Coast Guard Auxiliary Fifth District, Northern Region, Flotilla 12-09
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Flotilla 12-09 Auxilarists Receive Awards
Nov 10, 2009 at the Station Indian River Flotilla meeting:
Text by Richard Stevenson, Photos by John Ballantyne
Photos from the left: John Ballantyne received the Sustained Service Award; John Umbel received his Boat Crew Certificate; Ron Martz received his Boat Crew Certificate; (lower Row) John Morrill received the Sustained Service Award; Angelo Caputo received the Sustained Service Award. Except for his own award, FC Angelo Caputo is the award presenter. FVC Richard Stevenson presented the Sustained Service Award to FC Caputo in the last photo.
Congratulations to all!
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Crew Qualification Examination On Indian River
October 1, 2009
Text and Photo by Bud Noe
Two Flotilla 12-09 members achieved Crew Qualification on October 1, 2009. They are John Umbel and Ron Martz. The Qualification Examiner (QE) was Dan Hartman from Cape May.
From left: Ron Martz and John Umbel with Dan Hartman (QE from Cape May).
Congratulations to Ron and John!
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Training Drill On Indian River
September 22nd 2009
Articles and Photographs by John Ballantyne
Smooth sailing on this spectacular early fall day when two Auxiliary vessels depart Bay Colony marina for a day of crew training. Two new applicants for crew and one crewman re-evaluation are scheduled in just a few weeks, so these auxiliarists need to finish any tasks not already signed-off in their training manuals.
On the training boat from the left are Dave Killian, Bud Noe (Coxswain), Ron Martz and John Umbel who are watching Denny Nield affix the tow line to the "distressed" boat. Not shown are "distressed" boat owner and coxswain Andy Smith and crewman/photographer John Ballantyne.
Below is a water-height view of a stern tow.
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It is a lot of fun for all involved as illustrated at left by John Umbel's grin and at right by Dennis Nield.
Not all the training is slow and tedious. The Auxiliary also can move it out as illustrated by Bud Noe's vessel in the photograph as taken from Andy Smith's vessel.
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New Vessel Examiner Receives Qualification.
Kay Carnahan receives qualification for Vessel Examiner (VE) during the September 8, 2009 Flotilla 12-09 meeting at Station Indian River Coast Guard station in Delaware. Presenting the VE Qualification is Flotilla Commander (FC) Angelo Caputo. Congratulations, Kay.
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Coast Guard conducts Towing Drills With The Auxiliary
August 11th 2009
Articles and Photographs by John Ballantyne
It is awesome to witness close up the amazing precision with which the Coast Guard coxswain can maneuver the 47 foot cutter. You can see that we are very close to it because they are taking us into tow on the Indian River bay in Delaware on Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009. Our crew is John Ballantyne (crewman), Denny Nield (crewman) and Andy Smith (Coxswain and Aux vessel owner). We are pretending to have a disabled vessel so that the Coast Guard could train crews in both stern and side-tows.
CG preparing to take our vessel under tow by the CG 47 foot Vessel. Impressive how maneuverable this vessel is.
We are now under stern tow with the CG Cutter.
Then we repeated the exercise with a different CG crew on the Rigid-inflatable, also a very fast and capable vessel.
Auxiliarists Andy Smith (L) and Denny Nield during towing exercises with the Coast Guard from Station Indian River, Delaware.
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Youth Camp (Camp Colwell) at the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association
August 11th and 12th 2009
Article by RBSA Staff
Photographs by John Ballantyne
Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-09 helped make both August afternoons at the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association (RBSA) a special experience by presenting an interactive water safety program to an audience from the Delaware National Guard Youth Camp (Camp Colwell) at the Bethany Beach Training Site. The "campers" aged 9 to 17 are dependents of active and retired Delaware National Guard Soldiers and Airmen. Many of the 110 campers have parents who are currently deployed.
Flotilla 12-09 members (left) Dick Stevenson, Denny Nield and (not shown) John Ballantyne joined the RBSA flotilla and volunteer members plus teams from the Center of Inland Bays, and Sea Scout Eagle 198 to facilitate the two afternoons of fun for nearly 90 kids and counselors.
Campers got boating experience in a flotilla of day sailors, catamarans and power boats which were skippered by RSBA staff and volunteers. Dick Stevenson conducted three Power Point presentations each day about boating basics and safety. This is the first year that CG Aux Flotilla 12-09 and the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association have participated in the Camp Colwell experience. All agreed that it was a worthwhile experience.
You may view a photo show of the fun the campers experienced online at the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association website and clicking on the link to National Guard Camp Clinic pictures:
http://rbsa.org/Photo Albums/2009 Nat Guard Camp/Pages/DSC04407.htm
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CPR Training, March 19 and July 15, 2009
Article and Photographs by John Ballantyne
What would you do?
Someone just grabbed their chest in pain and collapses to the floor. No pulse, no breathing.
Nine auxiliarists, from two CPR classes for Flotilla 12-09, recently have been trained to determine if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is appropriate and if yes, how to begin, what to do, and when to stop. The class instructor for both classes is Ray Alt from Delaware Mid-Sussex Rescue Squad Station 91 who provides a personable and informative session based on a computer-driven video from the American Heart Association.
