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Originally founded by Rieghard Janse van Rensburg in 2010 as a satellite to Station 21 (St Francis Bay), Station 37 is now a surf launch station in its own right. “We typically deal with drownings in the surf zone, lagoons and the occasional yacht tow,” says current station commander Paul van Jaarsveld. “We’ve also done some medivacs from fishing vessels, as well as searches for missing persons on land and sea, and assisted Station 21 to re-attach a tow line between a tug boat and a ship that was drifting towards our shore. Apart from rescuing people, we are also involved with a lot of animal rescues including marine mammals, turtles, sea birds, and whale disentanglement operations.”
Station 37 has won the Most Improved Station Award on two occasions, in 2014 and again in 2021, and also the RIB Station of the Year award in 2018.
Paul has been with the NSRI since 2014, and was voted Station Commander by his crew in 2021. “The ocean and the dynamics of working with a group of diverse individuals, as well as the feeling of pride and satisfaction I get when I am instrumental in a rescue, has kept me going. My years in the NSRI have developed and grown me as a person, and exposed me to many exciting opportunities and relationships I would never have encountered otherwise.”
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Darren Zimmerman, NSRI Simonstown duty controller, said: At 17h19, Saturday, 30 November, NSRI Simonstown duty crew and CMR (Cape Medical Response) ambulance services were activated following eyewitness reports to NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) requesting medical assistance for a non-fatal drowning at Clovelly corner.
East London, Eastern Cape, following the assistance on Sunday morning on the Buffalo River, where a sailing yacht sunk with a jetty and where NSRI East London saved a passenger barge from sinking (towed safely to moorings), at 12h06, Sunday, 2 June, NSRI East London, SA Police Services, the Police Dive Unit, Police K9 Search and Rescue, Priority Care ambulance services, BCM Traffic Services and emergency services responded 10 flood related incidents at various locations around East London.
The NSRI assisted in 2 horse riding accidents over the last two weekends - one in Yyzerfontein on the West Coast and another at Jefferys Bay.
Police are investigating a case at the Hermanus old harbour where clothing, a cellphone and other items were discovered on the shore.
At 12h28, Friday, 5 January, NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were activated following a request for urgent assistance from a 62-year-old man, with a friend, reporting that he had been bitten by a Ragged Tooth shark that he had caught while fishing - at Papiesfontein, North East of Jeffreys Bay.
When Willemien Fourie and her family stopped at Kabeljous Beach in the Eastern Cape for a stroll, they could not have imagined the ordeal that was about to unfold – a near-fatal encounter with a treacherous rip current. Thanks to the swift response of four Good Samaritans and the NSRI’s Pink Rescue Buoys on hand, however, they survived.
The surfing haven, J-Bay, as it’s affectionately known, is home to one of the largest and most industrious NSRI bases, with plenty of plans in progress to expand its capacity to serve its community.
NSRI Station 6, as well as several others in the region, are gearing up for the PE2EL Surfski Challenge, one of South Africa’s most scenic open ocean races, spanning 250 kilometres from Gqeberha to East London.
5 Lives were saved on Sunday in cooperation with bystander Good Samaritans, Pink Rescue Buoys, and a lady using a bodyboard. A further 3 lives were saved by bystander Good Samaritan efforts
2 incidents in Melkbosstrand and Jeffrey's Bay highlight an NSRI safety alert.
NSRI Knysna were alerted by a parent of a hiker, at around 15h27, Friday, 12 May, reporting 14 hikers cut off by the rain affected heavy flowing Lottering River, on the Tsitsikamma hiking trail, on the North Eastern side of the Bloukrans River.
Multiple incidents took place across the Southern Cape this May. Here's a rundown of some of those stories:
SEA RESCUE – JEFFREYS BAY – Wednesday, 3 May. Surfer stable, in good spirits and in good care after being bitten by a shark while surfing:
NSRI halts Eastern Cape training exercise to successfully rescue an injured adult female hiker from the Tsitsikamma Otter trail.
At 17h10, Sunday, 2 April, NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were activated following reports of a double sea kayak capsized at Walskipper, Paradise Beach, with 2 local men onboard.
On Saturday, 4, February, at 13h41, NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were activated following reports of a drowning in progress at Pelsrus Beach.