Port Alice Crew Responds to State of Emergency the Ocean Was Like Chocolate Milk, Brown and Opaque

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 running 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 Photo: Bryan

2 rescue CCGA-P in action Photo: Jason van der Valk

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

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. I’ve also refined and improved my leadership skills as well as my team-based skills which can be applied to my day job, running my own company. Also, the usage of electronic equipment was something I had no experience with so that is an all new skill set for me.

“It was my first ‘serious’ call as a new coxswain and one I’ll remember for some time.”

Jason van der Valk My most memorable mission to date would be the one that happened a few months ago in Sooke Harbour Station: 37 Sooke when a young American male decided he would try to swim across the harbour and back and was having dif- Involvement in CCGA-P: 3 years ficulty completing that journey. The local RCMP and Sooke Fire Department were the first on-scene, stand- Roles: deputy station leader, ing by on shore. They could see the man struggling to make way in the water and we were tasked to assist coxswain, PCSC checker him. By the time we got there he was starting to show signs of hypothermia and refused assistance from us. After explaining the situation to him, our concerns for him and just how far he still needed to swim he was convinced. We managed to get him aboard the Spirit of Sooke and transported him to the Government Docks in Sooke where BC Ambulance Service was waiting for him. By the time we got back to the docks his condition I joined the CCGA-P almost three years ago when I had gotten worse, but we didn’t have far to go and ev- moved to Sooke. I had a friend who was crew and he erything turned out well. It was my first “serious” call as suggested I join as it was a great way to learn some a new coxswain and one I’ll remember for some time. “invaluable skills, give back to the community and make In my day job I’m a graphic designer and I run my some great friends. I grew up around the shores of own small business in Sooke, Inktvis Creative. For the Georgian Bay in Ontario and my father was, and still is, last couple of years it was just my wife and me with our an avid sailor and kayaker and I ended up spending a two dogs, so dedicating as much of my time to the sta- lot of time on the water. But when life set in, college in tion as was necessary wasn’t a hard task. My wife is very the big city, finding a wife and starting a new life, all that supportive of me in the CCGA-P and understands how water time took a back seat. Being able to get back out much it means to me to be involved with a great orga- on the water is a huge incentive. nization like this. However things have recently changed

7 our people for the better and we just had our first born, a baby Auxiliary), and the possible re-naming of the CCGA-P girl, at the end of June. This hasn’t slowed me down, in the near future as positive steps for us. I look for- much, but has been a great addition to our family. We’ll ward to being a part of this growing organization and I see how it goes from here – this is all new territory for think the biggest thing right now that needs to be done is to showcase our abilities and our organization to the public and have them fully understand what role the “The goals of our website were CCGA-P has in local communities. to simply have a place for local I think when it comes to the station level, we all need to set similar goals and tasks and have one communi- people to understand who we are, cation plan moving ahead. We need to set some basic what we do and a method of standards from the top heading down but I think every attracting attention when we station understands this and everyone does what they can as a volunteer. We are an amazing organization and are looking to recruit for new we have the best volunteers around. We should all be members, which it has proud of our achievements and our stations and the successfully done for us.” service and commitment we offer to our communities. me. I also think it helps that my boss is so amazing *groan* so it allows me to be ” on-call for the day shifts, something that is traditionally a little harder to find out here in Sooke as many travel into Victoria for work. I designed our station’s website (www. ccga37.org) a couple of years ago. The goals of our website were to simply have a place for local people to understand who we are, what we do and a method of attracting attention when we are looking to recruit for new members, which it has successfully done for us. I also use social media tools such as Facebook and YouTube in my day job, and I currently use them to showcase our station and for recruitment when I can. It works and it helps us get exposure. Using these tools takes additional time and effort and there is a learning curve, but the benefits defi- nitely out-weigh the negatives. I think overall things for the CCGA-P are heading in a very positive direction. I see the amazing work Given Davies and staff do with the simulator (an amazing asset for state-of-the-art training for the

