Thank you Tina, yes I am the Commodore for the North Coast Sailing
Association. I am engaged in other business on this date, otherwise I
would be pleased to attend council. My thoughts and those of our membership
have been sent to the Commissioner of the Coast Guard and to Min. Shea as
well as our MLA's regarding this matter. The contents of these letters
touched mainly on the safety factors raised by utilizing smaller craft,
for SAR, but also on the economic impact to Prince Rupert because of the
reduction of crew and base members. As you well know, the number of
foreign vessels entering our port are increasing. With the Hecate Strait
being on our doorstep, with its infamous weather, waves and wind, we need
a vessel at least the size of the Point Henry, if not bigger! We also need
it home-based in Prince Rupert Harbour, not somewhere down in Central
Coast or Southern BC. I shudder to think what these 44 footers that they
are insisting on replacing the Point Henry with, will have to face on
their SAR duties! We have a large amount of fishing boats, not only based
in Prince Rupert, but also transiting our waters. Usually there are at
least five crewmembers on board. Let us take a scenario where one of these
fishing boats sinks, five crew are in the water, some injured and all with
hypothermia. Where, I ask you, where aboard, are these 44 footers going to
take care of these people? God spare us another ferry disaster! Many of
the foreign vessels transiting our waters have untrained, or new crew. In
a large storm, some of these crew are hurt by falls to the deck or tossed
against a bulkhead. If the weather precludes a helicopter assisting, these
44 footers will have a heck of a time, not only getting alongside one of
these freighters, but also caring properly for the injured member on the
return to Prince Rupert. Will these 44 footers have room for two injured
crew? I think not! On our sailing excursions, we tend to group up for
protection. We trust the SAR crew members explicitly, the governing body,
not at all! The Coast Guard brass have tried and are still trying to
undermine our safety by first trying to de -staff our lighthouses, taking
away the only helicopter with winch capability and now trying to give us
harbour lifeboats to go out into Hecate Strait with! The nearest SAR
helicopters are in Comox and in Ketchikan, hours away! In a storm last
month, the lighthouse at Triple Island was hit by wind and waves that took
out a "hurricane-proof" 40 lb window in one of the bedrooms and imbedded
it in the wall above one of the beds! These windows are 55 feet above the
water at high tide! This happens almost each winter. Luckily, no one was
hurt, but imagine this little 44 footer trying to do its SAR duties in
those conditions! I own a 40 foot boat, it is not a lifeboat, but a very
seaworthy craft, when the waves get above 14 foot in the Hecate Strait, I
am heading for the next harbour, SAR haven't got that choice! I understand
that there are perhaps 150 footers in the works, to come out to our coast
in the nebulous future (being built in the East, far away from our
Vancouver shipyards) wouldn't it be nice if one of the first ones were to
be stationed in Prince Rupert? I believe the cruise ship industry that
sends many vessels up our coast would also appreciate it, to say nothing
of the travelling public and our own recreational, sport and commercial
fishermen. I hope you might read this letter to council, time permitting,
and am happy that they are pursuing this matter. Any assistance that I can
give you will be forthcoming. Sincerely, Dave Anderson, Commodore North
Coast Sailing Association.
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