Rose Festival: A quiet night on the Willamette

On the Friday evening of Rose Festival I did a bit of video recording while on 251013, William Kerr, owned by Brian Rollins.



[This video may not show within the CGDN]

The video looses a bit of it's HD glory online but it still shows the pace of our operations and the beauty of downtown Portland on late spring evenings.

New Domain: Flotilla76.org

Hi All, We've set up a new user friendly domain for the blog in order to have an identity other than fl76.blogspot.com. Your current feed settings and bookmarks should still work as the fl76.blogspot.com domain continues to operate in parallel. The new domain should be active within 24 hours.

70th Anniversary celebration at Sector Portland - Video from Captain Myer

Shipmates,
It was great to see so many of you at the event this afternoon. For those of you who could not make the event due to work, other commitments or the press of duties (I know Gary was flying an AUXAIR mission) please see the photos and the video from Captain Myer attached here.

Thank you for your service,
Daren

Reposted from the District 13 blog:

Today, Tuesday 23 June 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Sector Portland held a celebration to commemorate anniversary. Recognizing that the Sector has Auxiliarists serving across Oregon and significant portions of Washington and Idaho, Sector Portland Commander, Captain Myer, prepared a video message for those Auxiliarists, friends and family unable to attend in person.



Event photos:

USCG Auxiliary 70th Anniversary at Sector Portland

Please join us on Tuesday, 23 June at 1400 hrs. (2 p.m.) for a celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the creation of the USCG Auxiliary. All members, friends and family are welcome. Members please arrange to escort your friends and family onto the base.

Guardian of the Week: 76's Earl Markham - 57 Years of Service

The new USCG service blog, The Coast Guard Compass, features a Guardian every week. The fourth Guardian recognized, and the first Auxiliarist, is FL76's own Earl Markham. On Saturday Earl will have completed his 57th year of service as an Auxiliarist. Including his almost four years of Naval service in WWII Earl has over 60 years of proud uniformed service to the Nation.

While the length Earl's service is impressive what really sets Earl apart is the grace and friendliness with which he performs that service. Earl always has a kind smile for his shipmates, a kind word and, when required, an effective and positive critique. Earl continues to serve actively as a Coxswain, a Qualification Examiner and an Instructor in addition to coordinating the Flotilla's public affairs program.

Earl has been a friend and mentor to me. He is the person who I seek to emulate as a Guardian, a citizen and a person.

Bravo Zulu COMO Markham

(Photo: Earl Markham with Tim Young - teaching life jacket wear in May 2009)

Operations Safety: Ejections from boats

Shipmates,
Earlier today I sent this post as an email to our members involved in surface operations. Upon reflection I think it has value for all of our members and our fellow recreational boaters.  Please also take a moment to visit MCPOCG Bowen's All Hands Blog where he describes his own experience with ejections.


Surface operations shipmates,
Our OTO, CWO Jones, posted this message from Boat Forces on the Maritime Information Initiative (MII) fourms. As many of you are not yet on MII I thought it important to pass this along. The message is very strongly worded and, while focused on ejections from boats, can be extended to all of our responsibilities as operators. It is intended for coxswains but I have included all crew as well - we all have a part to play in safe operations. It is easy to get caught up in the mission but our first duty is always bringing our crews and facilities home safe at the end of the patrol.

As a reminder here are a few strategies to manage the risk of ejection:

- Communicate, communicate, communicate - Call and get a response to wakes, maneuvering, changes in speed, going out of the cockpit or going forward, etc.
- Slow down: Operate at prudent speed for the conditions, situation and the capabilities of the vessel
- Remind your crew to hold on and if possible sit down - seated is almost always better when at higher speeds
- Keep crew off the bow except when operating at low speeds and only then when operationally required
- Assure PPE is properly donned at all times including all buckles and zippers
- When you find yourself loosing your balance or see a shipmate doing so bring it to everyones attention - this is an indicator that action needs to be taken

During Rose Festival I found myself taking those few extra steps to regain balance on more than one occasion - it was nothing dramatic but it was an indicator that I needed to be more cautious. Don't ignore the subtle indicators - paying attention can prevent injury and save lives.

Thank you for your service and attention to safety,
Daren

Coxswains: Cause for Action!

