40 years ago

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    Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 4:53pm
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It was 40 years ago that one of the most heroic sea rescue attempts was made.  It was off the South West coast of England, where a small cargo vessel had lost power and was drifting towards the coast in a storm.  When the call came to launch the lifeboat the 8 volunteer crew of the Penlee lifeboat didn't hesitate.  They launched their wooden lifeboat into pitch darkness with 100mph winds (160kmh) and 60 feet breaking waves (18m).  Somehow they found their way to the stricken vessel.  Unable to come alongside in the weather they managed to start getting the crew off by landing the lifeboat on the deck of the ship in the swell, pulling the crew onto the lifeboat before being swept back off the deck on the next wave.  The last message received from the lifeboat was that they had got four crew from the ship on board.  Two other lifeboats tried to get to the incident but were beaten back by the sea.  All 8 lifeboat crew and the 8 crew on the ship, including the captains wife and two step daughters, were all lost.  The lifeboat was smashed to pieces and the cargo ship ended up capsized against the rocks.

This was big news at the time, when I lived in the UK, but as  kid I didn't really appreciate the conditions they went out into.  With a bit of boating experience and having watched the coast in a big swell I now have a tiny idea of what they faced that night.  I'd think twice about going outside in that kind of weather, never mind putting out to sea in it.

I know this didn't happen here in NZ, but it makes me thankful that all around the world there are people -many of them volunteers- who give up their time and sometimes risk their lives to keep everyone at sea safe.

To our Coastguard, the UK's RNLI and rescue services around the world a huge thank you and Merry Christmas.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 8:29pm
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Cool story Kevin and I agree 100% so many people that devote their time to helping others - even in extreme conditions. I know that England has some extreme sea conditions. Huge tidal flows, next stop America sort of thing. Huge ups to those that look after us out there - especially the volunteers
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kandrew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 8:32pm
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Yes I think mankind is lucky to have these people walking among us, prepared to to throw all to the wind to risk their life to save someone they haven’t even met.

What drives them to do it?
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Originally posted by Kandrew Kandrew wrote:

Yes I think mankind is lucky to have these people walking among us, prepared to to throw all to the wind to risk their life to save someone they haven’t even met.

What drives them to do it?

What drives us to do anything? A sense of self worth I guess. If you haven't done anything you're proud of you're wasting your life I suppose. Many people lead humble lives yet they achieve extraordinary things, some simply exist but they may be truly great parents, teachers or leaders and don't realise their own value. 1% of people though are absolute arse holes. Those are the people we should argue with and fight against rather than those we simply disagree with.

Lion Brown philosophy 101 right there from Smudgiekins Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Alan L Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 6:11am
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That Lion Brown philosophy speaks many truths.
Can't wait to see the 201 course.
Alan
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Big -Dave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 8:44am
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Most people get a certain satisfaction knowing they are contributing to their society, community, the sense of belonging, and participating. 
While many of us may not have the inclination to volunteer on a regular basis, we will stop and help anyone in need, without judging if they deserve it or not..i hope we never lose that compassion for our fellow man.

I"d join up as a coastguard volly if I lived somewhere where there was a coastguard...Pay it forward.

Thanks and gratitude to those who spend a lifetime picking up the pieces , you rock.
you can't fix an idiot with duct tape, but it does muffle them for a while...
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 8:53am
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When the local fire siren goes off..
1st thought is .. is family home.
2nd.. the volunteer guys , and ladies, rolling out of bed, or dropping tools at work... and they tend to be just ordinary people, in fact more ordinary than the rest of us... with a commitment to service.
And then are the professional St johns, westpak , police ppl along as well..
Again ordinary ppl except for a commitment to service.
Throw in the surf life savers..The SARs people.

Having a local volunteer fire brigade, with the siren going off at any accident, emergency....
Its a healthy reminder near every day of these people.

And lets not forget those who take the local children out on scout trips, and similar activities...the time, effort and training they do to grow many of our future heros.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote John_Ra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 9:14am
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Story sounded familiar to a movie I watched not so long ago :The Finest Hours" good movie.....

Tragic ending to your tale kevin... a lot of GC doing great things for others... Beer
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Phantom Menace Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 11:21am
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Excellent thread.  There are a lot of people out there doing good things in the community.

