Auxiliary helps station extend reach
 Vito Giardina, left, radios the Coast Guard to start a training exercise in Winyah Bay. He commands Auxiliary Flotilla 12-10. |
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By CHARLES SWENSON COASTAL OBSERVER Vito Giardina radioed the Coast Guard one morning last month to say his boat ran out of gas in Winyah Bay. They asked him some questions about his passengers and the condition of his boat, then brought their boat alongside to attach a towline to the bow of Giardina's 20 foot Scout. It's not something the Coast Guard would normally do unless the caller's boat was sinking; there are commercial towing firms that will handle routine breakdowns. But Giardina is well known around Coast Guard Station Georgetown. In fact, they were expecting him. Giardina commands Flotilla 12-10 of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He and two crew members spent part of a four-hour patrol last month playing victims for a Coast Guard crew’s training exercise. The auxiliary is a support group of civilian volunteers. The flotilla based in Georgetown has 53 members who help out around the station, teach public boater safety and education classes, and help patrol area waterways. The only things they can't help with are law enforcement and military activities. Giardina, who lives at Willbrook Plantation, is a retired industrial engineer. His work with the auxiliary is practically a full-time job. That includes "standing watch" at the radio in the Georgetown station. |
"You've really got to love this job," Giardina said. Auxiliary members can spend as much or as little time as they want. Not all of them are boat owners, Giardina said. All members have to pass background checks. Then they must qualify to perform various duties, said Ken Dewell, the flotilla staff officer for public affairs and public education. "You can learn a lot," he said. Dewell and Richard Banzaca were Giardina's crew for the training exercise. "We basically follow the same rules" as the Coast Guard, Giardina said. That means a coxswain to steer the boat and crew to keep a lookout fore and aft. "You never know what's coming up on you," Giardina said. The presence of the auxiliary boat meant that the Coast Guard crew was able to log in training hours and freed up personnel for other duties, he said. After passing lines to the Coast Guard's 25-foot boat, known as an RB-S for "response boat - small," and being towed around outside the entrance to the Port of Georgetown, it was the Coasties' turn to run out of gas. The RB-S weighs almost 9,500 pounds. It has another 1,000 pounds of fuel for its two 225-hp outboards. Giardina's boat weighs in at around 2,000 pounds. |
 Ken Dewell keeps the stern watch on a patrol through Jericho Creek. |
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After quizzing the Coast Guard about the number of passengers and the condition of their boat, Giardina came alongside. Lines were passed and secured to cleats. Giardina pushed the throttle forward. The two boats moved slowly toward the mouth of the Sampit River. Giardina was pleased. Auxiliary members must also get training to maintain their duty qualifications. "I've towed more people when I was out with my wife then when I was on patrol," Giardina said. The auxiliary often finds people adrift without a radio or a chart or even a GPS, he said. That's something the boating classes and the periodic safety checks are aimed at changing. As civilians, the auxiliary members have no law enforcement authority, but they can warn boaters, such as when they see children without lifejackets, and can report serious violations to the Georgetown station, which can pass the word to the state Department of Natural Resources or the Georgetown County Sheriffs Office Marine Patrol. Auxiliary patrols are usually conducted on weekends, when recreational boat traffic is heaviest. That helps expand the reach of the Coast Guard, said Senior Chief Curtis Dewey, the officer in charge of the Georgetown station. |
"I'm required to keep one boat in the water," he said. "If there's a call in Little River and something happens in Bulls Bay - and it usually does - they have a boat on standby. It really helps." The Coast Guard doesn't take the auxiliary’s numbers into account when staffing the Georgetown station, Dewey said. But their presence helps stretch his resources. The Coast Guard doesn't take the auxiliary’s numbers into account when staffing the Georgetown station, Dewey said. But their presence helps stretch his resources. Flotilla 10-12 is trying to organize a deetachment in southern Horry County that can help cover sections of the Waccamaw River and Intracoastal Waterway. "There's a big void between the station and Little River," Giardina said. He has been an auxiliary member for seven years. He said he enjoys his time at the Georgetown station as well as on the water. "It's a great bunch of people," Giardina said. How to join The majority of Flotilla 10-12's members are 60 and older, but the auxiliary is open to any U.S. citizen 17 or older. A background check is required. Call Reggie Hollar at 546-6450 for more information. |