Winner of the 2007 and 2009 PICA award for Excellence in Magazine Publishing a n d J o u r n a l i s m i n t h e c at e g o ry B u s i n e s s to B u s i n e s s : E s s e n t i a l S e r v i c e s
AUTUMN 2011 R14.95 > Free to NSRI members
rip currents the danger that lurks below
The colourful lives of
sea urchins
gered tieners uit noodgevaar
THE OLD SHANGHAI FIRECRACKER FACTORY 700432R
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AUTUMN 2011
CONTENTS 10 02
CEO’s letter AND READERS’ comments
10
VASGEVANG
14
14 32
CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
34
piercing beauty
SAVING THE SUNSET CRUISE
37
A THORNY ISSUE
18
in the news
38
station directory
24
FAir WINDS, DEAR FRIEND
40
to the rescue
26
MORE HANDS ON DECK
28
LEARNING THE ROPES
30
WHAT LIES BENEATH
A message from Ian Wienburg, your views, winning letter, and a chance to win with our subscription drive
Twee tieners se nagmerrie-avontuur op die Kaaimansrivier
East London crew’s mammoth 13-hour rescue mission to save a stricken yacht and those on board
Thanks, fundraising drives and other news
We pay tribute to Dave Sievwright, NRSI stalwart, family man and friend
A closer look at the SA Whale Disentanglement Network and the teamwork involved in freeing whales in distress
We discover the world of the sea urchin
Sea urchins are small and fairly benign to humans, but here’s what to do if you accidentally get spiked by one
Station details and how you can help with donations
Going in search of a man and his car
News from the Life boat Circle
Despite being highly qualified, David Spangenberg joined Sea Rescue and asked to start at the bottom. We find out why
Why rip currents are so dangerous and what to do if you get caught in one
SUBSCRIBE TO SEA RESCUE MAGAZINE AND STAND A CHANCE TO WIN A LUMI-NOX WATCH WORTH R3 750. see page 5 for more details.
34
PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW INGRAM
from the helm
RED TAPE BLUES ‘The power of the Municipality to make grants in aid is regulated by Section 156 of the Constitution as read with Section 8 of the Municipal Systems Act (MSA), Act 32 of 2000. Grants in aid should improve the opportunity for the Municipality to elicit the support of external organisations to deliver those services to communities that fall within the Municipality’s area of responsibility in a way that allows the Municipality to create an enabling environment for community development and partnerships.’ After wading through that preamble, you may be curious as to whether your local municipality supports NSRI. The answer is probably ‘no’. Nevertheless, we still actively pursue all opportunities and try not to get too disheartened when we meet with councillor after councillor and then read the letters that inevitably begin, ‘Unfortunately this item was not discussed due to time constraints...’ All this despite our having spent time on all sorts of proposals and submissions, including expensive studies, such as environmental impact assessments. My heart broke at the end of last year when I heard that we had received zero rand and zero cents from the City of Cape Town, even though we have eight rescue bases in the area. The fact that Western Province Surf Lifesaving got R3-million actually softened the blow since we work very closely with them and admire their work.
We have, however, been generously and faithfully supported by some municipalities and thank them for their aid: • St 5 (Durban) and St 6 (PE) have both enjoyed regular support, and received a handsome R174 100 in November and R150 000 in January respectively. • St 17 (Hermanus) received a whopping R100 000 from the Overstrand Municipality. • St 15 (Mossel Bay) and St 34 (Yzerfontein) each received R30 000. The Yzerfontein council has been supportive in the establishment of a rescue base and, in addition, they have given free water, electricity and the use of a toilet facility. The electrical department provided a cherry picker to assist in erecting the radio mast. • St 20 (Shelly Beach) was given a grant of R3 809 in June last year and St 32 (Port Edward) received R3 200. • St 33 (Witsand) received support with the zoning and building of the rescue base. • In previous years, St 7 (East London) received a grant of R4 000. • St 31 (Still Bay) reports that the municipality has helped the rescue base with various small jobs around the station. • St 14 (Plettenberg Bay) receives a number of free services from the Bitou Council, which translates into a noticeable cost saving to their expenses. • In Knysna, the council is supportive and some years back sponsored Station 12’s 5.5m rescue boat Spirit of Madiba. • St 10 (Simon’s Town) has a good relationship with its local ward councillor and municipal services. The station is given permission to host street collections every year, but no grants have been received of late. If you are any good at writing letters, we ask you to please get involved. If your local council has supported us, please send them a quick note of thanks. If not, perhaps you could give them some encouragement. If we don’t keep trying, we’ll never be heard.
IAN WIENBURG, CEO Ps. If any municipalities have anonymously donated cash into our boat collection tins at the till points of their local supermarkets, we do apologise for not mentioning your contribution.
OUR REGIONAL OFFICES
DURBAN: Durban Rescue Base, Small Craft Basin, Point Waterfront, Durban 4001 / PO Box 38446, Point 4069 Tel: +27 31 332-9772 Fax: +27 31 332-9773 PORT ELIZABETH: 216 Cape Road, Mill Park, Port Elizabeth 6001 / PO Box 7909, Newton Park, Port Elizabeth 6055 Tel: +27 41 374-8315 Fax: +27 41 374-8316 GAUTENG: Bouhof, 31 Robin Hood Road, Robindale, Randburg 2194 / PO Box 3432, Pinegowrie 2123 Tel: +2711 888-5451 Fax: +2711 888-5458
02 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
ILLUSTRATION: DARRYL EDWARDES
letters
wenbrief Geluk aan James en René Bosman wat ons wenbrief geskryf het. Dié storie het ons lekker laat lag. Julle Slaley wyn is op pad. Ons storie is ’n bietjie anders want ons lewens was nooit in gevaar nie – party mense se ego het net ’n groot knou gekry. Maar dit hou mens darem naby die aarde! Ons bly in Bloubergstrand en moes vir besigheid PE toe gaan. Ons besluit toe om ons boot, ’n 18.5-voet Flamingo genaamd Kittykatoo te haak en die naweek by Plettenbergbaai deur te bring. Besigheid afgehandel gaan ons toe die Vrydagoggend visvang in die see naby Robberg. Ons het ons aas gekry, gumboots en natpakkies aangetrek en vir Kittykatoo in die rivier gesit. (James is ’n ervare seeman wat sy skipperslisensie al ’n rukkie het; ek’s dommerig met díe goed maar leer vinnig.) So ry ons die rivier af tot so 200m van die monding, waar ons eers stop om alles mooi uit te kyk, en daar gaan ons. Maar toe ons die tweede brander tref en James die boot wil draai, breek die stuurkabel. Chaos. Gelukkig bly ons bo, en iemand wat visvang op die wal sien ons het moeilikheid en gaan bel die NSRI. (Baie dankie!) Intussen spook ons verder. James sit die pyp in dat ons die enjin met die hand kan draai, maar díe steek toe vas – niks beweeg nie. Nou is ons al taamlik paniekerig. James gryp ’n spaan (so ’n feeble kleintjie van plastiek) en roei dat die sweet hom aftap tot ons oor al die branders is. Wat nou? Hy gooi die anker uit en ons trek ons reddingsbaadjies aan – ’n bietjie laat maar darem! ’n Boot vol toeriste wat gaan walvisse kyk, stop om te vra of ons oukei is. Ons vertel wat die probleem is, en die skipper bel ook die NSRI. Die toeriste neem foto’s van die gestrande boot met die twee dwase op. Ons bel ons kantoor in Kaapstad en vra dat iemand ons nommer vir die NSRI deurgee. Hulle bel ons toe, en daar kom Andrew, Andries, Matt en Jaco tot ons redding. Hulle haak ons boot, laai ons by hulle op Sally Joan, en vat ons na die karavaanpark se lanseerplek toe, waar hulle gereël het dat ons na ons motor en sleepwa geneem word en dat iemand ons die boot help uitsleep met ’n trekker. Almal was baie behulpsaam en vriendelik. Ons vat die boot na die Yamaha-plek, waar hulle dit toe sommer die Vrydagmiddag regmaak. Ná al die opwinding gaan kry ons vir ons ’n versterkinkie by die Deck restaurant. Saterdagoggend besluit ons om weer uit te gaan want as ’n perd jou afgooi dan moet jy weer opklim. Ons stop weer net voor die mond (en trek ons reddingsbaadjies betyds aan). Almal by die Deck het seker na hulle asems gesnak toe hulle sien hier kom die twee narre weer… Ons gaan toe mooi netjies uit – maar ons het min lus vir visvang want ons is bietjie bewerig. So gaan ons toe weer terug. James konsentreer so hard om die boot reg deur die branders te kry dat ons nie mooi oplet nie, en daar ry ons toe op ’n sandbank vas! Gelukkig kom ons darem self daar af, en stert tussen die bene is ons terug kamp toe en vat die Sondag die pad terug Kaap toe – tot groot blydskap van die hele NSRI, dink ek. Ons het ’n donasie gemaak om dankie te sê vir julle fantastiese werk. Ek dink daar moet so nou en dan sulkes soos ons wees wat almal ’n slag kan laat lag. Nogmaals baie dankie. Laat ons maar weet as julle weer bietjie pret wil hê! James en René Bosman en Kittykatoo, Bloubergstrand
ON OUR COVER
Kaaimans River Rescue Photograph by Andrew Ingram
The Crew THE PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP MANAGING EDITOR Wendy Maritz ART DIRECTOR Tara Keane ADVERTISING Jean Ramsay EXECUTIVE DirectorS Mark Beare, John Morkel address PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018 TEL +27 21 4 24-3517 FAX +27 21 424-3612 Email wmaritz@tppsa.co.za
Sea rescue head office +27 21 434-4011 web www.searescue.org.za marketing director Meriel Bartlett CELL 082 994 7555 Email merielb@searescue.org.za marketing MANAGER Andrew Ingram CELL 082 990 5977 Email andrewi@searescue.org.za NSRI Spokesman Craig Lambinon CelL 082 380 3800 Email lambinon@mweb.co.za Produced for the NSRI by The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018. Copyright The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without the prior permission of the editor. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not the NSRI. Offers are available while stocks last.
Reproduction Hirt & Carter Printing ABC Press, Cape Town ISBN 1812-0644
aircraft tragedy Our sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Gian-Paolo Ravazzotti, Gia Celori, Aletsia Krause, Marilize Compion, Sava Di Bella, Simon Hirschberg, Jody Jansen van Rensburg, Bronwyn Parsons and Alison van Staden. We will never forget. What a sad day. Well done, Station 14, and thanks, Station 12, for the help. You guys are real heroes. I have always admired you. David Steck
WEAR IN THE WORLD? Jean Stolze proudly sporting his Sea Rescue T-shirt. His parents, Lizelle and Rudolf Stolze, owners of Serendipity restaurant in Wilderness, were featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Sea Rescue, and are the sponsors of Station 23’s (Wilderness) 4.2m RIB.
