NSRI Sea Rescue Winter 2014

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all 20 crew evacuated after fishing vessel sinks

INjured tourist SPEND THE NIGHT AT PORT ALFRED assisted by ONE OF THE LIGHTHOUSES TEENAGER SAVES FAMILY plettenberg bay crew ALONG OUR COAST OF THREE FROM A RIP

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Subscribe to Sea Rescue magazine and stand a chance to win a Canon PowerShot D20.

CONTENTS WINTER 2014 12

See page 4 for more details.

WIN NOW! 24 BULLETIN BOARD

18

30 NO TIME TO LOSE

Port Alfred teenager Jaco Rossouw saves a family of three from a powerful rip current

2 CEO’S LETTER AND READERS’ COMMENTS

16 ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

7 YOUNG HEROINE

From stranded dolphins to trapped whales – our crew will not hesitate to assist

8 IN SAFE HANDS

Plettenberg Bay crew assist an injured tourist and his wife

10 CRITICAL OUTCOME

18 LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER FOR A NIGHT

32 FAMILY MATTERS

Station 22 (Vaal Dam) crew are kept busy on and off the water

20

Enjoy a slice of maritime history on your next seaside excursion

Andrew Aveley headed north to immerse himself in the traditions of the Maasai Mara

12 BACK IN TIME

22 MAYDAY CALL

Starfish crew aided by the Navios bulk carrier and NSRI brings them to shore

34 MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

22

Meet Debbie Smith, the WaterWise Academy’s instructor in Port St Johns

36 MASTERS OF MIMICRY

20 TO DANCE WITH THE MAASAI

Two critically injured anglers are treated and evacuated after a marlin crashes into their boat

Andrew Ingram unearths some fascinating facts about early rescues and rescue methods

28 FOND FAREWELLS

News from the Life boat Circle

10 10-year-old Yoelene Els saves her friend from imminent danger during a family outing

Fundraising drives, events, competitions and station news

Discover a magical species – the frogfish

38 STATION DIRECTORY 40 SALT WATER IN HIS VEINS

36

Station 37 radio controller Kenyon Clegg is happy to have found his place by the sea

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 01

PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW INGRAM

FROM THE HELM

CONTACT US CAPE TOWN: NSRI, 1 Glengariff Road, Three Anchor Bay 8001, PO Box 154, Green Point 8051 Tel: +27 21 434 4011 Fax: +27 21 434 1661 Visit our website at www.searescue.org.za or email us at info@searescue.org.za

FIND US ON

UR SWIMS IN THE CAMPS BAY TIDAL pool in the mornings tell me its winter and it takes more than a cup of coffee to resuscitate my toes afterwards! Waves pounding over the wall, yellow foam everywhere, howling northwester. And then I think about the fishermen and people who are out there making a living on the sea and how uncomfortable and dangerous it must be under these conditions.

Every year we respond to and rescue folk from boats and ships – people who spend their lives on the ocean, like the crewman with a broken arm off a bulk carrier in Table Bay, an engineer with hepatitis taken off a tanker near Port Alfred, the crews of the racing yachts, the crew of a marlin fishing vessel who were seriously injured when the marlin leapt into the boat, a crewman with acute asthma, a crewman with an infectious disease taken off near East London, and those who go aground or sink and need to be rescued.

These stories are an amazing reflection of the complex service we provide under difficult conditions to the more than 12 000 vessels that visit our shores every year. The successful execution of these complicated and difficult rescues is testimony to the diligence, skill and safety-conscious culture of our crews – but there is a growning concern that these rescues and medical evacations from ships would be more appropriately and safely performed by helicopter.

The South African Air Force, always keen to fly in this context, no longer has the capacity for a variety of reasons, and the private-sector helicopter companies aren’t sustainable without guaranteed payment from shipping companies and agents who

THE CREW

SEA RESCUE

THE PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP

WEB www.searescue.org.za

MANAGING EDITOR Wendy Maritz

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

ART DIRECTOR Ryan Manning

ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT

ADVERTISING Jean Ramsay

Meriel Bartlett

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

CELL 082 994 7555

Mark Beare, John Morkel

EMAIL merielb@searescue.org.za

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Susan Newham-Blake

Andrew Ingram

ADDRESS PO Box 15054,

CELL 082 990 5977

Vlaeberg 8018

EMAIL andrewi@searescue.org.za

TEL +27 21 ­424 3517

NSRI SPOKESMAN Craig Lambinon

FAX +27 21 424 3612

CELL 082 380 3800

EMAIL wmaritz@tppsa.co.za

EMAIL lambinon@mweb.co.za

02 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

OFFICE +27 21 434 4011

are constantly cost-conscious and are hesitating to fund helicopter rescues of their crews. Inshore rescues are sometimes effected by local Emergency Medical Services Helicopter progammes, but offshore responses require much more expensive resources and often require two helicopters to fly for safety reasons.

We have requested that the South African Maritime Safety Authority take these issues to the South African Search and Rescue Organisation executive committee and that political and executive structures respond with practical solutions. Our crews are out there selflessly risking their lives and we need support.

If South Africa wants to be a global maritime player then we need to take maritime rescue seriously.

I recently read a document published for comment titled Research, Innovation and Knowledge Management Navigation Chart for the South African Maritime Sector, compiled by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for the South African Maritime Safety Authority and the Department of Science and Technology, and in the entire 63 pages, the only reference to rescue was that we don’t have adequate vessel-towing capacity!

My comments will be that we need to adopt a value system that underlines our commitment to humanity and that people should be the ultimate beneficiaries of any ‘Navigation Chart’ in the maritime sector.

We’re out there (even in this inclement weather), and we thank you all for your support!

DR CLEEVE ROBERTSON, CEO

Produced for the NSRI by The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018.

Copyright: The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2014. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior permission of the editor. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not the NSRI. Offers are available while stocks last.

REPRODUCTION Hirt & Carter PRINTING ABC Press ISBN 1812-0644 Kevin Warren of Station 6 (PE) during the evacuation of the Starfish crew off Navios after the latter vessel heeded a Mayday call.

Photograph: Marcus Oshry, Station 6 (PE)

LETTERS WINNING LETTER

Congratulations to Sandy Morris for writing the winning letter. Your hamper of Slaley Wine is on its way to you.

T

he Morris family and staff of Ferry Point Resort wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to the community of Port St Johns and the various individuals involved in the search and rescue of Nicole de Wit and her two babies who were lost on Mount Sullivan.

We were overwhelmed and so touched by the support and efforts of everyone.

A special thank you to: ›› the Cremorne management and staff for offering a location from which to co-ordinate the search. ›› Craig Smith of Scuba Addicts and his family who rallied diving teams to search and helped with co-ordination. ›› to Rob and Debbie from Offshore Africa who did the same. ›› to Eugene Oosthuizen, chief of traffic, Port St Johns, and his family who were absolutely amazing in the search.

Eugene, you were a rock, determined and absolutely efficient! No resources were spared. I want to shake your hand.

I also want to say that should the Port St Johns municipality realise the need for a search and rescue team, I would vote you in to run it. ›› the NSRI, the Eastern Cape Government Health EMS helicopter, the South African Police’s K9 Search and Rescue Dog Unit. ›› the teenage boys and staff at Ferry

Write to us and WIN! The writer of the winning letter published in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue will win a sumptuous hamper of Slaley wines valued at R750. This hamper can also be ordered from Slaley as a promotional gift or for a special occasion. For more information, call (021) 865 2123, visit www.slaley.co.za or pop by and see us on the corner of the R44 and Kromme Rhee Road outside Stellenbosch.

Send your letters to Sea Rescue magazine, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018. (The winning letter is chosen at the editor’s discretion.)

LOOKING BACK

Point who traversed the mountain from the opposite side and almost got stranded in the dark. Thank you, boys!

I just want to say that prayers were being said from Durban to Cape Town, tears were shed, unimaginable horrors imagined and that the Lord prevailed.

Nicole, Joshua and the babies are safe and reunited.

Sandy Morris, general manager, Ferry Point Resort

After being separated from her husband, Joshua, while hiking up Sullivan Trail, Port St Johns, Nicole de Wit and her two children, Piper (10 months old) and Samuel (3), spent the night of Saturday 5 July in a forested area of the trail. The family was reunited the following day after an extensive all-night search.

We are all safely back in Kimberley. On our trip back home, Nicole and I were just thinking about everything that happened.

What really stood out for us was how everyone pulled together and sacrificed their time and resources to help in the search for my wife and children.

Every aspect of it was critical and helped make things work together. If I had to mention all these aspects I would be typing many pages. You know what you have done, and I really want to thank you all for helping out during what was a very difficult time in my life. Words fail to express the gratitude I have towards God and you all.

Thank you. May God bless you.

Joshua de Wit and family

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 03

Subscribe to Sea Rescue magazine and stand a chance to

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The Canon PowerShot D20 is not just about capturing any moment, it’s about capturing every moment, in all its glorious detail!

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Please post your form to NSRI, PO Box 154, Green Point 8051, or to your nearest regional office, or fax it to (021) 434 1661.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE A tourist suffering from severe motion sickness after a Seal Island trip arrived at Station 8 (Hout Bay) during one of our training sessions. Neither she nor the rest of her party could speak much English.

Her symptoms led us to believe that she was in need of serious medical attention, and that she was possibly having a heart attack. One of our crew members, a recently qualified Metro paramedic, assessed and treated her, and an ambulance was called.

After some time her condition improved and she ended up declining transport to hospital. It turned out she was suffering purely from motion sickness.

The tour guide and the rest of the party had continued with their tour, leaving the

French lady and her husband at the station.

Meanwhile, Gavin Kode had called his wife, Geraldine, who is French, and she promptly shuffled her day around and made her way to the base to act as interpreter.

Geraldine then very kindly transported the French tourists back to their hotel in Strand! I thought that this was extremely kind of her – as you know, Strand is somewhat of a ‘trek’ from Hout Bay. I’m sure that the French tourists were extremely appreciative of the effort that was made to ensure their safe and comfortable return to their hotel in the care of someone they could actually communicate with.

Lyall Pringle

THANKS, GEOFF AND STATION 7!

SPLENDID SHOW

Thank you so much for the support and assistance the NSRI gave at the Merrifield Mile. The event was a great success and well supported. More than 1 000 swimmers entered the three events – the best turnout in its 12-year history – and there were about 4 000 supporters.

The NSRI brand was evident throughout the run-up to the event – on flyers, entry forms and on the programme, as well as on the competitors’ T-shirts.

Thanks again for the outstanding effort; it was much appreciated.

Tracey Mangold, on behalf of the Merrifield Mile organising committee

As the Darling Capensis speakers organiser I am very, very grateful to Bruce Sanderson and Meriel Bartlett for shifting their other engagements around to come and address us.

The members who attended made it quite clear that they also felt that way. It was a splendid show with lots of good news, in particular of course for Yzerfonteiners who go out to sea for whatever reason but also for the rest of us who are simply deeply impressed by the noble work done by the NSRI and its volunteer members.

Louis van Ryneveld

I WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO SEA RESCUE MAGAZINE I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION FOR THE PERSON BELOW Full name:......................................................................................................................................

Postal address:......................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................ Postal code:................................................

Telephone no: (..............).........................................................................................................

Please find enclosed cheque/postal order for R100

Debit my Visa/MasterCard to the amount of R100 Cardholder’s name:.............................................................................................................

Card no Expiry date of card CVV number Cardholder’s telephone no:.........................................................................................

Signature:......................................................................................................................................

Terms and conditions: 1. The draw is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2014. 3. The winner will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winner’s name will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this draw, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

NSRI DIRECTORS CEO: Dr Cleeve Robertson EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS: Meriel Bartlett (Organisational Support), Mark Hughes (Operations), Mark Koning (Finance) GOVERNANCE BOARD: Peter Bacon (Chairman), Ronnie Stein (Vice-Chairman) MEMBERS: Deon Cloete, Viola Manuel, Chris Nissen, Dave Robins, Rob Stirrat, Nontsindiso Tshazi OPERATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS: Dr Cleeve Robertson (CEO), Eddie Noyons (Chairman), Meriel Bartlett (Organisational Support), Mark Hughes (Operations), Mark Koning (Finance), Brad Geyser, Dave Roberts, Mike Elliot, Clive Shamley.

HONORARY LIFE GOVERNORS David Abromowitz, Allan Cramb, Howard Godfrey, Ian Hamilton, Chris Hudson, Brian Hustler, Ian Strachan, Hennie Taljaard.

LETTERS

A JOB WELL DONE!

VOLVO PENTA

You do a wonderful job at sea and a fantastic job with your marketing and communications.

As a basic contributor I’m made to feel special and part of a team. It is these efforts that will grow the team from those who put their lives on the line to those who reach into their pockets.