8 what’s new in marketing & promotions Squamish station embraces technology

Reality and the Internet. We function every day in reality ent members from the station that run each aspect of talking to people and going about our lives, be it work, our social networking and as station leader this makes play or the CCGA-P. The vast majority of the popula- my job easier. tion also networks and socializes through the Internet. One major way this technology helps us is that if You can do all of your station’s fundraising, recruitment potential recruits or donors are curious about us they and information sharing face-to-face or by telephone but if that’s where it ends, then you are missing out on what a huge tool the Internet can be. Here at CCGA-P Station 4 Squamish we are a new station and as such we have no proven way to do anything outside of the actual operational side of things. For every other part of the station we have tried all kinds of ideas and harebrained schemes to make things work and our use of social media and the Internet thus far has been a success. We have our own website, Face- book page and we are on Twitter. We are also working on getting as much video as we can and putting it on YouTube. Branding is what we have stumbled into and as we get our brand out there it helps with fundraising and recruitment. It also makes it easier to get information out to the membership and the public. There are differ-

9 reswhat’scue new in marketing & promotions

Google CCGA-P and get the regional website, which links to our own, or they find the Howe Sound Marine Squamish on the Internet Rescue Society page for themselves and it tells them how to become a member and how to contact us. You can check out the Squamish station Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are basically used to online at the following locations: keep the public informed on what we are doing. They Website: build excitement for the station, which helps for fund- www.hsmrs.org raising and recruitment and gets the message out there Facebook: that we are separate from the Coast Guard. Squamish Coast Guard Auxiliary We got started on most of these media streams from Twitter: members who were already using them in some fashion, http://twitter.com/Squamishaux04 and while we are by no means using them to their full potential we are getting positive results with fairly minimal time involved after the initial setup. I strongly encourage all stations to try different types of social media and to get the CCGA-P message out to the general public. It’s a little intimidating but if you discuss it around your station chances are one of the members is already using social media, or they know a friend who can help, and then you are started.

Dan Price Station Leader CCGA-P Station 4 Squamish

10 what’s new in marketing & promotions

Branding & the CCGA-P HST & society rebates

The branding company a hundred monkeys recently Not everyone likes the new HST, but it is good made the trip up to Victoria from their home base in news for registered charitable organizations (RCOs). San Francisco to learn first-hand about the issues sur- In the past, RCOs have been able to claim back rounding the re-branding of the CCGA-P. A hundred 50% of the 5% GST that was paid on purchases monkeys has been in the naming business for over throughout the year. Now with the implementation 20 years. They agreed to work with the CCGA-P at a of the HST, RCOs will also be able to claim back greatly reduced rate to help us come up with a name a portion of the PST which will result in a larger that will grow with the organization as we continue to rebate. The combined rebate factor is 54.083%, or establish ourselves as leaders in marine SAR. HST times .54083. The name will likely be chosen by November 2010. For example: Imagine a charity spends $100 on an Once the name is chosen, Re-Think Canada will be eligible expense, such as equipment or utilities, and working with us on the re-branding which involves is charged $12.00 HST ($100 x 12%). The charity developing the image of the organization. Re-Think has will receive a rebate of $6.49 ($12.00 x .54083). worked on many memorable campaigns including the “I After registering for GST/HST purposes, your Love Fees” campaign for Coast Capital Savings and the charity will be issued an account number (business “Grandpa” and “Date” emotional baby-boomer-target- number plus an RT program identifier and a four- ed ads for A&W. Re-Think Canada has agreed to handle digit reference number, e.g. 123456789 RT0001). our re-branding on a pro bono basis. Remember that you must be a registered charitable organization with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to qualify. I suspect that most societies are, however if you are not you can go to their website for an application. Once approved, an RCO number will be issued which will enable you to produce tax receipts for donors. All of these details are of course subject to change as government policies and budgets change. We will do our best to keep everyone informed of any changes that may happen in the future. For more information on HST guidelines from the CRA, please go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/ pub/gi/gi-068/gi-068-e.pdf. As always, follow the guidelines provided on your HST return for regis- trants when submitting any claims to the CRA Any questions? Please contact Manager of Mar- keting and Promotions Steve Jackson (marketing@ ccga-p.ca) or Finance Officer Monica Maxwell, CMA ([email protected]). what’s new in operations Halfmoon Bay acquires second vessel CCGA-P Station 12 Halfmoon Bay recently acquired a second vessel to extend their service area to include Sechelt Inlet. Station Leader Bob McKee has been involved in the project at every step. Below, he outlines why the project was undertaken and how the station found the right vessel for their needs.

