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topside
Volume 114, Issue 4
TWO PLUS FOUR EQUALS RESCUE
Article by Auxiliarist Barbara Sama
T raining missions are never dull. We practice team work, we drill on towing and we enjoy a meal in fellowship. But this first
trip for two trainees proved to be a memorable day.
Trainee Mark Gramer seemed to be at ease, but it wasn’t for me, Barbara Sama. This was the first time on a boat that didn’t
have a theater or a swimming pool with a bar at the end. Instead of a bathing suit, I wore my ODUs with a SAR vest over
my PFD.
Class room training is great, but nothing beats hands on training. We were each assigned a watch area. I had the stern.
It was a whole new world. Seeing the coast line rush by and the variety of boats cruising by in its own organized madness. I
wondered about the owners and their wonderful toys.
About three hours into the training, I notice one small boat close to the shore line. A man was fishing but he kept dropping
his pole and then picking it back up. It didn’t make sense why he did this. I kept my eyes on him as we passed by. He noticed
that I was watching him and he tossed down the pole but again, then slapped the side of his legs as if he was giving up. But
then he would retrieve the pole.
He was standing in the middle of the boat, but it was leaning heavily to the stern. Now this guy is tall and big. So why was
the bow up in the air and the stern almost level with the water?
Then I saw another person behind him that was in the water. He had touched ground so he was walking back up to the
shore. He had stopped and turned around. He waved one arm as if to say hi, but continued on to the shore. I called out to
our deck boss, Manny and told him something is wrong over there.
The Coxswain Kurt turned the boat around to investigate. As we approached, again the man had picked up his pole and was
actually reeling in a fish. Not being able to get to close in fear of grounding our boat, Kurt could see that he was in distress
and that the boat was “swamped.” It was sinking
Having only a child size PFD, he was instructed to put it on as the team kicked into rescue mode.
I grabbed my camera and the crew went into automatic. It was all a blur. Jay and Bill were pulling this guy on board as
Manny and Mark held onto our guys for safety.
The guy was in shock plus a diabetic. He was not prepared for any emergency. We also got his boating partner back on our
boat with the help of the Gold Side. They were safely returned to the port by Chesapeake basin. We began to breathe again.
Kurt told us later that week that the two men recovered their boat and sent a picture of them with proper PFD!
RESCUE CREW
Owen’s Landing, Md. From left to right; Jay Birkmire, Mark
Gramer, Barbara Sama, Kurt Sarac, Manny Pedrosso, Bill Tigani
(absent).
Photo by Don Merrill.