COAST
GUARD CLUB NEWSLETTER
April
2ØØ1
WHO RECEIVES THIS NEWSLETTER? Members who have an upcoming
birthday, each potential Coast Guard Club recruit, & any
Coastie I write to. Dick Anderson, KE7A, also posts a copy of this Newsletter on
his Web page at http://home1.gte.net/ke7a/index.htm. If you can receive
e-mail files, are a member of the Coast Guard Club, & would
like a copy of this Newsletter each month, please advise.
E-MAIL: My address is ad4pt@juno.com & ad4pt@arrl.net. If
you have e-mail service, please let me know & I will add you to Appendix E
of the call book. Additionally, Dick Anderson, ke7a@gte.net,
& I need to know when you obtain or cancel e-mail, change providers or
addresses & would appreciate it if you would please keep us updated.
SAR SITREPS: CGAS Atlantic City received a report from the FV Cape
May requesting a medevac for a crewmember suffering from seizures. The man
was safely hoisted & taken to Jersey Shore Medical Centre for treatment.
A 47-ft. boat from CG Station Ft Macon medevaced a German woman from the
sailing vessel Thor Heyerdahl after the vessel rolled, causing her to
possibly fracture her ribs.
CGAS Atlantic City medevaced an unconscious man with a gunshot
wound from the FV Heather Anne off Manasquan Inlet. The man allegedly was
shot by another man aboard the FV Baby Doll after an exchange of gun
shots between the vessels. Also launched were CGC POINT HIGHLAND from CG Station Barnegat Light & a New
Jersey Police boat carrying a CG law enforcement team. Baby Doll was
taken to CG Station Shark River & Heather Anne went to station
Manasquan Inlet to begin the investigation.
CGC STORIS
terminated a commercial processor’s voyage for extremely hazardous conditions
near St George Island in the Bering Sea. During a routine boarding the boarding
team members noted lifesaving equipment aboard the processor Northern Glacier
had expired hydrostatic releases & expired distress signals. The STORIS then escorted the vessel to Dutch Harbor.
Inspectors from the CG Marine Safety Detachment in Unalaska met the boat to
discuss correcting the discrepancies.
CCGD SEVEN SAR: USCG & DEA working for Operations Bahamas Turks
& Caicos, along with U.S. Customs and Joint Inter-agency Task Force-East,
seized 1,6Ø5 pounds of cocaine & three assault weapons after a high-speed
chased ended in the Bahamas. The go-fast made it to North Andros Island where 3
suspects were seen in the water trying to offload large bales; one suspect
remained on board the vessel, proceeding northbound, where the vessel ran
aground. All 4 suspects eluded capture by using nightfall as their cover.
CGC CONFIDENCE returned to Port Canaveral after spending 48
days at sea operating with USCG & DOD ships & aircraft. During the
patrol they saved a sinking Haitian vessel & its crew of 5 in 1Ø-ft. seas.
They also found a Honduran fisherman clinging desperately to his swamped fishing
canoe 45 miles from land.
A CGAS Miami HU-25 Falcon jet, CGC JOSHUA APPLEBY, and MV A.V. Canster combined efforts to
rescue 4 people after they abandoned their sinking fishing vessel Miss Maryln
Louise, about 9 miles E of West Palm Beach.
ACADEMY CADETS: One of the Academy's commissioned instructors & several cadets helped Station New London get speedy medical attention to a woman with a broken ankle. Lt. Greg Hall, a chemistry professor here & several cadets were returning from a regatta , when they overheard a distress call to the Coast Guard. A 57-year-old woman aboard a pleasure boat had fallen & broken her ankle. A quick position fix showed the crew that they were only 1 NM away. After checking with Station New London, they set sail to the injured woman's boat. Hall, a qualified EMT, boarded the vessel with Cadet Paul Schurke. Hall gave the woman first aid, but decided it would be too painful to move her to the Coast Guard small boat, which arrived shortly afterward. He opted instead to remain with her, her husband & Schurke aboard their vessel & head for the hospital at Orient Point, N.Y. The woman was delivered safely to a waiting ambulance.
