America's Volunteer
Lifesavers
Flotilla 86 Venice, FL
www.cgauxvenice.org
7th District
James P. Sleichert, Commander Edward J. Stebner, Vice-Commander
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James P. Sleichert, Commander Edward J. Stebner, Vice-Commander |
| January, 2012 Judi Bidwick, Editor Judi Bidwick, Photographer |
January, 2012 |
Flotilla Commander
First of all I would like to wish the membership a very Merry Christmas
and Best Wishes for the New Year.
As
the Flotilla Commander for 2012, I hope to be a sound and strong leader
but be fair and meet the expectations of the membership.
Flotilla activity for December has been slow, but hopefully it will
increase in January with a new Member Training Officer in place.
Remember training is always available and is open to all members.
Everyone can use a tune-up on skills.
Remember mentors, keep working with the new members and potential crew
candidates. With the
qualified examiner (QE) guidelines more rigid, quality time needs to be
spent with the prospective candidates.
My
congratulations to those who received an award or certificate for the
past month of December for an achievement or qualification on their
behalf. Good job members!!
Questions, as a member, to think about:
1.
Why did you join the Coast
Guard Auxiliary and what do you want to get out of it by volunteering
with this organization?
2.
What
would you like to personally accomplish in 2012? What training resources
or support do you to be successful?
“Wisdom is knowing what to do
Skill
is knowing how to do it”
Have
a Joyous Christmas Season
Ed
Stebner
Flotilla Commander
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January, 2012 |
Vice Flotilla Commander
I would like to thank the membership for electing me as your Vice
Flotilla Commander for the coming year.
My hope is to serve in this position with strong leadership and
sound judgment for the good of the flotilla.
This year we will try to accomplish a better organized training schedule
under the direction of Joe Floyd, Member Training Officer.
We are renewing our efforts to become more proficient at our
given tasks.
I would like to thank all the staff officers who stepped forward this year to help lead the Flotilla.
Rich Markwitz
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January, 2012 |
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Communications
CELL
PHONES ONBOARD
But I Want
My Cell Phone!
Another agonizing puzzle
is when you can see “5 bars” on your cell phone but still can’t connect
a call. Why..? Here is a likely scenario – there is a cell phone tower
high up on a hill somewhere and it, with its higher-powered signal, can
see you. But your cell phone isn’t strong enough to transmit all the way
back to the cell tower! So, if you are intent on using your cell phone
at sea, start looking into external antennas and signal boosters. Some
boosters claim, when attached to an external 8’ antenna, that the signal
range can extend up to 50 miles. Now, if you are ready to spring for the
cost of the external antenna, can I suggest again that you attach a VHF
radio to it?
The
Technology
To Take Or
Not To Take?
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January, 2012 |
Human Resources
We have three possible new
candidates to follow up by phone.
My plan is to ask them to
attend our next meeting, and this will allow us, as well as the
candidates, to get a better idea of what we have to offer, and they for
us.
Identification numbers have
come in for our three latest new members--Robert Frank, Duane Rushing,
and Tyler Woodruff.
John Kandes
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January, 2012 |
Marine Safety
My topic of interest this month is the MARPOL Treaty and
marine debris.
The MARPOL (Marine
Pollution) Treaty is an International Agreement between shipping nations
that tries to control pollution from ships.
Many nations have agreed to
stop dumping certain kinds of pollution into the world’s oceans.
Ship in U.S. waters are prohibited by law from dumping oil,
chemicals, plastic trash and other garbage into the sea.
MARPOL Treaty has five
International annex;
Annex I:
Oil
Annex II:
Chemicals
Annex III:
Harmful substances carried in packages
Annex IV:
Sewage
Annex V:
Garbage and plastic trash at
sea
Annex V:
Prohibits the overboard disposal of plastic trash at sea and
restricts the disposal of others kinds of garbage from ships.
Ninety-four countries
around the world have signed on to the MARPOL Treaty.
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January, 2012 |
Member Training
I
have been appointed as your Member Training Officer.
With cooperation from seasoned and new members we will make this
an active year for training.
The
times that we train will vary according to the needs of members.
Our training has traditionally been on Thursday mornings but that
does not accommodate our working members.
Future training may be morning, evening, Saturday or Sunday
depending on the circumstances.
Our
flotilla now has established a procedure for training new crew members.
Before participating in on-water-training (OWT) new members will
be scheduled for classroom instructions on the basic fundamentals for
crewing. Then they will be
scheduled for a Seamanship Course. On completion of the Seamanship
Course they will be ready for OWT.
Before new members are scheduled with a QE to qualify for crew it
is highly recommended they take the Patrols Course.
This
is only an example of what we have planned for 2012.
It is very important that you let me know what your goals are to
further your education so I may plan the needed courses.
I look forward to a mutually beneficial year.
Joseph G. Floyd
FSO-MT
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January, 2012 |
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Navigation Systems
As a
reminder, observation missions, dockside and on the water, still need to
be continued especially this time of the year.
Check out marina facilities, otherwise known as
Small-Craft-Facilities (SCF).
Any auxiliarist can report a discrepancy.
Effective now there is a new performance quality standards (PQS) for aid
verifiers, and the need for a recognized verification officer selected
from each flotilla. The duties of this position are to qualify members
who are interested in becoming verifiers; the person
will give PQS exams to members
who are interested in becoming aid verifiers and make sure all required
tasks are completed.
REMINDER:
In order to expedite the receipt of CRITICAL and URGENT:ATON/PATON
discrepancy reports by the ANT,
St. Petersburg, the Officer In
Charge, (OIC), Sr. Chief Goldman, has requested that we first notify the
Sector St. Petersburg Communications Center by telephone
(727) 824-7531
upon observation. This is to
be followed up by a 7054 report to
eric.s.smith@uscg.mil within 24 hours. The Communications
Center will also have the discrepancy posted on the next Broadcast
Notice to Mariners.
You may also want to have the local Order Issuing
Station-Corte notified by
A discrepancy is defined as
"The failure of an aid to display it's
characteristics as described in the light list, or to be on it's
assigned position"
May
We All Cast A Watchful On The Water:
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January, 2012 |
Operations
I'd like to thank all coxswain, crew, and watchstanders for the great
job they did in 2011. I hope
we can keep the good work up and make 2012 an even better year for all
operations.
We completed seven patrols in the month of December 2011 and did not
have any cancellations.
Please keep up the good work and do not cancel unless it is absolutely
necessary. Cancellations are
being tracked by division and I would like our flotilla to keep
cancellations at a minimum.
Crew members and trainees, please give a coxswain a call to see if he
has room for you to go along.
Usually there is always room.
New members must have Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) to go on a
patrol.
Coxswains, please use your patrol for training new members and old crew.
Everyone needs to be retrained for the new re-qualification
tasks. If weather permits go
out in the Gulf and work on search patterns; this is a great time to let
crew drive the boat and learn how your boat handles.
If you can sign off on any crew tasks, please do so, but make
sure the crew trainee is completely qualified in that task.
This year, as last year, I will have all mustang suits at my house.
It will be up to the coxswain to
make sure they are picked up when needed and returned after the patrol.
We do not have enough mustang suits to supply every crew member.
Have one crew person bring them back within a day or two after
your patrol. They will be
available 24 hours a day for an emergency call out.
Coxswains, please get your crew early; do not call at the last minute
and expect crew to respond positively.
Snowbirds, get those hours completed early in the year along with
yearly requirements. Patrol
starting time is 1300hrs for January.
Well, that's about all except to remind you to stay safe and I'll see
you on the water.
James P. Sleichert
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January, 2012 |
