Coast Guard Geelong

Here at Coast Guard Geelong we are like new parents with a baby. We have just taken delivery of our new training boat. Les and Greg look very happy taking the vessel out on its maiden voyage. If you are not already part of our team come down to St Helen’s to our office and have a chat with our members or contact us via messenger.

With Monday being a public holiday with great weather it was a busy day on the water. Our crew at VF8 had a call from a distressed vehicle with 3 passengers onboard that had engine failure just near channel marker 8. True to form our crew dropped The Australian Red Ensign and went to their rescue sporting The blue and yellow Delta flag to indicate to other vessels “keep clear we are manoeuvring with difficulty” The boat was towed back to dry land and another successful mission was complete. Great work team.

Today, our duty crew are out on the water, conducting person overboard training to ensure they are prepared for any emergency situations that may arise.

Yesterday, our dedicated crew members volunteered their time and effort to ensure the safety of participants in the Moorpanyal 1000 open water swim at North Shore. They provided assistance as a safety boat, helping to prevent any accidents or injuries from occurring during the event. We are grateful to Barry for capturing excellent pictures that we can share with everyone.

We had some handouts printed out a while ago so we thought we should share it on our socials. It’s the small things that matter. Happy Boating.

Its been a while between posts but rest assured that our team has been out and about looking after the safety of our fellow boating enthusiasts. Over the next week or so we have some great information to share with the group but tonight we would like to share the story of Murray a fellow Coast Guard from many miles away.

A few weeks ago we were contacted by Murray who is a member of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.

Murray contacted us to have a catch up while he was here on holidays and see how us Aussies do things down under. He spent the day out on the water with Barry, Phil and Andrew W and watched the passage race from a front row seat in some very challenging conditions. He was lucky enough to even assist in a couple of rescue tows and have a snag on the BBQ for Australia Day. Thanks Murray for reaching out and we hope you had a great day.

Well it’s almost a wrap for 2023. Geelong Coastguard have had many call-outs to help our fellow boat enthusiasts. We would like to say thank you to all our members for turning out to help those in need. Apart from our day to day activities on the water there is so much that goes on to keep the wheels turning. At our last meeting for the year we were lucky enough to hand out many well deserved awards to our valued members. These range from 5 years service awards to a huge 45 year service award for Les Harrison. WOW how amazing is that. Tony and Phill were awarded the 100 Activations certificate. That’s a lot of jobs on the water in a volunteer role. Greg and Dave have reached 5 years of service also. We hope that everyone has a safe and happy new year and thank you for your support in 2023. Stay safe on the water.

Merry Christmas to all our amazing volunteers, families and friends. Our volunteers give more than anyone could ever imagine. Behind the scenes in Coastguard it’s a very busy dedicated life with training and duty days. Our team are so awesome and we are so thankful to you all. Once again Merry Christmas and we thank you for all your dedication.

How awesome is this picture. Great work.

🚁 This striking image was taken by one of our crew as Water Winching wrapped up for the day. The storm was still some distance away, and Mother Nature was good enough not to interrupt these important sessions.

Our crews, along with those from Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad, have been assisting Ambulance Victoria with its annual MICA Flight Paramedic Water and Vessel Rescue training program.

Last night our dedicated team spent many hours patrolling and maintaining an exclusion zone around the City of Greater Geelong Christmas tree. What a beautiful sight to see. We are lucky to live in such an amazing city. Safety on the water is paramount. Coming into nice weather boating activities are on the increase and we want everyone to be safe and enjoy their day out.

What an amazing turn out today at the Emergency Services Day at the Corio Village. Thanks to all the amazing volunteers that give up their time to help the community.

Don’t forget to tell your family and friends to pop down and say hello to our emergency service volunteers tomorrow.

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It’s not all water rescues at CGG. Over the weekend the team rendered some first aid assistance to Bindi, got her a jug of water to clean the BBQ and also showed off some of their fish cleaning skills. What a great team of men and women we have. Pop in and say hi or have a cuppa with the crew as we are at the St Helen’s ramp every weekend from 8-4:30pm.