The crew have been on my mind right from the sad start on Tuesday when the news first broke and I have prayed for you guys to be safe. You chaps, and those who assisted, are all incredible and deserve our sincere thanks for the work you do. Michele Batstone You are amazing people. As difficult as times get for you, your professionalism and integrity shine through. Once again, thank you for looking after the community, and allowing us to all feel safe and in capable hands! Stay strong through these tough times, and know that there are many who are thinking of you and supporting you. Jenni Green Such a tragic time... I admire the strength and bravery of the NSRI; this was not an easy task. However, you never cease to amaze people with your commitment to the community. Cheryl Dempster As a retired airline person I note with great pride the work the NSRI crew did on the recent PC12 accident near Robberg. John Dickson (UK) What an incredible bunch of guys. Thank you for handling such a sensitive situation with kindness, integrity and utter professionalism! This was a huge ask of you all and it was carried out, once again, without question. Thank you. Louzanne Collier-Sharp
04 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
UP THE RIVER… On 23 September last year, while on holiday at the Breede River mouth in Witsand, we went fishing quite far up the river. We got a call from the Breede River Lodge, enquiring about our safety as a gale was blowing. We were told to stay put if we were safe and to wait for the wind to die down and for the outgoing tide, because it would then be much safer to return to the harbour at the lodge. We decided to anchor in one of the many little bays out of the wind and wait for conditions to improve. On the way we saw a boat against the opposite bank and the skipper signalling that they were in trouble. I went closer and learnt that they had engine problems. I was asked to take him on tow, but realised that conditions were not favourable and because their boat was about twice the size of mine, I could put all of us at risk. The lives of the persons on the boat were not threatened, and I decided that the NSRI has all the resources to assist. I requested the staff at the Breede River Lodge to contact the NSRI at Station 33 (Witsand) and gave exact directions to the location of the boat in trouble. It was not long before crew responded and we saw them going up river and some time later on their way back with the boat in tow. One gets a warm feeling when you see these guys rescuing people who get into trouble. I realised that most of us take it for granted and maybe I need to be rescued one day. Thank you, Station 33, for your help. Quinton Marx, Secunda
A DAY OUT WITH STATION 21 I am a member of the SAPS stationed at Vanderkloof and involved in water policing on the Vanderkloof Dam. On 27 December last year, I had the privilege to be invited to accompany Station 21 (St Francis Bay) during the escorting of a jet-ski run on the ocean. I was at the base with Robin bright and early, where I was introduced to the station commander, Gary, and the coxswains for the day, Bob and Sarah. From the moment I arrived, they made me feel so welcome. After gear issue and a briefing, we were out to sea. The dedication and love of these volunteers were so visible. It is clear they have a task that is far and beyond the call of duty. They are called out in the dead of night to respond to help others while leaving their own loved ones at home. On our return, all equipment was washed and prepared for the next call that could come at any time, day or night. I cannot express my thanks and appreciation enough for what you guys taught me and for the work you do. Frans Stottelaar NSRI team to the rescue True to their name, the NSRI came to my rescue on Saturday 22 January at the yacht club. I was enjoying an outing with friends when, without warning, I felt hot and uncomfortable, and I apparently lapsed into a ‘dead faint’. Fortunately, Marcus and the NSRI team were at hand. They were absolutely wonderful – caring and concerned – and after all the necessary medical checks, they got me, so to speak, to my feet again. Thank you, Marcus, Shawn, Cheryl and my three faithful friends, who were there with me all the time. Mary Speed, Port Elizabeth
PHOTOGRAPHs: station 3 (table bay)
letters
THANKS FOR SUCCESSFUL MEDIVAC We at Diamond Shipping want to take this opportunity to thank you and the team from Station 3 (Table Bay) for the excellent medivac you afforded to our crew member on Sunday 23 January (pictured above). Your operation was absolutely of the highest standard and handled very professionally. Thank you for your excellent response time. Guinalda Nash, Diamond Shipping IN TIMES OF TRAGEDY The staff and congregation of the Methodist Church express our deep appreciation to Ray Farnham and the crew of Station 14 for your efficient and caring response to the tragic plane crash on Tuesday 8 February. It is most reassuring to know that we have such a wonderful emergency-response team in Plettenberg Bay. We are aware that the circumstances surrounding the recovery were very traumatic for the teams involved. We assure you of our support through continued prayers. With grateful thanks and good wishes. John Gillmer, St Thomas Methodist Church, Plettenberg Bay
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ons kan net dankie sê Dankie is ‘n woord wat meer betekenis het as wat ons besef. Dit word elke dag gebruik, maar ná wat met ons gebeur het, het ons ‘n ander kant daarvan gesien. Dankie dat julle (NSRI, Eden Adventures, die kanoe-huur mense en Hanlie van Huyssteen) ons die kans gegee het om nog ‘n liedjie op ons kitaar te speel, nog ‘n dag met ons honde te kan stap, nog ‘n fliek gaan kyk en met ons ouers te kan praat. Sonder julle, al wil ons dit dalk nie erken nie, was 23 Desember ons laaste dag. Dankie aan ons ouers wat ons die geleenthede van ‘n leeftyd gee, en ons self so oppas dat ‘n lelike situasie soos dit ‘n goeie einde kon hê. Dit was vir ons interessant om vir die eerste keer aan die ander kant van so ‘n reddingspoging te wees. Dit was ongelooflik om te sien hoe vinnig die NSRI ‘n span bymekaar kan sit. Om te sit en sien hoe groot mans hulle families agter los, sonder om twee keer te dink, en ‘n ander gaan help, want as die operasie later sou begin het, vrees ons sou die koue die dag gewen het. Ons wil ook baie dankie sê dat julle so vinning en professioneel gereageer het; ek en Corné het op geen stadium van die hele operasie gevoel dat ons lewens in gevaar was nie danksy die deeglike beplanning van die NSRI lewensredders. Toe ons uitkom, was ons verbaas om te sien dat daar so baie mense op die wal staan. Toe ons van die jet-ski afklim, moes ons vinnig na die ambulans gaan vir ondersoek. Daar is waar die koue waarheid ons eers gevang het. My liggaamstemperatuur was 34.9˚C en Corné s’n 33.6˚C. As dit nie vir die vinnige reaksie was van almal wat daardie dag op enige manier betrokke was nie, sou ons dalk nie weer kon fietsry of op die strand kon speel nie. Ons waardeer dit meer as wat woorde kan beskryf. André de Goede and Corné Edwards, George (Lees die volledige reddingstorie oor wat by Kaaimansrivier plaasgevind het op bladsy 10.)
Write to us and WIN! The writer of the winning letter published in the Winter 2011 issue of Sea Rescue will win a sumptuous hamper valued at R750. The hamper contains Slaley Chardonnay, Lindsay’s Whimsy Rosé, Broken Stone Sauvignon Blanc, a Slaley sailing cap, a padded Slaley glass case with two large wine glasses, Slaley Olive Oil and Mouton’s Mission Olives. This hamper can also be ordered from Slaley as a promotional gift or for a special occasion. For more information, telephone (021) 865-2123, visit www.slaley.co.za or pop by and see us on the corner of the R44 and Kromme Rhee Road outside Stellenbosch.
Send your letters to Sea Rescue magazine, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg, 8018.
be ocean minded and win At a time when our planet is increasingly under threat, we all need to play an active part in taking care of our precious natural resources. Ocean Minded™ has embraced this challenge with its range of eco-friendly footwear and accessories, and invites all ocean- and watersports-loving people to do so too. As far as possible, recycled and sustainable products are used in the manufacture of all products, which also include one or more of the following: organic cotton, metal-free leather, water-based glue, recycled wool and car tyres, hemp and recycled Croslite™ material. In addition, Ocean Minded™ has been actively organising countryside beach clean-ups
for a number of years. For more information, email Tim Starke at tim@oceanminded.co.za or visit www.oceanminded.co.za. Competition Tell us how you contribute to preserving the environment, for example recycling and/or repurposing old items, and stand a chance to win one of two Ocean Minded™ hampers, consisting of a backpack, a pair of sandals, a pair of shoes, an organic cotton T-shirt and trucker cap, worth R3 000 each. Please email your contributions to wmaritz@tppsa.co.za or fax them to (021) 424-3612.
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Come hell or high water Discovery is committed to protecting the wellbeing of all South Africans, that’s why, for the last three years, we’ve partnered with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) to save thousands of lives at sea. This year, to reaffirm our support we’ve donated 3 new, state of the art Rescue Runners, to enable them to continue their life saving work, specifically in areas with the highest incidences of drowning.
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CONGRATULATIONS! Meryl Casey of Parow won the R500 CrocsTM voucher in our Water Boys competition. Obviously an avid CrocsTM fan, Meryl exclaimed, ‘Yay, I live in my CrocsTM.’
SAVING CHRISTMAS DAY I was a member of the Mystic Lady sailing crew that your base assisted into Simon’s Town harbour on the evening of 25 December last year. We sailed the yacht from Port Elizabeth, and had lost the use of our diesel motor. Concerned that we might run into problems trying to enter the harbour, we contacted your base and asked whether you could be on standby. Little did we know about your ‘hurricane alley’, where the funnelled wind increased to what seemed like gale-force strength. But your base was well prepared for this, having sent out both the Spirit of Safmarine and the RIB. Despite large waves and strong winds, they guided us into the lee of the breakwater. Quickly and efficiently, they tied Mystic Lady alongside Spirit and shepherded us around to a free berth in the yachting basin. Having secured our berth and sorted out our yacht, we then walked over to thank the NSRI crew at the base, but by that time they had already packed up and left for home. Though my skipper would have already thanked you, I would also like to convey my thanks to the boat and shore-radio crews who left their families on Christmas Day to assist us safely into port. Morgan Griffiths TO THE RESCUE IN MAURITIUS My family and I had just finished the last dive of our wonderful holiday from a glass-bottomed boat. Conditions were getting unpleasant so we pulled up anchor and headed for the shore. We noticed a yacht with two people aboard waving their arms. The 18-foot yacht with its full sails up was drifting towards the outer reef where the waves were breaking. Changing direction, the skipper of the glass-bottomed boat managed to get alongside and we tied a rope around the mast and managed to pull her away from the reef and back to the shoreline. The two Aussies, who didn’t really know how to sail, had tried to cross the bay. As I was wearing my NSRI rash vest, the Aussies were most impressed with our ‘know how’ and the speed with which we assisted them. I don’t think they’ll try that again. For me it was so special to do a rescue again with my wife, who was an active member of NSRI before our family arrived. Marc May, Coxswain, Station 21 (St Francis Bay)
08 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
quick response time from station 22 Just a note of thanks to all who were involved in searching for me. I was sailing on the Vaal Dam when I flipped my cat and couldn’t right it again. After five hours I hadn’t returned home and a friend of mine, Quintin Jacobs, realising that I was in trouble, contacted the NSRI. Even though it was about 10 o’clock, StatCom Dick Mantin got a team together and in almost no time, two NSRI boats were out searching for me. An hour or so later, I was picked up and my ordeal was over. Roy Downes WHAT A TRIP! Thank you to Station 10 (Simon’s Town) for the exciting morning we spent with you on 20 October last year – interesting speakers, a delicious tea, followed by the most exhilarating boat ride! Wow, it was glorious. It is amazing to us that the courageous men and women of the NSRI were prepared to give up a whole morning for us (mainly oldies). Thank you so much for arranging this wonderful outing. We absolutely loved it! Pat and Stuart Franklin CAUGHT IN A RIP I was rescued on 28 December last year after an afternoon of spearfishing. Thank you, Station 15 (Mossel Bay), for giving me a second chance at life. The sea was calm and there was no rip current at all when my dive buddy and I started out, but the moment I tried to turn back towards the rocks where we went into the water, I realised the sea conditions had changed drastically. I struggled for about 60 minutes to get out of the rip current that got hold of me about 100m from the rocks. I tried everything, including using my bright orange buoy to attract attention. Thankfully someone had seen me waving my arms and alerted the NSRI, who dispatched a rescue boat that picked me up within 10 minutes. The crew members were very concerned about my wellbeing. I even received a few phone calls at home to confirm that I was okay. Thank you to all involved. I will never forget this experience. Quinton Raal (Letter shortened with permission from the writer. For the full rescue and more on rip currents, see page 30.)
