PE boathouse gets a much needed facelift

The current boat houseOur NSRI Station 6 Port Elizabeth rescue crew have moved to temporary accommodation while their boathouse undergoes a major revamp. This means that our 10m 'Spirit of Toft' will soon be housed out of the water, extending her lifespan considerably while at the same time improving crew safety and emergency response time.When we say 'moved' it means that the rescue crew themselves have again been at the forefront, doing all the work; from sourcing the containers to arranging security, measuring, cutting, welding, painting, arranging for phone lines to be diverted, packing everything in boxes and unpacking it all on the other side.It has been a mammoth task and has taken many hours over and above their normal commitment to rescues and training sessions. Special thanks to our tireless crew who have worked so hardThe major revamp of the station includes gutting of the existing building and adding on a new wing to accomodate 'Spirit of Toft'. This revamp has been on the cards for quite some time. The last time renovations were done was in the early 1970’sAn upgraded control room, new change rooms and ablutions and a new roof are also on the cards in the revamp which will cost R3m.In the meantime NSRI Station 6 Port Elizabeth will be operating out of containers in the Port for 5 to 6 months. Operations control and coordination during sea rescue emergencies will be run from Port Control facilities. Our temporary homeThe container park is a basic solution to securely house our equipment with crew utilising facilities of ABYC and PEDSAC – with special thanks to them for their kind support. The container park temporary accommodation was made possible thanks to kind donations from Safmarine (containers), Container Trust (containers), Xtreme Projects (office container), Milltrans (transport of containers), secured by Atlas Security (alarm), erected by Bidfrieght Port Operations ....all this at no cost to NSRI. Our crew would also like to thank their neighbours and Portnet for their support.The new boathouse will be named 'The Archie & Alta Rabie Rescue Base' and the revamp is very generously being sponsored by the Rabie Family Trust, in memory of the Late Dr Archie Rabie. NSRI PE Station Commander Ian Gray with Daniel RabieThank you to everyone who has made a contribution in cash, in kind and in man hours ..and a special thank you to the families of the rescue crew who have been so patient and understanding.