Average year so far for marine unit
After a record-setting 46 calls last season, the Port Colborne Marine Auxiliary Rescue unit is having an average year, says its commander.
Norm Dashwood says the all-volunteer unit has responded to 29 calls so far this year on Lake Erie.
The 29th came Sunday when the unit responded to a vessel in distress off of Fort Erie. Boaters in the area assisted those on the vessel before POCOMAR arrived on scene.
“We might be on the lower end of average, but there are still several weeks to go in the season.”
He says there is no particular reason the unit — it has two vessels based at Sugarloaf Harbour Marina in Port Colborne — can point to for last year’s higher call volume.
POCOMAR has consistently and historically been the busiest Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary unit in the Central and Arctic Region, Dashwood says. The region covers Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
“We see a range of things when it comes to vessels on Lake Erie. We deal with people who have run out of gas, had some sort of mechanical breakdown, run aground and damaged their prop or put a hole in their boat.”
Lake Erie, says Dashwood, is a rocky lake and people need to be cautious, especially when the waves start to pick up.
“The lake can grow from flat to eight feet in about 30 minutes … it can do a lot of damage in just a short period of time,” he says, adding the unit treats every situation, whether in calm or bad weather, as a potentially disastrous.
As a boater himself, Dashwood believes it’s imperative people check the weather before they head out on Lake Erie, or any lake for that matter. There are weather stations and buoys that can provide historical and up-to-date information on water and wind conditions.
Having the proper charts, whether paper or electronic, for the lake a vessel is on is also something he strongly recommends.
“They can prevent someone from getting into a place they shouldn’t be with their boats,” he says, adding there are boating courses people can take from the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons.
He says this time of year a lot of boaters at the marina are starting to pull their boats out of the water for the season to get winterized.
With fewer vessels on the water, it means there are fewer boaters to be able to respond to emergency calls as vessels of opportunity. When the Canadian Coast Guard sends out a Marine Assistance Request Broadcast, or mayday call, it will often request any vessels in the area to provide help if possible.
“We’re still on the water until at least the middle of November, and (Niagara Regional) police may be out there,” Dashwood says.
He says one of the challenges facing the unit during any rescue calls in the fall is cold water.
“The water temperature starts to drop rapidly and if something goes wrong on the water, we may be dealing with people with hypothermia.”
In the off-season, the 40 members of the unit will be found training in the classroom at their headquarters at the marina. Things such as chart work and navigation are taught.
Once back on the water, crews are out four nights a week, and on weekends, honing what they’ve learned in class, putting it to practical use as each coxswain sets up various scenarios the crews may face on rescue calls. Each member of the crew learns every aspect so they can take over any duty required on the water.
“We do it so things are second nature to our members when they are on the water,” Dashwood says of the constant training.
To become a POCOMAR member, he says, a person requires at least a Pleasure Craft Operator Card so they have at least a basic understanding of how to operate a vessel.
Once a person is in, they’ll be given first aid training and will be taught how to operate a marine radio and obtain a licence to use it so they can communicate with the Canadian Coast Guard and emergency services on the water.
“We get into phase training from the Coast Guard Auxiliary. It provides a training curriculum for us that equates to basic and advanced rescue courses. Once those are complete, our volunteers are in a really good position to assist anyone on the water.”
Dashwood says the unit relies on fundraising to keep operating throughout the year.
POCOMAR has an elimination draw Saturday, Oct. 7, at Croatian National Home on Broadway Avenue in Welland. There’s $8,500 in prizes to be won and tickets are $100 each. For tickets, contact pr@pocomar.org.
For information on how to become a POCOMAR member, contact info@pocomar.org or send a message via its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ POCOMAR.