Here's the Case for Buying the Coast Guard Small Inflatable Boats
sa Ferdinando/U.S. Coast Guard)
11 Oct 2021
U.S. Naval Institute | By Petty Officer Second Class Zachary Guay, U.S. Coast Guard
In early 2019, my fellow crew members and I, on board a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat from Station Charleston, South Carolina, responded to a distress call from a sailboat that had grounded on a shoal near the mouth of the Stono River. When we arrived on scene, we were detailed to stand by while a Coast Guard helicopter plucked the family off the boat and flew them to safety. While we watched the evolution, we discussed what we would have done had the helicopter not been available. Because the draft of our response boat was too deep to get close, and because we did not have a smaller boat on board, the best option would have been for one of us to swim to rescue the family off the sailboat, one at a time.
The sailboat had been pushed so far across the shoal that none of the station boat assets would have been able to perform a direct pickup. Swimming in breaking water over a shoal can be tricky business for a strong, experienced swimmer, and the dangers would be amplified by the fourth trip because of fatigue. Trying to think of another way, we wished our boat was outfitted with a small skiff or dinghy, capable of entering very shallow water. This would have allowed us to take the entire family off in one trip. In a situation in which there are more people needing rescue, the helicopter may not have been able to take all of them in one go. A 45’ response boat–medium (RBM) can carry up to 25 people, far more than any Coast Guard helicopter. This realization prompted us to think about how we could make response boats more capable by outfitting them with a smaller skiff that can be used for in-shore rescue.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2021/10/11/heres-case-buying-coast-guard-small-inflatable-boats.html
