Herald & Lantern 23 December 81

Rubber Boat to the Rescues

Battling 70 knot winds . and seas with *0 ft. swells, the Coast Guard Cutter Alert and it’s unique inflatable rubber raft spent a busy three'days last month while on rdutiife patrol. The Alert received its first call from . a Navy tanker reporting a vessel in distress 300 miles northeast of Cape Fear, N.C. By the . time the cutter arrived the next day, the tanker had lost radar contact with the

vessel.

BUT AT 1:20 p.m. Nov, 12 the Alert sighted the* distressed 38 ft. sailboat Halycon. The Alert’s inflatable life raft, nicknamed "Bubber Ducky," was ' launched. The Hplycon 1 capsized within a few 1 minutes, throwing it’s owner and only occupant, Harry Orminston of Springrteld, Va., into the raging seas. Orminston, uninjured but scared, was rescued two minutes later by the Rubber Ducky crew and brought aboard the Alert only 37 tninutes after the floundering vessel was first sighted. "The entire rescue happened so quickly," commented Cmdr. Armand Chapeau, commanding officer of the Alert. "The

boat capsized and sunk so fast that if you blinked you missed it." LATER THAT day the Alert received another report of a sailboat in distress. The Ourway. a 31 ft. sloop had been enroute to South Carolina from Jamaica when its sails rip- ' ped and it began to take on water. A Coast Guard plane sighted the vessel at 7:06 p.m. after the rain had stopped and the wind and sea had calmed a bit. After traveling 40 miles .•from the site of the Halycon incident, the cutten arrived, on scene at 10 p.m. The Rubber Ducky was launched and the Ourway’s owner, Terry Henry stiH in the cabin frantically bailing water, was persuaded to leave his sailboat. "He didn't want to leave,">said Chief Petty Officer Richard Breredon, so I gave him an ultimatum—either now or

never!"

THE REST of the evening was calm, but at 5:20 the next morning (Nov. 13), the Alert received another distress call and the cutter proceeded to the site of the Mary Murray, whose sails had been blown out by heavy winds. The vessel

■ I

((^bristmos -{Joy

May you celebrate mis special season in me true tradition of love.

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was anchored and found to be riding well, so the cutter only had to "babysit" the craft until the sails were repaired. On the morning of the 14th, the Alert responded to a flare sighting to find the 40 ft. ketch Clloslo floundering. The Rubber Ducky was launched to pick up its four occupants, and the craft taken in tow. THE ALERT’S Rubber Ducky played a major role in each of these rescues. According to Cmdr. Chapeau, ”ln the last year the craft has saved seven lives...there is a good chance these rescues couldn't have been possible without it!" The Rubber Ducky is a 5.4 metbr, 1,000 lbs. inflatable rubber craft with a V-shaped hull.powered by a single 70 hp engine. It sells for about $29,000 and Is designed to replace the older Motor Surf Boat i MSB) which weighs a couple thousand pounds and costs nearly $200,000 more., “THE ALERT is theonly cutter with this type of inflatable rescue craft. We’re the prototype!" remarked Chapeau. "The big advantage of the Rubber Ducky as compared to the MSB is the rubber sides and the V-Shaped hull...there are no problems with contact

NOTICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS

• . ' Dou« PrVlrM«. USCO ‘RUBBER DUCKY’ races to the rescue of Harry Orminston ntinutes after he was thrpwn from his sailboat, which sank within minutes after this/plcture was.taken.

damage and the hull's V-shapO-enables the craft to rideibe swells extremely well,’’ he explained. "Confidence in the Rubber Ducky grows on you,"

commented Chief v

Brlredon, who has piloted the craft several times. "At first I was leary of it, but now after seeing it perform, I have a lot of faith in

it."

"When I see what this craft can do. the lives it has saved...!.can only say that it will play a major role in sea rescue of the future," reflects Chapeau.

IV* ART

Th« »ol» on i(*«m liitod in th« circular ip todoyi popar bapan on Tuctdoy. Thus c*rtoln>Hams may h« sold out. Should this occur, plaasa qp to ouri sarvica desk of »h* front of the store and request a

rainchock. Thank You.

—Warning: Don’t Fuel Around— VILLAS — It may be time to form a posse — mounted on sawhorses, of course. Tree rustlers have been doing their fall work recently in Cape May County Park South, according to Leon Fulghoiti, park director. It is unlawful to Cut down trees anywhere within the boundaries\of the county parks. Security has been tightened throughout the park, Fulginiti warns, and violators will be prosecuted. Nature lovers carrying I be viewed with extreme suspicion. —Ed Harnett

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