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Compass ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE CANADIAN COAST GUARD AUXILIAry – pACIFIC OCTOBER 2010 PORT ALICE CREW RESPONDS TO STATE OF EMERGENCY The ocean was like chocolate milk, brown and opaque. mill and left around 75 workers stranded. The station Dozens of mudslides cut northern Vancouver Island’s used their 27’ Zodiac Mark 2 (1992) to transport food, road network and filled the sea with debris. On Septem- paramedics and fire crew to and from the mill. ber 24, an early winter storm hit the village of Port Al- The half-dozen active member station is on call ice hard. CCGA-P Station 43 Port Alice got permission 24/7/365, but despite the large amount of recreational from JRCC to aid in humanitarian efforts as long as and commercial traffic, the crew only gets two or three required. Over the following days four members racked missions per year. This multi-day mission challenged up many hours on the water. the crew with heavy rain and winds. It also challenged A mudslide, caused by a month’s worth of rain falling the vessel with hundreds of logs in the inlet that had in 48 hours, had severed road links to the cellulose pulp broken loose from booms. ► CCGA-P IN ACTION ► OUR PEOPLE ► FLOTSAM & JETSAM Rescue roundups Member profile All the latest news ► COXSWAIN CONTEST ► WHAt’s new ► A FINAL WORD Win a course in Scotland Member updates Message from the VP Volunteers saving lives on the water RESCUE After several days of transporting emergency crews and people who had hiked in from their remote cabins, The mudslide travelled from the top of this hill. the RCMP brought in resources and the mill began run- ning regular water taxis. The crew was able to dry the cuffs of their drysuits and get a full night’s sleep. § If you are ever on north Vancouver Island fishing, camping or sightseeing, the station would like to extend a welcome to join their weekly practices. Email Marc at [email protected]. Marc Brackett Training Officer CCGA-P Station 43 Port Alice Station 43 members Marc Brackett and Sean Watson Photo: Bryan Eyford 2 RESCUE CCGA-P in action Photo: Jason van der Valk van Photo: Jason CCGA-P Station 37 Sooke’s vessel Spirit of Sooke A dinghy in distress pulling him back into the vessel. After taking all three A Sooke crew took part in a dramatic rescue on Octo- passengers onboard the Spirit of Sooke and providing ber 10, coming to the aid of a family in distress whose medical attention, the crew began their transit back to fishing trip turned into a near tragedy when their dinghy base, requesting an ambulance meet them there. By lost power and was swept out on the ebb tide. 10:00 p.m. the Spirit of Sooke arrived at the Sooke Har- At 9:00 p.m., JRCC tasked CCGA-P Station 37 Sooke bour Authority dock and brought a paramedic onboard after calls for help were heard near Whiffen Spit by an to assess the passengers. They were then transferred to East Sooke resident. Fifteen minutes later, coxswain a waiting ambulance for further medical attention. George Holmes and crewmembers Blair Nicks, Rus- The family was extremely fortunate that someone sell Nicks, Robert Roe and Keith Hoath departed base heard their cries for help and that the Sooke crew was and began their search. About 10 minutes later the able to find them so quickly. According to coxswain crew spotted the vessel in their spotlight beam and ap- George Holmes, “This was one of those incidents proached the 12-foot inflatable dinghy. where you are using a lot of different skill sets simul- The crew conducted a SAP and determined that there taneously. The crew felt pretty good about how things were two adults and one child onboard. The vessel turned out. I doubt that these people could have sur- had no power and no oars, radio, flares, cell phone or vived a night adrift on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.” lights, and was filled with six inches of water. All three appeared hypothermic (the air temperature was 10° C) Lost in East Sooke Park and only the child had a lifejacket. The man, who had jumped in the water and attempted to pull the vessel A missing 17-year-old male was safely located in East back to shore was wet and without a shirt or shoes, and Sooke Park thanks to the joint efforts of a CCGA-P the woman appeared to have dislocated her shoulder Station 37 Sooke crew, ground SAR and RCMP. 3 RESCUE CCGA-P Station 14 Gibsons’ vessel Auxiliary 14 On October 3, JRCC tasked Station 37 to look for Gibsons sinking the missing teen after his friends contacted police. They reported that their friend was intoxicated and that they A CCGA-P Station 14 Gibsons crew turned a training feared he might be in the water. Coxswain Jason van der exercise into a rescue mission when they came across a Valk and crewmembers Colin Davenport, Robert