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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com BASRA
Freeport, Bahamas - On March 31, 2010, BASRA held its annual general meeting. The past board reported a lower number of rescues due to the slower economy and cold weather. We answered 60 rescue calls , many resulting in at sea rescues, over 90 persons assisted with air/ boat search, commercial tow or only using VHF radios to find the boat and assist with local good Samaritans helping. There were three deaths in an airplane crash in Bimini.
There were a few major
rescues in 2009 where BASRA Search and Rescue personnel searched for
5 days to locate 7 persons lost at sea with no water or food. To
complicate
the rescue, it involved potential human smuggling of Haitians, which
made obtaining the necessary information difficult. Extensive air
searches
by both BASRA and Coast Guard were employed, using up our most precious
resource, money. On the fifth day, we were about to call off the search
when Batelco assisted us by pinpointing the tower on the north shore
as the location where their last cell phone call was received. With
knowledge that the cell phone only had a 15 mile range around the cell
tower, a plane was sent up and immediately located the boat. A
rescue boat and medic was launched and the boat was found. The rescued
persons were severely dehydrated but they had survived 5 days with no
food or water. The police who assisted BASRA were on the scene to
question
the persons involved. This single rescue accounted for 1/3 of our yearly
rescue budget, at a cost of 18 hours of airplane searching at $300 per
hour and a sea rescue costing $500. BASRA Search and Rescue personnel
spent hundreds of hours on this single rescue. As well, additional costs
were incurred calling throughout the islands and Florida to obtain more
information.
One constant problem that BASRA faces is conflicting
information.
A boat will change from an 18 ft. skiff to a 28 ft. cabin cruiser from
within the family members who contact us. In the case of the 7
persons lost at sea, we had information that they left West End, or
Eight Mile Rock or maybe, from Freeport. In the end, they had left from
Abaco and were traveling west to Florida. To complicate matters,
we also had two other rescues at the same time; one which we believe
was involved in the main rescue. The suspected pickup boat for the
smuggled
Haitians in the first rescue had broken down crossing from Florida and
the Coast Guard picked them up floating north in the gulf stream. The
woman and her baby and the other 3 Haitians and two Bahamians on board
were safe with only minor health problems from the long time at sea.
Please be prepared when boating. You need flares, a working radio, extra
water and food on board and inform someone of your expected time back
and your planned path of travel.
The board was elected and
positions
determined. The 2010 BASRA board is:
James Rose, elected chairman;
Justin Snisky, vice chairman/fund raising; Christine Snisky, treasurer/
medical; Gary Simmons, Search & Rescue; Tom Christian, Search &
Rescue/Merchandise; D'Von Archer, Membership/Public Relations; Martin
Penning, Membership; Robert Tarzwell, Public Relations/ medical; Chris
Basile, Communications. BASRA is assisted by Denyse Lowe, Administrator
and Robbie Butler, Swim Race.
Due to our difficult financial
position and the age of the Rescue 2 vessel, the board voted to
decommission
and sell our oldest rescue boat. Rescue 2 was purchased in the
early 1980’s and has been responsible for literally thousands of
person’s
lives being saved over its long tenure. The 1980 Boston Whaler served
us like a Queen, taking big seas and always delivering its precious
crew of rescuers back to the dock. Rescue 2 was re-motored probably
7 times in its 30 years of hard service to the population of Grand
Bahamas
and the Out Islands. Even after 30 years of hard service, she will not
be left to idle as one of our rescuers has purchased the boat and will
fix it up make it available to BASRA for assistance in future rescues.
Visit our website: www.BasraGrandBahama.com
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