THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507190169
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 187 lines
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a routine search-and-rescue demonstration, an exercise the Coast Guard had done dozens of times before.
A drill boat was to be set on fire so another could practice dousing the flames.
Retired Navy Capt. John E. ``Jack'' Nourie was watching from the Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel that towed the drill boat to the mouth of Craney Island Creek.
He noticed the fire seemed to be a little bit bigger than it should have been. Then he saw the two Coast Guardsmen dive from the burning boat into the water.
One soon found himself in serious trouble.
``Every time he went to swim, the (burning) boat would come down on top of him because the current was so strong,'' said Nourie of the incident that occurred four years ago.
So the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat headed straight for the burning vessel and pushed its bow against the side of the burning one. Lifelines were then thrown to both swimmers.
``You never saw somebody come out of the water so fast in all your life,'' said Nourie of the swimmer who was unable to fight the current. ``He was a motivated swimmer, let's put it that way.''
That dramatic rescue was just one of the duties Nourie and other members of the Coast Guard's unpaid volunteer fleet perform to boost safety on the waters.
Nourie's wife, Peg, is public affairs officer for the auxiliary's Division V. Between the couple, they average 3,000 hours annually of volunteer work.
They and other members focus on protecting the lives and property of recreational boaters. They do this through public education, courtesy marine examinations and emergency assistance.
``The Coast Guard Auxiliary is critically important to the Coast Guard,'' said Capt. Norman V. Scurria Jr., chief of staff of the Fifth Coast Guard District.
The auxiliary acts as a ``force multiplier,'' allowing the Coast Guard to cover a greater territory.
Members receive valuable training in seamanship and related skills, but the only financial assistance they receive is reimbursement for the fuel they use while on patrol.
``Most of the recreational boating and commercial boating public don't have any clue how much less they'd have at their disposal were it not for the Coast Guard Auxiliary,'' said Scurria.
``Or how much more they might have to pay as a taxpayer to get the same service,'' he added.
Without the auxiliary, for example, it is unlikely that taxpayers would authorize the Coast Guard to provide free boating safety classes to recreational boaters.
``That would be an excellent example of a program that flat wouldn't exist, I don't think,'' said Scurria.
On a recent weekend, three members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary boarded the Lisa Ann, a 36-foot cabin cruiser on which auxiliary member Chris Salanga lives, to patrol the waters of the Elizabeth River during the Cock Island Race.
The auxiliary members kept a watchful eye on motorboats, as dozens of sails took off like cloud puffs flying down the river.
Their main concern was to keep power boaters out of the race course and to slow them down in the ``no wake'' zone between the Portsmouth and Norfolk water-fronts.
All three were dressed in official Coast Guard uniforms - light blue shirts with insignia and dark blue pants. They wore bright orange life jackets bearing whistles, flares and other emergency supplies.
Ben Wainwright served as the the boat skipper, or coxswain, because of his experience with the auxiliary.
Salanga, who works on yachts, stayed on the flying bridge, piloting the 36-foot Lisa Ann.
Kit Campen, a retired Navy nurse, stayed at the bow of the boat, watching for any items that might fly off of one of the sailboats in the race.
Earlier that week on another patrol, Campen had helped to pull out almost 300 pounds of debris. Tugs churn everything from tires and logs to tree trunks off the water bed, she said.
A baby sea gull that was about to die had been pulled from the water and turned over to a veterinarian.
But on Saturday, except for one sailor's hat, there wasn't much to fish out.
Wainwright had brought along a picnic lunch of salami and bologna sub sandwiches, cookies and soft drinks. Campen threw in a duffel bag of munchies - potato chips, cashews, crackers and apple-filled cakes.
Being out on the water increases the appetite, Campen explained.
It also increases the camaraderie that provides much of the glue for the volunteer effort.
The cities of Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Franklin, Smithfield, Virginia Beach and Norfolk make up the seven flotillas in Division V of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
In 1994, the 290-member group helped save four lives. They assisted 149 distressed boaters and saved $742,000 in property.
