PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Young Rick Poulson, son of FC John Poulson sporting the Division 7 gear by Commander Daren Lewis. Note the name on the left sleeve and the Coast Guard core values on the other sleeve. Rick is also sporting a Coast Guard Cover from Hawaii.

We Shall Never Forget.

By FSO-PB Jonathan James

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11/2001. A day where more than 3,000 innocent Americans were murdered, a day that changed America, a day we all cried.

Tomorrow as you go through your day, I ask that you take a moment and remember the great Americans that we lost that day. Remember how you felt watching those towers fall, or how you felt to see a ball of smoke above the Pentagon, or how you felt to hear that United 93 crashed in a field in a rural part of Pennsylvania.
Remember all those firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and all the other first responders who knowingly and selflessly went into danger to help evacuate people from the World Trade Center. Remember the responders that climbed upon the "Heap" and spent days and weeks looking for survivors.

Remember the days after the attacks and how we, as a nation came together regardless of our political, religious, or ethnic back ground. We came together as one. We were "United we Stand"
Remember how the whole nation was bursting at the seams with patriotism. We all flew flags and had ribbons on our cars. Some of us even went to Ground Zero to help with the recovery efforts knowing the dangers.

Many Americans have made a commitment, a commitment to do whatever we can to keep this from happening again. Many Americans are now first responders, active, reserve or volunteer members of the armed forces because of what happened that day. We are safer because of them.

Thanks to all of you who serve as volunteers in the United States Coast Guard. You are all Patriots. Tomorrow, after you have bowed your head in remembrance, you can hold your head high knowing that you have made a difference to the security of this nation.

Be safe tomorrow and God Bless America.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Photo by FSO-PB Jonathan James. Rose Festival Fleet Week 2011
Lowest vessel to upper vessel: 52' Motor Life Boat Triumph
100 foot Inland Buoy Tender Coast Guard Cutter Bluebell
157 foot Coastal Buoy Tender Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake

MLB Triumph was specifically designed for assignment to a Pacific Northwest region station, where severe surf conditions were commonly encountered. The original wooden 52’ MLB versions, although proven highly capable for heavy weather rescue operations, were quickly wearing out and needed replacement. It was determined that their replacements should have hulls of steel rather than wood, aluminum superstructures, twin diesel engines and propellers, and self-righting and self-bailing features. Triumph was built in December of 1961 and stationed at Station Cape Disappointment.

Coast Guard Cutter Bluebell was commissioned April 4. 1945 in Tacoma, Washington. Cutter Bluebell is in charge of maintaining 420 Aids to Navigation on over 300 river miles on 3 different rivers. This is 23 percent of the entire 13th District buoys and aids. Another historical fact about the Bluebell is that she is the second oldest cutter in the Coast Guard fleet next to the Queen of the fleet. 100-foot inland construction tender Coast Guard Cutter Smilax.

Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake is the thirteenth of the Keeper Class of the Coastal Buoy Tenders. Henry Blake was placed in Commission, on the 18th of May 2000 and began her journey of over 9,400 nautical miles over a six month period which included port calls in 4 countries and 11 states on her way to her home port in Everett, Washington, which she arrived at on the 14th of September 2000. Henry Blake is responsible for the maintenance of 80 lighted, 39 unlighted, and 65 shore aids to navigation.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

So, today marks the new beginning of the photo of the week for the flotilla blog. If you have any photos you would like to submit, please email them to FSO-PB J. James.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Auxiliarists take a break from training to observe Coast Guard H-60 Jayhawk helicopter CG 6021 conducting a rescue demonstration on May 21, 2011 at the Marine Safety Unit Portland Open House. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Auxiliarist Daren Lewis

The Final Secton of Davy Crockett to be Removed Thursday.

Article posted by FSO-PB J. James

ASTORIA, Ore. — The final section of the derelict barge Davy Crockett will be lifted out of the Columbia River near Camas, Wash., Thursday.

The 431-foot former World War II-era Liberty Ship partially sank Jan. 27, 2011, while moored near the Washington shoreline. The vessel buckled due to structural instability, likely caused by improper deconstruction practices. Approximately 70 gallons of oil discharged to the river in late January, causing patches of sheen 14 miles downriver. The Unified Command was established at that time to respond to the unknown environmental threat posed by the Davy Crockett.

A cofferdam and impermeable barrier were built to surround the barge during deconstruction to keep any hazardous material releases contained inside. The decision to do in-water deconstruction was made after exhausting all feasible dry dock options.

Work will continue for several more weeks while divers dredge the river bottom inside the cofferdam to remove contamination resulting from the deconstruction work. The cofferdam will be removed after worksite cleanup is complete.

