Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / June 6, 1991, edition 1 / Page 15
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under the sun THE BRUNSWICICfefiACON D THURSDAY. JUNE 6. 1991 I D Coast Guard Auxiliary Helps Keep Waterv/ays Safe I I BY DOUG RUTTER Thousands of boats will be cruising the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway this summer. At least one of them won't be out for a joy ride. It will be manned by members of Shallotte Flotilla 10-08 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, a local volunteer group that assists the U.S. Coast Guard and makes the water a safer place for everyone. Auxiliarists will be busy this summer helping boaters with engine trouble, towing disabled craft, removing debris and trash from the water and offering free boat in spections. Members of the local flotilla use their own boats to patrol the waters between Lockwood Folly Inlet and Little River Inlet on weekends and holidays during the peak boating season. During a recent patrol, John Fletcher, a past commander of the flotilla, said that the auxiliary acts as the eyes and cars of the Oak Island Coast Guard Station, which is 19 miles from Lockwood Folly Inlet. Besides helping boaters in trouble. Coast Guard Auxiliary members remove hazards to navigation such as logs, docks and lumber while they patrol. "After a storm, you find all kinds of things floating through here," said Bill Grancsay, a member of the Shallotte flotilla and public affairs officer for the division. Fletcher's boat, the Heady Marie, is equipped with two hooks and a dip net that can be used to remove cans and other trash from the water. Most of the patrolling is done in the wa terway and rivers. It's up to the boat skipper to decide if the boat should go into the ocean. Auxiliarists usually don't patrol once the water temperature drops below 60 de grees. The Shallottc flotilla formed approxi mately 12 years ago and presently has about 35 members. The group can always use new members, whether they have a boat or not. "Boats we got, bodies we need," Fletcher said. With a rotating schedule, most members patrol one day per month. Each patrol boat must be manned by a certi fied boat operator and crew member. To join the auxiliary, you must be a United States citizen and at least 18 years old. Members say nobody is too old to con tribute ? two of the past commanders arc in their 80s. Prospective members also must pass a safe boating course taught by the auxiliary. The class covers areas such as knot tying, radio communications, trailering, aids to navigation, marine engines and weather. Once they join, auxiliarists have the op portunity to take several specialty courses including the classes needed for designation as crew member, boat operator and coxswain. Fletcher, who recently completed the coxswain course, said the auxiliary classes go over just about everything that's covered STAfF PHOTOS BY OOUG lUTHI COAST GUARD AUXILIARISTS (from left) Tom McConaghie, Bill Grancsay and John Fletcher chat during a recent patrol on the waterway. A UXILJARISTS ABOARD the Heady Marie prepare to leave the dock at Hughes' Marina at Shallotte Point for a day on the water. in a captain's licensing course, cxccpt a few areas such as first aid. Auxiliarists say the biggest problems they see in area waters arc people running aground bccausc they are not familiar with local conditions. "A lot of people come from inland, and they're not used to tidal shifts," Fletcher said. "They're used to boating in a lake that's the same depth all day. On the coast, you've got to base a lot of decisions on the tide." Fletcher, a former division operations officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary, said the group has come a long way in recent years. Along with the guardsmen and re servists, he said auxiliarists are now being accepted as part of the Coast Guard family. "You might as well spit in the senior chief's face as mess with the auxiliarists," Fletcher said. Although some boaters see the Coast Guard Auxiliary as policemen of the water ways, the auxiliarists are primarily an easy going group with no authority to issue cita tions. Local flotilla members say most people listen when they're told they are operating in a careless manner. And the auxiliarists know how to have a good lime on the job. "We've got to have fun out here, the pay ain't worth a dam," Fletcher says with a smile. "We got a big raise last year. Instead of zero its gone to double zero." If there's one drawback to serving in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, it might just be that members aren't allowed to fish while they arc patrolling. Grancsay said he will invariably come across large schools of fish while he's on the job, never when he's out looking for fish. Thai's exactly what happened last year when he was helping out with a king mack erel tournament. 'They were practically jumping in the boat," Grancsay said regrettably. "You could have put your hat in the water and caught them." $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ t BINGO S ; ELKS LODGE j ^ TRADERS VILLAGE, CALABASH 5 * - $ $ Starting Our 3rd Year $ | GUARANTEED PAYOUT $600 1 $ Tuesday Nights ? Door Opens 6:30 PM $ $ Play Begins 7:30 PM $ $ Admission $3.00 $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Thursday Nights ? Doors Open 6:15 pm at K Calabash VFW Post 7288 ? Carter Rd., Trader's Village, Calabash, 579-3577 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Games begin at 7:30 PM Minimum "Buy In" $5.00 Minimum Pay Out $600.00 Snacks Available ? No Children under 12 Is 3 IS Complete Adult Medical Care All Medicare claims filed for you. Assignment accepted on all in-patient care and out-patient procedures. New Patients Welcome Timothy P. Gibble, W.D. Adult Medicine Board Certified Internist Susan Gibble, PA-C Physician Assistant 754-8921 ? 754-8921 ? 3 Medical Center Dr., Supply, NC 28462 i Veal ? Lamb ? Beef Chicken ? Seafood Charbroiled & Sauteed CHEF SPECIALS NIGHTLY Including... Lobster Casserole Fresh Salmon Serving Lunch Daily Serving Hours Lunch 1 1 AM, Dining 5 PM, Lounge 'til 2 AM CLOSED MONDAYS & Rervations Accepted Hwy. 179, Calabash, 579-3511 LLLLLLI LI LIU LI ZBeach'Cqfe SEAFOOD ? PRIME RIB CALABASH SEAFOOD BUFFET Best tastin ' seafood at the best tastin ' price! (Open nightly) S: f~r-u/tBar V DAILY Serving homestyle LUNCH SPECIALS i DAILY.. .guaranteed to knock your socks off!!! GREAT FOOD ? GREAT SERVICE ? GREAT VALUE 1 HOLDEN BEACH CAUSEWAY ? 842-5515 Q. c^/laiA ^Saimdszi, (D.2\ Family Optometry ?Comprehensive Eye Examinations ?Ocular Emergencies ?Contact Lenses and Glasses Prescribed ?Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Eye Suite 3, Promenade Office Park 143 Holden Beach Road, Shallotte Office hours by appointment. Evening and Saturday appointments available. Phone 754-9687 Member American Optometric Association ?1990 THC mnaoi BEACON L, Bookworm CAUSEWAY PLAZA ? HOLDEN BEACH 842-7380 ? OPEN 7 DAYS 10-9 presents another booksigning by a leading author Bevelyn Blair The author/editor of Meet Me In The Kitchen and Country Cakes will be at L. Bookworm, Hol den Beach's Causeway Plaza at the bridge. Friday, June 7, 2-5 PM Not only will Ms. Blair sign her treasured collec Uons of hundreds of recipes, but she will bring samples to taste! Meet Me In The Kitchen Is a timeless collecUon of kitchen tested recipes that Ms. Blair has compiled to be a compar ison to her top selling (50.000 copies) Country Cakes, an enticing collecUon of our 300 treasured cake recipes.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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June 6, 1991, edition 1
15
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