i did a one year stint in the new zealand coastguard about 2 years ago and
had mixed feelings about policy.... thankfully most things were still done
on a common sense basis. Im not sure what the status of coastguard bases in
the states is like, but in new zealand, they have some coastguards that are
fully subsidised by the government, and some that the government is only
partially willing to subsidise. In my unit, we were not subsidised at all,
except in cases where police called us directly to act on their behalf. we
acquired funds for running by donations, and partially by renting out one of
our deep sea response vessels to the local port authority as a pilot vessel
and sometime tug. costs per hour are high, at least $60 per hour per vessel
which covers only fuel and maintenance, forget about equipment, training,
upgrades, repairs and the like.

Our charter specifiedsthat we were required to give assistance where we
could to vessels in imminent danger. The application of that is vessels far
from shore that had engine failure or what have you were not strictly
speaking, covered. The theoretical result is that we pick up the people and
leave the vessel behind. In most cases, we gave private vessels free tows
as required, regardless of the cause (for example, even if they were too
stupid to top up their tanks before heading offshore). The cost for us to
do that in fuel is pretty significant. do you really think we should be
required to shell out from our limited funds to cover people who were just
plain selfish? I still cant decide.

In reality, we were quite often required by our board to charge commercial
vessels such as fishing boats for tows at the same rates as a prviate tow
(which is not cheap, at nz$50~nz$100/hr depending on the vessel attending).
there was some pressure to also charge private vessels depending on the
circumstances.

The ultimate reality will depend i guess upon your local situation. In the
case of out particular unit, all the workers were vollunteers, several with
20+ years experience, most were already coxswains. Most of our members had
other skills to bring to the unit, a couple were tug drivers, a couple
qualified divers, one was a boat builder, one was a qualified underwater
diver. Various people amoung us had many years experience more than I did in
specially dealing with certian types of craft. What we received in return
was pretty minimal. Each of us got (to keep if we had more than 2 years in
the service) a wetsuit in 6mm neoprene (NZ is cold, even in summer) and an
inflatable life jacket. the equipment we got to use (but not to keep) was a
waterproof VHS radio, and a signalling light. A small budget was available
for training.

what we gave was a lot more. I turned up 2 days a week for patrol hours on
my circuit, which also doubled as training time if nothing was happening.
depending on the weather (which in NZ is variable, we were close to
antarctica) we might be practicing man overboards, navigation, craft
handling over bars, or handling in rough seas. Part of our patrol area was
a beach, and the seas got to be so big i was scared to go out in them. our
primary response craft for that area was a 6.5 metre jet boat with an
inboard V8, and being out in that thing when the seas were up to 10 feet was
scarey. I know when we replaced that vessel with a purpose built vessel it
cost us around NZ$150,000. Most of that money came from renting out one of
our larger vessels to the port authority.

We all carry a pager. Most of us have agreements with our bosses that when
that pager goes off we have to go, no matter what the time. some of us get
paid for that time by our benevolent employers, some of us dont. We all
risk the same thing when we respond, and the ironic thing is that the first
response vessel will leave with minimum crew. If your'e the one after the
mimimum, you just wasted your time. We all race to get there just the same.

Take the time to find out what the situation is in your area. If its fully
government subsidised, breath easy, lavish words of thanks upon your
rescuers and know that as a taxpayer you're doing the right thing. If the
government has decided that the cost of saving lives in your area is just a
bit more than they're willing to pay, then ask yourself what your boat is
worth. I say boat because life is too hard to put a price on. consider
donating a few dollars to the organisation that rescued you. if in doubt,
find out what the equivalent private sector tow service would have charged
(if they'd been willing to take the risk at all in the weather) and give at
least a part of that. rest assured that the money donated will not go
towards wages, but towards the absolute necessities, like fuel, or engine
maintenance that might save someone elses life.


Alaska and south bound most people give ya tow cause its the right
thing to do.Seems I think the ColRegs say something about that
someplace. Besides the USCG last I heard still give free tows off the
AK WA OR coast. But I think the coasties around here stil have a search
and rescue component to their mission.
But I think that is on theway out too. Has any one looked at their
fleet budget and the type of boats the USCG are building now??? Say
good by to the doubleended 44' lifeboat turned 47" aluminum speed boat
search and rescue mentality. Its now full on 400'+ cutter time.