With the ice vanishing from the Bay of Quinte, the volunteers of Quinte Search and Rescue have a message for people wanting to enjoy the local waterways this spring and summer.
The local unit of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, equipped with two custom-built boats, is available 24-7 throughout the boating season to assist mariners in trouble between the Murray Canal and Napanee and south into the waters of Prince Edward County. Quinte Search and Rescue has two rescue boats used in many ways, includng freeing stranded boats and towing disabled vessels. Unit Leader Paul Kerwin has this advice for boaters.
All rescues are conducted under the umbrella of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Kerwin says, “Quinte Search and Rescue is proud to serve the Greater Quinte community and its many visitors and tourists and the unit relies on support from the community to keep the essential and needed marine rescue unit operational and continually advancing. We are your friends, family and fellow residents who volunteer our personal time to keeping our waters safe, and responding to emergencies whenever the need arises and in doing so we are one of the busiest Coast Guard Auxiliary Units in the entire region.”
Most of the work for QSAR comes from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at CFB Trenton and all missions are conducted under the umbrella of the Canadian Coast Guard. Kerwin says it’s important to note there are four other area units of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary with volunteers on the local water: Picton (Avalon Rescue), Wellington (Wellington Rescue), Waupoos (Waupoos Rescue) and Brighton (Brighton Auxiliary Rescue).
Quinte Search and Rescue Unit Leader Paul Kerwin, March 18, 2019. (File photo: David Foot / Quinte News)