So thanks for your organisation, communication and commitment.

I salute you.

Stuart Dilworth

WIN ONE OF FIVE FIRST-AID KITS

A first-aid kit is an essential item in your home, as well as to take along on short or long holidays, and when you go out to sea. The Quest First Aid Kit, available from Outdoor Warehouse, is a comprehensive kit that provides clear and simple first-aid instructions on the the rear of each pouch, is water resistant and features a seal once the bag has been opened. The kit includes paramedic-quality scissors and tweezers, and a variety of dressing, bandages, salves, disinfectants and medication to treat wounds, fractures and sprains, burns and shock.

We have five kits worth R460 each to give away. To stand a chance to win one, SMS Sea Rescue First Aid, your name, daytime telephone number and address to 33282 by 30 September 2014.

For more information, visit www. outdoorwarehouse.co.za Terms and conditions: 1. The giveaway is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2014. 3. Winners will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winners’ names will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

INSIGHT FOR DIVERS Please accept my compliments for the outstanding presentation Jacqui McAllister from Station 5 (Durban) delivered at the recent Durban DAN Divers’ Day. I have been involved in arranging speakers for many DAN events in the past, but it truly was a privilege having her present her talk to the divers. The feedback I received to date has only been positive.

She allowed the divers to express doubts, raise questions and participate freely. Her willingness to participate in the DAN Divers’ Day and educate the general dive community will help our efforts to continuously improve the safety of the sport.

Thank you for giving your time. I know it will pay off in a big way.

Morné Christou, DAN SA

WINNERS

Congratulations to the winners of the competitions published in the Autumn 2014 issue. ›› Watching Whales and Dolphins in Southern Africa book giveaway: Frank Kennerley, Sedgefield; Barry du Plessis, Langebaan; Frik van Lingen, Sherwood. ›› Three sets of two Oceanic life jackets: Paul Botha, Ermelo; Erich Hattingh, Parow; Louis Kruger, Grabouw.

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LETTERS

BOOK GIVEAWAY

Mark Hughes, Cleeve Robertson and Gavin Scholz with Bev Richards on Spirit of Dawn. (Note: this picture was taken before they put on their helmets and put to sea.)

TRULY INSPIRING

MY FIRST BOOK OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN

OCEAN LIFE

The latest addition to this popular children’s series features 58 sea creatures and plants most likely to be seen at the shore. Each page features a vivid, full-colour illustration and informative text in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and Zulu. Written by marine biologist Roberta Griffiths and illustrated by Judy Maré. We have three copies to give away. To stand a chance to win one, SMS Sea Rescue Ocean Life, your name, daytime telephone number and address to 33282 by 30 September 2014.

Terms and conditions: 1. The giveaway is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2014. 3. Winners will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winners’ names will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine.

5. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

WIN

On behalf of Bev and myself, a huge word of thanks to you and the crew who hosted us for an absolutely amazing experience on the Spirit of Dawn. The selfless commitment of the crew and the NSRI truly is an inspiration! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be part of this special event.

Gavin Scholz (Spirit of Dawn was funded by the late Rob and Dawn Duncan and is now in service at Station 20, Shelly Beach.)

To view the blessing ceremony, go to www.nsri.org.za/2014/05/blessing-the-spirit-of-dawn/

QUICK RESPONSE MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE Having been part of the team that instigated and monitored the rescue of two fishermen after a marlin launched itself onto their boat, I was amazed at the response time and action by NSRI Durban. I am certain it made the difference on the day. Well done, NSRI.

AGE 1 0 TURN TO P THE D TO REA RY OF O E R SCUE ST HERMEN IS F O THE TW D BY THE INJURE IN MARL

Jack Barth

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We have a mini gas braai (60x40x40cm) worth R3 750 to give away. To stand a chance to win this state-of-the-art spitbraai, SMS Sea Rescue Spitbraai,

your name, daytime telephone number and address to 33282 by 30 September 2014.

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Terms and conditions: 1. The giveaway is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2014. 3. The winner will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winner’s name will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

06 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

STORIES OF BRAVERY

YOUNG

HEROINE Yolandi Engelbrecht, the mother of Yoelene Els, 10, tells how her daughter saved her friend Jessica after she was severely injured by a runaway water scooter

PHOTOGRAPH: SUPPLIED

I

AM SO VERY PROUD OF MY LITTLE ANGEL. She wasn’t only brave in the midst of a terrible situation, she is also a real trooper in the aftermath.

On Saturday 17 May 2014, our family, along with extended family, came together for a braai at the Oewer Club at Hartbeespoort Dam. It was a beautiful sunshiny day and one never would have said that it was deep into autumn and almost winter.

At around 4pm the girls, Jessie and Yoelene, went on the tube being pulled by a little water scooter.

They were frolicking in the water and having a great time. The giggles floated over the water in pure joy and excitement. Little did we know that was about to change drastically and in a way none of us were prepared for.

The driver of the water scooter was thrown off, and to everyone’s shock the kill switch malfunctioned and the motor kept running. The scooter continued in an arc and the girls were advised to jump off the tube. The scooter started circling all three in the water, running over the operator on the first turn but not hitting him with the blades of the propeller. It then continued circling them for what seemed like forever, three or four times, and hit little Jessica on the last turn.

Yoelene explained afterwards how they started swimming for shore after they jumped off the tube.

They found it extremely difficult to move in the large life jackets and did not get far. Yoelene remembers keeping an eye on the scooter and pulling on Jessica as the scooter approached. She tried but wasn’t able to get Jessica out of its way, and Jessie tried to dive

under the scooter but was held up by her life jacket.

Yoelene recalls Jessie’s hand pulling out of hers and then seeing her surface as the scooter came to a standstill. She then saw Jessie’s life jacket mangled up into the propeller. (The life jacket had been torn from her body, and she was no longer able to support herself due to her broken arm.)

Yoelene saw Jessie trying in vain to keep herself up and that her injured arm was flapping loose.

Yoelene cannot remember what happened next or how she got to Jessica. The next thing she had Jessie in her arms and she remembered seeing a movie and knowing to lie back on her life jacket,

The driver of the water scooter was thrown off, and to everyone’s shock the kill switch malfunctioned and the motor kept running. keeping Jessie up on her chest. Yoelene screamed for help. This all happened about 200m from shore.

The girls were rescued from the water by a nearby boat and taken to shore, where family started attending to Jessie’s injuries as we waited for the paramedics to arrive.

Jessica was airlifted from the scene by a Netcare 911 helicopter. Some family members took Yoelene and the other children to the play area and kept them busy and entertained. Yoelene never panicked, cried or demanded attention. She was brave beyond words. SR

Above left: Yoelene will be presented with a Bravery Award for courageous acts, the highest recognition the NSRI gives to a member of the public.

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 07

real-life rescue

IN

safe

For an injured tourist and his wife, the compassion, kindness and efficiency of the Plettenberg Bay crew will be remembered for many years to come. photographs by Stefan Pepler

08 • Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014

hands O

n that Sunday, Klaus Busacker (78) and his wife, Dagmar, who have been spending their holidays in Plett for years, had walked to the point of Robberg and decided to walk around and return along the southern route. Klaus says he realised in retrospect that this had been an error in judgement on his part, since the route was beyond his physical capability.

There was no clear path and physical strength was required to clamber along rocky ledges. Klaus fell and landed on his head, breaking his glasses and a tooth. He also sustained several cuts, bruises and abrasions, and was unable to continue walking after his fall. Dagmar, who does not speak English, yelled in German for assistance.

Fortunately, Stefan and Evelyn Pepler from Knysna had been hiking in the area with their family and came across the couple in distress.

Stefan contacted the NSRI on their behalf as the Busackers were not carrying a cellphone (and even if they had a cellphone, they did not know the NSRI’s emergency phone number).

Stefan wasn’t able to find a sufficient cellphone signal immediately, but soon managed to make the necessary call.

Klaus says the NSRI arrived by boat and attempted to come ashore with a floating stretcher, but the water was apparently too rough in that location, so they chose a different place to dock, slightly further from the scene of the incident.

Klaus recalls that, when the NSRI volunteers reached the couple, they immediately created a warm and calming atmosphere that made

them feel safe. He was placed on a stretcher and the NSRI volunteers carried him over rocky terrain to the shore near their vessel. Klaus was touched by the kindness and consideration the NSRI volunteers displayed.

He had to be strapped onto a floating stretcher in order to be transferred from the land to the boat a short distance offshore, but despite the obvious risk of capsizing in the turbulent waves, he felt safe enough in the NSRI volunteers’ capable hands and they made it safely to the boat. The NSRI volunteers kept talking to him and also administered oxygen. They took him to their base by boat and from there he was transported to Mediclinic Plettenberg Bay. One of the NSRI volunteers had stayed on Robberg with Dagmar and accompanied her on the walk back to their car. In the meantime Klaus was transferred to George to undergo further scans, but no serious injuries were detected. He says he was fortunate to have remained conscious throughout the ordeal.

Klaus expressed his amazement at the level of compassion of the NSRI volunteers. He says he felt truly grateful and was humbled by the invaluable service they provided him in his hour of need. He mentions that, had he known how difficult the route he and his wife had chosen would be, he might not have attempted it.

He also thanked the Peplers for their assistance – Stefan for the practical manner in which he dealt with the emergency, and Evelyn for her kindness and emotional support. SR Reprinted with kind permission from the Knysna-Plett Herald.

Klaus recalls that, when the NSRI volunteers reached the couple, they immediately created a warm and calming atmosphere that made them feel safe.

Photograph series: Station 14 (Plettenberg Bay) crew negotiate their way around the rocky shoreline to find a suitable area to come ashore.

Volunteers Brad Thomas, Jaco Kruger, Mark Rodgers, Nic van der Handel and Wesley Andrews assist the Busackers, dressing Klaus’s wounds and preparing him for evacuation.

Sea Rescue • Winter 2014 • 09

Critical outcome S

aturday 26 April 2014 saw the start of the annual Durban Ski Boat Festival – one of the largest angling events in the world. The Durban crew settled in at the base for the day, on standby for what is usually an uneventful weekend.

Off Umdloti, the atmosphere aboard the 5.5m ski boat Mduduze was equally relaxed. Skipper Marc Gieseler and his three friends Gareth Collingwood, Gary Clowes and Sean Theunissen had their lines in the water. They were bantering about tall fishing tales when Marc’s line pulled tight. The line ran out slowly at first and then rapidly picked up speed.

Whatever he’d hooked it was big – much bigger than the barracuda they were angling for. Shark, maybe?

He knew his 10kg line would never hold. The best he could hope for was to follow it, retrieve some of his line and then cut it free.

Next thing a huge blue marlin flew out of the

water. They’d hooked something big, all right – and it wasn’t a shark but a 100kg marlin. The fish jumped again abeam of the boat, this time looking straight at them as if calculating its next move.

It swam off… Then suddenly it appeared again, only this time it was heading towards the boat at full speed. Marlin can reach speeds in excess of 70km/h. In a split second the marlin was out of the water, through the stainless-steel bow rail, snapping it like a twig. The last thing Marc recalled seeing as it flew past him was its glaring angry eye.

Momentum carried the marlin forward, crashing through the console, taking out another stainlesssteel bar, a Perspex window, as well as the GPS, radio and steering.

Gareth had been standing at the helm and ducked to the side, but not fast enough. The marlin’s bill pierced his mid-left side, breaking some ribs as it

PHOTOGRAPHS: shutterstock, andré fletcher

A day of competitive angling during the annual Ski Boat Festival in Durban turned into a life-and-death situation for two participants.

By Cherelle Leong

10 • Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014

PHOTOGRAPHS: shutterstock, andré fletcher

real-life rescue

exited at his back. Bowled over by the impact, he fell on top of Gary, who had been ducking down behind him. The marlin’s bill pierced Gary’s left shoulder just above the collarbone, skewering him along with Gareth. Pinned against the back gantry and engines, there was nowhere else to go.

The marlin thrashed about, sideways and backwards, eventually releasing Gary. But Gareth was firmly impaled, his flesh being ripped open by the wild movement. Frantic to get back into the water, the marlin then slipped backwards over the side of the boat. Its massive bulk dragged Gareth along like a rag doll. Finally in the water, the marlin pulled free and disappeared, leaving Gareth clinging onto the side of the boat.

Marc grabbed Gareth and hauled him back on

7.3m RIB Megan II with coxswain Lorenzo TavernaTurisan at the helm and Netcare paramedic Avie Lange on board. The 10m Eikos Rescuer II followed with André Fletcher as duty coxswain. It was a 12-mile run up the coast, and conditions were good enough to go at full speed. Every minute mattered.

