Yesterday Sea Rescue Durban had a full day of training starting with induction for new recruits, followed by night training. We were very fortunate to have Jerry Jackson, Station Commander from Shelly Beach, join us with some of his crew, to get a different perspective of working within an area that has commercial operations taking place.The day started with induction training for the six new recruits. They started with a 200m swim to see if they were comfortable in the sea and are proficient enough in self rescue. This was followed with treading water for 15 minutes, correctly donning a life jacket and some in water survival techniques. The six recruits showed good potential and we welcome them to a fun filled journey at Sea Rescue Durban.Later that afternoon the rest of the Durban station volunteers arrived, along with the crew from Shelly Beach for some night training organized by Wendy Serfontein and run by Karen Kennedy.The crew were briefed before both the 10m rescue not,
Eikos Rescuer II and the 7m RIB
Megan II, were launched for the evening. Crew had to steer a course using GPS coordinates which were given to them from the operations room. While steering a course different scenarios were put to the crew. Namely, man over board, simulated motor issues, medical situations and more.Once complete, both boats returned to the base to give the crew a 10 minute break before preceding into the harbour to practice some close quarters maneuvering and crew transfers between both boats while underway.At the end of the training session, both boats returned to the base for cleaning and a debrief of the evenings training.Well done to everyone on a very successful training session, and thank you to our flanking station for joining us.Report and pictures by Ian Livermore.
