Little brother makes the grade

Writer Elaine Davie

On 3 November 2018, NSRI Kleinmond Station 42 was launched amidst great excitement. This was the culmination of a lengthy period of discussion between Hermanus Station 17 and a number of motivated enthusiasts in Kleinmond who felt that there was a need for an additional station along the Whale Coast. When it was decided to go ahead with the project, volunteers were recruited in the Kleinmond area and trained by the Hermanus station.

The crew of NSRI Station 42, Kleinmond. Back from left are Wilhelm Dreyer, André Brand, Schalk Boonzaaier, Merwe Krige, Barry Loubser, Marco Pretorius, Danie Goosen, Jaco Stemmet, Bertie Fisher, (front) Severo Heydricks, Ferdi Krige, Etienne Rossouw, Tania Meiring and Zöe Stemmet.

After less than a year of operation, the Kleinmond station was excited to be presented a fortnight ago with an NSRI Station Excellence Award: ‘In honour of outstanding stewardship of the Rescue Base, displaying excellence, pride, good governance and upholding the brand image of the National Sea Rescue Institute.’ This was made sweeter by the fact that ‘Big Brother’ Hermanus was awarded a similar certificate at the same time. “We definitely couldn’t have achieved what we have in such a short period of time without their support,” emphasises Station Commander Schalk Boonzaaier.

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