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The Comox Valley Marine
Rescue Society and Unit 60 Comox (CCGA-Pacific) have been operating
within the community since 1978. These dedicated Marine Rescue Volunteers
provide an invaluable service to the people of British Columbia, particularly
the Comox Valley, by providing Marine Search and Rescue services to
commercial, recreational and tourist users of the waters surrounding
the Comox Valley. They also interact directly with the community providing
Boating Safety education and prevention training - all with the aim
of saving lives on the water. Our area of coverage is from Oyster
River to Fanny Bay and as far as Texada Island in the Georgia Straight
and will assist neighboring Unit's if need be.
These dedicated Marine Rescue Volunteers and community members donate
many hours of their time in order to be trained to Canadian Coast
Guard Auxiliary training standards. These volunteers go on standby
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and respond within
minutes in order to assist someone in distress. The Marine Rescue
Volunteers of Unit 60 pride themselves in the fact that since their
formation they have never refused a rescue mission assigned them,
no matter what the weather, sea state or time of day.
The Comox Marine Rescue Society is a charitable organization that
owns the “Bruce Brown II”, the 31’ fast response rescue vessel operated
by Unit 60. It is an all weather, day or night capable rescue vessel
that is instrumental in providing life saving service to any size
of vessel in our area of responsibility, which extends from Campbell
River to Powell River to Parksville.
Besides doing over 200 hours of training a year and responding to
over 50 rescue missions in the last year, the unit and society are
actively involved in the community and respond to numerous community
events. The volunteers can always be seen with the Bruce Brown II
at any water related event and on land they provide Boating Safety
displays and presentations, as well as vessel inspections and safety
awareness. As well the unit is actively involved in taking water samples
that help monitor water conditions in Bayne Sound and for the important
shellfish industry. They can be seen responding to passing cruise
ships or assisting visitors, which are all part of the tourist industry.
They work together with fire, police and Ground Search and Rescue
(SAR) on many missions and training exercises.
COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
- Canadian
Coast Guard Auxiliary – Unit 60 is very active,
maintaining a highly respected presence in the community and is
supported by the Comox Valley
Marine Rescue Society.
- The Mandate of Unit 60 is
dedicated to saving and protecting lives and property in the Marine
environment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the
year.
- The Bruce Brown II
is capable of towing large disabled vessels, searching and locating
lost or disoriented boaters, and recovering persons from the water
under the most severe weather conditions.
- C.C.G.A. Unit 60 is responsible
of covering approximately 500 square miles of Georgia Strait.
- Vessel
Traffic in this area of responsibility includes
every boat from kayaks to cruise ships as well as incidents within
our Marinas.
- The Baynes Sound Shellfish
Industry depends on the Unit to monitor environmental issues concerning
the amount of pollution in this area.
- Community Services such as
the Comox Fire Department, the R.C.M.P. and the B.C. Ambulance Service
all work in conjunction with Unit 60.
- Assisting the Snowbirds
air demonstration
team with on water coverage during their performance over Comox
Bay.
- Nautical Days and the Snow
to Surf Race are two major community events that the Unit is
committed to providing safety and support to.
- The
Cape Lazo Power and Sail Squadron and the
Courtenay & District Fish & Game Protective Association
work closely with the Auxiliary to provide safety education on the
water.
- Courtesy Boat Inspections
are also provided by trained members of Unit 60.
- The Comox Valley Marine Rescue
Society is a charitable organization that owns the Bruce
Brown II, which is a command fast response vessel
now in its 6th year of operation. Unit 60 operates the vessel with
over 40 committed and highly trained community volunteers.
- The
Bruce Brown II is
one largest Community-Owned response vessels on the west coast.
Therefore the Society requires donations from both the public and
special interest groups (see Sponsors
Page) to keep this vessel operational and well
equipped.
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