The first group is trained on March 19, 2009. The class was uniquely for Flotilla 12-09 participants who all passed are Ronald Martz, Richard Stevenson and John Morrill. John Morrill is the organizer.
Dennis Nield and John Umbel practice CPR during the second class.
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Flotilla 12-09 CPR attendees during the second CPR class from the left:
Dennis Nield, Bud Noe, Bud Trainor, Instructor Raymond Alt, John Ballantyne, John Umbel, Alan Rohmer. Everyone passed and gained CPR qualification.
Congratulations to all.
Thanks to John Morrill for organizing both of these classes and to Instructor Raymond Alt for sharing his time and expertise.
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Summer Picnic, July 14, 2009
Article by John Ballantyne, Photos by many folks using Alan Rohmer's camera
The summer brings thoughts of picnics when not on the water. So Flotilla 12-09 replaces the July monthly meeting with a picnic and social event. Here you can see those who stuffed hamburgers and hot dogs down before getting into the yummy desserts, not to ignore Denny's churned-right-on-the-spot homemade ice cream! Thanks to Alan Rohmer for organizing and to Bud Trainer for frying up the burgers and dogs. It was a fun time and was without the huge thunderstorm that visited at last years event. The weather was beautiful!
Thirteen folks came to Redden State Forest, just north of Georgetown, Delaware. Flotilla 12-09 members were John Ballantyne, Denny Nield, Bud Trainor, Angelo Caputo, John Morrill, Andy Smith, John Umbel and Alan Rohmer. Guests were Colleen Wright, Marj Shannon, Nancy Trainor, Barbara Umbel and interested person Jeff Helminiak.
Andy Smith supervises as he can be known to need to do. Bud Trainor does a wonderful job on the burgers and dogs...
Time to eat! Andy Smith is first in the dessert line beginning with Denny's home made ice cream!
The lineup of Flotilla 12-09 members at the picnic from the left:
John Ballantyne, Bud Trainor, Alan Rohmer, John Morrill, Angelo Caputo, Andy Smith, Denny Nield.
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Training Patrol IR June 27, 2009
Article and Photos by John Ballantyne
Could not have picked a more beautiful June 27, 2009, morning to conduct a training patrol in Delaware’s Indian River Bay. Located near the Station Indian River Coast Guard facility, our departure from the Bay Colony marina is delayed a little only because jumper cables are required to start the Flotilla 12-09 facility.
As the pictures show, the day included practicing numerous stern tows and side tows with each vessel trading the “distressed” and “rescuer” roles. At the end of the day we side-tow the flotilla facility back into Bay Colony marina which is not known for wide channels between the floating docks. However, the excellent piloting by Coxswain James Noe made it look easy.
Two vessels have six Auxiliarists aboard -- two coxswains, three crewmen and one trainee. The coxswains are Richard Stephenson and James Noe, crew include John Ballantyne, John Morrill and David Killian, with Ronald Martz who is in crew training.
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Free Vessel Examinations at the Lewes Yacht Club
A total of 25 Vessel Safety Checks were completed at the Lewes Yacht Club on May 23, 2009. Our Flotilla 12-09 has a number of qualified Vessel Examiners who welcome your request for a free inspection in the area around the Rehoboth and Indian River Bays. Your boat does not need to be in the water to be checked. Look here for more information about these free and complimentary inspections. Photos by Flotilla member Kay Carnahan.
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Lewes Polar Bear Plunge-February 2009
Article and Photos by John Ballantyne
It is a cold, blustery first day of February, 2009, at the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. More than 2,700 folks (many who are scantily clad) gather to deliberately dunk themselves into the frigid (40° F) Atlantic Ocean. The event is a fund raiser for the Special Olympics Delaware and the atmosphere is filled with fun and a sense of contribution
Flotilla 12-09 Volunteers from the left: Dick Stevenson, John Ballantyne, Denny Nield,Bill Tower, John Morrill, Bud Noe, and Ken Lynch.
Seven volunteers from Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-09 are on hand with portable radios. We work closely with the Event Organizers and Delaware Marine Police to assure a solid communication link between them and the Coast Guard vessel which is just beyond the surf line. Also, the Lewes Fire Department was showing off its new catamaran by shooting water high into the air from both of the water cannons while turning around about its own axis. It was a great show.
The Lewes Fire Department Catamaran was a real show-off with the water spray high in the air while rotating around its center axis in the shallow water. This vessel was also monitoring the communication between the Coast Guard vessel and the Auxiliarists ashore.
The Coast Guard rigid-inflatable comes from Station Indian River, DE. The Lewes Fire Boat from Lewes DE. Both provided a safety watch in case an unwary “Plunger” got too far from shore.
"The event went off without a hitch for the 18th consecutive year and raised $490,000," reported a Special Olympic Delaware press release.
Still, those of us from Flotilla 12-09 were proud to fulfill the Coast Guard Auxiliary motto, "Sempre Paratus" (Always Ready).
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Date last updated: 11 Nov 2009
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