By the end of November the new Kommetjie Sea Rescue station will be up and running. After a nineteen year battle to get the base built, the Station 26 volunteers will at last have a permanent home.“Construction of our new base started in May 2015, and is moving along at a cracking pace,” said Kommetjie Station Commander Ian Klopper.“It is fantastic that we will be fully operational by the end of the year holidays, and that we will have a first class home for our refurbished 6,5 metre rescue boat, Spirit of the Vines,” said Ian.“With a new base and a new boat our service in the area is significantly strengthened and our response range much improved.”“Although we are still looking for funding for the project we are extremely grateful to the trusts, corporates and individuals who have made the Kommetjie base possible. And especially to our friends at Rotary, who have yet again put their support firmly behind Sea Rescue with a generous donation of R500 000,” said NSRI CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson.The Rotary donation is being made in two phases, said Operations Board Member Brad Geyser.“It comes from the long NSRI involvement with the Cape Town Cycle Tour over the last 25 years,” said Brad.Brad has been involved in the Cycle Tour for some 25 years, initially as the Marketing Director of Digitron, who were sponsors of the tour for a number of years, and then as an unpaid volunteer.For the past 13 years Brad headed up the Cycle Tour’s Joint Operations Centre. The generous donation from Rotary recognised the enormous amount of time and expertise that Brad, and Sea Rescue volunteers, put into the safety of riders in the world famous Cycle Tour.These pictures can be downloaded from
Sea Rescue's Flickr page. A panorama of the new Kommetjie Sea Rescue base which will be complete at the end of November.
Ian shows the Claremont Rotarians Ian Robertson, Paul De Groot and John Jacobs the rescue base.
Ian Klopper and Brad Geyser from NSRI, John Jacobs, Ian Robertson and Paul De Groot from Claremont Rotary.
New public toilets were part of the contract.