LETTERS

FROM THE HELM

JUDGING BY THIS past week, the traditional Cape weather is back. The Bakoven crew once again had to move their boat out of the shed in case the spring tide and swell caused the expected havoc, and I’ve been surfing in the tidal pool in the morning, albeit in that thick yellow foam. Exciting sea conditions like these fortunately keep boats at home and mean that our services are not required.

Yet the cold season is a busy time for Sea Rescue as stations prepare for the summer, new boats hatch out of moulds and training continues in earnest. Hands may be cold but they’re not idle! What’s also apparent is that there is plenty of activity along the coast. I’ve just returned from a two-week sardine run, and it’s interesting to see how many people are kayaking, surfing and fishing in remote locations as they escape from the madness of the cities, even outside of school holidays. I was also sad to discover that, even in winter, children continue to drown on beaches and in estuaries, adding to the pressure on us to evolve services along the coast to prevent this. One positive aspect was finding Pink Rescue Buoys on beaches and in coves, placed and maintained by local residents, in the most remote areas – a real expression of ownership and commitment. Fantastic to see.

I was also really encouraged by the sheer volume of wildlife underwater. We really live in an amazing country with incredible natural resources – something we as an organisation identify with from a conservation angle.

In June we were fortunate to be able to hold our AGM and Station Commanders Conference. I think it made everyone in the room realise how much we miss one another and the continuous social contact, which is such a necessary and fulfilling element of our service. What was firmly put on the table was the need to focus on people: our crew, donors, supporters and staff, without whose wellbeing we could not function. ‘People’ is a Strategic Focus for 2022, even more so than before.

The Awards Evening was a welcome distraction from the current pressure in society, and every award-winner deserves our humble thanks. It was terribly sad not to have the Oceanos rescuers personally present, but I think we’ve made the point that this recognition was long, long overdue and our expression of thanks has been well received. We had several 40- and 50-year awards, among them Andrew Ingram, Howard Godfrey, Pat van Eyssen and Ian Hamilton… Incredible commitment and loyalty, and a wonderful example of service. They should all get President’s Awards! Our awards have maintained a high standard, and all credit is due to the amazing volunteer effort and service.

So, to spring! So much to do, so much to look forward to. As I write, that song by Tiësto resonates in my head: ‘Let’s get down, let’s get down to business…’. I suppose it is the typical anticipation of a great season to come. Let’s do it!

DR CLEEVE ROBERTSON, CEO

CAPE TOWN: NSRI, 4 Longclaw Drive, Milnerton, Cape Town, 7441; PO Box 154, Green Point 8051 Tel: +27 21 434 4011 Fax: +27 21 434 1661 Visit our website at www.nsri.org.za or email us at info@searescue.org.za

WINNING LETTER

Thank you, Nina, for sending us this lovely story. Your prize is on its way.

In the first week of October this year, a yellow-bellied sea snake washed up on the beach at Bluewater Bay, Port Elizabeth, near the Bluewater Bay Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse.

It had been a windy few days, with an easterly gale blowing off the ocean. That morning it was still quite windy and overcast and, being a weekday, there were hardly any other people about. As I was still working from home, I had decided to go for an early-morning jog along the Swartkops River mouth, and as I headed back towards the beach I encountered a woman who was walking her dog on the beach. She told me of a black snake lying curled up on the beach, and that she had had to keep her dog away from it.

I was very curious, because a week or two earlier I had read a report in a weekend newspaper about a yellow-bellied sea snake having washed up on a beach in Cape Town.

I jogged along the beach, scanning the sand, and sure enough, there was the serpent coiled up and resting at the high-water mark. It was quite covered in sand and I did not want to get too close to it, so I did not get to see its belly – but I definitely noticed the distinct camouflage-hued ‘paddle’ at the end of its tail.

I was fascinated by this rare find on our beach and circled the animal from about a metre’s distance, trying to detect movement. It was perfectly still, but the way it was coiled up suggested that it was still alive.

I jogged home and immediately called the local Bayworld Marine Animal Stranding Hotline, after which I called local snake conservationist Mark Marshall from Sandula Conservation. Mark organised for one of his colleagues to collect the snake and the feedback I got later was that they had indeed liaised with Bayworld’s Dr Greg Hofmeyr, who happened to have a colleague who is currently doing research on the yellow-bellied sea snake!

What an amazing chance this was to get up close and personal with such a fascinating creature. Not something you would expect to find on a casual morning jog! NINA BODISCH, BLUEWATER BAY, PORT ELIZABETH

WHY I SUPPORT THE NSRI

As I read the latest newsletter, it occurred to me that perhaps I should take a few minutes to relate my own experience with the NSRI. It dates back many years to the 1980s when I was a young teacher in Walvis Bay, Namibia. As an ardent windsurfer and fairly competent if I may say so myself, I and a number of other lads had set off from the Walvis Bay Yacht Club to enjoy some time out in the bay, with not too much chop and a lovely stiff breeze.

