THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270151
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 205 lines
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a routine search-and-rescue demonstration, an exercise the Coast Guard had done dozens of times. A drill boat was set afire 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. With him was William C. ``Sonny'' DeWalt, an auxiliary member from Smithfield's Flotilla 59.
They noticed the fire seemed to be a little bit bigger than it should have been. Then they 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,'' Nourie said.
So the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat headed straight for the burning vessel and, bow pushing against the side of the flaming boat, kept it back so lifelines could be thrown to both swimmers.
The one fighting the current was in the most danger.
``You never saw somebody come out of the water so fast in all your life,'' Nourie said. ``He was a motivated swimmer, let's put it that way.''
That dramatic rescue, four years ago, was just one of the duties Nourie, DeWalt and other members of the Coast Guard's unpaid volunteer fleet perform.
Nourie's wife, Peg, is public affairs officer for the auxiliary's Division V. Between the couple, they average 3,000 hours of volunteer work a year.
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,'' Scurria said.
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,'' Scurria said, ``of a program that flat wouldn't exist, I don't think.''
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 an 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 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, watching for any items that might fly off one of the racing sailboats.
Earlier that week on another patrol, Campen had helped to pull out almost 300 pounds of debris from the water. Tugs churn up everything from tires to tree trunks from the bottom, 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 race day, 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 auxiliary. Portsmouth has two of them.
In 1994, the 290-member group helped save four lives, and they assisted 149 distressed boaters and saved an estimated $742,000 in property.
They also taught 1,377 students and 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,'' Randy McKenzie said. ``The causes that they work for free are outstanding, particularly in boating safety. 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 fell overboard.
``So in a way, that Panda Award saved that little boy's life,'' Randy McKenzie said. ``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, 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 recently, 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 it does 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,'' Alder said.
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.
``They have to have some skill that we're looking for,'' Alder said.
``We've got a number of pilots. We fly Coast Guard missions with aircraft. We use ham radio operators and . . . 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 some areas of the Great Lakes, Coast Guard stations are actually being closed down and turned over to the auxiliary,'' Alder said.
``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.'' MEMO: FOR FLOTILLA 56, IT'S ALL JUST TEAMWORK
THE COAST GUARD Auxiliary draws volunteers from all over the area,
including Flotilla 56, the Suffolk/-Franklin unit, and 59 in
Smithfield.
Jesse R. Evans has worked as a volunteer for 21 years. He retired
from his job as a washer operator at Union Camp Corp. to help people.
``I thought I could save somebody's life and do something for the
betterment of the community,'' said Evans, a 45-year Suffolk native.
Another member of the flotilla, Isiah Glover, is one of the few black
volunteers, said Retired Navy Capt. Jack Nourie. Glover, a Suffolk
resident, is now hospitalized with emphysema, Nourie said.
``The flotilla is about 95 percent white,'' he said. ``He is one of
our few black volunteers, and he's done outstanding work.''
Other volunteers like Howard Kangas got involved because he and his
wife are avid boaters and wanted to learn more about boating safety.
Kangas, who has been a member of Portsmouth Flotilla 51 for five
years, said that as more people participate in recreational boating,
regulations will become tougher.
And Coast Guard officials are urging area residents to attend a
boating and safety course Sept. 7 at Lakeland High School. The course
costs $15 and will run twice weekly for 14 sessions. For more
information, contact Flotilla 56 director Julian Johnson at 562-0892.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
SHEPHERDS ON THE SEA
[Color] Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
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 recent Cock Island Race.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Ben Wainwright, skipper of the Lisa Ann, patrols a ``no-wake'' zone
in the Elizabeth River.
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, right, a division captain,
often puts in six or seven volunteer hours at night after work.
ON THE COVER
A Coast Guard Auxiliary boat, owned by Smithfield Flotilla 59 member
``Sonny'' DeWalt, patrols the Elizabeth River during the Cock Island
Race.
by CNB