Castlegar Search and Rescue speaks to boating safety and public involvement
By Contributor
May 18 – 24 was Canada’s National Safe Boating Awareness Week. Along with festivities and fun events, the Canadian Safe Boating Council sent out a safety message that most boating accidents are avoidable, if operators follow the safety guidelines. We wish all boating enthusiasts a safe and enjoyable boating season.
Castlegar Search and Rescue will also be out on the local water ways with the Jet Boat and Sea-Doos. We have a dedicated team of swift water personnel, as well as boat and Sea-Doo operators. Each pilot needs to log 20 hours of operation time to remain operational. Some of the techniques we practice are quick, very sharp turns, pinning (holding the bow to a grounded point or pillar), and rescue of people. When this training is occurring it is easy to mistake the practice of making sharp turns as doing “donuts“ or pinning as “doing nothing”.
We were out practicing on Mother’s Day and later received notification that we had disturbed some members of the public by practicing sharp turns. We apologise for this, as it is never our intent to interfere with anyone’s pleasure of being outdoors.
We are very open to receiving public input on how we can improve our services to our community. Should anyone have comments, please call our President at 250-226-6927. We are accepting new members and will be providing the Provincial Ground Search and Rescue Training Course this fall. If you are interested in Search and Rescue, but do not wish to be in the field, we are also interested in members who would assist at our mobile command post. Specific duties are radio communication, computer technician, incident bookkeeper, accountant and general assistant. Now is an ideal time to join our Search and Rescue Society. Just call the above number to get all the information you need.
Should anyone want to have direct contact with us, or just check out our operations base and equipment, please drop by our Open House on Wednesday, July 31 at 6 pm for hots dogs and refreshments.
We are located at 202 Beresford Road in Blueberry (the old Fire Hall).
Have a safe boating season and hope to see you at our Open House!
CSAR Board
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