Our station’s newest project started no differently than 30 minutes to travel to the head of the inlet. To travel a myriad of others – through talk. Station-level discus- from Sechelt Inlet to the head of Salmon and Nar- sions are constantly ongoing regarding the future of rows Inlets is approximately 30-40 minutes of travel our station and access to Sechelt Inlet from our base time. This of course all depends on the weather and in Secret Cove together with the potential for future sea conditions which as we all know extends our travel problems. The Sechelt Inlet area is becoming more of time. Traveling to Sechelt Inlet also requires traversing a tourist destination which brings more marine tourist the Sechelt Rapids, which can be treacherous at the best activities such as diving, canoeing and kayaking on top of times. of the usual marine traffic. Experience has shown that this type of traffic leads to increased callouts due in large part to a lack of knowledge of sea conditions by the persons touring the area. This combined with requests from the marine community and comments from the controllers at JRCC asking if we would consider a vessel in Sechelt Inlet prompted our station to take action to acquire a second vessel. All discussions indicated that Sechelt Inlet would be getting busier as time went on and it became ap- parent that a second vessel would be in order. A vessel that was capable of transiting the Sechelt Rapids at full flood was needed. CCGA-P Station 12 Halfmoon Bay currently operates It was determined that if our station had a vessel in a Hurricane/Zodiac 753 and is responsible for an area Sechelt Inlet the response time would be reduced con- of Georgia Strait from the White Islets to McNaughton siderably and we would be receiving a greater number Point and halfway across Georgia Strait. In addition to of callouts. With this in mind the search for a suitable this general area the Halfmoon Bay station (along with vessel was commenced. A number of potential ves- the Powell River Coast Guard station) is responsible for sels were considered. CCGA-P Manager of Vessel and the waters of Sechelt Inlet which include Salmon Inlet Equipment Standards Paul Mottershead was contacted and Narrows Inlet. At the present time the Halfmoon and advised of our interests and he began searching for Bay vessel is based in the Secret Cove area of Geor- an appropriate vessel. The head office in Victoria was gia Strait and to access Sechelt Inlet transit is required aware of our requirement and provided a notice of a through waters that are the responsibility of CCGA-P potential vessel for sale that had been a Canadian Coast Station 61 Pender Harbour. It is a trip of approximately Guard vessel. one hour to get to the start of Sechelt Inlet and another With this information a committee of three mem-

12 what’s new in operations bers from our station traveled to Victoria via Nanaimo The vessel will have new style consuls that are de- and met with Paul in Nanaimo and then continued to signed and built by Titan Boats to accommodate the Victoria where we met with CCGA-P Executive Officer Raymarine E80 electronic equipment and the colour Stan Warlow. combination of red and yellow will be completed by Stan then took the committee to observe the potential Titan as well. vessel and after a complete investigation of the vessel, The vessel has not been received to date, but the word negotiations commenced regarding the purchase price is out that we have this vessel and the Sechelt Inlet of the vessel. At this point it is not clear who won the marine community is now excited about its imminent negotiations however for a determined price, acceptable arrival, as are members of Station 12. The owner of a to the committee, the vessel was sold to our station. local marina has offered accessible and secure moorage As the vessel was a former Canadian Coast Guard at a price that is easily affordable Hurricane/Zodiac 733 painted in the colours of the Thanks are extended to Stan Warlow and Paul Mot- Coast Guard, discussions were held about changing the tershead for their assistance in making this vessel avail- colours to the CCGA-P red and yellow. In addition the able to Station 12. Thanks also to Stan for getting this consuls on this particular 733 were too small to accept vessel to Titan Boats for the necessary refurbishing. the standard Raymarine E80 electronic equipment and As our station is now expanding, it is clear that a new this problem would have to be overcome. Stan took the day is dawning and we are proud to be a part of this Halfmoon Bay committee to Titan Boats in Sidney BC, new era. and again discussions were held regarding the refur- bishment of this particular vessel. Thanks to the inter- Bob McKee vention of Stan it was agreed that the vessel would be Station Leader towed from the Coast Guard base in Victoria to Titan CCGA-P Station 12 Halfmoon Bay Boats. Once the vessel was securely ensconced at Titan Boats and work commenced on it Titan’s mechanics found there was some delamination of fibreglass in the inner hull of the vessel. This was found to be minor in nature and has been repaired while the vessel is being refurbished.