Over the last few months we have had a few changes within the ranks at Coast Guard Geelong. With the election recently held we have seen a changing of the guard so to speak. We would like to say a massive thankyou to our amazing VOLUNTEER Team for the past roles they have held and a big thankyou to the incoming committee members for taking on a role within the organisation. Here are few new faces at VF8. Over the next few weeks we will be posting some pictures of the past and present Volunteer committee members. Congratulations to Dave for taking on the Commander role and Tony for being his deputy. Behind these two roles is a very dedicated team which you will meet over the next few weeks.

https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/geelongtimes/news/keeping-community-safe-geelong-coast-guard-celebrate-60-years/?fbclid=IwAR1ViZ5UJ1BD5luqi1Ui-_Tsr3UfEEPMMVjSNKR0RXZmMI9uLNbgVu_Nj_0&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Keeping Community Safe: Geelong Coast Guard celebrate 60 years - Geelong Times THE City of Greater Geelong council has hosted a civic reception to celebrate the Geelong Coast Guard’s 60 year of volunteer service to the local community. Held at the end of last month at City Hall, the event brought local volunteers together to toast six decades of marine search and rescue oper...

Coastguard Geelong is a volunteer marine search and rescue organisation with primary responsibility extending beyond Corio Bay to Portarlington. We are always looking for new members so if you're interested and want to know more please contact us using the contact details on this page.

https://youtu.be/OLqs50PayAQ

Geelong Coastguard 60TH Anniversary

Coast Guard Geelong would like to congratulate and thank

Phil Thorn on 10 years of service.

Paul Smart on receiving the meritorious award for admin service.

Robert Wilby receiving his membership certificate after being sworn in as a regular member.

And all of our other members for their ongoing service and support to the flotilla.

⚓️👏

Do you understand the purpose of cardinal marks?

Cardinal marks are used to indicate the location of the best navigable water, to show the safe side on which to pass danger and to draw attention to a feature in a channel. To understand the meaning of a particular cardinal mark, the navigator must be aware of geographical directions and therefore needs a compass to determine where the best navigable water lies.

🟡 The shape of a cardinal mark is not significant, but in the case of a buoy it will be a pillar or spar.
⚫️ The most important daylight feature of the cardinal mark is the black double cone top mark and the four different arrangements that indicate the relevant direction from the mark.
🟡 Black and yellow horizontal bands are used to colour the cardinal marks and indicate the type of cardinal mark.
⚫️ Top mark cones point in the same direction as the location of the black bands on the marks.
🟡 If lit, the mark will exhibit a quick flashing (about 1 per second) or very quick flashing (about 2 per second) white light. The rhythm of the light will indicate the particular quadrant of the mark.
⚫️ The number of flashes corresponds to the numbers on a clock face:
N = continuous flash. E = 3 flashes. S = 6 flashes. W = 9 flashes.

Today volunteers from Coast Guard Geelong went and supervised two swimmers who made the plunge from Eastern Beach to Limeburners Point to raise money for Motor Neuron Disease.

Congratulations to the two swimmers on completing the swim in good time especially in the ice cold water.

Following the supervision members continued in the beautiful weather to to do some training and skills maintenance around Corio Bay. ⚓️

Last week members from Coast Guard Geelong undertook a First Aid and CPR training course that enables them to assist persons who become injured in the event of an accident or emergency situation until further help arrives. ⛴ ⚓️

Did you know?

Our volunteers regularly participate in general and specialised training to make sure their skills are on par, ready for any callouts for assistance that come their way. ⛴

Did you know that last week was National Volunteer Week where Australia as a nation acknowledges the contribution of volunteers to the community.

As a Volunteer Flotilla we certainly understand the value and power of volunteering. We could not be prouder of our dedicated volunteers coupled with the amazing support they receive from our community, their families and employers to help us provide our marine rescue operations to the Geelong and surrounding communities everyday.

Please join us in thanking and recognising the efforts of not only our volunteers but the many thousands of others who selflessly volunteer right across Australia everyday.

Doesn’t matter who, what or when, we’ll "rescue" anything! 🛟