Buy a drink for the US Coast Guard

Tacoma Mud Flats

Tacoma Mud Flats

Have star, will steer by
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Tacoma Mud Flats
Another day, another Coast Guard rescue.  50-knot winds, 5-foot waves, 41 degree seas.

Video embedded in:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article258222548.html

This boat doesn't have sails, but it still could be you or I in a similar situation, sometime in the future (perhaps down to that extra $500 I didn't spend in deferred maintenance, getting X on the Y fixed this season - we all do this - small failures lead to a chain of bigger events). 

If you keep watching, there are another dozen point-of-view rescues behind it.  No fancy narration, just events as they unfolded.

The Coast Guard by their own account, save 4000 to 5000 lives a year.

Here is a spreadsheet of the value of their "product" 1985 to 2017:

https://www.bts.gov/content/us-coast-guard-search-and-rescue-statistics-fiscal-year

I looked for a statistic on how many people they fish out of water a week, but couldn't find one.

But I did find this statistic, which is sobering: "...The Coast Guard is smaller than the New York City Police Department..."

I took the time to watch these videos and I learned a few things and will likely be a better seaman for it.  Certainly a more careful one.

We've all had varying experiences with the USCG. I am sure they range from A to Z on the Sailing Anarchy scale.  I'm sure will hear of a few in this thread.

But whenever I find some Coast Guard folks in a bar, I make sure their drinks are paid for, because that possibly could be me or someone I know in one of those baskets in one of those videos.  All in XX knot winds, lead by a concierge who came down a thin wire and put his life on the line to guide his charges, in an aircraft that is unnatural to flight, sometimes with only an 8 minutes fuel reserve to spare.

But note, they do have a really neat sailing ship, and every member crews on it for a few weeks as part of their tour.

800px-EAGLE_under_full_sail_in_2013.jpg

So join me in buying a drink for the USCG.  The life they save could be...

 
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Monkey

Monkey

Super Anarchist
10,361
2,034
Tacoma Mud Flats said:
Another day, another Coast Guard rescue.  50-knot winds, 5-foot waves, 41 degree seas.

Video embedded in:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article258222548.html

This boat doesn't have sails, but it still could be you or I in a similar situation, sometime in the future (perhaps down to that extra $500 I didn't spend in deferred maintenance, getting X on the Y fixed this season - we all do this - small failures lead to a chain of bigger events). 

If you keep watching, there are another dozen point-of-view rescues behind it.  No fancy narration, just events as they unfolded.

The Coast Guard by their own account, save 4000 to 5000 lives a year.

Here is a spreadsheet of the value of their "product" 1985 to 2017:

https://www.bts.gov/content/us-coast-guard-search-and-rescue-statistics-fiscal-year

I looked for a statistic on how many people they fish out of water a week, but couldn't find one.

But I did find this statistic, which is sobering: "...The Coast Guard is smaller than the New York City Police Department..."

I took the time to watch these videos and I learned a few things and will likely be a better seaman for it.  Certainly a more careful one.

We've all had varying experiences with the USCG. I am sure they range from A to Z on the Sailing Anarchy scale.  I'm sure will hear of a few in this thread.

But whenever I find some Coast Guard folks in a bar, I make sure their drinks are paid for, because that possibly could be me or someone I know in one of those baskets in one of those videos.  All in XX knot winds, lead by a concierge who came down a thin wire and put his life on the line to guide his charges, in an aircraft that is unnatural to flight, sometimes with only an 8 minutes fuel reserve to spare.

But note, they do have a really neat sailing ship, and every member crews on it for a few weeks as part of their tour.

View attachment 491298

So join me in buying a drink for the USCG.  The life they save could be...
Click to expand...
Our local Coast Guard station is right across the street from our yacht club. We give everyone stationed there honorary member privileges. They rarely have to pay for their own drinks. We appreciate those folks. 

 
Liquid

Liquid

Super Anarchist
4,166
626
I met a retired USCG helo pilot, he was the ripe old age of 48...

His favorite flight deployment was the Bering Sea with San Francisco a close 2nd.

 
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D

Driftwood47

New member
36
14
Tacoma Mud Flats said:
But note, they do have a really neat sailing ship, and every member crews on it for a few weeks as part of their tour.
Click to expand...
Not every member. Its a training ship for the Academy. Only cadets sail on it. Everyone else (Officer Candidates, Enlisted) does not. Granted, there are permanent party for her (USCGC EAGLE), and they also solicit for extra bodies when they sail across the pond. I nearly took one of the solicitations back around 04 or 05  when I was an E5. They were headed to Ireland and England for the summer. Still kick myself for not doing it.

-Jay

 
Vieux Port

Vieux Port

Nautæ
19
2
le Port
Mighty C130 on station, searching 460 miles out.



June 21, 2022, 7:31 PM PDT - NBC News

By Dennis Romero

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a couple who went missing after setting sail for the Azores, Portuguese islands in the North Atlantic, officials said.

Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, both 65-year-olds from Virginia Beach, Virginia, reported hitting rough weather about 460 miles east of the Virginia Coast on June 13, said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Connie Terrell.

They set sail from Hampton, Virginia, June 8, with plans to reach the Azores and then sail on to Greece, she said. Jones' daughter reported Friday the pair had been incommunicado for days, the Coast Guard said in a statement Tuesday. The daughter declined to comment.

