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STILBAAI NEWS AND VIDEO - Sea Rescue was established 50 years ago after a fishing trawler of Stilbaai sank. Recently history was made again in this coastal town when a unique 10-day full-time rescue course was held from 25 June to 6 July.
Traditionally the NSRI run part-time courses with weekly sessions spaced over six months. After a recent call for new crew and the reaction to an advertising campaign, a full-time course for a group of volunteers who were able to commit two weeks of their time was structured with a compacted curriculum. It will now be reviewed and refined by the NSRI in their effort to keep on learning and improving.
The course was attended by cadets from Stilbaai, Witsand, Agulhas, Mossel Bay and Riversdale. It was presented by Bruce Sandmann and Enrico Menezies from the NSRI HQ Training Centre.
The course included vessel orientation, shipboard fires and safety, navigation and chart work, radio and control room procedures, pyrotechnics and basic firefighting, general seamanship, collision avoidance regulations, flags and hand signals, first aid, dealing with stress, anchoring and veering down, mooring and setting up mooring lines, man overboard drills and patient recovery, night navigation and night seamanship, emergency procedures and tow lines.
For Edwin Jones, who has been living in Witsand for a few months now and has joined the NSRI Station 33, he realised just how little one actually knows and how much can go wrong in rescue operations. He was excited to return to his base ready to learn even more and apply his knowledge.
Watch a video below:
Eugene van der Walt from Stilbaai, an enthusiastic kayak angler who grew up at the coast, said the NSRI was an organisation he just saw in the distance until he decided to react to the newspaper advert and decided to get involved. He then realised that the volunteers are willing and committed to risk their lives to save others and that is one characteristic that glues them together like a family.
Back, from left: Enrico Menezies, Albert Smith, Charles de Beer, Stefan Grove, Eugene van der Walt, Revan Heppel and Debbie Fraser. Front: Roan Scott, Edwin Jones, Carlien van der Bank, Shawn Thompson and Bruce Sandman. Photos: Elza Thiart-Botes, correspondent
According to Sandmann and Menezies, the course was a huge success and they are extremely satisfied with the high level of the students who included scholars, engineers, a farmer and entrepreneurs.
Read a previous article: Unique course for NSRI crews
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