- - U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary - - Flotilla 21

About Boating Safety Class Held

captnmike — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:47:55 +0000

Saturday November 6, we had an ABS class. The class was small enough that it was held in the Flotilla Commanders house. The class went well. Glen had a chance to get some experience teaching after his completion of the Instructor Training Class. Mike and Gary P. were lead instructors for the class.

Gary showing his always gracious hosting provided lunch for everyone.

We are planning on offering more Public Education classes in 2011 and hope to expand our offering of classes and hold classes in other areas.

As always all members of the Flotilla are urged to help with the classes, you do not need to be instructor qualified to help.

November Boating Safety Class

captnmike — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:09:38 +0000

Flotilla 21 will offer the About Boating Safety (ABS) Class Saturday November 6, 2010 starting at 8:30 am and finishing about 5:00 pm. This one day class meets the State of Washington Boaters Education Requirement. In 2011 Washington State requires Operators 35 years of age and younger of vessels powered with a motor of 15 hp or larger to have a Boaters Education Card.

This class will meet the State Requirements. This class marks the return of Flotilla 21′s classes to the North Seattle (Shoreline) area and we are exited about this. Gary P. is taking the lead and Mike will be helping Gary with the instructor duties, other instructors are expected to help and as always anyone in the Flotilla is welcome to help with the class. You do not need to be an instructor to help.

The cost is $ 25.00 for an individual or $ 35.00 for a family (share a text book).

Poster for our November 6th Class

For more information or to register call Gary 206-546-1906

Fill in the form below to request more information or register by email.

[contact-form]

Thanks for supporting Boating Safety.

Annual Picnic

captnmike — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:57:56 +0000

The 2nd Annual Combined Flotilla 21 & 12 Picnic and Potluck was held Sunday June 27th at Dagmars Landing north of Everett. The weather cooperated again with good picnic weather. Additional entertainment was provide by some of the users of the launch ramp.

About 35 members attended from both Flotillas. Gary Proudlock masterminded and coordinated the food. Nobody went home hungry. The event gave new members a chance to meet others in the Flotilla and see some boating skills demonstrated or try their hand if they wanted. New members also had a chance to have their pictures taken and fingerprints taken getting them well on the way to their BQ status.

A pleasant time was had by all. Everyone that attended was planning on marking their calendar for 2011!

Flotilla 21 is Growing

captnmike — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:31:51 +0000

Garry Bromwell our FSO-PS – Personnel Services Officer announced the recruitment of our TENTH new member of 2010. This is producing a problem because we will not be a small flotilla much longer at this pace. There is however no plans to be any less feisty.

What is Garry’s secret? He returns email and phone calls on a timely basis. Credit is also shared by all in the flotilla that have stepped up and helped the new members.

Good Job All!!

Ready Set – GO!! – 2010 Public Education Kickoff

captnmike — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:57:16 +0000

Saturday March 27, 2010 Mike and Joseph kicked off the 2010 Public Education with an About Boating Safety class in Renton. Garrison Bromwell also gave a recruiting pitch to the class and handed out new Recruiting Materials. Mike’s new slides for the Chapter 3 Navigating with ATON’s. The slides new slides were for Preferred Channels and Chart Scales. The were well received by the class and helped make those areas easier to understand.

The class went well with 19 students. An engaged group with a wide range of ages and boating experience.

Our next class is April 24 at the Center for Wooden Boats. There is also a Vessel Exam Event and Boating Safety Fair that day, see Joseph for more information, you do not need to be a VE to help at these events.

Click here for a list of our currently planned classes. All Flotilla members are welcome and encouraged to help with the classes. You do not need to be an instructor to help.

Life Jackets Save Lives ~ Thumbs Up! on Lake Sammamish

captnmike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:29:13 +0000

Life Jackets Save Lives ~ Thumbs Up! on Lake Sammamish

Members of Flotilla 21 were assisting the Fall hydroplane races on Lake Sammamish as Good Samaritans. After the races as they were returning to the dock they observed two men flip their dingy sailboat near the dock dumping the crew into the very very cold waters. One man nearly lost his life when he was caught under the sail. Auxiliarists were quick to respond and assist. Lifejackets were not worn, and in these cold waters, the men only had a few minutes to be rescued before Hypothermia sets in, this could have easily been a fatal incident. Statistics show nearly all boating fatalities are preventable, with major contributing factors being the use of alcohol, and life jackets not worn. Remember, LIFE JACKETS SAVE LIVES.

And if you ever find yourself overboard, remember the ONE-TEN-ONE Rule: you have only 1 minute to get your breathing under control, then you have only 10 minutes of MEANINGFUL swimming: this means get where you can (up onto the overturned boat if you can), and then only 1 hour until the onset of hypothermia.