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vasgevang twee tieners van george het ter nouer nood ontkom toe hulle avontuur op die Kaaimansrivier in ‘n nagmerrie ontaard het. deur ANDREW INGRAM en vertaal deur pieter malan
Please note: These photographs were taken about two months after the incident. The rocks where the rescue crew are standing were practically all submerged during the actual rescue operation.
ware reddingsverhaal
D
ie welkome reën wat net voor Kersfees oor die droogtegeteisterde Tuinroete uitgesak het, hou onaangename herinnerings in vir twee jong seuns van George, André de Goede en Corné Edwards. Die De Goede-familie, met Corné ook in die motor, het gaan rondry om na die vol riviere in die omgewing te gaan kyk. Op pad terug van Wildernis, deur die Kaaimansrivierpas, het André sy ma oorreed om hulle toe te laat om ’n kano te huur om die vol rivier te gaan verken. André het die rivier en die waterval aan die einde van die kloof goed geken en sy ma het ingestem. Boonop was die twee 15-jariges vol energie en ’n bietjie oefening sou hulle net goed doen. André vertel: ‘Ons het ons reddingsbaadjies aangetrek en was lekker ge-amp. Maar toe ons aan die einde van die kloof kom, kon ek sien die waterval is baie groter as wat ek dit nog ooit voorheen gesien het.’ Die kloof op pad na die waterval is baie nou en diep. Die laaste ent is nie meer as vyf meter breed nie, sowat 150 meter lank en met loodregte kranse van ten minste 70 meter. Aan die einde van dié kloof is ’n groot ronde poel, amper 100 meter breed. Die waterval self is by die uitvloei van die poel geleë. As jy met jou gesig na die waterval staan is die reuse poel dus aan jou linkerkant terwyl die kloof waarlangs die river see toe vloei aan jou regterkant is.
Ná die goeie reëns is die sluise van die dam verder stroomop oopgetrek en die waterval was reusagtig – so groot dat dit baie moeilik was om verby die waterval tot in die poel aan die einde van die kloof te kom. André het besef hulle sal nie in die poel kon gaan swem soos hy gehoop het nie, maar hy wou tog die pragtige poel vir sy vriend gaan wys. Hulle het dus tot naby die waterval geroei en uit die kano geklim in ’n poging om oor die gladde rotse aan die oorkantse oewer, weg van die waterval, te klouter totdat hulle die poel beter kon sien. Nadat hulle na die poel gekyk het en vir ’n tydjie in die sproei van die waterval gesit het, is hulle terug na hul kano. In die proses om die kano in die water te kry het Corné gter gegly en in die water beland – aan die poel se kant van die waterval. Toe André hom probeer help het hy ook in die water beland. Met die vloedwater het die stil poel waarin André soveel kere tevore geswem het, egter verander in ’n reuse maalkolk waaruit dit byna ontmoontlik was om te ontsnap. Die rotse waar hulle ingeval het was seepglad en boonop was die stroom dáár te sterk om uit te klim. Die enigste plek waar hulle enigsins uit die water kon klim was aan die kant verste weg van die waterval. Maar dáár was die kranse byna loodreg en kon ’n mens glad nie uit die kloof kom nie.
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’n Tweede plan, om in die kano te staan en hulself om die poel te trek deur aan die rotswand vas te klou het ook nie gewerk nie. Sodra hulle naby die waterval kom het die maalkolk die kano onder hulle voete uitgetrek en het hulle in die water geval. Die maalkolk het hulle dan weer geneem na die oorkantse oewer, presies waar hulle begin het. Ná ’n paar uur se gesukkel was dit duidelik dat hulle nie maklik uit dié penarie gaan ontsnap nie. ‘Nadat ons vir baie lank daar gesit het, het ons iemand hoor roep. Dit was iemand van Eden Adventures wat op die kranse hoog bo die waterval was. Ons het vir hom gefluit en hy het beduie dat ons net daar moet bly. Dis toe dat ons besef het ons is régtig in die moeilikheid,’ vertel André. ‘Ons het gewag en gewag en gewag. En toe, deur die mis van die waterval, sien ons die rooi klere van die NSRI-ouens.’ Hennie Niehaus, stasiebevelvoerder van Wildernis, sê toe hy die oproep kry dat daar twee kinders by die Kaaimanswaterval vasgekeer is, het hy geweet: Hier is moeilikheid. Hy en sy bemanningslid Attie Hoffman was eerste by die laagwaterbrug oor die Kaaimansrivier (die een wat ’n mens van die grootpad kan sien op die pas tussen George en Wildernis) en is met die stasie se jet ski, die Discovery Rescue Runner, stroom-op. ‘Ons het geen idee gehad wat om te verwag nie. By die waterval gekom kon ons niks sien nie. Met die sonlig wat op die watersproei skyn was alles net een dik wit waas. ‘Gelukkig het daar ’n wolk voor die son ingeskuif en deur die mis kon ek die kinders net-net dowwerig uitmaak. Ek kon sien dat hulle orraait is en is terug na die laagwaterbrug om
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vir Cliffie (Marlow) te laat weet om vir die ouers te sê ons weet waar die kinders is.’ Clifford Marlow, adjunk-stasiebevelvoerder, vertel verder: ‘Toe Hennie uit die kloof kom en sê dat die waterval ’n monster is, het ek gedink hy oordryf ’n bietjie. Ons het toe ’n croc (die stasie se opblaasboot) aan die Rescue Runner gehaak en is weer stroom-op. Ek was agter in die croc en toe ons om die laaste draai kom het ek werklik groot geskrik. Só iets het ek nog nooit voorheen beleef nie. ‘Die water was soos ’n heksepot. Ek kon sien ons is in vir ’n ding. Wat gevolg het was twee-en-’n-half uur van intense konsentrasie.’ Clifford sê sake is vir hom gekompliseer deur die feit dat hy die De Goedes geken het – dit was dus ’n baie persoonlike redding. ‘Dit was lekker om vir Derrick te sê dat die kinders oukei is en dat hy dit moet rustig vat, maar ons moes steeds ’n manier kry om die kinders daar uit te kry.’ Hennie vertel verder: ‘Richard Botha van Metro Redding was saam en omdat ons die enigste twee was wat opgelei is in “swift water rescue” was ons in beheer van die reddingsoperasie.’ Die plan was redelik eenvoudig: Donald Olivier, ’n reddingswemmer, sou met ’n tou na die seuns swem, gevolg deur Jaco de Jong. Hulle sou dan ’n croc na die oorkant trek waarmee hulle die kinders na veiligheid sou neem. Om seker te maak dat die opblaasboot nie in die maalkolk beland nie, het hulle toue aan albei kante van die boot vasgemaak. Dit sou ook die oor-en-weer-trekkery van die croc vergemaklik. Hennie sê: ‘Die operasie is bemoeilik deur die feit dat ons glad nie mekaar kon hoor nie – die geraas van die waterval was te erg. Jy kon nie eers die ander ou sien nie. Die sproei van die
fotograwe: ANDREW INGRAM, Lieschen de Goede
Bo: Donald Olivier staan op die enigste plek waar André de Goede en Corné Edwards uit die maalpoel kon kom en waarvandaan hy, Jaco de Jong en Hugh Bolttler hulle gered het. Oorkant die water staan ’n groep NSRI-vrywilligers by die plek waar die seuns in die water geval het en die enigste uitgang uit die kloof wat agter hulle see-waarts strek. Dié foto (en die foto’s op die vorige bladsye) is sowat twee maande ná die insident geneem. Die rotse waarop die vrywilligers staan was tydens die reddingsoperasie almal amper onder water.
TRAPPED
Agter (lings na regs): Entroy Lottering, Richard Botha, Attie Hoffman, Donald Olivier, Clifford Marlow, Jaco de Jongh, Hugh Bolttler Voor: Hennie Niehaus met die twee tieners
waterval was op plekke só erg dat jy skaars kon asemhaal. Dis asof iemand ’n brandslang vol in jou gesig spuit.’ Donald sê nadat hy seker gemaak het die seuns is nie beseer nie, was die eerste ding wat hy by hulle wou weet: ‘Hoe de hel het julle hier gekom?’ Daar was egter nie baie tyd om te luister na hulle verduideliking nie. Na ure se gespartel en gesukkel was albei van hulle reeds baie koud en moes hulle so vinnig as moontlik uit die kloof kom. ‘Ek was teen daai tyd al flippen koud,’ vertel André, die eerste wat in die croc na veiligheid geneem is. Presies hóé koud sou eers duidelik word toe hulle uiteindelik by die laagwaterbrug aankom waar hulle bekommerde ouers en ’n ambulans op hul gewag het: André se liggaamstemperatuur was 34,9˚C en Corné s’n nóg laer op 33,6˚C – gevaarlik naby aan 32˚C, die punt waar hipotermie kritiese afmetings begin aanneem. ‘As die NSRI net ’n uur later by ons uitgekom het, kon dinge soveel anders gewees het,’ sê André. André se ma, Lieschen, sê die wag op nuus wat met hulle seuns gebeur het, was die ergste. ‘Die onsekerheid en die magteloosheid... Dit is verskriklik om daar te staan terwyl al die emosies deur jou kop maal. ‘En die ouens van die NSRI... hulle was so gaaf en behulpsaam. Dit was twee dae voor Kersfees en hier was hierdie reuse span mense om te kom help. Hulle het ons ons kinders teruggegee. Dit is ’n ongelooflike ervaring. Ek is hulle ewig dankbaar.’ SR André word vanjaar 16 en was so beïndruk met die werk van die reddingspan dat hy graag by die Wildernis NSRI wil aansluit na sy verjaarsdag.
Hipotermie Hipotermie is ’n mediese toestand wat ontstaan as die pasiënt se liggaamstemperatuur beduidend onder die normale daal, genoeg om metabolisme te beïnvloed. Dit treë gewoonlik in onder 35˚C. Onder 32˚C raak dit krities. Liggaamstemperature van onder 27˚C is so te sê altyd fataal.
Two days before Christmas last year, André de Goede and Corné Edwards set off in a canoe up the Kaaimans River. André, who had paddled the river often, was keen to show his friend the Kaaiman’s waterfall. Because of the heavy rains in the preceding days, the flood gates of the dam upstream had been opened, and the waterfall had been transformed into a raging torrent. Normally, it would be fairly easy to row past the waterfall to the pool on the the other side, but the river, which is about 5m across at that point, was not negotiable – the water crashed all the way across the entire channel. André and Corné, still keen to see the other side of the waterfall, clambered up the rocks, pulling the canoe with them. They left the paddles and their shirts at the canoe, and perched on the rocks looking at the waterfall in awe. André realised they wouldn’t be able to get to the other side, so they decided to head back. But the current had pulled the canoe into the water. Corné tried to grab it, but he slipped on the rocks and fell in. André tried to help and went in as well. They were swept in a circle by the current and spat out on the other side of the waterfall in the pool. The teenagers struggled for hours to negotiate their way past the waterfall, but were always pulled back in and ended up where they had started. They heard calling from the cliff top and saw someone from Eden Adventures, who gestured to them to stay put. This is when the boys realised that they were in trouble. The sun was beginning to set and they were getting cold and were starting to shake. They waited, and then to their relief saw the red colours of the NSRI through the mist. Hennie Niehaus, the crew from Station 23 (Wilderness) and members of Metro swung into action despite being shocked at the scene that confronted them. The station’s inflatable stretcher carrier (or croc) was tied to the Rescue Runner and they used this to get as close to the waterfall as possible. Visibility was bad, and the rescue crew could barely hear each other over the roar of the waterfall. Rescue swimmer Donald Olivier was the first to get across, followed by Jaco de Jong. They checked on the boys, loaded André on to the croc and evacuated him first. Corné followed. Both boys were suffering from hypothermia – André’s body temperature had dropped to 34,9˚C and Corné’s to 33,6˚C. Anything lower than 32˚C is critical, so had the rescue been undertaken even an hour later, the outcome might have been very different. What felt like a short space of time to the rescue crew turned out to be about two-and-a-half hours of intense concentration to evacuate the two boys. To read the full English story, visit ww.nsri.org.za.