On board Mduduze, Marc continued to apply pressure to Gareth’s wounds, all the while reassuring his friend that help was on the way. With the rescue boat a mile off, Mduduze was asked to fire a flare, which directed NSRI straight to them.

As the rescuers came alongside the ski boat, Marc stepped back to allow Avie to take over. After an initial assessment Gareth was bandaged, strapped into a spine board and transferred onto Megan II. Gary was also bandaged, given a life jacket and

board. He took off his T-shirt and rolled it up.

Gareth’s wound was massive and gaping. They had to stop the bleeding. He pushed the entire T-shirt inside the wound and applied pressure. It was only then that he looked up to where Gary was sitting.

Thankfully Sean was attending to his shoulder wound. With a smashed console, the radio was useless. Marc spotted a cellphone on the deck and dialled friends he knew were out on the water.

‘We have two critically injured crew; they’ve been speared by a marlin. Call the ski-boat club and NSRI. We need help fast!’

The words seemed surreal. Had this actually just happened? Marc’s next concern was that the boat might be damaged. The back gantry was loose and the steering arm bent from the impact. What if they started taking on water? Starting the engines, they slowly motored towards the nearest ski boat about half a mile away. Once secured alongside, Marc relayed their emergency, repeating his urgent request for medical help.

Within minutes Durban station crew launched the

helped onto the rescue boat.

Casualties secured, the rescue crew sped back to the harbour.

En route Avie managed to secure an IV line for Gareth.

By now the news was out and ski boats in the area pulled in their lines so that the rescue boat had a clear run into the harbour.

At the base the two men were transferred into waiting ambulances. Both underwent emergency surgery, and spent the best part of a week in ICU. Miraculously, even though their wounds were so severe, no vital organs were damaged. They spent a further week in hospital before being discharged.

Marc has been a supporter of NSRI for years and he’s only too grateful for all the assistance rendered. ‘It’s scary being adrift at sea, needing help. It changes everything knowing NSRI are on their way. Thanks to the support of fellow fisherman on other boats, the Ski Boat Club, the NSRI and supporting organisations, we could get Gareth and Gary the medical help they needed.’ SR

‘We have two critically injured crew; they’ve been speared by a marlin.’

Gareth and Gary returned to the Durban base to thank the crew for their lifesaving assistance.

Far left: Gareth Collingwood, Stephen Muller and Richard Gibbs.

Top left: Salim Dadabhay and Gary Clowes.

Top: The marlin smashed the Mduduze’s console and trashed the radio.

Above: NSRI crew evacuate the injured fishermen.

Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014 • 11

Inspired by the story of the dismantling of the Duiker Point rocket station, Andrew Ingram discovers a rich and compelling history of early rescue operations

Above: Able Seaman Gladman is clearly visible on the Maori’s forward mast. He tried to reach his shipmates knowing that rescue was imminent – and drowned in the process.

12 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

I

T WAS IN 1969 WHEN GERRY STAVEREES, who recently retired from NSRI’s Head Office, joined the Harbour Service in Cape Town. The newly qualified master mariner was a ‘reserve mate’ in the service, a youngster waiting for the promotion that would get him on the sea as a tug mate and then a tug master.

In November that year Gerry was sent to evacuate the rocket station at Duiker Point.

‘The harbour authorities felt that it had outlived its purpose, and it was being vandalised,’ explains Gerry. ‘With modern communications and helicopters, they no longer needed it.’

Gerry got a berthing squad and berthing master together, and set off for the Duiker Point rocket station.

High on Karbonkelberg, between Hout Bay and Llandudno, runs a dirt road known locally as the rocket road. Not as well known is the Duiker Point rocket station. Positioned a few hundred metres below the road and well above the rocky shore, this small building housed rescue equipment that had been put there 60 years earlier.

‘The berthing squad members were all men of over 50 who were promoted to a shore job from the tugs,’ says Gerry with a twinkle in his eye. ‘They weren’t as fit as they could be, and clambering down to the rocket station was relatively easy… but getting the anchor, boxes of rockets, ropes, rations, breeches buoy and so on up to the truck was not.’

As the men battled to get all of the gear out, Gerry had a good look at the station. ‘It was a cement blockhouse. The roof was flat and made of concrete, and slightly angled so that rainwater was funnelled off it and into a barrel inside the building.

There were emergency rations like you would find in a life raft… and, I believe, even a bottle of whisky.

But I did not see that,’ laughs Gerry.

For a young man whose passion was the sea, this rescue equipment was fascinating. Gerry decided to find out more about the reason behind it having been placed there…

Just before midnight on Wednesday 4 August 1909 the steam ship Maori rounded the Cape Town breakwater and, giving a few blasts on her foghorn, she turned down the coast. There was a ‘fair sea’

PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF HOUT BAY MUSEUM, DIAS MUSEUM (MOSSEL BAY)

Back in time

PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF HOUT BAY MUSEUM, DIAS MUSEUM (MOSSEL BAY)

HISTORY running, and later Sea Point residents remembered noticing that she was closer in than was the norm. Perhaps they thought this was because of the thick Cape fog that had rolled in and enveloped the ship.

Visibility dropped to a few metres and it started to rain.

The Maori was a typical passenger and cargo vessel of the 1890s. A steel-screw steamer just over 402 feet long and 48 feet wide, she had two decks.

On this trip the SS Maori had no passengers. Her cargo was 2 300 tonnes of railway tracks, explosives, crockery, wine and champagne. People who had seen her taking on bunker coal for the long trip to New Zealand had remarked at how low she was in the water, yet, as soon as she was replenished, shortly after 23h40, Captain George Nichole – her master of five years – started the long journey that lay ahead.

It was just over an hour later that the terrifying shout from the lookout, ‘Rock ahead!’, galvanised those on the bridge into action. Captain Nichole ordered the wheel hard aport. But it was too late. There were three grinding bumps and the large ship slid back into the water as the engines were put full speed astern.

Water rushed into the damaged hull and the Maori began sinking by the bows. The sinking bow acted like an anchor, and her stern swung around towards the shore. The ship’s company was ordered into the boats, and it was assumed that the entire complement had boarded the three lifeboats that left the vessel’s side a short while later. Two of the boats foundered almost at once but the third got clear.

Because of the remote location, news of the loss of the Maori only reached Cape Town by midday on the Thursday. Responsible for rescue was Cape Town’s port captain, who dispatched his tug Manilla to locate the wreck. Perhaps because the Maori was in a bay dangerous to get into, or perhaps because of the huge sea that was now running, the Manilla returned to port and reported that all that was visible of the Maori were her masts. This and the belief that all the crew had boarded the lifeboats led the port captain to assume that there was nobody left on board.

Not long after the Manilla had returned to port, a local fisherman and a contingent of soldiers who had arrived at the wreck were amazed to see the poop deck well above the raging seas with 15 men trapped on it, and one crewman, later reported to be Able Seaman Gladman, clinging to the foremast surrounded by wild seas.

They managed to rig a line to the wreck and, watched by a small group of people who had walked to the wreck, including journalists from the Cape Argus and Cape Times, they managed to save two of the crew – the trimmer O’Brien and the third engineer Middleton.

And then the man on the foremast started to clamber down. According to the Cape Times ‘most of those ashore became frantic in their shouted appeals to the man to refrain from going to what was certain death’. Gladman, however, appeared to have made up his mind and left the cross trees where he’d been perched. The Cape Times report describes what

Top: Attridge attempts to get to shore on the fisherman’s rope but is stuck fast on a knot. He later succumbed to the ocean below.

Above: Note the Schermulys Ship’s Life Throwing Apparatus setup to the lower left of the bottom picture.

The term ‘poop deck’ refers to the partial deck above the ship’s main afterdeck at the stern of the ship. The word ‘poop’ originates from the Latin ‘puppis’, which means ‘stern’.

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 13

Top right: The Duiker Point rocket station, photographed in 2010.

(The storage facility that housed the rockets is now the renowned Mitchell’s Brewery at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.)

followed: ‘He slipped down the mast. The silence was intense. He reached the water; a tremendous breaker broke over him and he was lost to sight.

A second passed – then his head appeared above the water and his arms followed. “He’s swimming,” shouted a watcher. Gladman could just be descried, dashed hither and thither by the seas, which seemed to gather force in their cruel attempt to drag him down. He made no headway and in the turmoil of the waters the exhausted man was powerless.

Absolutely nothing could be done to save him. The onlookers had simply to watch a grim struggle with death. Another great roller broke about the foremast, and again he disappeared. One minute passed; two

George Manby of Norfolk and Henry Trengrouse of Cornwall had

invented rocket shooting mechanisms in 1808. Trengrouse’s apparatus, like that of Manby, was designed to effect rescue by line and hawser, the crew to be brought ashore in a set of breeches attached to a buoy (known as a breeches buoy) rather than in a cradle. The rocket was fired from an ordinary musket that had a section of cylinder fixed to the bayonet joint.

John Dennett came up with another design and put his rockets on trial before a government committee in January 1826. The committee’s verdict was that ‘the rockets would answer every purpose for which they were designed and that they were preferable to every other apparatus seen by the committee’. As a consequence, three sets were ordered by the Royal National Institution for Saving Life from Shipwreck (the forerunner of the RNLI).

It was in 1897 that Willam Schermuly invented the Schermulys Ship’s Life Throwing Apparatus and a unique faking method of storing the cable to prevent the line from picking up bights (loops) and breaking on discharge. This device was first used in Cape Town at the wreck of the Maori; the last time was on the Cape Coast after it failed to get a line to the SA Seafarer when it ran aground off Mouille Point on 1 July 1966. Helicopters then became accepted as the preferred rescue platform.

14 • Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014

Photographs: www.geochacing.com, andrew ingram

Above: Captain Gerry Staverees with a breeches buoy at the Chavonnes Battery Museum in Cape Town.

minutes and those ashore realised that he was gone.’

‘A second terrible occurrence was then witnessed by those ashore when a man named Attridge, a greaser aboard the Maori, attempted to reach the shore by the fishermen’s rope. In the middle of this rope there was a big knot, at which he stuck fast, and could move no further. He remained hanging in his critical position, exposed to the full force of the seas, for some considerable time, disappearing beneath the water, at times for half a minute at a stretch. A second rope was thrown to him and, seizing this, he jumped into the sea. The men on the shore hauled on the line, but the strain was too great for Attridge. When only inches separated him from those on the rocks, a huge wave dashed him against the rocks and then dragged the semiconscious man out to sea, where he drowned.’

On the Friday, almost 30 hours after the disaster, the port captain, hearing of the survivors, dispatched his ‘rocket brigade’. Consisting of volunteers from the South African Railways and Harbours workforce, the members of the rocket brigade were on standby for just such a disaster, but to get their heavy equipment to this wreck in the remote bay took some time.

It was late afternoon when a rocket apparatus was set up on the rocks near to the wreck and, after a failed first attempt, the second line was successfully shot over to the wreck and secured.

Food was sent across to the starving men but it wasn’t possible to attempt to haul them to safety in the breeches buoy until after darkness had fallen.

Just after seven o’clock the following morning, there were celebrations when word reached Hout Bay that the 12 remaining crew had been rescued successfully by the rocket brigade. And on the Saturday, three days after the wreck, the Cape Times and Cape Argus could tell their readers about the amazing hours before the rescue.

It was after this harrowing rescue that the Cape Town port captain decided to build a rocket station on one of the Cape’s most notorious stretches of coast. And here, 60 years later, after the NSRI had been formed and helicopters became the way to rescue shipwrecked sailors, Gerry Staverees found himself facing history. SR

Clockwise from bottom: NSRI Mykonos crew assist HOW Wildlife Rescue with the rescue of a dolphin and her calf in Langebaan lagoon.

O NSRI has been called out to several marine animal rescues this year and, as always, we are more than ready to assist. By Cherelle Leong

UT AT SEA IT’S A THRILL TO SEE dolphins swimming free and whales breaching. But it’s something completely different when these magnificent animals get into difficulty. Fortunately there are volunteers who are willing to help these marine mammals if they become stranded or caught in confined spaces. In recent months several NSRI stations around the country have been called in by the Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coasts (DEA) and other wildlife organisations to assist marine mammals in distress. And, as usual, these rescues have touched the lives of everyone involved. These are a few of the stories: When kitesurfers in Langebaan spotted two dolphins, a mother and her calf, in shallow water on 10 March 2014, they called for assistance.

The tide was receding fast and the dolphins would soon become stranded. The Heald Organisation for Wildlife (HOW), a local wildlife rescue organisation, asked NSRI Station 4 (Mykonos) to help.

Station commander Gerard

All

Brune launched the 9m Spirit of Freemasonry and met up with the land-based team monitoring the dolphins. First the mother and then the calf were gently strapped onto spine boards. Wet towels were used to keep them calm and hydrated. Crew members then carried the dolphins to the rescue vessel. At first the calf seemed distressed and called out for its mother. But when the two were placed side by side, the little one relaxed. Out at Jutten Island the two dolphins were released into the open water. The mother swam away first and the calf followed, and they resurfaced together a few times.