To date:

Incident duration:	209 days
Personnel Currently Assigned	36 - response contractors, federal & state
Injuries	0
Total Oil water mixture recovered to date	1.6 million gallons*
Total steel removed	4.43 million pounds
Debris & oiled debris removed:	838,296 pounds
Bunker oil recovered:	32,669 gallons
Asbestos removed	4,850 pounds
Samples analyzed to date (e.g. water, oil sediment)	218
Obligated costs to date	$19.2 million

For more information and pictures of the incident, please click on the link:

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/incidents/DavyCrockett/DavyCrockett.html

Article from District 13 Public Affairs website.

It's Time for a Picnic.

Hello all station, hello all station, hello all station. This is the Flotilla 76 Blog relaying an important message from your flotilla leadership.

This Sunday is the annual summer flotilla picnic catered by the only member in the flotilla that could give Gordan Ramsay a run for his money, Gary Bell. Gary will bring the Traeger grilled chicken, baked beans, and corn on the cob sickles with melted butter or chipotle lime mayonnaise.

If you have a favorite recipe you would like to show off to your fellow members or know of some great side dishes, please bring them along. I know I'm bringing some tasty bean and cheese dip I fell in love with at a friends party.

This years games and entertainment will be provided by Lura Walters. She will have some great games that will test your knowledge of things Coast Guard. Who knows, there may be some Frisbee Golf happening.

Don't forget the fellowship. There isn't a time limit on how long you can hang with your shipmates. No gates here to push us out. I look forward to seeing everyone and making some good memories.

P.S. This site has no covered picnic areas and a request has been made to members participating that if you have a canopy and your willing to offer it to be used for the picnic to please contact Gary Bell via email.

It is Sunday, August 21, and Gary will be serving the catered foods at 1300 (that's 1:00 pm for civilians).

The cost is either free, or $8 if you want to order the catered food. You don't have to participate in the catered food to join us, the cost is only for the food.

It is in the same place as the last two picnics: Columbia Park, on North Lombard between Woolsey and Chautauqua, and our site "D" is closest to the intersection of Lombard and N. Russet.

Look forward to see you all there.

Columbia Slough Regatta

Once again, we have been invited to participate in the Columbia Slough Regatta for the third year. The regatta is the largest paddle function in the State of Oregon and its hosted by the Columbia Slough Watershed Council to celebrate the Columbia Slough. There will be community organizations as well as some state and federal agencies promoting the Columbia Slough as well as paddle crafts. The Counsel provides free paddle craft rentals and encourages the public to bring their own paddle craft to take a paddle through the Columbia Slough.

The event starts at 0845 and ends at 1300 on 31 July 2011 and I am requesting that any of you who are VE or would like to participate in the PA booth to give me an email to sign up.

We will be promoting paddle carft safety and offer paddle craft vessel safety checks as well as offer paddle smart stickers. This is a great time to talk to the paddle craft community and provide them with the paddle specific information their looking for. Commander Daren Lewis has done an outstanding job of constructing a paddle craft specific display. Brovo Zulu sir.

Here is the address and I look forward to seeing you there.
NE 150^th Ct & NE Mason (undeveloped field), Portland, OR 97230

Flood Warning Statement as of 8:22 am PDT on May 24, 2011

The National Weather Service in Portland has issued a

*Flood Warning for the Columbia River at Vancouver.
*From this afternoon until further notice.
*At 8 AM Tuesday the stage was 15.9 feet.
*Flood Stage is 16.0 feet.
*Minor flooding is forecast.
*Forecast.... the Columbia River is forexast to rise above flood stage around 12 PM Tuesday. The Columbai will remain near or above flood stage through Wednesday... then slowly start rising by Thursday.
*Impact... above 16 feet... expect minor flooding of some lowland access roads near the river on Sauvie Island... and on the walkway near downtown Vancouver. There will be significant flooding along the banks of the Columbia River that are commonly used for camping such as on Government Island.
*Rivers currents are particularly strong and the water temperatures are very cold. It is dangerous to try to swim in these water.

Fire Extinguishers

There are several different types of extinguishers based on the type of fire they are intended to extinguish.

For our purpose the three most common extinguishers are the A,B,C or multipurpose type.

These extinguishers extinguish fire by removing one of the facets of the fire triangle i.e. oxygen, heat, fuel or by interrupting the chemical chain reaction that keep the fire burning.

Class A fires are the common combustibles like paper, wood, fabric, etc. Water is the most common, and if properly applied, most effective extinguishing agent for this class of fire. The water cools the fuel and coast the surface cutting off it's air supply. A pressurized water "can" or "pump can" is a handy extinguisher for class A fires.

