COAST GUARD AT THE READY

COAST GUARD ICE RESCUE PRACTICE IN MARCH

BAYFIELD COAST GUARD STATION'S 45' PATROL BOAT

FISHING TUGS STILL OPERATING

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  21 degrees F at the ferry dock, 18 on the back porch.  Wind W, calm at present.  The sky is clear, the humidity 75%. The barometer is beginning to nosedive, now at 30.34".  High today around 40, very windy with small craft warnings.  Continuing windy, with mixed skies and highs in the mid 30's through Saturday.
   Yesterday about noon I drove by the Coast Guard station while going to the post office, and the Guard was out practicing water rescue.  As luck would have it, my camera was at home and by the time I went back to get it the drill was over.  The above training photo was taken in March, when they were doing the same thing, except on the ice.  Yesterday was extremely windy, almost a gale, so I was rather surprised to see them training.
   The recreational boating season is over except for an occasional die-hard (and kayakers are always a possibility), but there is still plenty of commercial activity to be monitored, and the possible need for rescue.
   The ferry is still running, the fishing tugs will go out until the ice is too thick, and freighters still ply the big lake and may need medical assistance, so the Coast Guard stays on the ready; and when the ice is too thick to operate boats they will maintain ice rescue readiness.
   I think the Coast Guard is not always given the same respect as the other branches of our uniformed services, but it requires as much dedication to duty, and in many respects is just as dangerous, as duty in the other services.  The Coast Guard is often deployed to serve hazardous overseas duty in unfamiliar foreign waters, where it is subject to enemy action, and they routinely interdict drug traffickers and smugglers.   Even here in quiet Bayfield, the Coast Guard is at the ready.