CREATURES

great small AND

16 • Sea ReScue • WINTER 2014

ANIMAL RESCUES

Left: Stompneus Bay – Mykonos crew place strops around a stranded whale shark’s fins, and lead it out to deeper water where it is gently pulled further out by the rescue runner.

main photograph: shutterstock, supplied

Above: Port Elizabeth crew place two stranded pygmy killer whales on board Spirit of Toft before releasing them five nautical miles out to sea.

A month later NSRI Mykonos was called out again, this time to assist with a juvenile whale shark stranded near St Helena Bay. On arrival, they found the animal weak and distressed. Attempts by swimmers to coax it out of the harbour had proved futile. Under the direction of volunteers from HOW Wildlife Rescue, NSRI crew placed strops around the whale shark’s pectoral fins. The strops were attached to their rescue runner, which gently towed the whale shark out of the harbour. There it appeared to respond more positively – in cleaner, deeper water it had a better chance of survival, at least.

In two other operations: Station 6 (PE) crew assisted two pygmy killer whales that had been stranded on 25 January 2014. The whales were carefully placed on board the 10m Spirit of Toft and then released five nautical miles out to sea near Cape Recife, where they swam free. When a juvenile whale beached near Shelly Beach, Station 20 was called out to assist KZN Emvelo Wildlife and Police Search and Rescue. When they weren’t able to coax the whale out to sea, it was moved onto Station 20’s 7.3m Caltex Endeavour. The rescue craft proceeded out to Protea Banks, where the whale was released and it swam away.

Using a 7.3m or 10m vessel to help release marine

mammals may seem impressive. But it’s nothing compared to moving a 590-foot ship weighing 24 300 tonnes. On the evening of 28 October 2013, a juvenile humpback whale managed to wedge itself in between the MV Explorer, the large quayside rubber tires and the quay in Table Bay Harbour.

Unable to manoeuvre, it called out in distress.

Earlier efforts by the DEA to coax the whale away from the quayside had failed. If only the ship could be moved to create space for the whale to swim free. Eventually, through lengthy negotiations with the ship’s captain and the ports authority, two tugs were tasked to do so. Slowly the MV Explorer was pulled away and Station 3’s 5.5m Rotary Endeavour and a police diving vessel moved in to help the whale out of the widening gap.

But, disoriented and distressed, the whale wouldn’t budge. Police diver Douglas Jones volunteered to get into the water to try push the whale away from the quayside and orientate it towards open water. Amazingly, the whale responded and was steered into the harbour basin by the NSRI (with a DEA representative) and police vessels. But it was confused by the commotion, and no sooner was it out than it tried to swim back to the quayside. The rescue team then noticed that the whale seemed to attach itself to the starboard quarter of one of the tugs and realised it was possibly mistaking the tug’s black fender for its mother. So the tug master was asked to slowly steam out of the harbour. The whale followed, all the time maintaining contact. Once out in the bay, the tug sped up and turned, leaving the whale alone.

It was then seen swimming off into the night.

It’s these goodbyes out at sea that are the most rewarding. For the volunteers involved, no ‘thank you’ is needed. Seeing these creatures swimming wild and free again is reward enough. SR

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) is responsible for cetacean management in South Africa, and oversees, co-ordinates and manages marine animal rescues. The Department founded the South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN), an organisation responsible for disentangling whales from fishing gear. Sea Rescue assists with both networks, providing support in the form of rescue vessels and experienced crew to help in the operations. According to Mike Meyer of the DEA, the partnership is mutually beneficial and helps improve the success rate of many of the rescues. Mike Meyer can be contacted on 082 578 7617.

Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014 • 17

Enjoy a little history on your next seaside excursion and visit one of the many working lighthouses dotted along our coastline STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY CATHERINE HOFMEYR

Lighthouse keeper FOR A NIGHT OR TWO

CAPE COLUMBINE, WEST COAST One of the more notorious shipwrecks on the Cape West Coast was that of the Portuguese mail steamer Lisboa (1910). The story goes that she was carrying a substantial cargo of port, and the sea around the foundering ship turned crimson as she was going down.

A few fortunate locals even found intact barrels of port that washed ashore.

After the wreck of the Columbine in 1936, a namesake lighthouse with top optics, a fog signal and a radio beacon was built on a rocky outcrop near the fishing hamlet of Paternoster. For many years it

18 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

had the brightest light anywhere on the South African coastline.

Cape Columbine still has a full-time keeper but he’s happy to have company in two adjacent cottages. Lighthousing aside, the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve is a wild-flower haven in spring, and the nearby cove Tietiesbaai and its camp site are a favourite of crayfish divers in season.

DANGER POINT, CAPE SOUTH COAST Danger Point, near the village of Gansbaai on the Cape South Coast, has more than earned its epithet. It was here that the HMS Birkenhead struck an uncharted rock in 1852 and sank, taking more than 440 passengers down with it. This treacherous stretch of coastline claimed at least seven other ships before the Danger Point lighthouse was built in 1895.

Casting its light beyond Dyer Island, the lighthouse was a boon for shipping but not popular with early keepers as the weather was nasty and Gansbaai held little attraction for off-duty hours. Today the village is a centre for white-shark cage diving. But book into the guest cottage and see for yourself whether times have changed. And if rumour is to be believed you might even spot the ghost ship Flying Dutchman passing in the fog.

Top left: The lighthouse at Cape Columbine Nature Reserve on the West Coast.

Above: Cape St Blaise has historical significance dating back to Bartolomeu Dias.

Above right: Agulhas lighthouse is the second oldest in the country and houses a shipwreck museum.

CAPE COLUMBINE IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

N

AVIGATING THE SOUTHERN African coast was a deadly pursuit for early explorers. The coast is watery grave to about 2 000 vessels – spread them out and you’d have a wreck every kilometre from Alexander Bay to Kosi Bay. The arrival of legendary English lighthouse engineer Harry Claude Lee Cooper in the early 1900s changed the picture somewhat. He built 30 lighthouses, commuting between projects by cart, often over rough tracks. Today there are 45 working lighthouses in South Africa.

Four of them offer guest accommodation in keeper’s cottages, and one houses the only shipwreck museum in South Africa.

cape columbine image: shutterstock

THE GREAT OUTDOORS Cape St Blaise, Garden Route Built in 1864, Cape St Blaise at Mossel Bay is, aside from Cape Columbine, the only other manned lighthouse on the South African coast today. The name Cape St Blaise came about because early Portuguese seafarer and explorer Bartolomeu Dias first landed in Mossel Bay on St Blaise’s Day – 3 February – in 1488.

The 20.5m tower perches above the archaeologically significant Cape St Blaise Cave, which was where Dias first met the local Khoisan people who had lived there for thousands of years. Today it’s home to scuttling dassies. Originally lit by a red fountain light, the lamp was later upgraded to paraffin power and finally electrified in 1931. Today its 450 000 candle-power lamp passes over the bustling Point area of Mossel Bay, home to hotels, restaurants, a camp site and a

tip of Africa. Between 1673 and 1836 there were eight disastrous shipwrecks around this treacherous point. Given the enormous loss of life on the wrecks such as the Zoetendal, Arniston, Meisho Maru, Birkenhead and others along the Cape Coast, local farmers pleaded with the ruling British authorities to build a lighthouse at Cape L’Agulhas. In March 1849, the second-oldest of South Africa’s lighthouses (after Mouille Point) was built here, in the classic style of the Pharos lighthouse of Egypt (one of the Seven Wonders of the World).

well-known surf break. Guests can book into a three-bedroom keeper’s cottage down the hill from the lighthouse.

Fuel for the 12-million-candle-power lamp was originally boiled sheep-tail fat… which is just one of the fascinating things you’ll learn while browsing the on-site shipwreck museum. The national monument precinct also houses a restaurant and gift shop, and there’s plenty of accommodation in the village of L’Agulhas and the surrounding Agulhas National Park.

Agulhas, southern cape Arguably the most important sea beacon anywhere along South Africa’s coastline is the iconic Cape Agulhas lighthouse, presiding moodily over the southern-most

Two cottages at North Sand Bluff Lighthouse at Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal are being renovated and will soon be open for guests. Self-catering cottages range in price from R500 to R1 000 a cottage a night. All these lighthouses are open to the public for day visits.

To book a lighthousekeeper cottage at any of these locations, contact Tazz Jacobs at SA Lighthouse Tourism at (021) 449-2400.

Great Fish Point, Port Alfred At only nine metres high, the Great Fish Point lighthouse near Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape is one of South Africa’s smallest lighthouses. Yet, perched on an elevated hill, the tower casts its light up to 32 nautical miles out to sea and offers visitors excellent views.

With its bright-red dome and black-and-whitestriped tower, the place is sometimes affectionately referred to as ‘the chap in the tuxedo’ by the locals.

It was constructed in 1898, specifically to warn

ships off three shallow reefs that had been the undoing of several vessels including the iron schooner, the Waterloo in 1848.

Over several generations of lighthouse keepers, ‘the chap in the tuxedo’ has been entertaining weekend visitors, and these days 12 guests can join him for the night in two cottages. SR

Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014 • 19

dance Maasai W To

Heading north to Kenya gives Andrew Aveley the opportunity to completely immerse himself in the country’s traditions and enjoy a rare exerience or two.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW AVELEY

with the

Above: Watching the Maasai dance and sing in the twilight.

20 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

HEN WE PHOTOGRAPHERS GO OUT TO capture our passion, we sometimes get locked into the main subject of an area.

It could be the landscapes of Namibia, the wildlife of the Kalahari, or just general street photography.

I look at the bigger picture often and try my best to immerse my photographic self into a destination or environment.

On my travels I’ve had the privilege of meeting a number of interesting people and witnessing various African cultures that, along with the wildlife of an area, make for incredibly inspiring moments. There

are some areas where the traditional lifestyle has not been overrun by Western beliefs and influences.

These are few and far between nowadays but worth the effort to find.

The spelling of the name for people of one such culture is ‘Maasai’. It is derived from the word ‘Maa’ – also the name of the language spoken by them. ‘Maa-sai’ means ‘my people’. The name is also widely used in reference to the area where the famous East-African reserve, the Masai Mara National Reserve, is situated. It has become practice to refer to the people as ‘Maasai’, and the area where they live as ‘the Masai Mara’.

The Maasai have always fascinated me. Research and many documentaries gave me a fair idea of what to expect but did not prepare me for my first real experience of this culture. A private visit to a ‘semiWestern’ village in the southern parts of Kenya near Amboseli National Park was a special morning. The

TRAVEL village is home to a mix of young warriors who’ve been influenced by Western culture as well as many elders who cling to their traditional beliefs with vigour. I want to share three experiences with you that had a powerful impact on how I see and feel about these incredible people.

Images tell a story but we do sometimes need a little extra information to understand the vision of a photographer.

Young Warrior I had camped overnight on the land of this community, and because there are no fences around the Amboseli National Park (to allow the elephants and other wildlife to roam naturally), two young men from the village had stood guard armed with only spears and clubs to fend off any unwanted visitors.

There were no close encounters with lions, but the smell and sounds of a large elephant grazing and rubbing against the tree next to my tent did give them a little work to do. The next morning we were escorted to the village for a morning blessing and visit to the ‘market’ where handmade gifts were on offer. I waited and followed my hosts, and then looked back towards the magnificent Mount Kilimanjaro. Without saying a word I captured what is for me an iconic image of the two giants.

The Storyteller One normally associates Kenya with the annual great migration of zebra and wildebeest. During this time it becomes a festival of minivans and small tour buses. Yet there are places where one can enjoy a view of the river crossings and wildlife in relative peace and quiet. One of these areas, the Mara Triangle, affords a more intimate experience with all-inclusive private guided camping adventures. On one of these I had the privilege of listening to the local Maasai men telling amazing stories of their culture and history. The sounds of Africa, a fire pit and endless storytelling under the stars…

warriors under a blue twilight sky. The pounding of their feet as they landed after reaching an amazing elevation and the rhythm that took over their bodies were incredible.

With the large number of inspiring destinations in Kenya, one cannot take it all in in just a few days’ travel. It is a country of diversity and incredible moments. The passion and meaning of a place or destination doesn’t only lie within the landscapes and animals found there, but in the spirit of the people who live on the land. To me this is one of the most compelling reasons to return. SR

Above: Traditional storytelling around the fire pit.

Below: Returning to camp after a visit to the market, Andrew is able to capture one of his hosts, a young Maasai man, against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro.