13 what’s new in operations Vessel maintenance

How often is maintenance performed on your vessel our vessels, from electronics to pumps to searchlights or the equipment onboard? Each station should have to engines, comes with some form of owner’s manual, a rigorous preventative maintenance program in place and in many cases they are supplied with maintenance to ensure both the equipment and the vessel are SAR manuals and parts manuals as well. Having the stations ready at all times. take the time to go through these manuals and identify Many stations have a maintenance officer assigned to the maintenance requirements is the first step to a suc- oversee the ongoing scheduling of maintenance and the cessful program. Engine manuals are usually very good delegation of work required. This involves proper orga- at providing us with a list of maintenance items to be nization and planning to prevent unnecessary downtime performed at the various intervals. Yamaha, for ex- of a valuable SAR resource. This is not a one-person ample, has a maintenance chart in their owner’s manual task, and to be done properly it requires a team ap- that has a list of items that either require checking or proach, calling upon members with individual skill sets replacing at 10, 50, 100 and 200 hours, etc. This makes and others who want to learn some of the basic tasks. it easy for the station to build a maintenance log with Just about every piece of equipment we purchase for check-off items that need to be performed.

CCGA-P Station 27 Nanaimo Station Leader Gordie Robinson (left) shows the Nanaimo boathouse and vessel G.B. Meynell to his brother, CCGA-P Station 34 Mill Bay member Doug Robinson

14 what’s new in operations

Performing the required maintenance can be done Call for SAR/Ops Manager with minimal experience in most cases. Many of the items on the engine, for example, require regular checks, Are you looking for new ways to use your skills such as on oil levels or the greasing of linkage and pivot within the CCGA-P? Would you like to be a part of points. This can even be done in the form of a class- a dynamic team that helps determine the organiza- room training session alongside the vessel with the use tion’s future directions? If so, this may be a perfect of the maintenance manual. Some other service items opportunity for you. that a station may consider doing themselves if they The CCGA-P is currently looking for a volunteer have the experience available would include oil changes, manager of SAR/operations to join the manage- fuel filter, spark plugs and even engine cooling system ment team. The purpose of the position is to pro- internal zincs which are easy to change and often over- vide a direct liaison to the Canadian Coast Guard looked. and JRCC regarding operations capabilities and External maintenance must not be forgotten as limitations, improve teamwork amongst CCGA-P well. The vessel should be hauled from the water on a stations and between stations and managers and regularly scheduled basis. The hull and engines should increase continuity in SAR operations throughout be examined for signs of damage, pressure washed and the region. bottom paint applied as required. Hull zincs should be checked or replaced at least twice per year or more Some of the position’s specific duties include: often depending on the surrounding conditions. • Routinely liaising with the Coast Guard Super- Taking the time to set up a proper maintenance pro- intendent of Marine Search and Rescue to gram for your vessel and equipment will save unwanted deal with any ongoing operations concerns down time and in the end save the station/society • Maintaining direct communication with all thousands of dollars in repairs. Taking the time to train CCGA-P stations on all issues related to members on how to perform some of the scheduled SAR/operations maintenance intervals and to recognize when they are • Developing and promoting SAR- and opera- required gives the member a sense of ownership in the tions-related policies and procedures process, and again saves the station/society money that • Reviewing and considering new station re- can then be spent on other improvements. quests • Reviewing and authorizing insurance claims Paul Mottershead Manager of Vessels and Equipment Standards Prospective candidates must have at least eight [email protected] years’ experience in the marine field, at least five years’ experience in the CCGA-P and experience as a station leader and a coxswain. Leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills are also very important. Current SAR/Operations Manager David Rees- Thomas will be mentoring the new manager to ensure he/she gets any necessary guidance. If you would like a full description for this volunteer position or are interested in applying, please email [email protected] or contact CCGA-P Ex- ecutive Officer Stan Warlow at 250-480-2798.