Time went by and I lost sight of my colleagues as the notorious Atlantic breeze turned nasty, and I found myself spending more time righting my board and sails rather than sailing. Land was distant and oft not visible as the waves grew and the cold water off the Namib Desert coast began to cause my core temperature to drop. I began to shiver uncontrollably. With no strength left, as those who have experienced this kind of situation will attest to, I tied myself to my board with my harness and resigned myself to the fact that this was probably the end but at least at some point, with myself tied to the board, my body would be found. The sun was going down as well and I must admit to having lost all hope.

Unbeknown to me, though, it had been reported that no one knew where I was when the other sailors had returned. The NSRI boat was launched and volunteers began to search for the proverbial needle in a haystack, as the waves were now quite mountainous and chances of seeing me and my board on the ocean were minimal. This was not the attitude of the NSRI crew, however. They crisscrossed the bay, determined to find this errant young man – and some 40 minutes after setting off they came across me clinging to my board and pretty much unable to move myself to grab the side of the launch.

I cannot express the feeling I had at that time when the familiar red markings of the NSRI loomed up next to me and strong hands reached down and literally hoisted my board and me to safety. I remember being covered with a number of foil-type and other blankets, and we hurtled back to shore, where things became somewhat blurry. Suffice to say that I believe it was hot chocolate that was poured down my throat and, with hot water bottles and blankets on me, my shivering slowed and my blue colour turned a warm red.

Since then I have been privileged to be involved in the education of many young people in four different countries as a school headmaster. None of this would have been possible had it not been for the NSRI on that Sunday afternoon.

Is it therefore unusual that I support them? BRUCE R PHILLIPS

WRITE TO US AND WIN!

The writer of the winning letter published in the Summer 2021 issue of Sea Rescue will receive an NSRI hoodie.

Email your letters to info@searescue.org.za or post them to Sea Rescue magazine, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018. (Letters may be shortened and the winning letter is chosen at the editor’s discretion.) For NSRI membership or Sea Rescue subscription details:

Email info@searescue.org.za or phone (021) 434 4011

SUPPORTING LAUNCH A LEGACY

The late Dennis Ronald Antrobus (right) was my father and it is his name I nominated to appear on a rescue vessel. His actions likely saved people’s lives on more than one occasion, which is why I consider his name to be worthy of display on a rescue vessel. I thought it may be of interest to relate some incidents in which his actions saved a life.

In the late 1950s on Margate Beach a woman sitting nearby went into convulsions, which Dad recognised as an epileptic fit. He took charge and asked someone to hold the woman’s flailing arms; asked someone else to summon an ambulance; and then held the woman’s head, opened her mouth and got hold of her tongue. He held her tongue until the ambulance and paramedics arrived and took over. This was to ensure that she wouldn’t die by swallowing her own tongue and suffocating on it, as I gather can happen with epilepsy.

Also while on holiday on the South Coast, the family was walking along the pavement beside the main road (now the N2) in a hilly coastal town when my mother suddenly saw Dad take off at speed and sprint ahead 50 or 60 metres down the street, where he intercepted a stroller with a child sitting in it that was rolling unattended down the hill right into oncoming traffic.

Dad was a geologist by profession. Around 1965 he was attending an event underground at an Evander gold mine, which was then being developed. The stope (tunnel) between two mine tunnels deep underground was being developed to connect them. The mine dignitaries were assembled to celebrate the occasion near the point where drillers from one side were due to break through to the other side. Something made Dad uneasy, and he moved everyone back from the rock face, some distance away from the point where the drill was expected to break through. A wise decision. The incoming tunnel proved to be higher than the other tunnel, and the breakthrough produced a significant rock fall from the hanging wall (roof) that would have injured or killed people had Dad not moved them out of the way just beforehand.

A few years later, at the geological offices based in an old converted farmhouse, Dad was inspecting the premises when he came across two labourers lying unconscious in a large enclosed water tank. They had evidently climbed down a ladder into the tank to paint it and were overcome by the paint fumes. Ignoring the obvious danger to himself and without hesitation, Dad climbed into the tank and got both men out of the enclosed tank and resuscitated them. It was their lucky day that he spotted their predicament.

He probably saved my sister’s life too, when she was about seven or eight. One Sunday morning Dad went out to check an exploration borehole, and she went with him. While walking from the truck to the driller’s shack, she touched the corrugated iron wall of the drill shack with her arm and it turned out to be live! It was electrocuting her so she yelled. Dad sprang over and yanked her away from the shack. She escaped with only a burnt arm and a hell of a fright. MARK ANTROBUS SC For more info on Launch a Legacy, visit nsri.co.za.