AIRSTA KODIAK:
The Coast Guard received a report of the downed Piper Cub from the Kenai Flight
Service Station. A Jayhawk helicopter was immediately launched with two aviation
survival technicians qualified as emergency medical technicians. The crew
located the crash site, removed the man & began performing & maintained
CPR throughout the 50-minute flight to the Spruce Cape helicopter pad in Kodiak.
The man was transferred to an ambulance for further transport to Providence
Kodiak Island Medical Centre but died of his injuries that evening.
DECOMMISSIONING: [de George E Vincent, WA5GEV]. POINT ESTERO will be decommissioned soon & transferred
to the Colombian Navy. The 82-ft. WPB was commissioned in December 1963 at the
CG Yard. Meanwhile, the crew will be familiarising themselves with the operations of the
replacement Cutter, the 87-ft. RAZORBILL of
the Predator class, which are built to accommodate mixed crews.
COAST GUARD AT THE MARDI GRAS: [de
George Vincent, WA5GEV]
CGC VENTUROUS, based at St Petersburg,
carried Rex & the King of Zulu to their traditional Lundi Gras meeting at
Woldenberg Park, LA. It is a rite in which the Coast Guard has participated
since the 1980s.
SAR Cats. LT Timothy Grimes, a helicopter
rescue pilot, became the ‘lead man’ of the SAR Cats for the 2nd
year of the Coast Guard’s Carnival Cutter float. The SAR Cats, a 12-member
jazz outfit is unlike other service bands, whose members are full-time military
musicians, the SAR Cats mostly features Coast Guard members who play music
strictly as a sideline. The band has become part of the Coast Guard’s
community outreach programme, a way to ‘give back to the community’ &
share in the local celebrations. It also brings a new element to the Coast
Guard’s Cutter float, used as a recruiting tool from which Coast Guard members
throw trinkets.
SILENT KEY: The April 2ØØ1 edition
of QST magazine reported that John M Vasicak, W9ZEN, is now a Silent Key. A
moment of silence was conducted on the CG SSB Net Saturday, 24 March.
Which college is the Choosiest? The most
selective college, accepting only 9.6% of its applicants, is the USCG Academy!
CGC IRONWOOD:
After 57 years of service, eight homeports & more than a half-million
nautical miles past the propeller, the CGC IRONWOOD retired from military
service. The 180-foot "B" Class (also known as Mesquite Class) buoy
tender was decommissioned during a ceremony at the Northern Lights Recreational
Facility at Integrated Support Command Kodiak, Alaska, 6 October 2ØØØ. The IRONWOOD
was commissioned Oct. 11, 1943, primarily to conduct aids to navigation duties
for the Coast Guard. It was stationed in Boston, San Francisco, Monterey,
Calif., Guam, Honolulu, & Homer, Adak & Kodiak, Alaska. The Cutter
served in World War II, the Korean War & Vietnam War, & was the only U.
S. ship left on active duty awarded the Korean Service Medal. It was the second
oldest commissioned Cutter in service behind the CGC STORIS. It also held
the distinction of being the only 180-foot buoy tender built at the Coast Guard
Yard in Baltimore, Md. The IRONWOOD & its crew departed Kodiak Oct. 7
for San Pedro, Calif., where the ship will await the final paperwork before
being sold to the Nigerian navy for tender work in the country's oil fields.
COAST GUARD CLUB CALL BOOK: It is bound in a spiral binder
& includes the latest changes. As of today the book is 1” thick—186
sheets of paper. If you want a copy of the call book, send a cheque for $15.ØØ
payable to Don Gardner.
COAST GUARD NETS: The Coast Guard Radio Amateur SSB Net is on the air
each Saturday from 12ØØ-13ØØ ET on 143ØØ (14313 alternate). At 13ØØ ET
the Net shifts to 14327 & continues, usually for about 3Ø minutes. Dick
Anderson, KE7A, in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, is the NCS. A CW Net with Fred
Goodwin, K7LF, as NCS, is on 14Ø52/7Ø52 & runs simultaneously.
NEW COAST GUARD BOOK: D R Peterson, our vessel historian, reports his book U.S.
Lighthouse Service Tenders, was released 7 August. This is the first book to
feature all of the lighthouse tenders & auxiliary craft of the USLHS.
