United States Coast Guard Auxiliary 7th District Breeze - USCGAUX ...

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34 U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary District 7 Breeze SAND KEY, Fla.—Chief Warrant Officer Morgan Dudley, Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Station Sand Key, initiated a unique program to reward and motivate Coast Guard Auxiliarists who successfully accomplish a Search and Rescue incident for the Coast Guard. Station Sand Key executed approximately 200 Search and Rescue cases in fiscal year 2011, and Division 11 Coast Guard Auxiliary members performed an unprecedented 30% of them. The two-part program is dubbed Keys of Success. Every member on an authorized patrol in the local waters who participates in a Search and Rescue case is awarded a key painted blue and white and a specially designed key ring on which to place the Keys of Success. In addition, the Auxiliary facility that the crew was embarked on when they performed the Search and Rescue case is awarded a special decal, with a life ring and Coast Guard Auxiliary emblem. When asked if the Keys of Success were responsible for the high numbers of rescues performed by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Dudley responded, “Regardless of the reason, the Auxiliarists in Division 11 saved lives that were in danger on our seas and assisted numerous boaters in distress. The Keys of Success is one way the men and women of Coast Guard Station Sand Key can recognize the Auxiliary’s outstanding efforts.” The Search and Rescue cases in Sand Key’s area of responsibility can be as simple as towing a disabled boat to its home port or boat ramp, or as complex as executing hours of specialized search patterns specifically designed to assist in detecting the boaters in distress after the sighting of a flare. Often the Search and Rescue cases result in helping boaters who are in the water because their vessel has capsized or sunk and who are in danger of losing their lives. The Keys of Success program has spurred some healthy competition among certain members – each of them earning eight keys and decals for the period from May 1 through December 31, 2011. In reality, what the program has done is to put all members on patrol on high alert, to encourage them to respond quickly to calls-outs for Search and Rescue cases initiated by the Coast Guard, and to keep a good lookout while on the water for the more routine disabled vessel cases. Captain Sheryl Dickinson, Commander Sector St. Petersburg, has been pleased with the results of the Keys of Success program. She recently visited Station Sand Key and held a special ceremony to place the first decals on two of the Auxiliary facilities: Ed and Teresa Kasper’s Ghost and Karen Miller’s Broad on the Bow. CWO Dudley followed suit the next week and placed the Keys of Success decals on Louis Davis’ Sea Bear. Division 11 members cover the waterways on the central west coast of Florida from Aripeka in the north to John’s Pass in the south; the same area protected by USCG Station Sand Key. There are local Auxiliary units in Hudson, New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater and Madeira Beach. Ω Captain Sheryl Dickinson, Commander, Sector St. Petersburg, places the Keys of Success decals on Auxiliary Facility Ghost. with Ed and Teresa Kasper and Station Sand Key Commanding Officer CWO Morgan Dudley in the background. Photo by Jim Ryder, Division Commander 11
Riding Along with a Breeze By Judith Hudson, District Captain-East D7 EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla.—Every year for the past four years, a group of about 25 civilian, Auxiliary, and active duty members of Team Coast Guard gather with their bicycles west of Miami to take a fifteen-mile ride into Everglades National Park, known as the Shark Valley Bike Ride. Why To see this primitive environment in its most natural and serene state, enjoy great fellowship, make new friends, and get some (and in some cases much needed) exercise. Because the ride takes place in a national park, a Park Ranger gives a briefing about the terrain and its inhabitants, and a few do’s and don’ts before the ride starts. In past years, this ride was scheduled during a full moon starting at the Park entrance just before sunset. The timing took advantage of the scenery while at its most beautiful; riding to an observation tower about halfway along the 15-mile loop at sunset, and riding back by moonlight – after the alligators have gone to spend the night in the watery swamps. This year, the ride was scheduled three days prior to the full moon, and everyone participating agreed that it actually was the best lighting condition to see Volume LVIII Issue 1 Spring 2012 35 Bikers move to the side as a tram passes, but even this proves to be yet another opportunity to see and photograph the wildlife along the Everglade’s Shark Valley Bike Trail on Feb. 4, 2012. Photo by Judith Hudson everything. At night, various birds and creatures awaken and come to greet these strange-looking cyclists, so participants get an atypical view of the Everglades. At the end of the trail, the riders stop at a barbeque joint to replenish their bodies with calories and some welldeserved liquid refreshments. This is such an enjoyable and educational event that many participants take this journey every year even though a couple of times, someone has almost run over an alligator on the first leg of the ride while it is still light. There is nothing like learning about our environment and having fun! Ω A Park Ranger from Everglades Naonal Park briefs the riders on the terrain and offers some necessary do’s and don’ts to keep everyone safe and make the ride more enjoyable. Photo by Judith Hudson
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