The Dance Maasai music normally consists of a chorus of men providing the rhythms and women the melodies. The leader of the song or dance is called an ‘olaranyani’, who normally sings the melody. Much history surrounds the dancing and specifically the jumping of the young warriors. All I can say is that it’s a spellbinding rhythm, and one can get lost in the moment and feel the joy and meaning in it. I always enjoy looking for different angles on my subject. This image was a dream of mine and the dancers were landing not even 25cm from my head as I lay in the dirt. Using a small flash, I illuminated the incredible

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 21

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARCUS OSHRY

mayday

call

Earlier this year, the 23m long-liner Starfish starting taking on water on her course home after a fishing trip. The successful rescue of all 20 crew on board can be attributed to her experienced and quick-thinking skipper, as well as the maritime code that governs vessels out at sea. By Wendy Maritz

O

n Saturday 26 April, the fishing vessel Starfish was making her way back to Cape Town after 13 days of successful fishing, when she started taking on water about 120nm off Plettenberg Bay. It was about 09h00, and the crew immediately set up the bilge pumps and auxiliary pumps to get water out of the boat. Soon after the pumps had started, the water level had risen within the hull soaking the bait boxes which, in turn, caused the pumps to become clogged with soggy cardboard. Skipper Horatio Gomes sent out a Mayday, and instructed the crew

22 • Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014

to put on their life jackets and to prepare to abandon ship. He also wisely started heading for the shipping lanes when he realised they couldn’t pump out the water.

His message was intercepted by Telkom Maritime Radio Service, and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Cape Town, initiated the rescue operation. An all-ships alert was broadcast, and the nearest NSRI stations were placed on standby.

In the meantime, the 220m bulk carrier Navios Northern Star, which was 6nm away from the Starfish when the Mayday was broadcast, made her way towards the

stricken fishing vessel. Starfish was within 65nm of Plettenberg Bay when she started listing; the pumps were unable to save her and the skipper had done all he could. He had to command his crew to abandoned ship and wait in their life raft for the Navios’s arrival. By the time she arrived on the scene at about 14h30, only the nose of Starfish was still visible.

All 20 crew were evacuated to the Navios and she headed for Port Elizabeth, while her shipping agent alerted Station 6 (Port Elizabeth) that all crew were safe and sound onboard. Luckily, the Navios Northern

real-life rescue

Far left to right: The Starfish crew, who were picked up by the bulk carrier Navios Northern Star, are assisted down the pilot ladder to the Station 6 rescue vessel Eikos Rescuer IV and the TNPA’s Strandloper, after which they were brought ashore.

Star, which had been sailing in the deep sea past South Africa, was only 6nm away from the Starfish when the distress call went out. The Navios‘s total deviation was some 400nm by the time she was intercepted by Station 6.

Coxswain Marcus Oshry and members of Station 6 began preparing to meet Navios to bring the crew ashore. At 02h40 on Sunday 27 April, NSRI’s Eikos Rescuer IV and Transnet National Ports Authority’s Strandloper were launched to meet up with Navios some 8nm off Port Elizabeth.

Marcus recalls the conditions were almost perfect that morning: a flat sea, little wind and – once the cloud cover had cleared – plenty of moonlight. In many ways it was a textbook rescue. Right from

the skipper’s calm handling of the evacuation process to his decision to motor to the shipping lanes so Navios could meet up with them easily. ‘It was a very good decision by the skipper and he did a brilliant job of getting his crew into the life raft, and made sure they had all their important documents with them,’ he recalls.

Station 6 volunteers boarded Navios to assist the crew down the pilot ladder into the rescue craft. ‘The mood was quite upbeat,’ he recalls. ‘It was one crewman’s maiden voyage, and for another, his last planned trip out to sea. The incident will be memorable for them both.’

All evacuated crew were safe at the base just after 05h00. The rescue operation had been something special.

‘There is a fantastic understanding of the unwritten laws at sea that, no matter how big or small your vessel is, you will be helped by another. For all 20 people to be rescued without any harm is a fantastic success story,’ Marcus says. SR

BULLETIN BOARD

IN THE NEWS

Special thanks to the family of the late Ian and Maureen Ramsay who kindly donated their timeshare week at the Peninsula All Suite Hotel to Sea Rescue. This year we are offering it to our rescue crew and next year we will use it to raise funds as a lot at the NSRI & Rotary Wine Auction in Johannesburg.

Visit www.nsri.org. za/2014/06/a-weekat-the-peninsulahotel for more info.

From left: Steven Williams, technical manager: EasyComs, Rico Menezies, Station 31 station commander, Joseph Saayman, field director: EasyComs

EASYCOMS COMMUNICATION PROUD SPONSORS OF NSRI STATION 31 (STILL BAY) STATION 31 (STILL BAY) is the first rescue base in South Africa to have a Global Automatic Identification System (AIS) base station installed as part of international vessel monitoring and tracking.

Vessels over 150 gross tonnes are required by maritime law to have AIS tracking.

Information provided by AIS, such as vessel identification, position, course and speed, is unique to each vessel. AIS is intended to assist vessels’ watch-standing officers, maritime authorities and rescue

units to live-track all vessels with AIS on board.

NSRI vessels are equipped with AIS units so that they can be live-tracked at all times during training and rescue operations.

The AIS base station requires a reliable internet connection that transfers data fast and delivers continued downloads 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Local internet supplier EasyComs Communications Still Bay is proud to sponsor the services required to run the AIS base

station at Station 31. Not content with just supporting this station, they have extended their sponsorship to cover Station 33 (Witsand) and Station 15 (Mossel Bay) as well.

EasyComs Communications’ goal is to connect local companies and residents with fast and effective communications services in the Hessequa region, as well as the Mossel Bay area, and to provide telephone services and a high-quality internet service to towns and farm areas.

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24 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

HELP US COME UP WITH A CHARACTER

Terms and conditions: 1. The competition is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the competition close on 30 September 2014. 3. The winner’s name will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 4. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 5. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

NSRI set up JOC in local hotel On Friday 21 March, the NSRI was called to search for three missing fishermen who were reported missing about 13nm out to sea off Lamberts Bay. Crew from Stations 4, 18 and 34 (Mykonos, Melkbosstrand and Yzerfontein) responded. Since we don’t have a rescue base in Lamberts Bay yet, we turned to the locals for support. Mariette Breytenbach of the Lamberts Bay Hotel kindly turned her dining room into a joint operations centre (JOC) where we could base ourselves and manage the search.

As it turned out, the propeller on the vessel’s engine had fallen off, leaving the fishermen without power. They had anchored overnight and then started rowing back to shore.

Happily, the three fishermen – Willem Oemeus, Vincent Latolla and Chris Dribble – of Lamberts Bay were found safe as they were rowing ashore at Doringbaai. They weren’t injured and were reunited with their families.

We’d like to thank Mariette and her staff for the gracious way in which they accommodated us while still taking care of their guests.

CHEERS TO A SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER

ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/BENCHART

OYSTER BAY STATION commander Mark Mans was about to board an international flight when he got the call that a solo sailor had washed up on the beach and had been found crawling across the dunes early on the morning of Tuesday 8 May, after a stormy night.

His rescue crew responded and found 62-year-old Darrel Hansen, from Mossel Bay, safe on the beach in the care of bystanders.

Sailing on his 8.2m yacht Ingrid from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth, Darrel had run aground during the night while seeking shelter in rough weather. A wave had capsized his boat at around 9pm, and the boat was washed ashore. Darrel lost his prosthetic leg during the ordeal but he managed to get to shore and crawled over sand dunes towards houses nearby.

Sadly he lost everything during the incident – and he was found with nothing, except the shattered yacht and debris lying among rocks nearby.

The crew took him into their care, clothed and fed him, and then began the long drive back to Mossel Bay, meeting up with his friends halfway through the journey.

If yours is the winning entry, we’ll send you a hamper of NSRIbranded goodies and we’ll invite you to meet the character in person. Please consider getting your local school involved as well.

PHOTOGRAPH: BEV MORTIMER, ST FRANCIS CHRONICLE

SHIPWRECKED

We’re calling on our readers to help us design a rescue hero character. If you’ve enjoyed films like The Incredibles then you know the sort of thing we have in mind.

Send in your sketch or a description of the character as well as your ideas for a suitable name to NSRI Rescue Hero Competition, PO Box 154, Green Point 8051, or email info@ searescue.org.za by 30 September 2014.

A CHAMPAGNE-TASTING EVENT WAS held on Friday 30 May in aid of Station 21 (St Francis). We were privileged and very humbled to receive pledges in excess of R100 000. Thank you to the organisers, Spar Village Square, Spar DC, Tops, Jo Brown, The Links and staff – and, of course, to everyone who supported us on the evening. We look forward to another successful event next year!

To watch a video of St Francis Bay’s Nautical Festival, visit www.nsri.org.za/2014/05/st-francis-bay-nautical-festival-video/

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 25

BULLETIN BOARD

STAND A CHANCE TO WIN!

BOOK GIVEAWAY

The second edition of Mkambati and the Wild Coast by John Costello, station commander of Port St Johns, is now available. The information and photographs have been updated and include aerial views of the coastline, numerous high-quality underwater images (including images of the spectacular sardine run) taken by award-winning photographers. The diversity of fauna and flora is showcased in such a way that the reader can view and absorb, at their leisure, one of the most beautiful destinations in South Africa. To order a copy, contact John at costello@ wildcoast.co.za. Cost R500 (including postage and packaging).

We have one copy of Mkambati and the Wild Coast to give away. To stand a chance to win it, please SMS Sea Rescue Wild Coast, your name, daytime telephone number and address to 33282 by 30 September 2014.

PHOTOGRAPH: MARNETTE MEYER

Terms and conditions: 1. The giveaway is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2014. 3. The winner will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically.

4. The winner’s name will be printed in the Summer 2014 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

On 27 March, Station 18 (Melkbos) rescue crew hosted a group of pupils from Vaatjie Mor Primêr, a small farm school in Philadelphia, Western Cape, as part of WaterWise Academy’s effort to educate children on water safety. Daniel Bierman (left) and Sergio Farmer (right) flank the group of 154 eager learners.

Winter is in full swing. That means the sun is sitting lower in the southern sky, and most of us are spending less time outdoors because it’s just too darn cold. When we do venture out, we usually head for a sunny spot where we renew our ‘solar energy’, soaking up the rays without covering up.

Sun protection is just as important in winter as it is during the warmer months. It might feel cold outside, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the strength of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. Avoiding sunburn means avoiding the sun, and that means covering up.

‘Sun hats are very important. What people don’t know is that most hats don’t provide adequate protection from the sun’s harmful rays. Brands like Emthunzini Hats get my endorsement, as they are UPF 50+ and approved by the Cancer Association of South Africa. They are also fashionable, crushable and most are washable,’ says Dr Jens Pieper, a general practitioner and the local distributor of Fotofinder Systems, an international brand specialising in mole mapping.

‘A high-end sun cream, with a 50+ factor, should be applied every day with no exception, and regular medical check-ups that include mole mapping are imperative,’ he adds.

Whether it’s winter or summer, pay attention to the UV index scale. If UV levels are high, very high or extreme, it will help to minimise the amount of time you spend in the sun between the hours of 10am and 4pm. The best way to tell if your sun exposure is too high is by looking at your shadow – if it’s shorter than you, as it usually is during the middle of the day, seek out shade.

Emthunzini Hats

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For more information, visit Emthunzini Hats at www.sunhats.co.za or call (022) 409 2160 or 083 269 5570.

DID YOU KNOW?

The strength of the sun’s UV rays increases as the elevation increases. If you live or holiday in high altitudes, you need to be especially careful about sun protection.

For more information, visit www.uvawareness.com/ uv-info/uv-strength.php

RECOGNISED BY THE CANCER ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA AS PROTECTION AGAINST THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THE SUN

Locals came out to support Station 19’s (Richards Bay) street collection at The Boardwalk Shopping Centre and the MES Spar. Crew dressed up and motivated the crowd by doing push-ups for each donation. We raised R10 406 in small change and then Lindsay’s Castings kindly donated a further R1 500. Thank you for all your support.

From left: Dr Des Pyle, Juan Pretorius and Peter Smit.

PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF LOUISE CARTER [PA-DISASTER]

RICHARDS BAY CREW TAKE TO THE STREETS

Station 11 (Port Alfred) hosted the disastermanagement students from Stenden University in Port Alfred. They noticed that we were looking for a data projector from the ‘Needs list’ that appears in each Sea Rescue magazine, and kindly donated a brand-new unit to us. This is going to make our lives much more comfortable on training days.

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Tel: +27 31 368 5050 Fax: +27 31 332 4455 Mobile: +27 83 250 3398 pidurban@pandi.co.za www.pandi.co.za

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SEA RESCUE • AUTUMN 2014 • 31

LIFE BOAT CIRCLE

Below: Members from the Athlone area enjoying the sunshine with bequest officer Theresa Medicine.

