National Sea Rescue Day.
Today, June 28th, we celebrate National Sea Rescue Day . 365 days a year, their teams of volunteers ensure our safety at sea and along the coastline.
Their actions are vital, as is our support.
This major day of tribute is an opportunity to catch up with the Pornic - Pays de Retz resort, with which we are partners. We're heading to the coast to meet Christophe Morel, the president.
Hello Christophe, how are you and how have you experienced these unusual last few months with COVID-19?
Like everyone else, we experienced this "strange" period of lockdown. We were always on alert with a permanent travel permit provided by the CROSS (Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center) and, of course, we had to respect social distancing measures.
However, we have cancelled all other activities such as crew meetings, drills and ash scattering.
And anyway, there weren't any pleasure boats on the water!
So, the period was very quiet in terms of your outings at sea?
Yes, but we did an "atypical" intervention, since the CROSS asked us if we could evacuate a sailor in psychological distress (without suspicion of COVID19) from a "large" ship , that is to say a 200m cargo ship off Saint-Nazaire!
At night, in strong winds (Force 6) and very rough seas in the estuary, with a 15m "wall" of waves (the height of the hull of the lightship), the operation was "acrobatic" but successful. We rescued the sailor who was waiting for an ambulance in the port of Saint-Nazaire.
Furthermore, respecting the procedure for protecting the respective crews with protective equipment and barrier gestures was a challenge that we met!
Otherwise, we received permission at the end of April to anticipate the end of lockdown and prepare for the "unleashing of the beasts" after two months of confinement. ;-)
We took the opportunity to carry out the annual maintenance and care of the patrol boat and to resume exercises with a reduced crew, always, of course, while maintaining social distancing measures.
Since May 11, we have carried out three interventions, two engine breakdowns and the refloating of a small sailboat which had kindly "landed" on the beach of Tharon, which mobilized our two means, the Zodiac, to get as close as possible to put the towline and the launch to take over the towing.
However, for the past two weeks, the boat has been immobilized because we had a problem with the reversing gear (the clutch) of the starboard engine.The boat had to be taken out of the water and the reversing gear removed to be sent for repair... which takes time, which means the boat is still unavailable today.
We are hopeful that we will be able to relaunch it next week, with a crucial milestone in early July to ensure we can complete our mission throughout the summer...
Our speedboat is over ten years old now and even though it has few hours of navigation, the wear and tear is starting to show!
So we are going into the summer season, with our two resources and, very soon, the SNSM lifeguards will take up their beach surveillance service at La Bernerie en Retz, Pornic and Préfailles.
Even though their employer remains the town halls on an operational level, I have, as station president, a "moral" authority over them since they wear the colors of the SNSM.
We will organize joint exercises with them during the summer.
Thank you, Christophe! We hope this national day brings you a lot of visibility and support. We look forward to seeing you again this summer and wish you the best of luck with what promises to be a busy peak season, as always!