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real-life rescue
saving the sunset cruise T
he morning of 12 October last year started out like any other for Station 7 (East London) StatCom Geoff McGregor. An early riser, Geoff was getting ready for work when the phone rang. Initially he thought it might have something to do with his lift club, but it was East London Port Control reporting a Mayday from a yacht off the Transkei Coast. That was at 05h15; by 05h45 the rescue crew was assembled and wasted no time launching the 13m deep-sea rescue craft Spirit of Lotto. The 12m yacht, Sunset Cruise, was in trouble. She had been caught in a storm that had caused extensive damage to her rudder and propeller, and she had lost engine power as well. Now at the mercy of a 40-knot southwesterly wind and 6.5m swells, Sunset Cruise was moving in the direction of East London, and at the time of the Mayday was about 36 miles out to sea. There were three crew members on board with no injuries reported. Geoff and his crew – coxswain Ian Reid, medic Leonard Wallis, navigator Cathrine Prentis and crewman Craig
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Oosthuisen – set off in conditions Geoff can only describe as ‘upside down’. ‘ The swell was 4.5-5m, and it just got worse further out to sea,’ he explains. ‘At that stage we were still trying to locate the yacht, and the only communication we had with her was via Cape Town Radio. We hit a bad storm 30 miles out. The wind was blowing at a gale-force 40 knots; we had white-water waves that looked like mountains hitting us from all directions,’ Geoff continues. ‘We only got our first comms with Sunset Cruise at about 11h00. They had connected their radio to a battery, but then we lost comms again a little later. This was a bit of a worry because the sea had got so big, it was almost impossible to find anything. So, we kept the latest course that Sunset Cruise gave us, and continued searching. We were determined to find that yacht.’ At about midday, Geoff and his crew found her. By this stage the rescue crew had their safety harnesses on because water was washing over the deck of the rescue craft. They prepared the bag with the towline and attempted to throw it over. First time, they missed, so they tried again. Geoff
photographs: Phillip venter/Pro-Vision Photography
st 7 (east london) statcom Geoff Mcgregor recounts a 13-hour rescue mission to save a yacht and her crew crippled by a storm off the transkei coast. by Wendy maritz
40 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG
Station 7 (East London) was established 40 years ago, and is located on the banks of the Buffalo River, exactly where it started out. Geoff McGregor has been a crewman here for 26 years, and StatCom for seven years. ‘All the station’s rescue crew members are special, hardworking and dedicated,’ he says. Geoff makes mention of NSRI stalwart Ken Elliot, who’s also been at the station for 26 years. Ken is 80 years old and Geoff’s right-hand man when it comes to arranging contractors to do work around the base. Clearly a man with a lust for life, Ken has just bought himself a brand-new convertible!
Main photograph: The 5.5m RIB Spirit of Rotary is launched during a crew training session Top right: Station 7 is situated on the banks of the Buffalo River Above: The crew, who braved 8m swells to find and tow the Sunset Cruise, received a Director’s Letter of Appreciation: (left to right) Leonard Wallis, Geoff McGregor, Cathrine Prentis and Ian Reid (absent: Craig Oosthuisen) Left: The 13m deep-sea rescue vessel Spirit of Lotto
realised he was dealing with quite an experienced crew onboard Sunset Cruise, as they had already tied harnesses around the mast to which they could attach the towline. By 12h20, they began the tow at about 6-8 knots because of the rough seas. As soon as they entered the Agulhas current, the swell rose to 7-7.5m swells. ‘It was like a giant washing machine with swells hitting us from all angles,’ says Geoff. ‘We hit a heavy storm with thunder and lightening. It was a real test for the crew, who were by now also extremely seasick.’ The exhausted crew sighted land at 16h15 and an hour and a half later they requested permission from Port Control to enter East London harbour with their casualty in tow. Geoff has only high praise for his crew. ‘Even though they were sick, they did the job that was required of them, no problem. This is why we train so hard, so that we can turn every operation into a success.’ Geoff admits that even though this call-out was not the most difficult, it was challenging because they were out at sea for 13 hours. ‘At times, I wondered whether we would actually make it back to base. Fatigue starts becoming a problem, because your adrenaline is pumping all the time. That’s when you battle even to get a bottle of water to your mouth to drink.’ But he adds with a smile, ‘After getting back to the base, washing down and refuelling the boat, the sense of accomplishment was quite amazing!’ SR
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advertorial
keeping watch
SAMSA’s Centre for Sea Watch and Response in Plattekloof, Cape Town, plays a central role in monitoring all aspects of South Africa’s maritime interests. Formalised in 2008, the centre provides an integrated maritime and marine command and control centre that is responsible for: • • • • • • • •
vessel surveillance, identification, monitoring, tracking and communication (including long-range identification and tracking) land-based and satellite automatic identification systems (AIS) search and rescue – that is, locating vessels in distress or difficulty and coordinating rescue responses to those vessels responding to security (such as piracy) and environmental incidents (such as pollution, oil spills, grounding) in conjunction with the relevant national and international agencies monitoring coastal and offshore activities profiling activities to protect SA’s maritime interests assisting and cooperating with the SA Government in maritime matters formalising agreements with other African countries to establish ocean corridors for safe and environmentally-friendly maritime traffic
To fulfil this large mandate, the centre boasts an impressive collective of maritime expertise in its staff and world-class satellite and navigational equipment – essential when one considers that South Africa’s area of responsibility covers 30 million km2 of ocean. This includes South African territorial waters, the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (which extends 200nm from the coast and where SA has exclusive commercial rights to marine resources) and the Search and Rescue (SAR) area that extends all the way to Antarctica. The centre maintains its responsibilities under the watchful eye of Executive Head Captain Karl Otto, and is divided into a number of units that fulfil specific duties, all vital in promoting South African maritime interests and global maritime relations. One of these units, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) has a major role to play in South African Search and Rescue (SASAR), which in turn is part of the International Maritime Organisation’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. Distress signals are picked up via satellite and then relayed to Port Control. These include fires on board vessels, medical evacuations, fuel shortages, damage to vessels, and vessels in danger of sinking. ‘Around 400 such calls are received per year,’ says MRCC supervisor Jared Blows. ‘The first thing we do is establish the quickest and most effective way of handling the emergency. Our function is to coordinate rescue resources
photograph: www.shutterstock.com, words: wendy maritz
We spent a day at SAMSA’s Centre for Sea Watch and Response and found a world-class team ready to respond to emergencies and maintain a watchful eye over other aspects of South Africa’s maritime concerns
photograph: steve crane photograph: miriam iorwerth
The resarch ship the SA Agulhas
image: google earth
and monitor rescue proceedings. Depending on the nature of the emergency and how far the vessel is out to sea, we can call on the NSRI and/or South African National Defence Force to assist.’ Other times, when the casualty vessel is days away from land, there are different protocols to follow. ‘We put out an allships alert with the intention of diverting another ship in the area to the one in distress… And they’re not really allowed to refuse to go help them,’ he continues. Jared recalls the incident of the Cowrie Dancer, an Australian yacht whose mizzen mast broke in extremely rough seas (5-8m swells) in the southern ocean, about 700nm south of Port Elizabeth. This was in May 2007. She had lost a crewman overboard, and the remaining crew were either injured or extremely tired.
The SASAR region of responsibility response organisations, and the fortuitous good luck that the SA Agulhas was a day and half away. The research vessel also had medical facilities and a helicopter on board, which meant the injured crew could be evacuated and treated immediately. The MRCC is also equipped with state-of-the-art navigational tracking equipment that allows them to establish search patterns for casualty vessels whose exact coordinates are not known. Jared explains that ‘all the variables that could affect a search are taken into account, including wind current, sea current, the type of vessel and its last known location. All the information is fed into the computer… and the search area is calculated from that. Any new information is added as the search progresses, so that the search area remains as accurate as possible,’ he adds. (The system, called SARIS, has also aided in searches involving the NSRI and Air Force, as rescue teams are often thwarted by heavy weather and unable to see casualty vessels.) The centre also plays a vital role in monitoring all the craft that enter any South African port. All vessels are required to give 96 hours’ notice of arrival, providing information about the vessel, including its country of origin, cargo, and so forth, which the centre scans and verifies and forwards to the MSCC in Pretoria. The MSCC then clears the vessels to enter the respective ports. In this way, all vessels entering our waters comply with the country’s maritime regulatory and safety standards. (Other aspects of the Centre for Sea Watch and Response will be discussed in further issues of Sea Rescue magazine.)
The Cowrie Dancer Jared explains the yacht and crew were in a dire situation, and the only vessel that could get to her fast enough was the Antarctic research vessel, the SA Agulhas, which was close to Marion Island. She started motoring towards the casualty early on a Tuesday morning, and Cowrie Dancer crawled to meet her with what engine power she had left. The success of the operation was due to the cooperation between the Australian and South African maritime emergency
bulletin board
ILLUSTRATION: DARRYL EDWARDES
in the news
QUICK SEA CHANGE
Every year on Christmas Eve, Station 11 (Port Alfred) does a ‘Father Christmas run’ through the Royal Alfred Marina. The 5.5m RIB Arthur Scales is loaded with gifts, and one of the station’s more appositely shaped crew members dons the Father Christmas suit. ‘Santa’ then hops on the Rescue Runner and makes trips up and down the marina collecting presents from the RIB and delivering them to the children on the jetties. Last year’s event got off to a fairly normal start: it was a beautifully calm evening and the marina was packed with parents, children and dogs. Santa picked up a couple of gifts, and zigzagged up the channel stopping here and there to deliver them, returning with milk and cookies for his helpers on the boat. Everything went according to plan until the emergency
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phone rang with the message, ‘There are two swimmers in trouble at West Beach!’ Santa quickly transferred to the 5.5m and another crewman took over the Discovery Rescue Runner, which shot off at maximum speed through the busy channels. Arthur Scales followed in hot pursuit (with Santa and his gifts still on board). The red hat and white beard were the first to come off, followed by the rest of the suit, as Santa changed into his red Sea Rescue wetsuit and finished off the procedure by securing his life jacket. About 50 kids’ jaws on the marina banks hit the ground. The call-out was fortunately nothing serious, but you can just imagine the stories, including that even Father Christmas volunteers for the NSRI.
And the winners are… Congratulations to our 2010 double Pajero competition winners. The final draw took place at the Mitsubishi Showroom in Paarden Island in early December last year. The lucky winner of the two Pajeros was Mr Johan van Rensburg of Welkom. For the first time in the competition’s history, two of the competitors struck a deal before the draw and when Johan van Rensburg was drawn as the winner, he gave one Pajero to Paul Lowe.
ABOVE: Juan Pretorius (left) thanks Hans-Joachim Hon, the President of Port Alfred Rotary Club. With them are Gys Waller of Builders Trader Harware and Neville Henley (right)
The right tools for the job
There were smiles all round when Station 11 (Port Alfred) received an array of much-needed tools from the Rotary Club of Port Alfred. At the handover, station commander Juan Pretorius thanked Rotary President Hans-Joachim Hon for this welcome gift, funded by Rotary’s recent Golf Open at the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club. Also present were Gys Waller of Builders Trader Hardware, who donated a lock-up cupboard for the tools, and Neville Henley, fundraiser for the NSRI and the Rotarian who organised the Golf Open. Included were a full range of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, shifting and ring spanners, and drill bits.
It’s a deal! Winner Johan van Rensburg shared his prize with fellow competition finalist Paul Lowe
By donating R495 you could win the first prize of two Mitsubishi Pajeros. Because the number of tickets are limited to 24 000, you have an excellent chance of winning and your contribution will help us fund the rescue work that saves lives. The second prize is a trip for two to Spain, including grand-stand seats to the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix and superior three-star beachresort accommodation. To participate, phone Natasha Atkin at the NSRI Call Centre on (021) 430 4702 or send an email to carcomp@searescue.org.za The 10 finalists drawn on 9 December 2010 were: • Mr J van Rensburg, Welkom • Mr W Odendaal, Riversdal • Mr J Grobbelaar, Sandton • Mr B de Beer, Tygervalley • Mr I Klem, Schoemansville • Mr T Leary, Plumstead • Mr P Lowe, Wynberg • Mr J du Preez, Potchefstroom • Mr J Jordaan, Brooklyn • Mr R Eaton, Bryanston
Discovery Rescue Runner launches at Shelly Beach
Jody Forster from Discovery at the launch of the Rescue Runner that was donated to the station.
Mr W Odendaal of Riversdal, was the winner of the trip for two to the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix and Mr Kevin Lithgow of Richards Bay won the grand prize of R100 000 in our debit-order competition.