Right (left to right): Judy Craxton, Herman and Anita Conrad, Harry Braun, Ann Chorlton and Christine Whitelaw.

Fond farewell W

E GROW TO LOVE OUR LIFE boat Circle members – they become our friends. We learn all about their families, their achievements in life, their hopes and often their fears.

Sometimes a sudden change of season, the scent of the damp veld or a deep chuckle from out of sight will remind us of one of them, and we’ll realise we’re overdue for a visit. We need to hear recounted a dramatic rescue story or that hilarious tale of the dog with the silly name. Then the realisation dawns: that dear person is no longer with us.

Our members all leave their imprints on us. While attending the memorial service for our late member and generous benefactor Irene Riley of Somerset West, this reality was brought home once again. In 96 years you touch so many lives and in such different ways. Friends recalled how she loved to travel to exotic places, how she bribed a flower seller in Venice to paddle them to their hotel at midnight or when she rode a pack donkey through the Khyber

Pass. Then there was the time she made a real party of a simple meal of fish and chips on the side of the harbour while gazing on the vessel she generously donated as a tribute to her late husband, and the way she called the crew of Gordon’s Bay ‘my boys’.

We remember with deep gratitude, too, those who gave their time and expertise as volunteers to start up a rescue station – the late Alan Blake of Station 1 and Graham Westcott, past StatCom of Station 17 (Hermanus), are two such people.

Above: (back) Edward Russouw, Willem Ligthelm, Andrea Geldenhuys, Jilly Lay, Neil Slater, Ivan Bauser, Johann Lensink and Paul Germishuys; (front) John Moot, Eleanor Simpson, Lynette Roux Koch, Joan Lee and Elize Bauser.

We know our members love the special events we plan for them, especially when we invite an active crew member to share dramatic rescue stories. If anybody wishes to join this happy circle, please let us know.

We love meeting new members. SR

THANK YOU FOR THE DONATIONS RECEIVED SPECIAL OCCASIONS Garfield (for favours done) • Janet Minty (birthday) • Dave Robins (60th birthday) • Jeremy Rowse (60th birthday) • Kate Steyn (60th birthday) IN MEMORY OF LOVED ONES • Keith Craxton • May Gudgin • A McQueen • Irene Gilmour • Bob Burdon • Graham Westcott ASHES LOG (All respects were paid and the details of the scattering recorded in the ship’s log) • Mr Andrews, off Glencairn • Alex Campbell, off Gordon’s Bay Life boat Circle is a society for retired persons. For more information, contact Margaret McCulloch on 082 990 5976 or email margaretm@searescue.org.za.

28 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

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NO TIME Port Alfred teenager Jaco Rossouw knew he had to act fast when he heard that three people were caught in a vicious rip.

By Andrew Ingram PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEBBIE BOSMAN

TO LOSE

J

ACO ROSSOUW HAD BEEN TO TOWN with his mom, Anette, and trusty dog, Rudi.

On the spur of the moment he decided to enjoy the sunny day, and walk Rudi to the beach.

He hopped out of the car and was close to Port Alfred’s East Beach when a car pulled up next to him.

The driver was a woman, and she was clearly in distress.

‘Have you got a phone?’ she asked Jaco.

‘There is someone drowning at East Beach.’

Jaco didn’t have a phone on him but they were close to his house, so, thinking quickly, he directed the woman to his mother at the Soetbev Swimming Centre, knowing that she would call the NSRI. And then, heart pounding, he turned for the beach and ran as hard as he could, with Rudi running next to him.

RIP CURRENTS This picture, taken at Nature’s Valley

by Station 23 (Wilderness) crewman Torsten Henschel, shows very clearly what rip currents look like. The water flows in towards the beach over shallow water or sandbanks (the water is a lighter colour and waves break evenly over these areas) and to get back out to sea it often forms a rip current – or a ‘river’ of water – between two sandbanks. (Waves

30 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

seldom break in a rip current, and the water is darker green because it is deeper.) From this picture you can see that such dark currents don’t always flow straight out to sea. They often flow along the beach, forming feeder rips before pulling out to sea.

What is a rip current?

Rips can develop wherever waves are breaking. These rivers of current,

real-life rescue Jaco, 17, lives with his mom at the Port Alfred indoor pool. He had decided to learn to swim when he was about 12, and taught himself with absolute determination. He soon became a strong swimmer. When he turned 13, Sea Rescue coxswain Keryn van der Walt (whose day job is at Outdoor Focus) offered him an open-water scubadiving course. It was the biggest present ever – not bad for a child who had just learned to swim! But Jaco is not your average teenager. He is very determined and loves the sea.

‘Jaco has the heart of a lion,’ says Anette. ‘He is tough and strong… and full of compassion.’ It was all of these qualities that spurred Jaco on over the dunes, Rudi pulling and panting next to him.

‘I scoured the water where people normally swim but there was nobody there. Then I saw them, on the side where nobody swims. It’s very dangerous there.

The rip pulls straight out and it’s very strong,’ says Jaco.

Because of his love of the ocean and the fact that Rudi, a five-year-old German shepherd/border collie mix, needs lots of exercise, Jaco had spent many hours on the beaches of Port Alfred. By carefully watching its currents and moods, he had learned about sandbanks and rip currents.

He had seen feeder rips that pull to the side, parallel to the beach, digging out sand and making channels that bathers step into. He had seen rips that pull out and then curve back to the beach, and he had watched this particular standing rip pulling powerfully straight out past the back line.

‘Fortunately there was a lone wooden pole sticking out of the sand, and I leashed Rudi to it.’

Jaco then sprinted towards the water.

He knew there was no time to waste. There

produced by water draining from the beach and back out to sea, happen all the time.

Rips often move so slowly that they’re barely detected. But, given the right circumstances of waves and beach profile, they can develop into currents moving at speeds of up to two metres per second – faster than any of us can swim. Ranging in size from just a few feet wide to hundreds of yards,

Main picture and left: Jaco and his trusty friend, Rudi.

They had made the classic mistake of trying to swim straight back to shore.

Against the current. were three people caught in one of Port Alfred’s most powerful rip currents.

As so often happens, one person – this time an elderly man – gets caught in a current; then others go to their aid, and in no time at all they are all in trouble.

On this day in mid-April it was German tourist Ludder Grosse-Heidermann who stepped into the grip of the rip, and his son and daughter then swam into it to help him.

Unfortunately the three tourists didn’t know what was happening to them. They had made the classic mistake of trying to swim straight back to the shore. Against the current. Jaco knew that if he could get them to swim to either side, out of the reach of the current and over the sandbank, they would have a chance.

their pull can reach just outside the breaking waves or as far out as more than 200 metres from shore.

How to spot a rip current Avoiding rips altogether is safest.

Although they aren’t always visually detectable, stronger rip currents have some telltale signs. But you need to stop and watch the sea carefully to see how the water is moving.

‘There was a frantic lady on the beach,’ says Jaco. He ran past their clothing, past the woman, and into the water. Filled with adrenaline, Jaco jumped the first wave, knowing that he would remain safe if he stayed on the sandbank. He moved fast.

As the waves came through, he dived under them and dug his fingers into the sandy bottom as his scuba-diving instructors had shown him. Between waves Jaco called out to the three people in trouble to stop fighting the rip and swim to their left, out of the rip onto the sandbank.

At last the daughter understood Jaco’s shouts and they managed to swim out of the current and over the sandbank.

‘We were getting hammered by the waves,’ says Jaco. ’But I managed to grab the daughter by the arm and, with all three in tow, I used the momentum of the waves to pull them out onto the beach. The father was in deep shock.’

‘I really don’t know how they got there.

They were in the worst rip on the whole beach,’ explains Jaco.

With all the drama over and the three tourists safe, Jaco turned towards Rudi, still leashed to the pole, just in time to see that he was being attacked by two other dogs that weren’t on leashes. ‘That wasn’t fair,’ he says.

Jaco got to his dog, sorted out the fight and turned back to see the family hugging each other and crying.

And that’s when it sunk in that he had just saved three lives. SR Jaco Rossouw has been awarded a Letter of Appreciation from the NSRI’s CEO for his quick thinking that day.

Watch out for these warnings: ›› Water in a surf zone that is a different colour to the surrounding water. ›› A break in the incoming pattern of waves. ›› Seaweed, bubbles or debris moving out through the surf zone. ›› Isolated, turbulent and choppy water in the surf zone.

Often lifesavers are the key to avoiding rip currents: swim only where lifesavers are on duty, and make sure that you stay between their flags and follow their instructions.

Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014 • 31

LEISURE

Family matters Sea Rescue is all about family, and nowhere is this more evident that at Station 22 (Vaal Dam). By Wendy Maritz

32 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

call it home. NSRI crewman Phil Medlock was attracted to the idea of living near water and in the country, and moved to Deneysville about 20 years ago just after he got married. The town is a small one, with about 2 000 permanent residents (but this swells to double over weekends, and with the other two towns, Vaal Marina and Oranjeville, the number of visitors to the Vaal can get as high as 10 000 during the holidays). It stands to reason the community is a close one, and NSRI Station 22 crew are very much involved in keeping an eye on water-related activities, and a little bit of everything else as well.

‘We get involved in anything to do with the community, from fighting fires to road accidents… It’s a small community, so they know who to call if there is an emergency,’ explains Phil. At the beginning of 2012, NSRI crew were called to assist when a farmhouse at Club 40, 6km

Above: The Vaal Dam has become one of South Africa’s most popular inland holiday destinations, as well as host to a number of international – and record-breaking – events

from Deneysville, caught alight during a thunderstorm. Armed with firefighting equipment and water bowser trailers, and after raising the alarm with Sasolburg Fire and Rescue Services, the crew hastened to the scene. They managed to evacuate the owner’s boats and other valuables from the main house, which unfortunately burnt to the ground. The adjoining houses were, however, saved.

The NSRI base, situated at Manten Marina, was officially opened by Commodore André Rudman on 27 April 1991. The first statcom was Dick Manten Sr, who moved to Deneysville in 1973.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SHUTTERSTOCK, SUPPLIED

F

OR LANDLOCKED WATER LOVERS in the northern parts of our country, the Vaal Dam offers in excess of 1 000km of shoreline, 11 yacht clubs and marinas, ample mooring and launching facilities, three quaint holiday-resort towns, and 320km2 of water to enjoy myriad activities, from fishing and yachting to kitesurfing, water-skiing and canoeing.

It’s hailed as one of the best inland yachting venues in the country and hosts the Round the Island Race, which celebrated its 56th anniversary in January this year and holds the Guinness World Record for the most boats participating in an inland yacht race. Other world-class boating events include Keelboat Week and the Big Boat Regatta.

While thousands of people, including a large contingent of anglers and fishermen, flock to this water playground each weekend and over the holidays, some can

Far left: Station 22’s 5,5m RIB Harvey’s Fibreglass.

Middle left: (back) Johan Geyser, Deon Pretorius, Phil Medlock, Armand Niemand, Dirk Manten, Dick Manten, (centre) SC Labuschagne, DM Lubbe, JJ Barnard, (front) JB Labuschagne, Jake Manten, Kathy Manten, Janet Viljoen.

Below: The fire at Club 40.

Manten Marina was built three years later and has been the home of four generations of Mantens since then. His son, Dick Jr, took over as station commander after him, and his wife, Kathy, and sons, Dirk and Jake, are all crew members.

NSRI CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson visited the station recently and was quite simply blown away by the commitment the Mantens have for the community, Sea Rescue and their business, which offers storage, mooring and repair facilities for various vessels. ‘Dick Jr is so easygoing, so hospitable, so humble,’ Cleeve says. ‘And his father had incredible vision.’ The Manten family values seem to overflow to the rescue crew who share the same ethos of helping anyone who needs them, no matter how big or small the situation. ‘The closest emergency services are in Vereeniging, so the community really does depend on them,’ Cleeve adds.

As far as water users go, Dirk believes most of them are pretty clued up and major incidents are rare. Phil agrees that the main call-outs are due to mechanical problems.

‘Fortunately, most of the boaters are quite water wise,’ he says, ‘and fatalities, which are few and far between, are related to water users not wearing life jackets.’

For both Dirk and Phil, the station’s most memorable – and dangerous – call-out was a few years ago. The Vaal Dam was flooding and 15 sluice gates were opened on the dam wall, with 2 500m3 of water being released into the river below per second. At about 01h00 in the morning, two men decided to jump off the bridge below the dam wall into the raging water.