15 what’s new in boating safety

Call for Boating Safety Manager

Are you looking for new ways to use your skills within the CCGA-P? Do you have a passion for spreading the boating safety message? If so, this may be a perfect opportunity for you. The CCGA-P is currently looking for a volunteer manager of boating safety to join the management team. The purpose of the position is to help CCGA-P stations provide boating safety education to the general public, maintain a high standard of boating safety knowledge within the CCGA-P, increase teamwork and communication between stations and increase continuity in boating safety throughout the region.

Some of the position’s specific duties include: • Promoting boating safety concerns both within the CCGA-P membership and the general public, and encouraging stations to create boating safety awareness programs or events for their communities • Promoting and marketing our own CCGA-P PCOC program at the station level • Maintaining active communications with station leaders regarding boating safety concerns • Addressing concerns at management meetings or through consultations with Transport Canada’s Office of Boating Safety (OBS) • Organizing and promoting the CCGA-P Pleasure Craft Safety Check (PCSC) program • Managing the Bobbie the Safety Boat and Kids Don’t Float programs • Developing and recommending policy on boating and on-water safety issues

Prospective candidates must have at least two years’ experience in the marine field and education, training or demonstrated success in a leadership role. Leadership, teamwork and motivational skills are also very important. If you would like a full description for this volunteer position or are interested in applying, please email dol- [email protected] or contact CCGA-P Executive Officer Stan Warlow at 250-480-2798.

16 what’s new in training 60-ton ticket – a student’s perspective

Approximately one year ago I decided to go for my 60-ton ticket. Marko Kessler This decision came after the realization that our new vessel will mostly likely be over five tons (whether that is still the case is yet to be seen). Quite a few of the certificates that I already have can be applied to the 60- ton ticket. The whole process was actually fairly straightforward. It is my understanding that many colleges offer this course (or prepara- tion for this course), but I believe that any coxswain that has been in the CCGA-P for four to five years should not have any problems challenging this ticket, like I did.

Here are the requirements:

Standard First Aid I have Marine Basic First Aid, which Transport Canada (TC) prefers, but any first aid of two days or more will do.

ROC-MC Restricted radio – marine commercial. This course is very similar to basic ROC-M which I teach through Power Squadron.

Med A1/A2 You can take either course. I ended up taking A1 a while ago. There isn’t much difference between these courses – A1 is no passengers and A2 is passengers. It makes no difference which one you get if you are only going to use your ticket for CCGA-P activities. I managed to confuse TC with this one, but in the end we figured out that A1 is fine. Crew are technically not passengers, and if you pick up any hypothermic person or assist anyone they are technically considered cargo.

Transport Canada Medical My medical was still valid from RHIOT (just about to expire) and they had no problem with that.

60 days (8 hours per day) of Sea Time (commercial) This was the hardest part. I managed to convince them that we are technically a commercial operation. I just completed 480 hours on the water (in about five years) and to start TC wasn’t sure about it. They want it on a vessel of “similar” tonnage. I could never get them to explain this requirement to me. Later I found out that anything over five tons is okay. Our current vessel is 4.9 tons and I guess they figured that is acceptable. Much thanks to Dan Rob- inson for signing off on my hours.