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bulletin board
supporting the team that saves lives Inspired by the Soccer World Cup, our ad agency, Ogilvy Cape Town, has come up with a new campaign to create a sense of national pride about our NSRI volunteers. Our grateful thanks to Percy Montgomery, Roxy Louw, Stacey Guy and Duane Vermeulen, who offered their time to take part in this campaign, as well as Ogilvy Cape Town and their team who did the work pro bono.
Support the team that saves lives.
42511 NSRI Percy Print_A4.indd 1
2011/01/28 4:00 PM
Photographer: Rory Ross; photography assistants: Kristy Reed and Brendan Hoffman; styling, hair and make-up: Janine Jackson Styling; hair and make-up assistant: Mellisa Esterhuyse From Ogilvy: Jamie Mietz (creative group head), Prabashan Pather (creative group head), Thandolwethu Silimela (art director), Kate Desmarais (copywriter), Jean Mortlock (art buyer), Byron Craemer (digital artist – retouching), Mark Drummond (group account director), Catherine Kawitzky (account manager)
A great big thank you to... • • • • •
Petti Coat Lane and the RAMHOA in Port Alfred for their fantastic support throughout the years. Your donations have helped us tremendously. May you have a blessed 2011! the Pretoria Sailing Club, who held their Annual NSRI Charity Regatta over the weekend of 29 to 30 January 2011 at the Rietvallei Dam. to loyal supporters Libby Bonnet and the late Chris Bonnet from Durban, who donated 10 free sailing courses for NSRI crew. to Clicks who donated sunscreen and lip balm to each of our crew over the summer holiday season. to Total and Sasol, which joined BP, Caltex and Engen as fuel sponsors.
SKIPPER TRAINING
Obtain your National Certificate of Competence as a Power Driven Vessel Skipper for the categories B, C, E and R. The South African Institute for Skippers is the largest training establishment for skippers in South Africa. We have been appointed as an Authorised Agency by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and we pride ourselves in our professionalism. Courses offered: • Cat R (inland waters) • Cat E (1 nautical mile) • Cat C (15 nautical miles) • Cat B upgrade (40 nautical miles with night rating) • Conversion to over 9 metres We conduct annual boat surveys (COF) Suppliers of Safety Equipment Contact us on (021) 975-3281 / info@saskipper.com / www.saskipper.com
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OfftheHook fun run in Plett Plettenberg Bay NSRI crewman and Offthehook restaurateur Wayne Craig hatched a fantastic new runner’s challenge to raise funds for Sea Rescue. Named the Offthehook Challenge, after his Plettenberg Bay restaurant, it includes an 8km beach run, 400m swim and wade, and a 4km trail run between Keurbooms and Plettenberg Bay. The best part of the whole race, according to Wayne, is that it has everything – sand, sea, river, off road, and great beer and food at the end. The first race raised R4 000 for his NSRI station and they plan to hold it annually. Keep an eye on www.offthehookplett.co.za for more information.
PHOTOGRAPHS: STATION 3 (TABLE BAY)
Above: In January Station 3 (Table Bay) volunteers launched their 13m deep-sea rescue boat Spirit of Vodacom twice to evacuate casualties off very large ships
So who was at the helm? At the helm was Rudi Fisch, the same man responsible for holding the rescue boat in place while 25 men were rescued from the stricken Seli 1 hours after it was hard aground off Blouberg in November 2009. The first call came on 23 January from the 200m long carcarrier Morning Composer, 12 miles north-west of Cape Town. They had called for help after a 25-year-old sailor fell two storeys and sustained head and chest injuries. The second was on 28 January from the 365m container ship CMA CGM Magellan. This massive ship was too big to get into Cape Town Harbour, and Spirit of Vodacom needed to transfer a new master to the vessel, before taking the injured master off. When dealing with ships of this size, the operation from the comparatively tiny rescue boat is extremely tricky. Often the distance that the patient must be lowered is around 5m or more (in the case of the Magellan around 15m) ... and there is no latitude for a mistake. The coxswain and crew of the rescue boat must be perfectly in tune with the high-angle trained Metro paramedic who works from on board the ship.
‘Rudi has been a class 1 coxswain for twenty years now. He reads the weather, he reads the sea ... he is very good at reading the elements,’ says his station commander, Paula Leach. ‘He never panics. The crew knows what to do and he lets them do it.’ Rudi says it’s a little tricky in some circumstances not having a fly bridge (this means that the coxswain can‘t see upwards), but that by picking a point on the ship he can hold the rescue boat in exactly the correct position. ‘If they use a hoist, you can’t see anything until the patient is on the deck, so I pick a point on the vessel and hold us there. We also have a crewman with a portable VHF radio talking to me the whole time,’ explains Rudi. ‘Each case is different. With the Morning Composer, I asked them to turn to starboard, which gave us a lee to work in. The Magellan was much bigger and she rolled like hell, which changes the waterline by metres so she had to come closer to shore to get out of the swell. And then we could manage.’ ‘This is the mark of a talented rescue coxswain,’ says Paula. ‘They make it sound and look so simple.’
NSRI’S HEAD OFFICE is funded through our faithful Platinum Sponsors. all OTHER donations can therefore BE SET ASIDE FOR rescue work.
platinum PARTNERSHIPS
GOLD PARTNERSHIPS • De Beers Marine • Premier Fishing SA (Pty) Ltd • viking fishing ltd • Lusitania Marketing Services • macs maritime shipping • Marine Products • Oceana Group • Svitzer-Wijsmuller • sa five engineering • amoil (pty) ltd • panargo shipping • sappi
Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
21
bulletin board FRONT-PAGE NEWS
Thatha ma chance – Thatha ma Triton Four new Mitsubishi Triton 4×4 rescue vehicles, sponsored by the Lotto, are ready to go to their new homes. The vehicles are custom-fitted for the rescue environment with special lights, bull bars and tow bars, as well as tracking units. They will be sent to Table Bay, Richards Bay, Knysna and Melkbosstrand. Table Bay and Richards Bay will pass on their hand-medown vehicles to rescue bases at Port Edward and Port St Johns. Knysna does not have a vehicle to pass on and the Melkbosstrand vehicle will be sold. Our NSRI volunteers take good care of our assets and because a call-out can happen at any time, often in the worst weather, our vehicles are serviced regularly and kept in excellent condition.
NSRI is a unique charity in that our work is often front-page news. The value that we offer to sponsors who fund the cost of a specific boat is naming rights of the rescue boat – effectively a floating billboard. The lifespan of a rescue boat is in the order of 11 years and each time the boat launches during a rescue, the media report will say ‘NSRI Shelly Beach launched their 7.3m rigid inflatable Caltex Endeavor...’ Newsclip media monitoring service reported that, in the month of January 2011, NSRI generated 216 print articles in newspapers and magazines. Newsclip calculates an approximate rand value based on the circulation of each newspaper and the placement of each story (for example front page) and for that specific month the value of print coverage was R3 852 918.75 To get a comparative picture over the recent holiday season these figures may interest you. n Broadcast (radio and TV) media: • Nov: R870 000 • Dec: R6.08 million • Jan: R940 000 n Online: • Nov: R670 000 • Dec: R1.55 million • Jan: R1.05million n Print (newspapers and magazines): • Nov: R1.77 million • Dec: R4.03 million • Jan: R3.86 million Our grateful thanks to Newsclip which has donated this media clipping service for many years. Its contribution allows us to report to our sponsors in a very tangible way.
A LOVING GESTURE
Many thanks to Danel Steenkamp, Brand Manager of Polaroid Eyewear, for her thoughtfulness. Following the air tragedy in Plettenberg Bay, Danel arranged to send a pair of Polaroids to each of our rescue volunteers who were involved in the traumatic search-and-rescue mission as a gift from SDM Eyewear.
KING PIE
King Pie has sponsored R10 000 to fund WaterWise workshops at 30 underprivileged schools across Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape. It made a further donation of R10 000 towards our other ongoing WaterWise educational initiatives. NSRI started the WaterWise initiative in 2005 as an educational arm of the institute to provide vital water-safety education for South African children. The learners are taught basic water safety, what to do in an emergency and how to start bystander CPR while they wait for an ambulance. King Pie stores will be including WaterWise safety tips on its serviettes during this period.
22 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
Above (left to right): Reina Cullinan, Linda Christiansen, Nyameka Makonya, Craig Lourens (Total South Africa Sales and Marketing GM), Andiswa Gabada, Valentia Hobbs, Ian Wienburg (NSRI CEO), Devi Royappen and Nadia Vosloo
total Commitment
Fuel giant Total has for the second year running assisted NSRI with a fuel grant of R100 000. This generous donation is shared between the Table Bay and Mossel Bay rescue bases. We are very grateful to have Total’s support, especially in these times of high fuel prices.
There were 45 prospective volunteers on the list, but that morning at 6am only 18 reported for duty. Tasks included a 1km run, rope work, stretcher rigging, a swimming exercise, life-jacket drill, entering the water from a short height and inwater survival techniques. Finally all recruits received a general base safety briefing and a short maintenance exercise by greasing cables. Lastly, equipment was washed and stowed, and the recruits joined the crew for a social and braai.
TESTING THEIR METTLE
PHOTOGRAPH: shutterstock.com
You’ve probably all heard the story of the chicken and the pig making breakfast for the farmer. For the chicken, scrambled eggs are a gift – for the pig, the bacon is a total commitment. Station 5 (Durban) introduced ‘induction days’ to introduce members of the public to the station and to explain what is expected and required of volunteers. New recruits are put through their paces in a very safe and controlled environment, and assessed by senior crew and coxswains who gauge their skills, teamwork, attitude and personalities. Regrettably, the station is not always in the position to accommodate a large number of new volunteers and a selection system seemed the fairest method of reducing the numbers.
Erratum: Our apologies to the Lipschitz family for a misprint in the news section of the Summer 2010 issue of Sea Rescue. The picture caption under the heading ‘Operations room named’ should have read as follows: At the naming of the Mike Lipschitz Operations Room are Mrs Barbara Lipschitz, mother of the late Mike Lipschitz, Mike’s brother, Stanley, and his sister, Joan Abrahams (and not Mrs Rebecca Lipshitz as was stated).
Golf Day at Randpark Club on Tuesday 31 May 2011 Entry fee: R2 200 per four-ball (includes dinner and goody bag). Sponsor a hole for R2 200. Competition: Four-ball Alliance. Contact Elane 011-888-5451 or elaneb@searescue.org.za
Your P&I Solution in Africa! P&I Associates (Pty) Ltd Head Office Durban, South Africa
Tel: +27 31 368 5050 Fax: +27 31 332 4455 Mobile: +27 83 250 3398 pidurban@pandi.co.za www.pandi.co.za
Offices throughout Southern Africa
life boat circle
fair winds,
dear friend
THE LATEST ON OUR TEAS AND TOURS, AND A REQUEST FOR BEQUEST OFFICERS
A tribute to dave sievwright BY wendy maritz
O
n 4 January this year, the Sea Rescue family bade farewell to Dave Sievwright and, judging from the tributes that poured in soon after his passing on Boxing Day, one can only stand in awe of a man who devoted 34 years of his life to Sea Rescue. ‘So, much so,’ CEO Ian Wienburg recalls with a smile, ‘that when I travelled up to KwaZulu-Natal and introduced myself, people would say, ‘Oh, so you work for Dave in Durban then? I might be CEO… Dave was Mr NSRI.’ But everyone involved in Sea Rescue and the greater maritime community would agree that it was a title he earned from the day he joined as a crewman in 1976. There was no stopping Dave – he was soon serving as Station 5’s station commander and in 1982 became NSRI’s Liaison Officer. He was a tireless campaigner for Sea Rescue, raising awareness and funds whenever and wherever he could. He ran skippers’ courses, and wrote and updated the Skippers’ Guide, the primary safety manual for ski-boaters. Dave tackled every task with patience, dedication and insight. Glynis Pulford, who worked closely with him for 17 years, says, ‘There was no problem that Dave would not have an answer to or a way around. I loved him for that, and his positive attitude. Mind you,’ she adds, ‘if you asked him something, you needed a good while for the answer, because he really went into depth to make sure you understood.’ ‘He also had a lovely sense of humour,’ Glynis continues. ‘One of his pet hates was if any of the guys came into the building still wearing their caps. He would always ask – with a very straight face – if they worked in an aviary.’