When I first read this I debated whether I should reply as earlier in the year I started volunteering with Coastguard Hibiscus but then figured I would share some observations and maybe someone might decide to see if they can do something with their local unit.  (Buckle up – this has turned into a looonnnggg post … )

Observations so far:

  • Safety of the crew and public is at the heart of how things are run
  • If any crew is feeling unsafe / unwell / uncomfortable then they are free to say so and get off the CRV with no questions asked and no stigma etc.
  • All crew (no matter how junior) are encouraged to speak up, ask questions etc. if they see something they are unsure about or think is a risk – this is a big part of the culture
  • I have been round the sea and small boats my whole life and am learning a lot through CG
  • The volunteer commitment can be big but it is also manageable – you have a choice round when you agree to be rostered on etc. The unit is divided into three crews and each crew puts together a roster for a week so I tend to be out one weekend day every third week. (I tend to look at the forecast and if there is one 5 knot variable day and one not so good day then I will volunteer for the not so good day and go out in my own boat on the 5 knot variable … )
  • Round the Hauraki Gulf there is always one CG Unit that is “duty boat” for each day and will be the one paged first if a tasking comes up during the day (week days and weekends). We have a crew booked for those duty days.
  • If it is not your “duty day” then the roster period is from 6pm to 6am i.e. over night
  • Weekend roster periods are 6am to 6am – the early morning and overnight parts of that are on pager.
  • Each weekend the most of the CRVs round the gulf will be out from lunchtime until about 5pm doing some form of training but the crews are ready to respond to pager earlier / later.
  • Some days are easy with no callouts and the opportunity to train then home by about 5:30pm
  • One of the longest days I have had started with: 
    • Pager going off at 10am so get to Gulf Harbour quickly
    • Head out to Tiri to tow a trailer boat back to Gulf Harbour
    • Down to the mussel farms in the Firth of Thames looking for another boat with mechanical problems (messy seas and 25 knot winds so this was a bit of a bumpy trip). These guys had given their Lat/Long based on google maps and were several miles away over by Ponui Island, so it took a bit of time to find them and tow them back to Maraetai
    • Off to the Noises to tow a virtually new Rayglass (20 hours on his motor) to Half Moon Bay (this guy was out with his sons. He got the skippers address and sent us some beer later – which was a surprise).  They said they had seen us heading down to the mussel farms earlier so they had some idea what where we had been.
    • Just after we had connected the tow line to the Rayglass there was a Mayday from a Bayliner launch with an engine fire near the entrance to the Tamaki River.  Luckily we didn’t need to drop the tow as the police launch Deodar went to help the launch and they ended up towing them to HMB
    • As soon as we had dropped the Rayglass at the HMB ramp we were tasked to take the Bayliner up to the Tamaki Marine Park.  (We were about 10 metres from them when we finished with the Rayglass). By this time it was dark so we had a long 5 knot barge up the river in the dark
    • Finished with the slow 5 knot trip out of the Tamaki River then 30+ knots back to Gulf Harbour and fuel up, clean up etc. (over 500+ litres petrol used that day).
    • Home at 1am

The CRVs are good boats with some good equipment e.g. Hibiscus Rescue 1 (HIB1), sitting on an airberth in Gulf Harbour is a 9.5m Naiad with twin 300hp Yamahas and helm master fitted, Raymarine electronics, Radar, FLIR, etc. that cruises at 30 knots (max speed is about 45 knots). HIB2 is a 7.5m Sealegs with a 200hp Yamaha and equivalent electronics (kept in the shed at Stanmore Bay).  I've been out on HIB1 in some pretty snotty conditions and the vessel has handled it very well - to be honest the limiting factor with HIB1 is the people on board rather than the vessels capabilities.

Overall it’s been a good learning experience so far coupled with some fun at times and a sense of “doing something for others”.



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 12:32pm
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I know a few of our local coastGuard guys, they do some amazing work alright. Good on you Phatom
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 1:27pm
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For many years, my mum (whose parents were English) used to save stamps and once she has a few bags would send them over to the UK Lifeboat trust for some kind of fund raising.
They are legends over there - in some brutal seas.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Phantom Menace Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 1:41pm
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^^^ Agreed!  The Hauraki Gulf is tame in comparison.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Legacy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 2:03pm
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The eight lifeboat men who lost their lives .
RIP
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Alan L Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 2:08pm
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A hair raising story and the poor guys must have been crapping themselves, and still persisted.
You would just hope you never have to ask for people to do something similar.
Alan
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