17 what’s new in training

Now comes the fun part – Transport Canada exams. In order to get the ticket you need to pass three exams: 040 – Charting, 061 – Navigational Safety and an oral exam.

040 / 041 Chartwork Exam 040 is standard charting. 041 is only needed if you are planning on going further to a watch-keeping ticket or something similar. TC insisted that I take the 040, although I felt confident I could do 041 with no problems. The main difference between the two exams is that 041 includes currents and wind and 040 assumes calm seas. I truly enjoyed this exam. It’s a three-hour exam with simple questions to start and after that it was all chart work. I ended up with the west coast of Vancouver Island. I’ve never seen this chart before, but there were no surprises. Minimum pass for this exam is 70%.

061 – Navigational safety (ColRegs + Buoys) This exam was ugly. I ended up taking charting and this exam in the same day. It is all multiple choice and 90 questions. You only have 90 minutes. Some questions are long, so one minute per question is not much time. I moved very quickly through the questions and did not come out of the exam with a good gut feeling. It was all about collision regulations and extremely detailed. Each question had four answers – one was just way off, one was wrong and just about every single question had two very similar answers, one of which was correct. I didn’t check my work because I simply ran out of time. There were a lot of questions on Canadian modifications. Most of the sneaky questions were about the east coast and the Great Lakes. Minimum pass for this exam is 70% as well.

About four days later I got a phone call and was told that I passed both exams. I passed 040 with flying colours, but was told that I should have taken 041 (which I had suggested from the beginning). I was surprised that I passed navigational safety, however TC said I did just fine.

Marko in the Prince Rupert station’s dedicated response vessel Rainbow Responder

18 what’s new in training

Oral exam This was a bit stressful – it was basically the above two exams all over again. TC truly enjoyed sneaky questions. Know those annexes from col regs really well. They will ask about sound frequencies, fishing vessels, etc. They absolutely loved asking east coast questions and Canadian modifications. There were 25 questions in total – 15 were col regs and you need to get them all correct to pass. The other 10 were “general” knowledge questions and you could get one wrong. General knowledge was simple. It was mostly evacuation questions and what to do in an emergency (I can see this being a problem for a fisherman, but not a CCGA-P member). There were a couple of questions on how to dock a vessel with dual props and a single prop (with wind and against wind).

Overall, the 60-ton ticket process is very straightforward. The hardest part is probably getting sea time; some of- fices will accept CCGA-P time and some will not. Work with your local TC office – they are there to help and they know the CCGA-P is a very valuable resource. They will help you get a ticket that you need if it will help your community. The exams were somewhat exhausting (I took three of them in one week), but that way they are done and you can move on. I found that a lot of the questions were all about Canadian modifications. I recommend knowing your collision regulations really well. Charting was the best part of this certification. They assume you are moving at slow speed (tug or a fishing vessel) and you can take your time answering questions. Orals were sneaky. After the exam they gave me my ticket in a nice little booklet. My ticket includes Class 2 waters (25 miles offshore) and covers all of the west coast of Canada. Most tickets that are issued are just for your working area. I ended up getting the whole west coast of British Columbia as we often work in some rough waters. I found it very strange that they would ask so many questions regarding the east coast but then issue a ticket for the west coast of Canada only. While I was leaving, I had a trick question of my own for TC. I asked them if they knew what type of vessel has masthead lights that are “blue over white.” The TC examiner looked at me and I could tell he was trying to answer it. After few seconds I said, “It’s a Prince Rupert modification – it’s a trawler with a faded out green light!” I got a smile from the examiner and I was on my way. All in all the exams and certification were pretty straightforward with few a curve balls along the way, but I’m glad I did it. If you have any questions, or need help with your certificate, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Marko Kessler Station Leader CCGA-P Station 64 Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert

19 flotsam & jetsam CCGA-P updates

Congratulations are in order for CCGA-P The 32nd CCGA-P Annual General Meeting will Operations Assistant Leslie Manns, who is ex- be held on Sunday, November 7 at the Coast pecting her second child next month! Leslie’s Bastion Inn (11 Bastion Street) in Nanaimo. last day before her maternity leave will be Fri- All active members are encouraged to attend. day, October 29. Starting Monday, November The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. Please 1, Leslie’s duties will be placed in the capable RSVP to [email protected]. hands of Katie Thornton, who has already been working in the head office for a number For more information please visit: of months. http://www.ccga-pacific.org/ccga-p/resources/ agm/agm_2009.php Katie can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 250-480-2798. Congratulations and good luck to Leslie, and welcome to Katie! A number of CCGA-P stations have elected new leaders in the past few months. We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the following new station leaders:

Station 2 Indian Arm – Ben Pepa One of the cornerstones of the CCGA-P’s mission is to provide 24/7 SAR availability. Station 4 Squamish – Dan Price Although this can be difficult to achieve, particu- Station 33 Oak Bay – Kim Bentzon larly as crewing standards and vessel standards Station 58 Oceanside – Don Saigle become more rigorous, it is essential for the Station 60 Comox – Catherine Dupuis organization’s integrity that our boats and crews are ready to respond at any time, day or night.

If at any time your station cannot provide coverage you must contact JRCC immediately Has your station taken part in an outstanding and let them know. If your vessel will be out of mission? Would you like the CCGA-P to learn service for a longer period of time you should more about one of your station members? Has notify the CCGA-P SAR/Operations Manager your station purchased a new vessel or engines? at [email protected] and the Regional Supervisor Marine Search and Rescue at RegSupvMarine- If so, why not tell the region about it through [email protected] (in advance if the Compass? We are always looking for interest- possible). ing ideas and photos for future issues and are open to all article, image and idea submissions. Your duty coxswain also should call JRCC when the boat actually is taken out of service and Please contact us at [email protected] to share when it returns to SAR standby. your achievements with the rest of the CCGA-P.

20 final word Message from the vice president

Recently, the CCGA-P had a request from people living We flew in to Bella Bella and were picked up there by in and around Rivers Inlet to look into establishing a the Ocean Falls station in their enclosed cabin RHIB station in that area. Rivers Inlet is a large area situated About Time. We certainly are very grateful to this station on the mainland shore northwest of the top of Van- for providing all the logistical support for us! couver Island, running northeast of Fitzhugh Sound. The central coast of BC gives an appreciation of the This is a very busy area during the summer months difficulties of providing effective SAR capabilities. This as Rivers Inlet, along with Hakai Pass, is a prime recre- is a wild, remote and beautiful part of our coast. I have ational fishing area. There are several seasonal fishing sailed through this area many times and have come to lodges in the area catering to sport fishers from all over love and respect the isolation and sheer beauty of the the world. place. During the last season, there were several incidents Stations like Ocean Falls, Kitimat, Port Simpson, that put sport fishers at risk, and these were fortunately Masset or Kitkatla may respond to only a few incidents resolved by vessels of convenience. This is not the in a year, but it’s important to realize that when they do preferred way to resolve marine incidents, so it makes respond there is no readily available backup. sense to explore the possibility of installing trained The nearest Coast Guard life boat station in this area CCGA-P stations in the area. is at Bella Bella, 28 miles from Ocean Falls and 60 miles Currently the nearest SAR resource is the Coast from mid Rivers Inlet! So when these isolated volunteer Guard station at Bella Bella. stations like Ocean Falls respond to a call, they are re- In order to explore the resources in the inlet CCGA- ally on their own! P Executive Officer Stan Warlow and I went for a visit.

