All-girl Coast Guard crew saves the day
Coast Guard Portland put its girl power to good use with back-to-back night assistsOne of the highlights of this boating week occurred on Monday (June 20) when Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Portland completed two assists.
That in itself is not unusual, but what was different was the all-female crew who deftly completed these assist missions. Hopefully, this is a welcome sign of the changing of the guard...
Coast Guard Portland has 35 per cent female membership and it was only a matter of time before an all-girl crew would be responding to the needs of the boating public.
A call came in to assist a yacht that had suffered engine failure and requested help to berth in Portland. A pager call went out for the rescue vessel crew and radio room operator. It just so happened that the full crew were all female.
Dianne Dent in the communications room, duty skipper Shirley Stanford, and Donna McKinnon and Joan Stanford made up the full rescue vessel complement and crew.
During the first assist, a second call was fielded from a vessel that had fuel problems and needed to be towed to the boat ramp. As they were in safe water, the direction was given to put their anchor down as it would be an hour wait for the rescue crew to attend to them.
The first assist was under way at 17:00 with the second assist completed by 22:00.
"All our members undertake extensive training before they can operate during assists and they continue to maintain skills. It is a big commitment by our members," said Flotilla Commander Stephen Brown.
Not that an explanation is needed, mind you. Female boaters have long exercised great 'seamanship' and sailed around the world many times over.
"I’m very proud of all of our crew... the boating community around Portland can rest assured that highly skilled Coast Guard members are there to help if the need arises."
With more all girl crews on the waterways, rescue organisations might get a boost. The downside could be increasing calls for help from the all-boy boating and fishing flotilla who think they know it all. Now that would be unremarkable.
Sign up to help your rescue organisation. A full list of the Victorian Coast Guard flotillas can be found at coastguard.com.au/flotillavic.
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