The station was alerted. Crew found one

man hanging onto a tree about 20m from the river bank, and two rescue swimmers saved him. The other man was nowhere to be found. Eventually, at about 06h00, he was spotted clinging to a tree in the middle of the river. ‘We launched our rescue craft,’ recalls Phil, ‘and slowly moved towards him. The river was in full flood and we couldn’t get close enough because of the force of the water. We got to about 4m from him and told him to jump. We managed to grab him and pull him on board, and then turned the rescue boat back into the roaring waters and headed for shore.’

Conditions on the dam can sometimes be unpredictable, and people should be aware of this. ‘We can easily get swells of up to 2m, and I’ve been out on a regatta when the wind gusted at 80 knots. Storms can come up quickly, with little warning,’ Phil warns. Dirk agrees that water users need to do their weather checks, especially as the Highveld is hit by freak storms from time to time. Even though boats rarely run aground, users should take heed of the sandbanks and shallow points in the dam. ‘And follow the golden rule of always giving a close friend or family member your sailing/activity plan, so that they can raise the alarm if you’re not back on time,’ Dirk adds. SR

WATERSPORT ESSENTIALS

Protection for the eyes against wind and water is essential for watersport enthusiasts taking part in yachting, canoeing, kite-surfing or skiing events.

Adidas eyewear has introduced the Tycane range for this very purpose.

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Other features include: ›› optimal view ›› shatterproof and water-resistant LST™ filters ›› hydrophoic coating and flat frame design to repel water ›› POL filters to eliminate glare ›› ventilation to prevent misting ›› additional headband for extra grip ›› adjustable temples and nose pads.

For more information, visit www.adidas.com/eyewear

Did you know? ›› The Vaal Dam has a surface area about the size of Luxemborg. ›› There are more keelboats on the Vaal Dam than at all of our coastal harbours. ›› The town of Deneysville was named after the then Minister of Agriculture Deneys Reitz, who visited the dam’s construction site in 1935. (The dam was completed in 1939.) ›› Deneysville celebrated its 75th anniversary as a town this year. ›› The stone cottage on the Deneysville waterfront was originally a hunting lodge built by the Reitz family. It is now St Peter’s Church, a popular wedding venue. ›› Three provinces form the dam’s boundary – the Free State, which has the largest shoreline, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng, which has the most active shoreline.

SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 33

WATERWISE

Making THE difference

Debbie Smith with her eager, young learners.

As an NSRI volunteer, a dive instructor and a Swim SA teacher, Debbie Smith knows the importance of water safety. So it was a natural fit when she joined the WaterWise Academy as an instructor earlier this year.

34 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

locally and in the areas around Port St Johns. They don’t make headline news’, she says, ‘but we hear about them regularly.’

The WaterWise Academy was launched in the area in March this year to address this need, and covers the schools in Port St Johns and its immediate surrounds, as well as schools in places further afield including Umtata, Umgazana, Majola, Lusikisiki and Flagstaff. At the end of May, she had taught about 2 500 pupils in workshops at these schools.

‘I’ve been extremely well received,’ Debbie continues. ‘The headmasters and teachers are hugely appreciative of our efforts and the fact that we care enough to pass on the water-safety message. The teachers who sit in on the workshops all say how vital the programme is and how thrilled they are to have learnt something as well.’

The children usually regard her with curiosity and

don’t say too much at first. But they love the props and the WaterWise posters she puts on the walls of the classrooms to remind them of what she has taught them. ‘Many of these schools are very basic; the classrooms are packed and the conditions are challenging for pupils, but the children are so happy to learn,’ Debbie says.

On repeat visits to schools, Debbie can see the fruits of her labour. ‘When the children recognise me, they giggle, shout out my name or chant the ambulance number we teach them – 10177… Once, when I was waiting to teach a class, a group of 10 little girls all started to sing the ambulance number, making sure that I knew they had remembered. That was so rewarding!’ she smiles. SR The ambulance ‘chant’ 10177 is taught hip-hop style, which makes it easier for children to remember. Take a look at the kids in action on the link below.

Learn the 10177 ambulance chant at http://goo.gl/hJhHTO

WORDS: WENDY MARITZ; PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED

F

OR PORT ST JOHNS VOLUNTEER Debbie Smith ‘it made complete sense’ to accept the role of WaterWise Academy instructor for the Port St Johns area. Debbie and her partner, Rob Nettleton, have been involved with the NSRI for the past three years, and jointly run their business Offshore Africa from Port St Johns. ‘Our entire business is based around water and boats (including scuba-diving instruction, as well as offshore and river cruises). In fact, around here they call us “the boat people”,’ she smiles.

There may be water in Debbie’s veins, but in her heart lies the desire to teach the skills that will empower people – and especially children – to be safe in and around water. When that opportunity arose with WaterWise, there was no doubt in her mind. ‘I’ve always wanted to help in the community by doing something meaningful in an education field,’ she explains.

‘There are no water-education programmes in the rural schools around here, and there are a lot of drownings

ADVERTORIAL

WINTER WEATHER ALERTS Swells, wave height, strong wind and impaired visibility can affect those at sea and living in coastal towns. Weather alerts – classed as ‘advisory’, ‘watch’ or ‘warning’ – are issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) whenever these severe conditions are expected SWELL AND WAVE HEIGHT AND STORM SURGE Deep-sea conditions can range from calm to phenomenal seas of more than 14m.

Closer to the coast, abnormal waves in the Agulhas Current, destructive coastal waves higher than 7m and storm surges all fall into this category. A storm surge is an abnormal rise of the sea level generated by a storm, over and above the astronomical spring high tides. Storm surge is normally associated with an extreme weather event.

The passage of a cold front, a coastal low-pressure system, a cut-off low or a tropical cyclone are all examples of weather conditions that can lead to high swells. When an alert has been issued for abnormal waves in the Agulhas Current, destructive coastal waves or storm surges, there is a good chance of damage to infrastructure and that

coastal marine activities, or communities that live close to the coast, will be affected.

Fishermen in small boats should not go out at all or should seek shelter in bays, estuaries or harbours. The public should avoid beaches, river mouths and activities such as fishing from shore.

WIND SPEED This refers to winds ranging from gale force strength (35-40 knots or 64-74 km/h) to hurricane strength (more than 64 knots or 118km/h), both along the coast and in the deep sea. Strong pressure gradients are mostly responsible for high wind speeds and associated with cold fronts, coastal lows (southwesterly buster), ridging high pressure systems (southeaster) and tropical cyclones. Depending on the type of system, the wind can blow strongly for less than an hour to days at a time. Small vessels and water craft that have no motor capabilities should be careful when they go out on the water. Strong winds can also cause localised wind waves and rough sea conditions, while sustained strong winds in the same direction can lead to large swells and abnormal waves in the Agulhas Current.

ICE ACCRETION This occurs when rain or sea spray freezes when it comes in contact with a ship or boat. Sub-zero temperatures are required for this to occur and will therefore be limited to the high latitudes of the southern ocean. Ice accretion will impact different types of vessels in different ways. The icing of aerials can cause radar or radio failure or make the deck slippery and dangerous on most vessels that are not equipped with anti-icing technology.

The South African Weather Service is responsible for Met-area VII as determined by the World Meteorological Organization under its Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. The meteorological services and warnings as set out in the SOLAS Convention (Safety of Life At Sea) are included in the public services of the South African Weather Service. Our responsibilities include sending out twice daily forecasts for

VISIBILITY When the visibility is reduced to 5nm (10km), or less it is dangerous for vessels not only near coastal areas or harbours, but also along high traffic shipping lanes. Small

Follow us on

@SAWeatherServic

Weather lines: *120*555# or 083 123 0500 An entity of the Department of Environmental Affairs

boats should be very careful when moving around in thick fog.

www.weathersa.co.za

Met-area VII, the forecasting of severe weather, as well as assisting in maritime search-and-rescue activities.

Masters the big blue

of

S

mimicry

ponges should be treated with caution. Some of them have mouths that can expand up to 12 times their normal volume and cause fish to disappear in an instant.

Of course, these aren’t actually sponges. These are frogfish, masters of camouflage – and even without their astonishing resemblance to sponges, they are rather peculiar fish.

Sponges aren’t the only creatures they can resemble: some species mimic algae-covered rocks, others look like colonial sea squirts, and one species has been found that mimics an urchin. They are ambush predators, taking up positions on reefs or sandy ocean bottoms, where they wait patiently for prey in the form of fish or shrimp to pass by. When the prey comes within seven body lengths of the frogfish, it may choose to sidle closer to the prey. Being round and rather unstreamlined, frogfish are not great swimmers.

They prefer creeping over the ocean bottom, using either just their two front fins or both sets of fins in a sort of lumbering gallop Younger and smaller frogfish can also use a sort of jet propulsion, where they forcefully expel water from their gills and shoot forwards a few centimetres. The hunting frogfish will then settle down to wait some more, often using a lure. Their first dorsal fin has been highly modified into a rodand-bait format, and the lures are highly adapted to look like food. Some look like fish, others like polychaete worms, yet others look like shrimps.

Not only that, but each species’ lure can move in a way that mimics the animal it is pretending to be.

As if that wasn’t enough, one species of frogfish has a lure that is thought to release a chemical attractant to further entice its prey. These sorts of modifications are known, with reason, as aggressive mimicry.

36 • Sea Rescue • winter 2014

Enter frogfish... while preferring to avoid centre stage, they can do a pretty good job of making things disappear, says Georgina Jones PHOTOGRAPHS BY Geoff spiby

Is it a sponge? Frogfish depend on their camouflage for ambushing prey as well as for their own safety.

Frogfish use their lures a lot. They have been observed dragging them in front of the burrows of shrimps. They wriggle them enticingly when prey fish get close. The lures are occasionally damaged by the odd lucky fish, but they can be regenerated, although the frogfish may have to fast while its bait regrows. For this reason, some species have pouches into which they can retract their lures.

But back to the hunting frogfish. Once the prey comes within one body length, the frogfish strikes. As mentioned, their mouths can expand in volume to up to 12 times and open very wide. Their ‘suck and grab’ action is the fastest known at six milliseconds – faster than a cobra strike. This grab action outpaces the time it takes a muscle to contract, so exactly how a frogfish accomplishes this remains mysterious. So fast is it that the prey fish or shrimp simply seems to disappear. They can take a fish from a school without the rest of the school even noticing it has gone. Rather a scary trick!

As they grab the fish, they also take in a huge volume of water, which is expelled from the gills while the unfortunate prey is swallowed whole.

A special muscle in the throat closes to prevent escape. To an observer, the frogfish barely seems to move while a bulge suddenly appears in its stomach.

Not only do they have astonishingly expandable mouths, frogfish can also expand their stomachs, which means they are capable of swallowing prey larger than themselves.

Frogfish have superb camouflage. Some sponge mimics even have skin spots that copy the openings on the sponges. Others mimic algae-covered rocks and develop skin flaps and appendages that resemble exactly the algae they hide in. They can change their colour over time too, and juvenile frogfish are known to mimic poisonous flatworms.

This is as much for defence as predation. Frogfish have no scales or poison, and as poor swimmers would be at the mercy of hungry gamefish if they were more visible. Although they can also puff themselves up with water when threatened, making themselves too big to be swallowed, their best defence is invisibility. And so good are they at disguise that sea slugs have been known to crawl over them.

When it comes to reproduction, frogfish are, as

usual, unusual. It’s only just before spawning that the difference between male and female frogfish is obvious. Eight days to several hours before spawning, the female frogfish begins to swell up as the eggs she carries absorb water. These swelling eggs tend to cause her to start to float towards the surface (except in the case of the Sargassum frogfish, which lives on the surface among floating Sargassumweed). The male follows close behind, nudging at the female’s abdomen. When she starts releasing eggs, it is thought that the male fertilises them, sometimes even pulling the eggs out of the female’s cloaca as they are being released. In some species, the eggs have a mucous coating that expands into an ‘egg raft’ about 10cm wide by 4090cm long, with edges rolled into a scroll, and that is carried along on the surface while the embryos develop inside it.

In most frogfish species, parenting ends with spawning. In a few species, though, the males brood the eggs. Some attach the eggs to their body surface and carry them around until they hatch, others have special hooks on their dorsal fins for egg attachment. Eggs are known to be a favourite food of many fish, and it is thought that the eggs are used by the male frogfish as additional lures. This may seem like an appalling example of parental exploitation, although with their parent’s lightningfast strikes, the developing embryos are probably as safe as they can be. SR

Above: A giant frogfish, Antennarius commersoni, waits in a barrel sponge.

Top left: The painted frogfish, Antennarius pictus, has developed spots on its skin that resemble the pores in sponges.

Above left: The hairy frogfish, Antennarius striatus, has a lure that resembles a wriggling worm.