1655960342055.png

The couple's boat, Kyklades.U.S. Coast Guard

Terrell said a Coast Guard HC-130J plane conducted search and rescue flights over the area where the couple reported rough weather took place Monday and Tuesday, but no evidence of them or the boat was found.

According to Jones' Facebook page, the couple had been refreshing the wooden monohull sailboat at the Fort Monroe marina in Hampton before setting sail. The name on the boat's stern is Kyklades, the Greek word used to describe circle of islands at the heart of the civilization during the Bronze Age.

On May 16, Jones posted about unsettled weather at the marina, writing, "It came out of nowhere! The wind was so strong it leaned the boat to port side. I guess it's a little taste of what to expect on occasion."

On the same day, in what appeared to be her latest post about the vessel, Jones celebrated completing installation of a safety net intended to protect her dog. "I no longer have to worry about Buddy falling overboard," she said.

During Tuesday morning's flight over the Atlantic, "Unfortunately they were not able to make contact with that vessel," Terrell said.

An urgent marine radio broadcast in that area of the ocean asks boaters to report any evidence of the missing couple or vessel, she said.

The Fifth Coast Guard District Command Center is in charge of the search.

“In situations like this, where there are so many unknowns, our coordination efforts need to cast a wide and intentional net,” Coast Guard Chief Brian Gainey said in a Tuesday statement.

Gainey said the search involves attempts to track the pair's cellphones as well as the boat's radio.

"It’s a lot of detective work," he said, "but it’s all in service to finding these two individuals and bringing them home to their families.
 
N

nolatom

Super Anarchist
3,479
492
New Orleans
This missing sloop KYKLADES probably should be a thread by itself (rather than a thread about the Coast Guard generally), and it does not look good. Set sail from Hampton on the 8th for the Azores, no contact since the 13th when bad weather reported (privately? or to the Coast Guard?), apparently no Mayday or EPIRB detected, this really wouldn't give the Coast Guard RCC much to go on.

And the NBC news article was a bit hard to follow, I thought. She doesn't look like a "wooden" monohull, for one thing.

I really but guardedly hope this turns out well, and kudos to the Coast Guard for their efforts thus far.
 
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Talchotali

Talchotali

Capt. Marvel's Wise Friend
108
39
Vancouverium BC
FOUND - Now 40 miles off coast, appear in good health.

from wavy.com:

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The U.S. Coast Guard has found two 65-year-olds from Virginia Beach safe off the coast of Chincoteague after they were reported overdue earlier this week from a sailing trip to Portugal.


Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones were set to return to Hampton on Monday from their trip to the Azores region in Portugal, but never returned. In a Friday update, USCG Public Affairs said the couple was found in their boat and appeared to be in good health. More information was set to be released.


Coast Guard Fifth District command center watchstanders were first notified about the couple back on June 17. Jones’ daughter said she hadn’t received any communication from her mother since they left and was concerned for their well-being.


The two left Hampton on June 8 on the 36-foot sailboat Kyklades, headed to the Azores.
 
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Tacoma Mud Flats

Tacoma Mud Flats

Have star, will steer by
120
74
Tacoma Mud Flats
More details - Lightning

NEWS
Missing Virginia Beach boaters located safely and are en-route to Hampton, U.S. Coast Guard says
By Caitlyn Burchett and Ali Sullivan

The Virginian-Pilot
Jun 24, 2022 at 3:14 pm

Virginia Beach sailors Yanni Nikopoulos and Gale Jones were safely located Friday and are en route to Hampton. (Coast Guard Fifth District)
Two Virginia Beach natives reported overdue during a cross-Atlantic sailing trip to Portugal were safely located, the Coast Guard announced Friday.

Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, both 65, contacted the Coast Guard, saying they were safe and en route to Hampton. The pair were about 80 miles east of Chincoteague at the time of the call, according to a Coast Guard release.

“We are extremely happy to learn Yanni and Dale are found and are safe,” James Cifers, operations unit watchstander in the Fifth District Command Center, said in a statement. “It is truly wonderful the pair will be reunited with their friends and family soon.”

The pair are not in distress and have not requested assistance, the release said.

Nikopoulos and Jones were reported missing Monday by Jones’ daughter. She contacted the Coast Guard Fifth District command center June 17, reporting she hadn’t received any communication from her mother since the pair departed June 13.

Nikopoulos and Jones were attempting to pilot a 36-foot sailboat named Kyklades to Portugal’s Azores, a cluster of islands in the mid-Atlantic, when they went missing.

Coast Guard spokesperson Breanna Centeno said the pair left June 8 from Old Comfort Point Marina in Hampton. They were en route to Azores, with plans to continue on to Greece. But on June 13, they notified family members that heavy weather had damaged their sailboat and they were turning around to head back to Hampton.

The missing boaters were about 460 miles east of Virginia Beach at the time of the call.

“The pair reportedly were struck by lightning after sailing through inclement weather,” Friday release said. “After rigging a spare sail, the pair sailed to Virginia.”

Jones’ daughter indicated she was expecting Jones and Nikopoulos to return to Hampton by Monday, Centeno said.
 
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