9.5”x9.5” hardbound, ISBN 1-885457-12-X, price $39.95 + $5.00 shipping. I
bought the book & recommend it. You may order direct from the Eastwind
Publishing, 4302 Baildon Road, Trappe, MD 21673, fone 41Ø 476 4469, e-mail: eastwind@goeaston.net
or web page www.eastwind.com or www.amazon.com.
COAST GUARD STORIES: Check Out: Jack’s
Joint, http://www.jacksjoint.com/, which has interesting Coast
Guard short stories & scuttlebutt.
I used selected short stories from this site for my version of Coast
Guard Stories. I will print the stories on my printer, put it in a
spiral binder & send you a copy if you will pay $19.95,
which includes the cost of postage also.
QUA? If you have an item of interest to our members, please send
it in. Want to swap, sell, trade gear?
COAST GUARD PRODUCTS:
Shop at the Academy Exchange, www.shopcoastguard.com/acatalog/
CGC ABSECON & CHINCOTEAGUE:
First reunion October 2001 at Norfolk, VA. For info. contact John R Peters, 1831
Volvo Parkway, Chesapeake, VA, fone 757 479 ØØØØ, e-mail: odupeters@aol.com
or Harry S Huggins, 5411 Greenfield DR, Portsmouth, VA 237Ø3, fone 757 484-37ØØ,
e-mail: muss4poppie@cs.com. (Info from EMCM J R Peters)
CGC BIBB: (from The Chief)
The 16th annual reunion of BIBB (W-32-W-9Ø9) will be held
9-12 May 2ØØ1 at the Holiday Inn, New Orleans West Bank, Gretna, LA. For more
details contact James Kelly, USCGC BIBB Assoc., 4Ø Lisa Lane,
Uncasville, CT Ø6382, fone 86Ø 848 116Ø, e-mail: jkelly@uconetct.net.
CGC CASCO: Any former crewmembers who would like to be placed on
a mailing list of shipmates & activities that includes a reunion every
several years, contact: Gordon C Kelly, P O BOX 141, Lyon WI 5314.
CGC DUANE: Next
reunion 13-15 September. Gala banquet Saturday 15th aboard USS Yorktown. Special
rates available if you mention DUANE REUNION. For more information & to
receive the free newsletter & membership information, contact Paul Turner,
USCGC DUANE Assn., HCR2 Box 15A, Summit, NY 12175, e-mail: paultrnr@midtel.net
83 Footers:
Check out www.geocities.com/wweber1212/. A reunion of 83’ WPB sailors
11 August at Ft Worden, Port Townsend, WA. For additional info, e-mail Wink
Weber at Winkhw@aol.com, or fone 5Ø3 848 3276, FAX 5Ø3 848 Ø848. Wink
needs head count NLT 11 June.
Navy Patrol Squadron 18 (VPB-18) annual
reunion will be hosted in Mobile, AL 9-12 October by Warren Locklin, N4RUC.
Interested parties may contact him at 334 479 2961.
USCG LIGHTSHIP SAILORS ASSN: Reunion
4-6 October 2ØØ1 at Port Huron, MI. Contact Jerry Radloff, 1Ø2Ø Woods Lane,
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236-1157, fone 1-313 884 3Ø71, e-mail: gsradloff@yahoo.com.
de K6IRR
USCG CW Operators Assn: The 3d
annual reunion for the CG CW Operators Assn. will be Charleston, SC, from 17 to
21 October. Celebrities MCPO CG Vince Patton & Fred Siegel (Fred’s Place)
will be there. For more info. contact: J J Huffman, POB 55388, North Pole, AK
99705, e-mail: bird63@alaska.net.
USCGC RUSH: CWO John Vogel is planning a
reunion for those who served aboard RUSH during the 197Ø-71 deployment
to Vietnam. If you are interested or know anyone who was aboard during that
period please contact him at e-mail address: irvogel@cybertrails.com
[from COMM ONE, November 2ØØØ.]
255 Foot Cutters: 3d reunion of all 13 from
6-1Ø May 2ØØ1 at the Union Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas. For info write: USCG 255
Reunion Committee, PO Box 33523, Juneau AK 998Ø3, fone 1 9Ø7 789 2579 (note
from GMCS R A Morgan, Ret.)
MEMBERSHIP: There are 466 members in our Club. We are striking
for 5ØØ by the end of 2ØØ1!
de AD4PT