Sea Rescue • winter 2014 • 37

STATION DIRECTORY STN 2

BAKOVEN

STN 8

StatCom:

Craft: NEEDS:

Bruce Davidson 082 990 5962 Rotarian Schipper – 6.5m RIB A data projector

STN 3

TABLE BAY

StatCom: Lyall Pringle

082 990 5964 Craft: Nadine Gordimer –

10m rescue craft, Albie Matthews – 7.3m RIB,

Nedbank Rescuer –

4.2m rescue craft NEEDS: Waterproof pouches for

handheld radios

StatCom: Deon Truter

082 990 5975 Craft: Leonard Smith – 7.3m RIB,

Ray Farnham – 5.5 RIB,

Airlink Rescuer – 4.2m Zapcat, Discovery Rescue

Runner 2 NEEDS: Vacuum sealer, foul-weather gear

StatCom: Nigel Pepperell

072 448 8482 (Duty crew) Craft: Jack Riley – 14m rescue craft, Spirit of Surfski

– 5.5m RIB, Inge – Swedish

Rescue Runner NEEDS: Multi-purpose battery

charger and batteries

StatCom: André Fraser

082 990 5954 Fuel sponsor: Total Craft: Rescue 15 – 10m rescue craft,

Vodacom Rescuer II –

5.5m RIB, Vodacom Rescuer IV – 4.2m rescue craft NEEDS: GoPro camera, Trellidor,

data projector

☎

StatCom: Pat van Eyssen

082 990 5963 Fuel sponsor: Total Craft: Spirit of Vodacom –

13m rescue craft, Rotary Endeavour – 5.5m RIB NEEDS: Wet/dry vacuum, GoPro

camera, laptop, binoculars

☎

STN 4 MYKONOS StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

Gerard Brune

082 990 5966 Spirit of Freemasonry – 9m rescue craft, Gemini Rescuer II – 5.5m RIB, TNPA Rescuer One – Rescue runner A data projector and screen for training

STN 5

DURBAN

☎

StatCom: Clifford Ireland

082 990 5948 Craft: Eikos Rescuer II –

10m rescue craft, Megan II – 7.3m RIB, Spirit of Svitzer

– 3.9m rescue craft NEEDS: Crew lockers, steel frame

benches with top shelves

☎

STN 6

PORT ELIZABETH

StatCom: Ian Gray

082 990 5970 Craft: Spirit of Toft – 10m rescue craft, Eikos Rescuer IV

– 7.3m RIB, Boardwalk Rescuer – 4.2m rescue craft NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 7

EAST LONDON

StatCom: Geoff McGregor

082 990 5972 Craft: Spirit of Lotto – 13m rescue craft, Spirit of Rotary

East London II – 5.5m RIB,

Lotto Rescue Runner NEEDS: Handheld GPS for

rescue runners

☎

38 • SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014

HOUT BAY

☎

STN 9

GORDON’S BAY

☎

STN 10 SIMON’S TOWN StatCom: Darren Zimmermann

082 990 5965 Fuel sponsor: False Bay Yacht Club Craft: Spirit of Safmarine III –

10m rescue craft, Eddie

Beaumont II – 5.5m RIB NEEDS: Vacuum sealer, dehumidifier,

GoPro camera

☎

STN 11 PORT ALFRED StatCom: Juan Pretorius

082 990 5971 Craft: Lotto Challenger – 8.5m

rescue craft, 5.5m RIB

(still to be named) NEEDS: Belt-driven air compressor, braai

☎

STN 12 KNYSNA StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

Graeme Harding

082 990 5956 Colorpress Rescuer – 8.5m RIB, Jaytee III – 5.5m RIB, Spirit of KYC – 4.2m rescue craft A data projector

☎

STN 14 PLETTENBERG BAY

☎

STN 15 MOSSEL BAY

☎

STN 16 STRANDFONTEIN StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

Mario Fredericks

082 990 6753 Spirit of GrandWest CSI – 5.5m RIB, I&J Rescuer III – 4.7m RIB, Discovery Rescue Runner 3 Floor tiles, paint for interior and roof, large whiteboard

☎

STN 17 HERMANUS StatCom: Henk Henn

082 990 5967 Craft: South Star – 10m rescue craft, Hunters Gold Rescuer –

5.5m RIB, Spirit of Le Jenmar II – 4.2m rescue craft NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 18 MELKBOSSTRAND StatCom: Rhine Barnes

082 990 5958 Craft: Spirit of the Vines –

6.5m RIB, Men’s Health Rescuer – 4.2m Zapcat,

Discovery Rescue Runner 4 NEEDS: A data projector

SEA RESCUE CONTACTS

☎

To reach NSRI after hours, please call Meriel Bartlett on 082 994 7555 or Craig Lambinon on 082 380 3800. For general information, please call NSRI’s head office in Cape Town on (021) 434 4011.

THE NSRI IS MANNED BY 941 VOLUNTEERS AT 30 BASES AROUND THE COAST AND ON THREE INLAND DAMS. OUR VOLUNTEERS HAVE DAY JOBS BUT WILL ALWAYS RESPOND TO YOUR EMERGENCY.

STN 19 RICHARDS BAY StatCom: Cornel du Toit

082 990 5949 Craft: Spirit of Richards Bay –

12m rescue craft, Spirit of

Round Table – 7.3m RIB,

Rotary Ann – 4m rescue craft NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 20 SHELLY BEACH StatCom:

Pieter Coetzee (Deputy)

082 990 5950 Fuel sponsor: Caltex Craft: Spirit of Dawn – 7.3m RIB,

Caltex Challenger II

– 5.5m RIB, Spirit of Le

Jenmar I – 4m rescue craft,

Discovery Rescue Runner 8 NEEDS: GoPro, fold-up steel tables

☎

STN 21 ST FRANCIS BAY StatCom: Marc May

082 990 5969 Fuel sponsor: CBF Motors, Humansdorp Craft: Spirit of St Francis II

– 8.5m RIB, Eikos Rescuer I

– 5.5m RIB, Discovery

Rescue Runner 5 NEEDS: Waterproof backpacks

☎

STN 22 VAAL DAM StatCom: Dick Manten

083 626 5128 Fuel sponsor: Sasol Craft: Harvey’s Fibreglass – 5.5m RIB, Discovery Rescue

Runner 11 NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 23 WILDERNESS StatCom: Hennie Niehaus

082 990 5955 Craft: Spirit of Rotary 100 – 5.5m RIB, Serendipity – 4.2m

rescue craft, Die Swart Tobie – 4.2m rescue craft,

Caltex Explorer – 4.2m rescue craft, Discovery Rescue

Runner 1 NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 25 HARTBEESPOORT DAM

STN 31 STILL BAY

StatCom: Rod Pitter

082 990 5961 Fuel sponsor: Sasol Craft: Afrox Rescuer II – 5.5m RIB NEEDS: A data projector

StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

STN 26 KOMMETJIE

STN 32 PORT EDWARD

StatCom: Tom Coetzee

082 990 5979 Craft: Spirit of Winelands – 5.5m RIB, Discovery Rescue

Runner 7 NEEDS: A data projector

StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

STN 27 VICTORIA LAKE, GERMISTON

STN 33 WITSAND

☎

☎

Enrico Menezies 082 990 5978 Spirit of St Francis – 7.3m RIB, Colorpress Too – 4.2m rescue craft Screwdrivers, binoculars

☎

Mick Banks

082 990 5951 Wild Coast Sun Rescuer – 7.3m RIB, Discovery Rescue Runner 6 Digital camera, printer

☎

StatCom: Graham Hartlett

082 441 6989 Fuel sponsor: Sasol Craft: Vodacom Rescuer V –

4.7m RIB NEEDS: A data projector

StatCom: Attie Gunter

082 990 5957 Craft: Queenie Paine – 5.5m RIB,

Falcon Rescuer – 4.5m rescue craft, Discovery Rescue

Runner 9 NEEDS: A data projector

STN 28A PORT ST JOHNS

STN 34 YZERFONTEIN

☎

StatCom:

Craft: NEEDS:

John Costello

082 550 5430 Freemason’s Way – 5.5m RIB Rescue runner

☎

STN 29 AIR SEA RESCUE StatCom:

NEEDS:

André Beuster

082 990 5980 Tools for toolbox, data projector for training, diving kit bags

☎

STN 30 AGULHAS StatCom: Reinard Geldenhuys

082 990 5952 Craft: Vodacom Rescuer VII –

8.5m RIB, I&J Rescuer IV

– 4.7m RIB NEEDS: Compressor

☎

Thanks to...

The disaster-management students from Stenden University, Port Alfred, for donating a brand-new data projector to Station 11 (Port Alfred). This will make training days so much more comfortable.

☎

StatCom: Rudi Rogers

082 498 7330 Craft: Rotary Onwards – 7.3m RIB,

Spirit of Iffley – 4.2m rescue craft NEEDS: A data projector

☎

STN 36 OYSTER BAY StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

Mark Mans

083 653 6387 Pierre – 4.7m RIB, Oyster Bay I (jet-ski) 4x4 Tractor

☎

STN 37 JEFFREYS BAY StatCom:

Craft:

NEEDS:

Rieghard Janse van Rensburg 079 916 0390 Loved 1s 24: – 4.2m rescue craft, two jet-skis, Discovery Rescue Runner 12 Aircon units for ops room, Pelican cases

☎

additional needs • Blankets • Towels • Energy bars • Prizes for fundraising • Bottled water • GoPro cameras for training SEA RESCUE • WINTER 2014 • 39

Profile

SALT WATER in his

VeiNS

Station 37 (Jeffreys Bay) radio controller Kenyon Clegg tells us how he eventually found his ‘place by the sea’

W

hy did I join the NSRI? To answer this I have to go back in time to my birth 73 years ago in Liverpool in the UK. My mother was from a small village on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales. In the days of sail before 1920, the area laid claim to having more merchant marine captains than anywhere else in the UK. My grandfather drowned in the Bay of Biscay, so perhaps I have the sea in my veins? In my early years I well remember visiting the village and seeing the RNLI lifeboat go through its drills and thinking how dramatic and exciting it was. There is now a new lifeboat there, a huge boat rather like a powerful tug that does duty in the Irish Sea. I had hoped one day to live at the sea. But it was not to be for a very long time.

Our family emigrated to South Africa when I was 12 years old, and our home on the Witwatersrand was miles from the sea. Later I began working in the former Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia as a cartographer, surveyor and prospector, with never a ship in sight. I then moved on from bush-whacking to teaching.

40 • Sea Rescue • WINTER 2014

After some years, our arrival in Oranjemund on the West Coast seemed to offer a life at the seaside, but there the sea is so rough most of the time that boating takes place only at the yacht club lake. Later we relocated to Kimberley, but a hole in the ground is hardly a substitute for the ocean. By this time I had moved into the field of labour relations. Eventually I bought a little holiday house in Jeffreys Bay, to which we would retreat for holidays and long weekends. Upon retirement we moved to our house just a hundred metres from the sea. At last!

One day in early 2012, there was an appeal in the local newspaper. The NSRI needed volunteers and would we visit Station 37 to see whether we would like to sign up. The station commander, Rieghard Janse van Rensburg, didn’t have a difficult

job persuading me. At my age I couldn’t see what I could do other than make coffee and braai the wors. I soon realised that, to make a real contribution, I should sit for the radio ticket, which I did. Phew! It was quite a swot. Now I am very proud to be one of three radio controllers at the base.

I enjoy the camaraderie of the station and being able to work with a wide range of younger men and women. I have become a member of a fine team, a second family, well led and committed to saving lives on our waters. I also write up the minutes of our monthly crew meeting, order the clothing, have organised a recruitment day, and can still make coffee and braai the wors!

I’ve come full circle. Why did I join?

There are many intangibles, but I joined because I can offer my time without payment, do something useful for the community and have a wonderful time as a member of the youngest station in the country. I wouldn’t miss it.

But that’s the short answer. SR

I have become a member of a fine team, a second family, well led and committed to saving lives on our waters.

Photographs: RRAD Photography

Far left: Kenyon Clegg on duty. Above: With Charné Chamberlain, the station’s youngest and newest recruit.

Left: The impressive Jeffreys Bay base.

VISIT THE CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW 10-12 October 2014 at the CTICC and V&A Waterfront

CAPE TOWN I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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SPEAKER SERIES 2014* • • • • • • • • • •

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Threats to Sharks

* Subject to change, check the website for more details.

ADULTS R80 • SCHOLARS R20 • YACHT/BOAT CLUB MEMBERS (IN POSSESSION OF VALID MEMBERSHIP CARD) R40 ENTRANCE FEE INCLUDES TRANSPORT BETWEEN VENUES

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Contact us on: Tel: 031 584 2600 Fax: 031 584 2602 e-mail: hullinsurance@eikos.co.za website: www.eikosboatinginsurance.com Eikos Risk Applications (Pty) Ltd trading as Eikos Boating is an Authorised Financial Services Provider: License number 481