Rivers Inlet

21 final word

From our pickup point at Bella Bella, the Ocean Falls to put into service. crew took us to Dawson’s Landing, a run of over 60 We further decided that, due to the remoteness of the miles. You gotta love those Shockwave seats! Dawson’s area, it would be best to make them a “sub-station” of Landing is a “community” consisting of two people the Ocean Falls station. Ocean Falls is a station with a who run a business supplying fuel, accommodation and very high skill level, familiar with our training standards some groceries. It is built on floating logs with a couple and more than capable of developing and implementing of cabins that have bunks and cooking facilities, a fuel a training program for the Oweekeno group. barge and a small “store”. Just to give you an idea, a Getting a station in such an isolated area up and run- bottle of ketchup here is $18! This was the “halfway” ning will indeed be a challenge for the region, for the point on our trip. Ocean Falls station and for the folks from Oweekeno. The owner of this establishment was born and raised We believe there is a need there and that it is worthy right here. After talking with him a bit, he opted to put of our support – especially with our commitment to his 40’ aluminum workboat into service as an owner/ improving SAR capability in the north. operator vessel with the CCGA-P. There is nothing like Our sincere thanks to Jim Walls and Rick Andrews “local knowledge,” and he certainly has that! of Station 68 Ocean Falls for all their help in this and After overnighting at Dawson’s Landing, we headed for their willingness to help develop Oweekeno into an up to the very end of the inlet, another 15 miles, to effective CCGA-P SAR station. And special thanks to the First Nations community of Oweekeno. Here we Joann Walls for providing great meals and wonderful met with the Chief, several Band Council members and hospitality! other individuals from this small community who have On a completely different topic, we have begun to expressed an interest in establishing a CCGA-P station implement our “Town Hall” meetings, in which mem- to serve the Rivers Inlet area. bers of the board, executive and management are visit- The First Nations village of Oweekeno is situated at ing stations to listen to their concerns and to provide the very top of Rivers Inlet, where the Wannock River information about our future direction. I had the dis- flows out of Owikeno Lake and into the inlet. It is tinct pleasure of beginning this initiative with Station 27 extremely remote and wild country! There is an airstrip, but other than that access is CCGA-P Station 12 Halfmoon Bay only by boat. We were very impressed by the obvious pride the resi- dents had in their community and by their commitment to developing a SAR capable station here. This is a popula- tion, like many of our isolated northern stations, that literally live on the water and have the marine skills already entrenched. I would liken them to our crews in Kitkatla, Port Simpson or Ocean Falls. Photo: Allan Forest We signed up several members and did inspections of the two boats they would like

22 final word

Nanaimo. For me it was a very rewarding experience. I learned a lot about some of their concerns, and I hope The CCGA-P’s Future I passed on a lot about what’s going on at the regional and national levels. Over the next two years the areas I also was honoured to present Paul Mottershead with we most want to focus on and the National Award for Leadership and Bob McCauley with the National Award for Administrative Excellence. develop are: Paul is the past station leader for Station 27 Nanaimo and has been a member for over eight years. He has • Communication been tasked on 172 missions and has devoted more • Member recognition than 1500 hours of his time to his station. He was • Vessel standards instrumental in achieving a two-berth boathouse, and • Funding now has over 600 hours of sea time on the Nanaimo RHIB. On top of that, we asked him to oversee the • Station readiness construction of the new Type 2 vessel and to take on • Branding/naming the job of regional manager of equipment and vessel • Training standards standards. I was proud to honour him with the National • Training centre Award for Leadership. Bob McCauley has, for the past several years, tirelessly vetted all our region’s incident reports – checking for stations and members. As you know, the Compass online accuracy and following up on any missing information. newsletter is another. The board has made communica- He has been poring over about 800 incident reports per tion its #1 priority. It is our goal to ensure the member- year. This is not a “guts and glory” job, but a vital one ship feels informed and connected, and aware of all the for the region! developments taking place within the organization. I will be presenting another National Award for Administrative Excellence to Maurice Cherneff of Sta- Jim Lee tion 29 Ladysmith. He, like Bob, is one of those un- Vice President sung heroes working hard in the background. Maurice has been managing our RHIOT seats – making sure all attendees have all Boat harbour at Lax Kwa’laams the prerequisites done, and carefully organizing things to maximize our involvement with RHIOT training. I look forward to attend- ing more of these Town Hall sessions with other stations. The Town Hall Meet- ings are part of the board’s Spence Photo: Darryl initiative to improve communication between the board, management team,