Tucked into a small red building at the edge of Anglers Anchorage Marina, two dozen volunteers pour time and energy into life-saving training.
They’re ready for someone’s worst day, in hopes of providing the best outcome.
For Brentwood Bay Station 31 of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) the most memorable call this year is a tragic tale that began with a boat – discovered empty and running in circles up Finlayson Arm.
On a spring Saturday evening, the volunteer team responded – rushing from dining tables across the community to pulling a woman and infant aboard their zodiac – in 26 minutes. They’re proud of that response, about 15 minutes ahead of the next crew to arrive. The team also returned several times in the following days to help search for a man who was with the woman and child. He remains missing.
John Harper remembers that April day well, still envisioning a fellow volunteer holding the infant in her lap, facing the mom in a bid to add some small comfort for both mother and child. Those moments are the reason Station 31 members commit.
But it is nice when someone notices, admits Harper, one of three volunteers recognized during the annual RCMSAR awards.
He was awarded the Canadian Coast Guard Association Leadership Medal, a general recognition for performance within the unit plus interacting with other stations and headquarters in Sooke.
“We do a lot of interacting with other units,” Harper told the Peninsula News Review. Another story of note, with a far more fairytale outcome, is when he coordinated water traffic for the Martin Mars water bomber landing on the Patricia Bay Highway.
He had 11 vessels from RCMP, RCMSAR, Canadian Coast Guard, First Nations and Parks Canada at his command to maintain a one-by-two kilometre path for the historic plane to land. He figures there were more than 400 boats packed into the bay, but everything went smoothly, while a traffic jam stretched for miles on land.
“(The award) was totally unexpected. It feels good because those type of efforts take a fair bit of time,” the nine-year volunteer said.
He’s also particularly proud of their partnership with the nearby Tsartlip First Nation. Three Tsartlip Stewards are part of the crew.
“They have their own vessels and things, but we can work with them to help them train. Because in the future, it’s very likely they’re going to be doing rescues and things out in the inlet,” Harper said.
“Mike’s a huge part of that,” he added, in true teammate form offering a nod to another award-winning volunteer, Mike Desjarlais. “He’s such a can-do guy. Whenever we need somebody to help, Mike is there.”
On the dock nearby, Desjarlais and Victoria Kalyniuk compare knives, a gift that came with the recognition and each etched with the award name –RCMSAR CEO Commendation.
They’re kind of opposites on the team spectrum, Desjarlais started with the Sidney station back in 2010 and after some growing pains in that organization and creation of the Brentwood team, he left, then returned to the Station 31 team.
“I really wanted to make sure there were people here I could really lean on,” he said. That’s been the case.
On the other hand Kalyniuk joined about a year ago, and the recent UVIc grad remains the youngest member of the team.
“We’ve both done a lot,” Desjarlais said. “I think the award recognizes the fact that that we put in a lot of hours. We’ve done some calls, but it’s practice, practice, exercise, practice, exercise.”
Exercises can be dopamine inducing – to varying degrees – with pacing likely the most exhilarating.
“We run along a 47-foot lifeboat that the coast guard meets us with and we basically slam this zodiac into that and hold station, matching speed for speed to allow people off or on. That was some exciting training,” Desjarlais said, adding he also enjoys the technical training. “It’s always applied … pacing, towing, patterns, first aid —we use it all.”
Kalyniuk, who recently finished her marine biology degree at UVic, expected to spend her summer in her field of study. Instead, a chance meeting on exercise parlayed into an unexpected summer gig.
“I was not planning to move to Halifax this past summer to work for the coast guard,” she said with a laugh. Taking her skillset to the east coast, and building on it while there, just highlighted her commitment to search and rescue – and those of her teammates.
“Everyone at our station puts in 110 per cent all of the time. You have to I think when people’s lives are at risk, everyone wants to stay on their toes and keep everyone safe,” she said, touting her peers as lovely, dedicated and hard working. “We have the best people, from all walks of life.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by station leader Geoff Karuse, pleased to see the Brentwood team earn some recognition.
The last few years they’ve excelled at a couple of programs, and with some members around six or eight years, they’re holding on to volunteers longer than the average turnover for RCMSAR.
“Everybody’s got a commitment to be the best that we can; to work as a crew to work together and to support each other,” Karuse said.
“They’ve really come out as exemplars that we all look towards. Their commitment to excellence, their dedication to the station, and to what we’re doing and to be the best that we can, it’s inspiring and it’s making us all that much better.”
