wrote in message
...
I have to say this discussion is both hilarious and offensive.
Especially when a certain someone posts that the US Coast Guard would
have been "on leave or sitting around shining our shoes" had this case
not have happened. For your information sir, while Search and Rescue
will always be our main mission we have about 16 other priority
missions the US taxpayers require us to perform 365 days of the year.
I am a crewmember on the cutter TAHOMA and I was involved in the SAR
case Grail Pilgrin. We were on a Living Marine Resources Patrol
(LMRE) which is a law enforcement mission spanning from Maine to New
York out 200NM. In addition to the LMRE patrol we were also a
response cutter that performs counterterrorism missions when called
upon. This patrol (other military agencies call it deployments) was
to span well into the new year, so let me assure you that while you
were spending the holidays with your family, we were protecting your
homeland.

In reference to the S/V Grail Pilgrin, I have no doubt that if we
would not have gone out and rescued the sailor in distress, there was
a very high probability his family would have been mourning at a
funeral instead of celebrating the holidays. I am not going to detail
the case because for most of you I don't think you deserve it, and the
rest of you might not believe me. I will though highlight the main
points from this case:

While on a routine patrol (deployment) we were diverted to evacuate
the sailor onboard the S/V Grail Pilgrin. We were 240NM west of the S/
V Grail Pilgrin when the call came in. We made best speed to his
position where we discovered winds out of the East holding steady at
45Kts gusting up to 60kts. The wind waves were reaching 5ft in height
and we recorded swells reaching 18FT in height. To give you an idea
of how bad it was out there our 270' ship at one time took a 32 degree
roll to starboard. Most ships today are designed to withstand a roll
of up to 45 degrees before structural damage starts to occur so if we
took a 32 degree roll you can only imagine the pitch and rolls
happening on the 29ft sailboat. Now I cannot say why the sailor
decided to sail alone from Halifax to Bermuda and it is not my
position to judge why, but the man I met was a very experienced
sailor, probably more experienced than most of you posting on this
account. When we arrived and spoke to the sailor via radio we could
tell he was suffering from severe exhaustion and his symptoms
described the first stage of shock and dehydration. The S/V Grail
Pilgrin bow sail and come loose and was floating in the water, the sea
anchor was deployed, and his rigging had been torn from the mast in
addition to the engine being out of commission. In other words, he
could not motor or sail, which leads me to say I know of no one who
could have taken that S/V in that condition anywhere expect straight
down to the bottom of the ocean. We as Coastguardsmen are trained to
perform rescues in the most severe weather and we had to wait a few
hours until the seas calmed enough for us to launch our smallboat to
affect the rescue.

That is all I am going to say on the subject, take it or leave it that
is what happened. Next time you want to criticize my service or the
missions we perform come find me and say it in my face. I will stick
you on a small boat in 15ft seas for 36 hours and ask you how you feel
when we come save you.

Respectfully,
A United States Coast Guard Cutterman currently serving aboard CGC
TAHOMA


As others have said... not often enough... your work is appreciated, and
you're underpaid.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com