Dave’s dedication becomes all the more significant when one considers he suffered from ankylosing spondylitis, a debilitating and degenerative auto-immune disease that caused him much pain and discomfort in the last decade. But true to his indefatigable nature, Dave never gave up and never complained. When his wife, Pam, began playing golf a few years ago, Dave dusted off his old clubs, and joined her on the golf course. It is perhaps fitting that he was occupied with the sport he loved so much in his final hours. I never had the opportunity to meet Dave in person, but enjoyed many telephone conversations with him. These were often lengthy chats about some interesting historical aspect of the NSRI. In most cases, I came away heartily cheered up, and with much more information than I needed. He possessed a wealth of information he never hesitated to share, whether in the training room or for articles in Sea Rescue magazine. They say you can measure a person’s worth by the way children and animals react to them. Glynis’s dachshund Schnapps has been accompanying her to work since he was born eight years ago. A bit of an honorary crew member, he would trot into Dave’s office every morning and evening to say hello and goodbye. He would get tickles and treats from his ‘day daddy’ Dave. In January when everyone came back to work at the Durban base, says Glynis, ‘Schnapps spent a good few weeks with his nose through the blinds looking out for Dave’s car. He truly misses him.’ There will be many others who will feel the same way for a while to come. To Dave, we thank you, we salute you and wish you fair winds. SR
life boat circle
more hands
on deck
THE LATEST ON OUR TEAS AND TOURS, AND A REQUEST FOR BEQUEST OFFICERS Our bequest officers enjoy sharing Sea Rescue’s stories with the public and are frequent guests at clubs and societies. Regular teas and tours of rescue bases are also arranged for our Life boat Circle members. Although most of our members are retired, these are by no means sedate affairs, as Garden Route bequest officer Debbie Olivier explains: ‘The day was lovely! Actually, it was fabulous! Of course the highlight was the once-in-alifetime trip out into the sea through the Knysna Heads in an NSRI rescue craft. How many people can tick that off their bucket list? Guests were exhilarated by the experience. I personally realised that I am more of a farm girl at heart, especially when I looked at the wall of water and the constant
swells. Only to be told by Ryan Salzman, with a wry little smile on his face, that the sea was actually flat, and that they were going to open up the engines a little!’ Margaret McCulloch heads up the Life boat Circle and also manages the Cape Town area. Bruce Sanderson covers the West Coast and some of Cape Town’s northern suburbs while Debbie Olivier‘s area extends down the Garden Route. We are hoping to find a suitable person for the Gauteng region and Durban area, but bequest officers are a rare breed so we are being rather selective. Should you know of anyone who is interested in such a calling (it is a part-time position and it really is a calling, not a career), please let us know.
The Awakening
Nought can be done – either now or ever, For those who have perished by mishap and weather, Who worked and toiled in honest endeavour on the sea. The seagulls wheeling ‘neath stormy clouds, Care nothing for the hosts, the crowds, Who lie interred in watery shrouds, ‘Neath the sea. But those who live, and those in fear, Will hold the constant listening ear Of those whose calling is held most dear By the sea.
Man of the sea, George McMullan
O’er the roar of the waves, when the winds are high, Will be heard the sailor’s anguished cry Through the vigilant watch of the NSRI That the sea shall not have them. – GL McMullan
Bridget Brookes submitted the above poem that was written by her brother George McMullan, who passed away in November last year. Bridget writes: ‘George clearly had a passion for the sea, the NSRI, and its role in saving lives. His wife, Jeanette, recalls that he was one of the founder members of the East London branch of the NSRI... Although George left the sea when he and Jeanette had their family, he retained his interest. When in Durban for the wedding of our daughter in 2007, he wrote out a poem “The Awakening” for me. He had originally written it many years ago, but I had never seen it before. He scribbled a little note at the side saying: “NB: the sea shall not have them is the motto of the NSRI”.’
26 Sea Rescue • Autumn 2011
THANK YOU FOR THE DONATIONS RECEIVED SPECIAL OCCASIONS • Brent Hirsch (50th birthday) • Cliff Barnett (50th birthday) • Mike Binder (60th birthday) • David Raphael • Keith Winter (90th birthday) • Mr J Brewster (80th birthday) IN MEMORY OF LOVED ONES • Bruce Field • Hughie Henning • John Selfe • Mr and Mrs AH Stephen • Joan Terry-Loyd
Life boat Circle is a society for retired persons. For more information, contact Margaret McCulloch on 082 990 5976 or email margaretm@searescue.org.za
The value of climate information in South Africa
The South African Weather Service annually celebrates World Meteorological Day on 23 March, thereby joining all 189 member countries of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to commemorate the signing of World Meteorological Convention in 1950. The 2011 theme explores the value of climate information to South African industries and the public. CLIMATE is the average condition of the atmosphere at a place or in a region as observed over a period of at least 30 years. This average condition, or the climate, is usually described in terms of temperature, precipitation and wind. WEATHER is the condition of the atmosphere at a specific time, or over a very short period of time, at a place as described by various observed meteorological phenomena and measured elements including atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness and wind speed as well as wind direction.
Who benefits from climate information? One of the most important factors concerning climate is the availability of water. Too much or too little water can affect sustainable development, jeopardize economic development and lead to increased poverty and affects sectors such as health, food production, sustainable energy, and biodiversity. Increased extreme weather events, such as flash floods and severe storms can have detrimental effects on our daily lives.
Reliable climate data and information are used in the planning and management of surface freshwater supplies, as well as in mitigating damage from high and low water flows in South Africa. The Department of Water Affairs relies on SAWS's climate information to plan in advance for dry and wet periods, which could include the building of additional dams or water reservoirs, as well as putting in place systems to monitor dam and river levels during periods of heavy rain and flooding.
Climate information is extremely helpful in limiting future weather- induced costs. A s an ex am pl e, c on st r u c t i o n companies could use information on certain flood levels (e.g. the 50 year flood level) to devise plans and strategies for future construction. Weather-related events are a major cause of building failures so there is good reason for using climate services to define building standards and performance, and to integrate climate statistics into national building codes.
Insurance companies derive substantial value from SAWS's lightning information in verifying insurance claims. SAWS runs a sophisticated lightning detection network, which records
information on lightning strokes every five minutes, with a very high accuracy rate.
The agricultural industry benefits from using climate information as the climate of an area determines the most suitable crops or animals for a specific region. Using climate information could lead to informed decisions, practices and technologies that could reduce this sector's long-term vulnerability to seasonal climate differences. The energy sector also benefits from climate information. Energy is at the heart of economic and social development and the correct use of historical climate data can help to locate and design a suitable energy infrastructure. Typical applications would be planning for heating and cooling systems in buildings, houses and cars; the design of energy efficient buildings; electricity generation and implementing renewable energy sources (for example in areas with ample wind or sunshine). In terms of the health sector, many human and animal diseases could be mitigated by a collaboration strategy between the health sector and climate experts. The timely provision of climate information with several months' leadtime could be combined with a welldeveloped national and regional response strategy that allocates resources for public outreach and distribution of medication and insecticides for diseases such as malaria well in advance. Tourism is an important contributor to the South African economy. South Africa is a favourite tourist destination, due to its pleasant climate, scenery, wild life and cultural heritage. As tourists want to avoid exposure to severe weather and high
discomfort levels, reliable climate information influences their destination decisions. In respect of the transportation sector , in spite of technological development in maritime, aviation and land transport systems, infrastructure failures could have severe impacts: The potentially devastating impacts of winds, waves, sea ice and storm surge on all aspects of marine operations dominate the design and operation of ships, port facilities and coastal hydraulics. Road and railway structures are built to make traffic more efficient and to minimise disruptions from rain and flooding. Engineers have introduced innovative ways to address potential weather hazards, such as building high bridges to avoid potential flooding from rain swollen rivers. For their analyses the use of historical climate data is an important factor. Even in the development or expansion of new airports, meteorological factors that could disrupt operations should be taken into consideration. Fog, low clouds, snowfall, locally strong winds and poor visibility are a few of the important weather-related events. Other climate information, including cloud base and visibility, contribute towards determining the projected runway usability as part of the economic evaluation. In terms of weather–related disaster management and preparedness, climate information could assist city planners and emergency structures to identify risks in advance and take timely action. The South African Weather Service is the custodian of the national climate database, with some records dating back more than 150 years. On a daily basis, weather observations are made around the country by using Automatic Weather Stations, rainfall stations, satellite data, radar data and information on lightning strokes. This information is captured rigorously and is stored, validated and prepared for future use. TM
South African We a t h e r S e r v i c e
weatherlines: 082 162 or 083 123 0500 or Dial *120*555#
www.weathersa.co.za
learning
the ropes
It’s not often Sea Rescue gets a volunteer who is already highly qualified in matters marine – and very seldom do we get one who is highly qualified and asks to start at the bottom. by andrew ingram
FOCUS ON
S
tation 19 in Richards Bay has recently admitted Captain David Spangenberg, a policeman with vast experience, to their ranks. David’s passion for the sea and for helping people comes through very strongly, so the fact that he was transferred from an inland post to Richards Bay may just be one of those great strokes of luck. For him, for NSRI and for the SAPS. Richards Bay station commander Dorian Robertson tells the story: ‘A while back we had a rescue that involved the Sea Borderline Control team and, afterwards, their coxswain, David, invited us to have a look at their boat. We returned the gesture ... and the rest, as they say, is history,’ says Dorian. ‘David joined us on 30 November 2009 and did his full stint as a trainee, just like everyone else. ‘He went through the full six months despite the fact that he came to us with an almost unbelievable list of qualifications. He is certainly one of the most highly qualified volunteers ever to join Sea Rescue – at the bottom.’
