Our History

John Payne and Patti Price receive certificates of recognition from the then State President Jim Fouche, and Pat O’Sullivan on the far right

The urgent need for a sea rescue organisation in South Africa was highlighted in 1963 when 17 fishermen drowned after their trawler sank near Still Bay due to the lack of a rescue service.  Following this incident, Miss Pattie Price (whose own life had been saved by the RNLI lifeboat  in the British Channel) began a committed letter-writing campaign to motivate the formation of a sea rescue organisation.  Captain Bob Deacon and Mr Ray Lant were the first volunteers to respond to this call. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) was established in 1967 when it acquired its first rescue craft – a 4.7m inflatable boat called Snoopy donated by the Society of Master Mariners.