PE crew help put smiles on little faces

PORT ELIZABETHOn Saturday morning, 21st February, the Reach for A Dream foundation brought a group of youngsters between the age of 4 and 12, all suffering for heart conditions down to the NSRI Port Elizabeth sea rescue base.They were all given a WaterWise lecture on water safety and then a chance to don on all the different types of rescue gear (life-jackets, helmets etc). The NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew then took them for a ride on the a rescue boat and also on the NSRI Quad bike and NSRI Sea Rescue vehicle. Daniel Heiman, NSRI Port Elizabeth, said: 'It’s an emotional morning when dealing with youngsters who should not be thinking about pills and doctors and instead just enjoying life. The morning ended with a ceremony where they all received a Captain Courage medal. A truly awesome and inspirational morning. Then, also on Saturday, 21st February, NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were activated following a call from the sailing boat NATASHA en route from Cape town to Durban with students on board.Just before St Francis her propeller shaft sheared and she lost propulsion with the motor and was under sail power only.The casualty yachts plan was to sail to Port Elizabeth for repairs and she was making good headway and NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were placed on standby to assist her onto her mooring.Just after rounding Cape Recife at 22h00 the wind dropped completely. The duty crew decided to rather tow her into Port rather than waiting for the wind to pick up. NSRI Port Elizabeth launched EIKOS RESCUER IV and rendezvoused with Natasha at 22h57 and took the casualty yacht under tow. On entering the harbour at 00h15 the yacht NATASHA was rafted and placed onto a mooring at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club and no further assistance was required.TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONESMS 32287 with your name and a message of support for our Sea Rescue crew.