Discover Sooke

Before I moved out to Sooke, a close friend of mine, Tim Ayres, Sooke real estate agent extraordinaire from 642blog.ca , had joined the Sooke Coast Guard Auxiliary. One day he was telling me about the calls he had been on, the training that they offered and generally what is expected from their members, I was impressed. I knew that when we moved out here I too wanted to join, learn all the skills of water Search and Rescue and give back some of my time to this great community.

One of the tough things about moving 5000km away from your friends and family is starting over again. I’m a very social person but having a home based business makes it tough for me to meet people. In the 6 years that we’ve been out west I can only say that I’ve got a couple of close friends, not that I’m complaining, because those close friends are wonderful people, but I missed having a sense of belonging in the community.

My wife and I were hoping that by moving to Sooke we would get that back. Having spent the last 5 years close to the “big city of Victoria”, it didn’t compare to the small town community that we grew up with back in Ontario.

But enough with the personal side of things, let’s talk about what I did discover and what the Coast Guard Auxiliary has done for me.

As soon as we were unpacked and everything in it’s place, I decided to head to my first meeting with the CCGA. These meetings take place once a week, every Wednesday night from 7pm until, well, there is no specific end time, it’s just basically when we decide to call it a night or the lesson is over.

The “base” is located on McMillan Rd, near Whiffen Spit.  Right now we have close to 20 members, but not all are regular,active members. Some are seasonal, depending on the time of year, and some are more active then others depending on their work schedule or family life and that is okay, because this IS volunteering after all.

But generally we all try to get out as much as we can, this isn’t a written rule, but one that is appreciated by the organization. This is a service to the community and being a part of a team such as this is important. It’s important to learn about each other, gain the needed skills and understand the dangers present to you, the boat and the people we are assisting. It’s not something that you want to be rusty at and people will need to rely on you and your knowledge.

So what skills do you need to have before you join?

Not too much, to be honest. I grew up on the waters around Georgian Bay but I hadn’t been on a boat for years before I joined. And looking back now from what I’ve learned over the past year, I can honestly say I didn’t know much at all. It’s all been very humbling.

The Auxiliary does pay for your courses that you need to become crew and you’ll learn a lot from the meetings each week. You’ll learn a lot from on-water training that we do, which we try to do as often as we can, and you’ll learn from the missions your attend.

Over this past year I’ve got my Personal Craft Operators Certificate, Personal Craft Courtesy Check certificate, Marine Advanced First Aid and CPR certificate, Radio Operators Certificate (Marine) and my Power and Sail Squadron course. And those are just courses, this doesn’t include the many hours of on-water training with our SAR vessel.

Since I work from home, I’ve opted to be on-call 24/7.  Most of our members are on-call at night because most hold day jobs. In the last year I’ve personally been out on 12 SAR missions in the area. Our designated area covers from Race Rocks, up to Nitinat Lake, quite a large area.

In order to be apart of the crew you should be within 15 minutes of the boat. Our boat is located at the Government Docks on Maple Ave. South.

We operate a 30 foot Titan with a cabin, ridged hull inflatable boat. It’s well equipped with the tools needed to assist in rescue missions. We all get many hours of personal time on the helm, with the radar/plotter and keeping watch. We do many training exercises including the fun heavy weather training out in the Juan de Fuca. This year I’ve got just over 74 hours of sea-time.

I can’t stress enough the things I’ve learned. I’ve met a great group of people and have made lots of new friends. I feel like I’m giving back to the community and doing something that I love, being on the water.

If you don’t have a boat, like myself, and love the water this might be for you. You don’t have to worry about paying for the gas, the repairs or moorage. Can it get any better than that? I guess we can’t go fishing from the boat, but that’s okay. Did I mention that there are a few fishing charter operators in the unit? Keep them real close.

I think the biggest misconception that people don’t understand is that you don’t need to have previous skills, although that never hurts. The Auxiliary is happy to provide all the training you need to become crew.

I think it is important to want this to be a long-term investment into this organization because they do pay for your courses and your training. It’s only fair that one gives back as much as they are given.

But I can personally say that I don’t regret joining the coast guard auxiliary here in Sooke, far from it actually. The people that you meet are amazing. The things you learn are some skill sets that you can use with you for a lifetime. It’s fun, challenging, rewarding and most of all it is well worth knowing that you can give back to the community and help make boating fun and safe.

It might not be for everyone but I think most people who belong feel quite similar to the way I feel.

If anyone would like to join or has more questions, please feel free to contact me for more details and information. Email me at jsvander@telus.net or call 250.642.5447

As I said, we are always looking for new members, male or female. In order to be out in the boat you need to be over 18 though.

Here is a photo of our boat.

Safe boating and Happy Holidays everyone.

Filed under: Latest News on December 22nd, 2008