U.S. Coast Guard Training! A Red Letter Day!

When is the last time you had a "Red Letter Day?" That is a day that has special significance or opportunity.  This day I had a few years ago was both!  A friend of mine knew the captain of the boat that the Coast Guard out of Station Clearwater would use to practice rescues on.  So, this was a great opportunity for me, as he invited us to go along with him on one of the training missions. 

 

This was his boat.  We left from Bradenton Yacht Club on Snead Island, Florida.  It would be the captain, his two crew, my friend and myself along for the ride.  We started the trip down the Manatee River, past Anna Maria Island then out into the Gulf of Mexico.  We went out about three miles I think it was. 

I remember the excitement I felt waiting for that first Coast Guard helicopter to arrive.  I was told there would probably be two that were coming. It seemed like a long time, but finally we saw one coming!

That's me sitting with the two crew in the orange.  I think they wanted to be in the Coast Guard and that is why they took this job.  I still don't know why the Coast Guard didn't just use their own boat and crew.  Maybe they wanted it to be more realistic. 

Here is my friend Jim with one of the crew.  Jim is a firefighter with the Bradenton City fire department. 

So, I was told the helicopter would come right over the boat and that Jim and I would have to go inside the boat and shut the glass door to the deck, or we and all of our camera equipment would get salt water sprayed on it. 

So, inside we went and the helicopter came right over the boat with a rescue basket dangling below.   There is a small line trailing below it for the crew to grab first, then pull the rescue basket in closer.

Now this was getting exciting!

The deck crew had to first touch the rescue basket with that metal pole one of them was holding.  The basket would get highly charged with static electricity and if they didn't ground it with that pole first, they would get a serious shock. 

They got the basket on the deck and pretended that they were putting someone in it. 

Then the helicopter hoisted back up the rescue basket.  You can see the trailing line that is used to keep the basket from spinning out of control.

Here is a picture of the inside of the boat.

They practiced lowering and raising the rescue basket about 5 times.  This is a view out the sliding window onto the deck.  I can tell you it was more than thrilling to be able to see all this happening right in front of me! 

When the helicopter came within 50 feet over the boat, you could really feel the air pressure in your ears.  I had never experienced anything like that before!

The next training the Coast Guard did was to drop a dummy in the water.

 

Then the rescue swimmer, the hardest job in the Coast Guard, would jump from the helicopter as it was hovering only a few feet off the water.  He would then start swimming to find the dummy.

Once the rescue swimmer found the dummy, the helicopter came over with the basket dangling down for the rescue swimmer to grab onto. You can see the swimmer in the water on the right.

They pulled the basket up into the helicopter.

Then they just let a line down and the rescue swimmer hooked himself into it and they hoisted him up.  What a ride!

Too scary for me!

After that, they threw the dummy back in.

Then the rescue swimmer had to jump in, go find the dummy and this time being it up without the rescue basket.  I'm not sure why they did this, I guess  there are times when it is too dangerous for the basket.

Here is another picture of me, you can see how happy I am!

Another picture of the rescue swimmer going up with the dummy.

The next training they did was to have the rescue swimmer come right down onto the boat.

The helicopter got really close this time!

It was cool to meet a real Coast Guard rescue swimmer.  If you haven't seen the movie The Guardian with Keven Costner, it is a great story of the rescue swimmers!  

The rescue swimmer gave me his email address and I later sent him all the pictures I had taken.  He said everyone at Coast Guard Station Clearwater loved seeing them as they never get to have any pictures taken of them doing their training. 

They then brought the basket down, the rescue swimmer got in and they hoisted him back up.

Back in the helicopter.

They were done.  Another Coast Guard helicopter came and did everything the last one did, so it was a big thrill all over again.

So, that was definitely was a RED LETTER DAY!  I have so much respect for the Coast Guard and what they do.  About a year or so after this my daughter actually married a guy from the Coast Guard. How about that!