Ames, serious boating accident. Russell Nicks and Rick Amour departed base and ar- On September 27, coxswain Dave Cudlipp and crew- rived at Beechy Head approximately 20 minutes later. members Jon Nimmo, Klaus Blume, Russell Ayers-Ber- They started a shoreline search and made visual contact ry, David Burnett and Don Lefaive took part in a shore with two hikers, who they determined were fine and evacuation exercise. On their way back to base they saw were not connected to the missing person. a flashlight waving and went to investigate. They found Five minutes later the crew made visual contact with three people in distress in Shoal Channel between three persons at Alldridge Point. They quickly con- Gibsons and Keats Island. Minutes before their small firmed that the group was comprised of the missing pleasure craft had struck a log or deadhead and rapidly teen and his two friends, who had found him a few began to sink. A small vessel from Keats Island quickly minutes earlier. The crew notified JRCC and ground recovered all three individuals and once Auxiliary 14 SAR that they had found the group and gave them was on-scene all three were transferred to their vessel the group’s location. Approximately 15 minutes later for first aid assessments. ground SAR met the group and escorted them to the After all the passengers were evaluated crewmembers nearest parking lot, where they were met by RCMP. talked with a local commercial assist vessel (called to the Throughout the mission, Station 37’s crew remained scene by the passengers) and it was confirmed that the in close contact with both ground SAR crews and the commercial assist would salvage the vessel. The passen- RCMP. Thanks to this well-coordinated communication gers were then transited to Gibsons and taken ashore the teen was found quickly and without any complica- where they were handed over to BC Ambulance Ser- tions. vice. Thanks to good timing and the quick work of the Gibsons crew, all three passengers escaped this incident unscathed. 4 CONTEST Send your coxswain to Scotland! Is there a coxswain in your station that deserves some recognition for their dedication to the CCGA-P? Contest Details The CCGA-P would like you to nominate one deserv- • Each station can only nominate one ing coxswain from your station for an all-expenses paid coxswain trip to the Maritime Rescue Institute (MRI) in Stone- haven, Scotland, where he/she will take the Advanced • Each nominee must have at least five Emergency Response Coxswain course with some of years’ experience with the CCGA-P the world’s best SAR instructors. and be committed to spending at The course is being developed by MRI/KNRM least one year following their trip trainer Ton Haasnoot and will include eight participants educating their stations and the from four different countries. Participants will have a CCGA-P on their experiences chance to learn from each other’s successes and chal- lenges and classroom work will be supplemented with • Each nomination must include a a practical on-water component using both outboard statement of merit, which describes and jet drive platforms. Some of the topics that will be why that station’s nominee should covered include searching and electronic navigation, the be chosen. (Statement should be no SAR system (command and control) and instruction of greater than 200 words) crew/contingency planning. The Maritime Rescue Institute is a world leader in • Nomination deadline is 4:30 p.m., search and rescue, training SAR personnel around the Friday, October 29 globe and leading the way in methodology, equipment and response coordination. • Email submissions to dolphin@ccga- The CCGA-P will choose two coxswains for the trip p.ca or fax them to 250-480-2742 (dates TBD). The winners will be announced at the CCGA-P AGM on November 7 in Nanaimo. Ton Haasnoot (left) is one of the world’s foremost Stonehaven Harbour, Scotland marine SAR trainers 5 Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary – Pacific Coxswain to Scotland Contest Nomination Form STATION: _____________________________________________________ STATION LEADER: _____________________________________________________ NOMINEE: ______________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF MERIT: (200-word limit) _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ NOMINATION DEADLINE: Friday, October 29th 4:30 p.m. Nomination forms can be emailed to: [email protected] or faxed to 250.480.2742 OUR PEOPLE I’ve learned many valuable skills with the CCGA-P. I had no previous experience with the ocean and it’s very different than the Great Lakes (for obvious reasons), so being able to understand how tides and currents change, the heavy seas and the quick changes in weather conditions on the west coast is a real eye opener.

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