Semper Paratus: we are always ready… more

Welcome

captnmike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:55:05 +0000

Flotilla 21, North Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Division 2

13th District

Small but Feisty

Flotilla 21 is a small but active Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla in the Seattle area.

NOTICE/DISCLAIMER

Flotilla Elects New Officers

captnmike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:50:35 +0000

In December Micah Steinbach was elected FC and Kim Krist VFC.

Micah and Kim are relatively new to the Coast Guard Auxiliary but bring high energy to their jobs and a clear vision for the Flotilla to continue to be very active. Both bring wide personal and professional experience to their jobs.

Members of Flotilla 21 also have a solid experience from Flotilla Staff and Elected Officers to Division positions that will offer a solid base of advice to Micah and Kim.

Knot Boards Grow Feet

captnmike — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:55:14 +0000

Dave Follman working from a sketch by Mike and assisted by Mike’s hand waving and pointing, made feet for Mike’s Knot Boards. The boards can now be set up around a class room to make the Knot Boards easier to see, or used at public events to attract attention of people passing by. The Knot Boards can now be stood up with an angle of about 22 degrees from vertical. This should make the Knot Boards stand out more than than laying them down on a desk.

Thanks Dave for helping our PE & PA program.

2009 Seafair Patrols

captnmike — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:45:07 +0000

Notes from the water.

Bill Barnes of Fl-22 was looking for crew and coxswains to help him with his Seafair safety patrols so I decided to help. I had not done Seafair in several years so this was almost new. I very sharply picked the year with the record temperatures to help. Bill Houger and Garry Bromwell traded off Coxswain duties.

Read the rest of the entry and see the pictures

Day # 1 Thursday started like all of our patrols, with a daily briefing, well three briefings actually. Briefing # 1 was before leaving the dock at Maidenbauer YC to transit to the main Seafair area. We went over the mission, boat and did a GAR score. Briefing # 2 was from the Coast Guard to all involved ( About 10 Aux. Facilities, 3 Coast Guard 25 ft. Safe Boats and the Coast Guard Law Enforcement Boarding Parties. ) Briefing # 3 was after we had our LE officers on board our boat.

Our job was to help patrol north of the I-90 floating bridge to keep boats clear of the Blue Angles safety box. The box was marked with a line of yellow buoys. We drove back and forth pushing the spectator boats back out of the safety box. And back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth – you sort of get the idea. Not all spectator boats wanted to move back from the buoy line, even with armed Coast Guard officers asking them to move. There was one solution that helped. The Army brought out two LCM Landing Craft and drove them back and forth. For some reason looking at the large bow of a LCM heading straight at them made them move.

All the days were hot, but Thursday was a record breaker in Seattle and real tough on the water. One of the Coast Guard people aboard our boat became overheated and we had to apply wet towels and a small fan to cool him down. He was OK and more medical attention was not needed, he was however feeling a bit off the next day and stayed home to recover the next day. The extra gear the Coast Guard Boarding Parties wore was just like having on an extra jacket.

After the Blue Angles finished the spectator boats were allowed to go under the East High Rise and enter the safety box on the south side of the I-90 floating bridge. Each day it took over an hour for all the spectator boats to clear the East High Rise. All the time watched over by Auxiliary and Coast Guard boats. Tough to keep an armada slowed down when you are outnumbered seemed like 1,000 to 1.

After the spectator boats had all migrated to the party area ( south of the I-90 Floating Bridge and west of the log boom we patrolled the party area for boating safety violations. We did a lot of what I call “catch and release,” we would pull up alongside a boat and have each passenger hold up a PFD, check the capacity plate of the boat, ask if they had a sober designated driver and if all was well let them go. Another enforcement point was no rafting of more than 6 boats and all swimmers need to stay withing 6 feet of their boat. One boat was short two PFD’s but we had been given spares by one of the safety groups so we gave them two of ours and let them continue. Most everyone was good natured about the “catch and release.” A few boats know the drill and started digging up PFD’s as soon as we pulled up along side them, some even were driving around wearing the ugly type II’s and waved at us as we went by.

The Coasties were real popular with the gals. Lots of big waves, can we take your picture do you have a phone number??

Days 2, 3 and 4 went similar with Saturday being the heaviest day. Almost 2 hours for all the boats to transit under the East High Rise. We had two to four Coast Guard LE people on board depending on the day. Some were from the Polar Sea. The Polar Sea is expanding it’s mission abilities by adding LE Boarding Parties to their staff. Some of their people were cross training for LE duties. A polite group all.

Great view for the Blue Angles. We were right under the flight path for some of their low passes. Don’t know the altitude but it was way low and rattled your teeth and hurt the ears.

And so went keeping America safe on the water.

All 360 Pictures I took are here: