea and Mike Cupit (Unit Leader for Howe Sound, where I keep my boat.) West Vancouver-Capilano recreational mariners such as myself depend on this emergency response team – as do the commercial marine sector, our police, North Shore Rescue, and many others requiring emergency assistance on the water.

Here are the North Shore Society’s vital statistics:
  • Two units (Howe Sound & Deep Cove)
  • 50 unpaid volunteers
  • 70+ missions per year
  • 20 lives saved/assisted per year
  • 50,000 on call hours
  • 10,000 volunteer hours
When a call-out is received, lifeboats leave the dock within 20 minutes from pager signal. Crew complement is a coxswain plus 2 to 3 crew.
Typical emergencies include:
  • Commercial vessels capsized, foundering, aground, adrift, or afire
  • Recreational boaters capsized, foundering, aground, adrift, or afire
  • Water sports missing or in trouble (SCUBA divers, canoers, kayakers, PWC -- personal water craft -- users).
  • Medical evacuations for 500 marine-access-only residences
  • Missing persons (presumed fallen or jumped from BC Ferries).
  • Marine traffic control
  • Environmental incident response
Whew! Quite a list – and they even help with marine traffic control! Why do they do it? At all hours of the night and day? Camaraderie. Esprit de corps. Voluntarism. Duty.

Members receive ongoing training in marine Search and Rescue, day/night/all-weather boating operation and navigation, safety and first aid. Volunteers match or exceed Canadian Coast Guard standards and participate in joint training exercises with them.

Their vessel, the Howe Sound Lifeboat "Auxiliary 1" operates from West Vancouver Yacht Club at Fisherman's Cove. Their vessel is a 26-foot rigid-hull inflatable powered by twin 200 HP Mercury outboards and capable of 40 knots. It will soon be due for replacement.

The replacement vessel will cost between $400,000 and $500,000, including a full commercial-grade suite of electronics, radar, GPS, chart plotter, and other key technology. With major financial assistance from local shipping organizations, most of the required funding is in place. The exciting new vessel could be launched in approximately 12 months .


Do you want to become a marine rescue specialist? To volunteer, contact Mike Cupit at 604-922-5726 for Howe Sound Unit 1 (Fisherman's Cove).
 

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