“
PHOTOGRAPHS: BRYNN GERICKE
it was important for me to learn how nsri worked... it’s not just about skippering a vessel
Dorian laughs when I ask what tickets David has. ‘OK, he’s got a radio operators licence, a firefighting certificate, he’s a basic Life Support Medic, a dive medical technician... He’s a qualified swimming instructor, holds a commercial diving ticket; he’s done a Yamaha outboard course, a life-raft proficiency course, a survival course and an advanced 4x4 course. He’s a SAMSA class-3 skipper through the SAPS, he’s done surf training, and high-angle as well as swift-water rescue. How’s that?’ David explains his motivation: ‘Before I joined I decided to start at the bottom. It didn’t help for me to have this pile of qualifications and not understand how the NSRI worked. It’s not just about skippering a vessel. It’s much more than that... My job has more to do with enforcement, whereas the NSRI is about rescue. Obviously we do things differently, like high-speed jumps for instance. I had to start from the bottom, because you can’t do something properly if you don’t understand it.’ David admits it was initially a bit difficult, ‘but the guys made it ... They‘re fabulous, and they treated me like any other person, so I felt at home immediately.’ ‘David learned a whole lot from us and we learned a whole lot from him, and then in July last year we made him crew,’ says Dorian. ‘He’s very humble. He doesn’t throw his weight or rank around. He’s a lekker guy to be with, really social.’ In September last year, David was made a trainee coxswain, in November a deputy coxswain and in February this year a full class-3 coxswain on station. At the same time he became a trainee class-1 coxswain. ‘What I am really looking forward to now is getting involved in training, which I love,’ says David. ‘Its nice to put a smile on someone’s face. The Sea Rescue volunteers really want to be there to help people and make a difference. It’s good to give something back.’ SR
Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
29
waterwise
what lies
beneath RIP CURRENTS CAN STRIKE ANYONE AT ANY TIME and in ANY DEPTH OF WATER. WENDY MARITZ TAKES a look at a few incidents of rip currents, and what to do if you get caught in one
30 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
O
n Saturday, 29 January, watersports enthusiast Nic Morkel made his way to Table View to enjoy an afternoon jet-skiing. The 29-year-old sales executive was fast becoming addicted to the sport, and since acquiring the jet ski some months before had spent most weekends on the water. Arriving at Blaauwberg, he looked on with disappointment as he saw there was a rubber-duck race in progress. Rather than return home, he decided to try further along the coast at Melkbos. Conditions were perfect, and he enjoyed a few hours on the water. After packing up the jet ski and preparing to remove his wetsuit, he heard a commotion on the beach and turned to see what was going on. He saw a man speeding towards the water fully clothed, and realised someone must be in trouble. Then he noticed a youngster and what appeared to be a lilo behind the breakers. Nic acted swiftly. Unable to tie the arms of his wetsuit top together so they wouldn’t hamper him, he removed it and plunged into the water, swimming as fast as he could towards the child. It soon became apparent that the wouldbe rescuer who had run in fully clothed was also in trouble. Nic realised he could not save two people, and the risk of being pulled under by the struggling adult was all too real. He decided to swim after the lilo, which he pulled back to the casualties. Nic helped the frightened child, who had been
photograph: www.shutterstock.com
vomiting in the water, onto the lilo. He instructed the adult to hold on to the back of the lilo and kick as best he could, while Nic pulled them both back to shore. The child was soon safely in his parents’ arms while the grateful and well-meaning man rested on the beach. This wasn’t the first time Nic has had to rescue someone caught in a rip. Being an ex-Nipper and strong surfer has taught him a couple of things, but he’ll be the first person to say he has a healthy respect for the sea and its unpredictability. Commercial skipper, scuba diver and spear fisherman Quinton Raal knows all too well how drastically conditions can change. His 20 years of experience have taught him that ‘things can go horribly wrong’ when it comes to the sea. At the end of December last year, Quinton and a friend went spearfishing off the Point at Mossel Bay. They found a spot just after midday and after about an hour and a half, he decided to call it a day and attempted to make his way back to the rocks where they had entered the water. But the sea conditions had changed without warning and he got caught in a rip about 100m offshore. Quinton struggled for about an hour to get out of the rip. Realising it was futile, he alerted his dive buddy to the situation. By now Quinton was tired. ‘He told me to hold on to his dive buoy but after a few minutes, I saw that he was also struggling, so I let go. I started to panic,’ he says. ‘But then thankfully instinct took over, and I knew what I had to do. I dropped my weight belt and swam towards my dive buoy. I used the cable ties I had on my wetsuit zip and clipped myself to the dive buoy for extra buoyancy. I relaxed and allowed the rip current to take me out to sea. I reckoned as soon as the rip spat me out, I would swim back towards the rocks.’ The rip did spit Quinton out after giving him what he describes as the ‘biggest scare’ of his life. The water depth was about 12m at that stage. ‘I got hold of my spear gun and tried to anchor myself to the rocks by shooting the spear into red bait. That helped for a few minutes but due to the swell size, it ripped out and I started to drift slowly away from the rocks,’ he continues. ‘All sorts of stuff was going through my mind. I started waving at a guy on the shore. I even used the bright orange buoy to try attract attention. Could no-one could see that I was in trouble? That was my biggest fear, and also whether my dive buddy made it to shore and if he would be able to help. ‘It felt like a lifetime. Then all of a sudden I saw a gentleman in a white shirt standing on the rocks waving back to me. It crossed my mind that maybe he was only waving back to be polite. The devil got hold of me there,’ Quinton smiles. Pretty soon Quinton saw the red lights of the emergency services in the parking area, and he knew help was only moments away. Sea Rescue volunteer Danie Troskie had seen that he was in trouble and had alerted Station 15 (Mossel Bay). Within 10 minutes, the RIB was on its way to fetch him. A relieved Quinton was picked up and taken to the NSRI
What is a rip current? A current is a natural flowing body of water that occurs all along the coast. Water progressing towards the shore has to find a way to return back to sea and does so by forming a rip current. These rip currents occur constantly throughout the day and night. Bathers are most at risk of being swept out to sea during spring tide (when rip currents are most forceful). These spring-tide rip currents are known to sweep people off their feet while standing in ankle-deep water at beaches. During this time, anglers may also find their usual fishing spots swamped by the higher-than-normal high tide. Rocks that are usually visible become submerged by extreme high tide or sets of waves known as ‘rogue’ waves, often resulting in anglers being cut off from the mainland. What should I do if I get caught in a rip? If you are caught in a rip current, stay afloat by moving your arms and legs in circular movements – treading water – while being swept out to sea. Wave your arms and shout for help to alert people on the beach to call the rescue authorities. Don’t try to swim against the current as this will only tire you out. Don’t panic. It’s easy to stay afloat if you tread water. At your first opportunity swim parallel to the beach until you are free of the rip current and then use the incoming waves to get back to shore.
boathouse. All in all, he had been in the water for three-and-ahalf hours. Quinton’s dive buddy had made it safely to shore after about 40 minutes of swimming. The reality is rip currents can occur at any time and in any depth of water, even in shallow surf. The NSRI, as always, urges all bathers, divers and anglers to exercise extreme caution, and to remember the following: • Avoid swimming in river mouths or where islands or rocky outcrops jut into the sea. • Only swim at beaches where there are lifeguards on duty. (Using red and yellow flags, lifeguards change the positions of their safe swimming zones during the course of the day. They are constantly monitoring where rip currents are forming and move the safe swimming zone so that it is away from the constantly changing rip current.) • Inflatables are made for swimming pools. They are light and can be dragged by currents and the wind. Even though Nic was assisted by the lilo in the rescue we describe, the entire incident might have been avoided had the lilo been left at home. • If you see someone in trouble, alert the lifeguards on duty, the NSRI or the authorities. Don’t attempt a rescue yourself, unless you are a trained lifeguard. SR
Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
31
Creatures great and small
I
n the early hours of Friday morning, 7 January, the rock-lobster boat Rooigoud spotted a 12m southern right whale had become entangled in the rope attaching one of their crayfish traps to a buoy. They were a mile off Dassen Island on the West Coast. As sometimes happens with these huge mammals, it had rolled in the water, and had got the rope wrapped around it extremely badly. The rope entangled the whale’s tail, torso, mouth and head, and had effectively anchored the animal. It was trapped. And exhausted. Rooigoud put a call through to Saldanha Port Control, which swung the SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) into action. This specialised unit, set up in late 2005, deals specifically with these types of situations. It is made up of volunteers and professionals from various disciplines who bring their skills and equipment to the collective. It draws from the Department
32 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coast, the NSRI, SANParks, Cape Nature, the SA Police Service, various aquariums from around South Africa, the Natal Sharks Board and the Dolphin Action and Protection Group. The power of the SAWDN lies in the fact that if a whale becomes entangled anywhere on the coast a highly trained team can be deployed almost immediately. For this rescue, two NSRI boats were launched from Yzerfontein, carrying nine specialists from the different organisations that make up the SAWDN. At the helm of the little 4.2m rescue boat Spirit of IIffley was coxswain Rudi Rogers. This boat would be the one to take the volunteer with the cutting pole into position. They were backed up by the much larger 7.3m Rotary Onwards. ‘There was a large swell running, perhaps 3m, and quite a bit of fog, but as we work at close quarters, this did not worry us,’ explains Rudi.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Leshia Upfold/SAWDN
Aside from rescuing people, the NSRI also gets involved in rescuing animals in distress. Andrew Ingram spoke to Rudi Rogers from Station 34 (yzerfontein) about a recent mission to disentangle a whale
TEAMWORK
They paused at Dassen Island’s House Bay, and then headed to the position north-west of the island that Rooigoud had given them. The whale had hardly moved. ‘It was evident that the whale was worn out. It was struggling as we motored around it very slowly to determine where the “strategic ropes” were,’ says Rudi. Steven McCue, a Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coast research assistant, and most experienced member on the team, agrees. ‘It was struggling to keep its tail and head above water as the trap was hanging from its middle.’ Having carefully studied their options, the team members and tools were chosen, and the extremely tricky and somewhat dangerous operation began. ‘Usually there are one or two strategic lines holding it down and we started by cutting off the other lines before trying for these. We moved in and attached our grapnel to the lines trapping it at the tail so that, as it turned, we could pull ourselves towards its head,’ Steven explains. Rudi elaborates: ‘Then crewman Pierre Jacobs cut a line and then we moved back.’ ‘The size of the whale was quite amazing. The span of its tail is wider than the length of our boat. It’s intimidating. If it slaps our boat, that’s it,’ he continues. Steven laughs nervously, ‘Ja, it’s quite scary sitting there where all the action is when it starts slapping its tail.’ And this is why the unit consists of specialists. It’s an extremely dangerous job and the authorities were concerned about wellmeaning lay people who rush into the water to try and free these huge mammals. ‘We work just out of range, using a pole and knife rig, specially designed in Australia. The whale can’t slap us, and the design of the knife allows us to cut the rope and not harm the animal.’ ‘We move in, cut the rope and move away... and then move in for the second cut,’ explains Rudi. ‘It’s a very time-consuming process. We did a number of cuts and then had to pull the ropes off the flippers as we could not cut these ones off. ‘The whale started to move off slowly, and we followed, thinking that we had freed it. But then we saw another rope. This one was in its mouth, and we pulled it free as well. ‘After freeing the whales they usually lie around for half an hour or so and this gives us time to check that we have got all the ropes off,’ Rudi continues. From this whale, the team removed about 85m of rope, leaving perhaps 15m attached to the trap on the ocean floor. This, they say, is short enough not to pose a threat to any other whales. Steven sums up why members of the unit love their work: ‘It’s a nice feeling knowing that you made a difference. That you played a part in freeing a whale,’ and then he gives that nervous laugh again. SR
Left (top to bottom): Pierre Jacobs of Station 4 (Mykonos) operates the cutting pole with coxswain Rudi Rogers at the helm, as Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coast research assistant Steven McCue monitors the disentanglement operation
Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
33
piercing
beauty GEORGINA JONES discovers that sea urchins are as complex as they are beautiful. photographs by geoff spiby
M
ost people notice urchins from seeing their beautifully patterned skeletons on the beach, or, rather more regrettably, because they have been spiked by one inadvertently. The group is much more than fodder for collections or curses, though. Despite their appearance, evolutionary biologists are sure sea urchins have close links with vertebrates. Part of this certainty lies in the fact that urchins start their lives as bilaterally symmetrical larvae, that is creatures with mirrored left and right sides. In addition, there are various developmental features that we have in common. Urchins have taken a radically different evolutionary path, however, and as adults, most have a five-fold symmetry to their bodies, easiest seen from the shell (or test, as it is officially known). This makes sense given that their lifestyles are fairly sedentary: the fastest urchin has been recorded moving at a not especially zippy 10cm/minute, but then algae and sessile animals, which are urchins’ main food sources, aren’t known for their turns of speed either. The first urchins pop up in the fossil record 450 million years ago. Only six species are known to have made it through the Permian/Triassic extinction event around 270 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs, but unlike that doomed group, they have flourished. Today they fall into five major groups: urchins, three groups of irregularly-shaped urchins, including sand dollars and heart urchins, and the most ancient group, the pencil urchins.