Class B fires are the flammable liquids, diesel, gasoline, oils, etc. These require a dry chemical application which will suffocate the fire by cutting off the oxygen supply to the fuel.

Class C fires are electric in nature. The CO2 (carbon dioxide) extinguisher works well by cooling and displacing the oxygen from the device. CO2 is also a nonconductor so it will not conduct an electrical charge back to the extinguisher/operator. Be careful though because the nozzle will quickly become extremely cold.

For use around our homes, vessels, vehicles etc, the common multipurpose ABC extinguishers are what we are most familiar with. They are nonconducting and reasonably simple to use. While they are most specifically suited for class B fires they will do a good job on A and C fires as well. However, they will cause a major mess and ultimately damage electrical equipment.

The extinguishers are rated by size. For instance you may see a 1A, 10B (no rating for C) extinguisher. What that means is that the extinguisher is equal to a gallon of water for class A fires and should extinguish approx 10 square feet. of burning liquid surface. Of course how you use the extinguisher will effect how much fire you can successfully extinguish.

Extinguishers will have a gauge by the handle. The needle should be in the green zone to be sure there is sufficient pressure for it to work. The extinguisher should be shaken thoroughly periodically to be sure the powder inside does not compact into a useless solid mass in the bottom of the container. You can also tap them with a rubber mallet to break the powder up. However, if you hear clumps thumping around inside your extinguisher, it is likely no good and should be replace. Most the smaller extinguishers are not rechargeable. Once they are used they are done there is no way to refill and recharge them. Larger extinguishers may be rechargeable. These typically have tags attached indicating when they should be tested. Usually most types of common extinguishers should be hydrostatically tested about every 5 years.

Now we must make a decision about whether or not we should fight the fire. FIRST, has everyone been alerted and evacuating the premises? Has 911 or the Coast Guard been called? Is the environment safe enough to stay in close proximity to the job? It does not take an awful lot of heat and smoke to rapidly make a room untenable, especially a small room like a kitchen or pilot's house. Is the fire small enough to be handled by the size extinguisher you have at hand? Is the fire still confined to it's original container or has it already begun to spread to surroundings such as curtains, cabinets, etc? Can you actually see the source of the fire? Meaning is it in the open where you can get to it and not behind something like a bulkhead. You should be sure conditions are such that you can stay to do the job. Starting and then quitting before the job is done puts yourself at considerable risk for little benefit.

Your extinguishers should always be near an exit. You should never walk past the fire further into the room etc to get your extinguisher. When you grab your extinguisher you wont to be able to quickly walk away if you have changed your mind about fighting the fire. Do not keep your extinguisher on a kitchen counter near the stove, or in the engine compartment ( as the only location). If you get a grease/oil fire on the stove top you don't want to have to reach past it to get to your extinguisher.

Assuming we have chosen to fight the fire remember not to get too close. Usually you should be about 6'-8' away for a small extinguisher to 10'-12' for the larger extinguishers. Getting too close puts yourself at risk of injury and can very well actually spread the fire as the burst of dry chemical blows into the container or surface.

Now remember P.A.S.S.

Pull the safety pin,
Aim the nozzle, don't forget to actually hold the rubber nozzle (if so equipped) and aim it at the fire.
Squeeze the handle and
Sweep the fire.
You want to aim at the base of the flames. Your target is the burning fuel not the flames themselves. Aim for the nearest fuel edge to you and work your way to the farther edge. Be aware that the fire can reignite. Class B fires are especially likely to reignite. Depending on the size of your extinguisher you will only have from about 6-18 seconds of use.

Once the extinguisher has been used it is done unless it's a larger rechargeable type. Even the rechargeable's will need to be serviced. You cannot activate an extinguisher and save some for a future use.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER throw water onto burning liquids! You will create an explosion of fire as the water instantly boils and splatters the burning liquid , oil, etc into a ball of fire.

I hope this helps explain the uses and cautions of using a fire extinguisher. Thanks to Bob Southwick for this great article. If you have any question for Bob relating to fire extinguisher, please email me and I will get it to Bob.

CAUTION USING LED LIGHT BULBS

Word of caution when using LED light bulbs. A member of the communications team was having difficulty copying the signal from a D1N, VHF repeater, and could not understand why. He stated, “I had installed some LED replacement light bulbs and when we turned on the light, the VHF receiver input was desensitized.”
After reading the LED bulb package carefully, it states in very small print, "may cause harmful interference to sensitive marine band radio equipment. Do not install near sensitive life-saving marine communications equipment"
A word of caution for all members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Please check your gear and see that it operates with the use of your LED lights. You could loose comms and not even know it.