Professional boat operators. But are we? Is it unrealistic to presume that we should be capable of performing our duties without routinely placing our boat crews in danger?In the past few months, we have experienced a rash of ejections from our small boats that borders on epidemic. The actual number is really quite irrelevant because one is too many. Now we’ve all heard the argument that operating high-speed boats has a certain amount of associated risk and that there is a “cost to doing the business”. Rubbish! If the cost of doing business is unnecessarily injuring a fellow Guardian, then the business model needs some serious adjustments.Here’s the harsh reality. Boat driving is very much an acquired skill. Sure, some are blessed with a little better hand-eye coordination and some may inherently be more gifted as operators. But for the most part, given enough time and practice, the majority can learn to operate a boat in a reasonably safe and effective manner. The primary reason you, the coxswain, have a qualification as the “Captain” of your boat is not because of your flawless boat handling skills. You were bestowed with the significant responsibility because your CO or OinC determined that you had the integrity, the trustworthiness and the common sense, to take care of job one; “The Safety and Conduct of passengers and crew”.We at the Office of Boat Forces understand the need (and your desire) for high-speed, high-performance boats to get the job done. Whether it’s the pursuit mission off the southern coast of Florida or responding to a capsized pleasure craft on Lake Michigan, we get it – you need a boat that allows you to make a difference. When the call comes in, you need to launch a platform that can safely out-run the bad guys or safely arrive on scene in time to prevent the loss of life. Again, we get it. But we need something from you. We need to know that you are able to be the consummate boat professional – all the time. You can call it what you want; ORM, GAR, TCT, the list is long and distinguished and honestly, it all has significant value in how we conduct our business. But the safest boats in the world coupled with all the risk assessment, management tools and policies are worthless if not coupled with responsible operators. A well thought out, strategically discussed GAR model will not keep a hapless crewman on the deck of a boat unless you, the coxswain take responsibility to ensure no one is ever ejected from YOUR boat! We are not going to dissect every ejection in recent memory to determine the causal factor(s). Trust us on this, it is operator error. You can blame the crew-member with the weak grip all you want but when you signed the qualification letter, you accepted the responsibility for that person and they are your number one responsibility, even above yourself.We sincerely hope that this article makes you angry. We hope you are offended that we are calling you out regarding your abilities as a coxswain. We hope it makes you so mad that one of two things happens; you either assume a leadership role and bring your influence to bear on those that don’t share your sense of responsibility; or you have the courage to admit that you are part of the problem and resolve to do better.

Captain Ted Harrop and Staff

Office of Boat Forces (CG-731)

Around the District - April/May 2009

Don't miss the most recent edition of Around the District from the D13 Public Affairs team.

D13 Social Media movie

Sarah Wilhelm, one of the D13 Interns prepared a movie about D13's social media efforts:



Great work Sarah!

Rose Festival Slideshow

Security Zone; Portland Rose Festival on Willamette River

Public notification of the Rose Festival Security Zone:

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30ap09-4] 

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[Docket No. USCG-2009-0296] 

Security Zone; Portland Rose Festival on Willamette River 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of enforcement of regulation. 

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will enforce the Portland Rose Festival Security Zone on the Willamette River from 1 p.m. on June 3, 2009, until 10 a.m. June 8, 2009. This action is necessary to ensure the safety and security of maritime traffic, including the public vessels present, on the Willamette River during the Portland Rose Festival. During the enforcement period, entry into the security zone detailed in 33 CFR 165.1312 is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Portland or his designated representative. 

DATES: The regulations in 33 CFR 165.1312 will be enforced from 1 p.m. on June 3, 2009, through 10 a.m. on June 8, 2009. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, call or e-mail MST1 Jaime Sayers, Waterways Management, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Portland; telephone 503-240-9319, e-mail Jaime.A.Sayers@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coast Guard will enforce the security zone for the Portland Rose Festival detailed in 33 CFR 165.1312 from 1 p.m. on June 3, 2009, until 10 a.m. on June 8, 2009. Under the provisions of 33 CFR 165.1312, entry into the zone established by that section is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port Portland or his designated representative. Spectator vessels may transit outside the security zone but may not anchor, block, loiter in, or impede the transit of ship parade participants or official patrol vessels. The Coast Guard may be assisted by other Federal, State or local law enforcement agencies in enforcing this regulation. This notice is issued under authority of 33 CFR 165.1312 and 5 U.S.C. 552(a). In addition to this notice in the Federal Register, the Coast Guard will provide the maritime community with notification of this enforcement period via Local Notice to Mariners and marine information broadcasts. 

Dated: April 16, 2009. F.G. Myer, Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port Portland. [FR Doc. E9-9992 Filed 4-29-09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-15-P