They taught 1,377 students. And they conducted 2,289 vessel safety inspections.
A concern for safety, coupled with an affinity for the water, is what keeps their flotillas going.
Randy and Betty McKenzie of Norfolk joined the auxiliary two years ago after buying a new boat. The couple will log this year about 500 hours of water patrols.
``The people that we get to fellowship and associate with are outstanding people,'' said Randy McKenzie.
``The causes that they work for free are outstanding, particularly in boating safety,'' he said. ``And we like being on the water, so that kind of falls into place.''
In one 10-day period recently, Randy McKenzie participated in 11 search-and-rescue missions, along with teaching boating safety and doing marine examinations.
It was during a free boating safety check a year ago that his wife, Betty, helped save the life of a 2-year-old boy.
She was giving out ``Panda Awards'' to boaters wearing life jackets. After giving one to a young child boating with his grandfather, father and brother, the family took off for a day of fun on the water.
Several hours later, the boaters returned to tell the McKenzies that the young boy was so proud of his award, he wouldn't take his life jacket off for anything. And while they were running the boat, he happened to fall overboard.
``So in a way, that Panda Award saved that little boy's life,'' said Randy McKenzie. ``And that's one little fellow who will never take a life jacket off, I'm sure.''
Because auxiliary members are volunteers, it's up to them to decide how much time they would like to devote to the mission. Some are able to give a little more of themselves than others.
``I can come home from an eight- to 10-hour day from work, go out on patrol at night, do another six or seven hours, come home bone-tired and feel great about it,'' said Jack Alder, a medical supplies salesman.
Alder, a Churchland resident, is also a division captain of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
In terms of accidents on the water, Alder said local waterways are relatively safe, especially taking into account the growing number of recreational and commercial boaters in Hampton Roads.
``We've had very, very few major boating accidents this year,'' he said.
But the area has more accidents than it should with the popular jet skis, he said.
Just last week, one person was killed and three were hospitalized in Hampton Roads due to jet ski accidents.
So the auxiliary plans to offer safety courses for jet skiers soon. The goal is to have four or five classes before the end of the year.
The auxiliary also plans to start inspecting such watercraft the same way they do pleasure boats.
``I'd like to get across to the general public that the two things that will save people's lives are a safe boating course. . . and also having their boats inspected by the auxiliary to make sure they have all the safety equipment on there that they need,'' said Alder.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary was created in 1939 for U.S. citizens who were boat owners. Today, boat ownership is encouraged, but not mandatory. There are about 35,000 volunteers nationwide, some as young as 16.
``We've got a number of pilots,'' he said. ``We fly Coast Guard missions with aircraft. We use ham radio operators and radio operators, engineers, a number of different people with skills that would be beneficial.''
In some areas of the country, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is sometimes the only water rescue service available.
``On the Gulf Coast, there's some areas that are basically covered by the auxiliary because the closest Coast Guard station might be 150 to 200 miles away.
``The same goes for certain parts of Texas and California and up and down the Oregon coast.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Gary C. Knapp
A Coast Guary Auxiliary boat patrols the waters of the Elizabeth
River during the Cock Island Race.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Kit Campen, a retired Navy nurse, stands at the bow of a Coast Guard
Auxiliary boat, watching for any items that may have flown off one
of the sailboats in the Cock Island Race.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Ben Wainwright was skipper of Chris Salanga's boat, the Lisa Ann, as
it patrolled the river last weekend. Salanga, who lives on the boat,
was the pilot. Their main concern was to keep power boaters out of
the race course and to slow them down in the ``no wake'' zone
between the Portsmouth and Norfolk water-fronts.
Staff photos by JIM WALKER
Retired Navy Capt. Jack Nourie, left, and his wife, Peg, the
division's public affairs officer, average 3,000 volunteer hours
annually with the auxiliary. Jack Alder, a division captain, often
serves six or seven hours at night after eight to 10-hour days as a
medical supplies salesman.
by CNB