34 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
These urchins have thick blunt spines and spherical bodies, like ordinary urchins. The sand dollars are the most recently evolved of the family, and their level-bottomed flattened bodies and short spines are useful for burrowing under loose sand. What interests biologists most about this phenomenon is the signs of a return to bilateral symmetry. Not only that, but some of the irregularlyshaped urchins also show signs of developing the beginnings of a centralised brain. Clearly this is a group that warrants further study. What is currently known about urchins is most intriguing. Urchins have their mouths on the underside of their bodies and most use a five-sided horny structure known as Aristotle’s lantern to control their five-toothed mouths in scraping algae and small animals off rocks. Almost all urchins don’t have what we would understand as a brain – their nervous system is comprised of a central ring with branches running into the various tissues. Nor do they have blood – sea water is used for transport of nutrients, oxygen and housekeeping cells. The sea water runs inside their bodies in a network of canals known as the water vascular system, a structure that is unique to the echinoderms, the so-called spiny-skinned animals. Urchins are the most spiny-skinned of the group, but their relatives include feather stars, starfishes, brittle stars and sea cucumbers. As for getting around, urchins use sea water for that too. They have an ingenious system of tube feet, which protrude from their
Shell images: www.shutterstock.com
The Big Blue
skeletons in five double rows. These tube feet are extended hydraulically and retracted using muscles, and allow urchins to make their laborious way over rocks and sand. The tube feet are slightly suctorial but, in addition, the feet secrete chemicals that aid both in adhesion and in detaching from their prey and the substrate. Tube feet in urchins also function in respiration, absorbing oxygen from the sea water and transporting it to internal tissues. In addition to breathing through their feet, many urchins have gills, which exist in five pairs around their mouths. These are really back-ups, though, and are only put into action when the urchin is low on oxygen. The more modern members of the family, the heart urchins and sand dollars, lack gills and only use their tube feet for respiration. Their skeletons are made of plates of calcium carbonate connected by a specialised tissue. Attached to the skeleton by means of ball-and-socket joints are the spines that cause humans so much trouble. In general the spines aren’t venomous, but they are responsive to touch and will swivel in the direction of the touch point, as many people have found out to their cost. These spines are very short in the case of the sand dollars, form a flattened fur-like covering in the heart urchins, or may be very long in the case of some tropical urchins, some of which can even penetrate wetsuits. Heart urchins also have specially adapted burrowing spines on their undersides, which help them pursue their sub-sand lifestyle. These spines are the urchins’ primary defence against large predators. Animals such as kreef, otters and various species of tropical fish are very keen on a hearty meal of urchin flesh or eggs, as are some humans. In addition to their spines, urchins have other defensive structures, called pedicellariae. These come in several forms and have differing purposes. There are three-jawed ones which snap at and kill settling organisms. Others are equipped with flesh-embedding barbs, some with associated toxins glands that can release toxins into the predator. At least one species of urchin has sufficient toxin to kill a human. Another group continually sweeps the surface of the urchin, removing detritus and keeping settling organisms away. Some even function to hold shells over the urchins as sunshades. Biologists were initially flummoxed by these structures. They were first noticed in 1778, when they were thought to be animals parasitic on urchins, and were duly given the genus name
Pedicellaria. It was a century before the error was discovered. Despite urchins’ defences, or perhaps because of them, there are many animals that use them for shelter. Porter crabs, which possess a specially adapted fifth leg, pick up urchins and carry them around on their backs, secure in the knowledge that few predators will trouble them. Some tropical urchins are colonised by juvenile fish that flit impudently between their spines, while zebra-striped crabs crawl over their surfaces, presumably having come to an arrangement with the pedicellariae. In the Cape, juvenile perlemoen shelter beneath urchins until their shells grow thick enough to ward off their own predators.
“
the fastest sea urchin has been recorded moving at a not especially zippy 10cm/minute
Reproductively, urchins are dioecious, which is to say they are either male or female. Most of them release their eggs or sperm into the ocean in massive numbers, relying on synchronised spawning and dense aggregations to achieve external fertilisation. This spawning usually happens in response to cues such as day length, water temperature or moon phase. Some urchins, however, brood their eggs by holding onto them with their spines. The fertilised egg develops into a free-swimming embryo within twelve hours, after which it spends up to several months in the plankton. It finally settles onto the bottom, after which it can develop into its adult form in as little as an hour. Some urchins reach their adult size in about five years. Urchins have long been studied as models in developmental biology, at first because their eggs were big enough for cell division to be seen easily under the earliest microscopes. These days, though, their similarities to vertebrate immune systems are the main area of interest. Although they can present a significant natural hazard and are certainly beautiful, urchins are a fascinating family, welldeserving of further study. SR Visit www.geoffspiby.co.za to view more photos by Geoff Spiby. For any marine life queries, visit www.surg.co.za.
Opposite page: A snorkeller in a Cape kelp forest surveys an urchin-studded reef. Below (left to right): a juvenile red emperor snapper (Lutjanus sebae) shelters among the spines of a rainbow fire urchin, Astropyga radiata; the pedicellariae of the flower urchin, Toxopneustes pileolus, have potentially fatal poison glands; the formidable defensive spines of the Cape urchin, Parechinus angulosus
Support the team that saves lives.
MediCAL FOCUS
a thorny issue
PHOTOGRAPHS: geoff spiby, ANDREW INGRAM
sea urchins can cause a bit of trouble if you happen to step on one, says dr cleeve robertson Sea urchins belong to the genus phylum Echinodermata, which includes starfish, brittle stars and sea cucumbers. Urchins are small spherical-shaped animals that are covered in hard spines and tube feet. They live in shallow rock pools and are therefore likely to be trod on by unsuspecting humans wading through the pools. Most urchins are venomous but there are very few that can cause serious injury or poisoning. The primary injury is usually a puncture wound to the foot when the animal is stepped on. The spine breaks off in the skin and may result in the injection of venom, infection or chronic inflammation. Serious envenomation is caused only by a few species like the ‘flower urchin’ Toxopneustes pileolus. The venom is injected either from the hollow stem of the spines or by small jaw-like seizing organs placed between the spines.
The initial injury is usually associated with pain due to the penetration of the spines, and may be followed by a small amount of bleeding and then inflammation. In the very poisonous species (black long-spined urchins and flower urchins), there may be general symptoms and signs of poisoning like nausea, vomiting, numbness, muscle paralysis and respiratory difficulty, but death has only been reported once and must be very rare. The more common and general consequence is that the spines break off in the skin and cause infection or chronic inflammation. Abalone and rock-lobster divers who don’t wear thick gloves will tell you how they regularly get stuck by urchin spines and end up with small red inflamed nodules on their skin (inflammatory granuloma). This inflammation is in response to the foreign body of the spine residual under the skin. The body eventually gets rid of the spine and the inflammation gradually disappears on its own. It is possible for spines to penetrate joint cavities in the hand and cause infection. Prevention is better than cure, so wear gloves and shoes or takkies in shallow pools if you know there are urchins around, and don’t hurt the animals by standing on them. If you do get an injury, hot water might relieve the pain. If infection develops, consult a doctor for antibiotics. My view is that the small inflammatory granulomas or nodules will disappear on their own. Trying to find and remove the spines is very difficult. Trying to cut them causes more damage than the spines themselves, so rather leave them alone. Unless the circumstances are exceptional, surgical removal of the spines is not necessary. Very rare complications include anaphylaxis or severe allergic reaction to sea-urchin envenomation or tetanus. SR Dr Cleeve Robertson is the Director of Emergency Medical Services, Western Cape, and voluntary Chief Medical Advisor to the NSRI. Apart from being passionate about caring for people, he loves mountain climbing and scuba-diving. He’s also involved in underwater photography and skipper training. Dr Robertson’s passion for people was evident earlier this year when he rushed to save a toddler and his father from drowning. He was on holiday at the time, and assisted without hesitation.
Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
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STN 7 • EAST LONDON
STATION
DIRECTORY
THE NSRI IS MANNED BY 920 VOLUNTEERS AT 30 BASES AROUND THE COAST AND ON THREE INLAND DAMS. if you need to reach NSRI after hours, please call Meriel Bartlett on 082 994 7555 or Craig Lambinon on 082 380 3800. OUR VOLUNTEERS HAVE DAY JOBS, BUT WILL ALWAYS RESPOND TO YOUR EMERGENCY. FOR GENERAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL NSRI’S HEAD OFFICE IN CAPE TOWN ON (021) 434-4011.
STN 2 • BAKOVEN StatCom: Fuel sponsor: Craft: Needs:
STN 3
Mark Thompson (082 990 5962 Engen Spirit of Rotary Table Bay – 6m rescue craft 3 Waterproof LED torches
• TABLE BAY
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38 Sea Rescue • AUTUMN 2011
StatCom: Craft: Needs:
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StatCom: Craft: Needs:
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STN 31 • STILL BAY Enrico Menezies (082 990 5978 Spirit of St Francis – 7.3m RIB, Walvan Rescuer – 4.2m RIB Ropes: 30m/50m (12/15/20mm), spotlight, data projector
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Sea Rescue • AUTUMN 2011
39
catch my drift
rescue ME!
I
thought I was off the hook after our house flooded last year, but alas it seems we need a drama at least every six months to keep us on our toes. This particular story begins rather happily with my father-in-law offering to give us the family Beetle. ‘It’s in great condition, it’s Ferrari red, it’s a 1.6,’ my husband, Gavin, said enthusiastically. Pops was holidaying in Cape Town and we decided Gavin would accompany him back to Plettenberg Bay, spend a few days soaking up the sun, and then drive the Beetle back. Initially, all went well. The Beetle was running nicely in Plett. ‘It’s very powerful’ were Gavin’s exact words. I was enjoying his enthusiasm. I’m not a retro junkie but I rather liked the idea of having a Beetle, especially one that had been looked after, and having a second car (for free) is never a bad thing. Well, a week later, Gavin was sitting in 36˚C heat, 10km outside Albertinia. He was on his way home, had stopped to take photos, and the car refused to start. The ‘Red Baroness’ had gone from hero to zero in a rather short space of time. I called my father-in-law to see whether his car insurance covered towing. No go. I called my insurance to see whether my policy covered towing another car. Also, no go. I called the AA to see if I could join immediately and if they could then get someone from one of the small towns nearby to tow the car. Hooray. After sorting out the admin, they promised to organise something for us as soon as possible. The problem was Gavin had parked in a ‘sort of ditch’. I left it up to him to liaise with the tow company, but having now lost all faith in the little red car, I decided to drive to Riversdal. My little rescue mission took four hours. I arrived in Riversdal at 6.30pm and found Gavin at the swimming pool of a
40 Sea Rescue • autumn 2011
guesthouse. Because the Beetle was so out of sight, it took the tow company about two hours to find him, which meant he had been in the sun waiting for about four hours. He looked like a tomato, sunburnt, hair on end, somewhat wild, actually. It took me the rest of the evening and a bottle of wine to convince him to not leave the ‘piece of retro junk’ in Riversdal at the VW dealer. ‘Well, you can drive it back!’ he exclaimed. The following morning, we went to see the casualty. ‘There’s nothing wrong with her,’ Armand the mechanic smiled. ‘Well, why wouldn’t it start?’ I asked. ‘Overheated.’ ‘What’s going to stop it from overheating again,’ I quizzed him. ‘Should I take a bottle of water with me?’ ‘Sure, if you think you might get thirsty.’ I cringed as I turned the key. The Red Baroness started first time, and I took her for a quick spin in Riversdal. This was not going to be as easy as I thought. But at that stage I had something to prove, so I waved goodbye to my beloved and headed off to Swellendam, which would be the first stop. Gavin would drive behind me, giving me a bit of a headstart. In retrospect, the drive back was a glorious adventure. I felt like I was at varsity again; the car went beautifully and never let me down once. Okay, I was in the yellow line most of the time, maximum speed 85km/h, but I felt that all the drivers of the cars that sped past me were secretly admiring me and the brave little vehicle. I honestly felt like a hero: I had organised the logistics, I didn’t panic, I would have been patting myself on the back the whole way home if I wasn’t holding onto the steering wheel so tightly! Not quite rushing into the cold night to rescue a casualty like the NSRI, but for a little while I felt what it was like to drop everything and rush off to help someone in trouble. Rolling up into our driveway was the best feeling in the world. We were all safe and, aside from some unforeseen expense and a nasty sunburn, there was not too much harm done. The following day, I went to work. Gavin seemed chuffed that he was mobile for the day, and I was happy things were back to normal. At around 11am, I got a call. ‘The Beetle won’t start.’ ‘Oh flip, now what?’ I said, wanting to laugh. ‘I don’t know,’ he grumbled, ‘it’s your car….’ SR
ILLUSTRATION: DARRYL EDWARDES
Wendy Maritz TAKES TO THE ROAD TO FIND A MAN AND HIS CAR
I AM C R E AT I V E PAS S I O N
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