National Motor Lifeboat School comes to the East Coast

Friday, November 19, 2010

Posted by: LT Connie Braesch

Post Written by Petty Officer 3rd Class James Rhodes, Public Affairs Specialist

Provincetown class graduates

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. - The first ever graduating class of the National Motor Lifeboat School's satellite Heavy Weather Course pose with their instructors and members of Station Provincetown for a class photo after a graduation ceremony Nov. 18, 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA3 James Rhodes.

The ocean can be a dangerous place, especially in the North Atlantic. Perhaps you have seen or heard about a sea rescue on the news, or maybe someone you know has been rescued. Chances are, the U.S. Coast Guard was there.

In most cases, these rescues occur in extreme weather conditions. Have you ever wondered how the Coast Guard trains to operate in these conditions? Well, when it comes to handling a small boat, the National Motor Lifeboat School in Ilwaco, Wash., is your answer.

To attend the NMLBS typically means students from all over the nation have to travel to Washington State. But, for the first time ever, six instructors from the NMLBS came to their students.

heavy weather coxswain training video

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. – Click on the image to watch a video of heavy weather coxswain training being conducted by the National Motor Lifeboat School. This was the first training of its kind on the East Coast. U.S. Coast Guard video by PA3 James Rhodes.

The highly skilled and experienced team conducted a 10-day training course at Coast Guard Station Provincetown in Provincetown, Mass., graduating a new group of heavy coxswains yesterday.

“They were able to teach over a two week period the same curriculum they teach at the NMLBS in Washington at Station Provincetown,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Silvoy, executive petty officer at Station Provincetown. “In essence, this was a satellite school from Cape Disappointment, Wash., taught at Station Provincetown, the first of its kind on the East Coast and in the Coast Guard.”

In the past, it has been challenging for units located on the East Coast to attend the training. With limited personnel, funding and seats in the class, the logistics of getting someone to the school were quite complex.

Instead of going to the school, the school came to the students in an effort to improve the process and reduce costs of training heavy weather coxswains. Twelve members from all over the First Coast Guard District participated in the training giving the District an increased pool of heavy weather coxswains while limiting the strain on resources.

“This is going to benefit my unit,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jeremy Graffam, a boatswain’s mate at Station Booth Bay Harbor. “It’s going to give us another heavy weather coxswain, which will basically strengthen the whole district’s capabilities to conduct search and rescue cases in heavy weather.”

While operating in rough seas and high winds, students learned to handle the Coast Guard’s 47-foot Motor Life Boat and conduct maneuvers for heavy weather including approaches to a disabled vessels, P-6 pump transfers, man overboard recovery, and towing.

Congratulations to the Coast Guard’s newly trained heavy weather coxswains!

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  • Gordie McClay

    I went out and got to see a couple of days of the school. Station Ptown and its crew did a great job putting this on. Chief Wells, PO Silvoy and crew…thank you for your efforts! Regards, BMCS Gordie McClay

  • Brian

    I think this is a great idea. I have been stationed in the Great Lakes in Lake Michigan, and been stationed on the East Coast in North Carolina and have attended NMLBS. I can tell you that the waves on the West Coast, East Coast and the Great lakes are not the same. I personally think it is important that Coxswains, Heavy Weather Coxswains and Surfman be trained in the particular arena that they will be operating in. East Coast waves generally never come from the same direction and are often confused where the wave period is shorter than those on the West Coast. Lake Michigan waves are generally from the same direction but have incredibly steep backsides, but are more predictive than East Coast waves. The breaks that one would see on the East Coast are not the same as the breaks on the West Coast. Bars normally associated with the West Coast due appear on the East Coast but are not recognized as such. West Coast waves and breaks are impressive to say the least, but pose a different set of challenges than those presented to Great Lake and East Coast Coxswains. I would recommend that this class be held annually on the East Coast so the units that have billets for Surfman can more easily attend, and also give a new perspective to West Coast Instructors that have never been to the East Coast.

  • Thomas Heavey

    Canby, WA? To get to the MLBS you havd to drive throught the former Fort Canby State Park, which is now Cape Disappointment State Park. The unicorporated area known as Canby WA is over 400 miles east, nearer to Idaho. This is as bad as the CG Monopoly which put Cape Disappointment in Oregon.

  • Robert

    Amazing what a joke Lifeboat School has become. The video is a total embarassment. If thats heavy weather training I’ve got a bridge to sell someone.

  • Dirty 1st LT

    Lifeboat School is a joke. The fact the did a course in P-town and graduated shows what a joke it is. They have about as much HX and Station Miami….

  • Surface Force

    Calling this a Heavy Weather Course is a stretch. P-town isn’t remotely as rough as where NMLBS is located.

  • Jerry Donnelly

    The NMLS is in close to Fort Canby, WA within the city of Ilwaco, WA.
    Canby, WA is in the high desert of Eastern Washington!

  • A. Johnson

    Wow those are some nasty 4 footers. That crew was lucky to come back alive!

  • LTJG Stephanie Young

    A few of you pointed out in your comments that the National Motor Lifeboat School is located at the old Fort Canby State Park that was shortened to Canby, Wa. in the post. To prevent any further confusion, we have updated the post to reflect the city the school is at, Ilwaco, Wa.

    Very Respectfully,
    LTJG S. Young
    Coast Guard Headquarters Public Affairs

  • Rusty

    I am amazed by the disrespect some of these comments display towards the crews that conducted this training. The video may not display very large conditions; however, the students and staff completed training in winds gusting near 50 kts, and challenging sea conditions. The students were held to the same standard that they would have been had they attended a course at the NMLBS. Station Provincetown gets plenty of heavy-weather conditions throughout the winter season and should be proud to host such a course. It is pretty sad that some of you are wiling to disparage those who are working hard to better themselves as lifeboat operators.

  • BOSN3 Mike Russell

    As the Commanding Officer at the NMLBS I would like to take a quick moment to address some of the concerns spoken here.

    This is the first and probably the only time the NMLBS will be conducting this type of training outside the normal school schedule. This came as a request from Sta. Provincetown’s crew and the First Coast Guard District as a unique need to get boat coxswains training in the District. After approval was granted through Coast Guard Headquarters, we provided Instructors for a 10 day period to teach the heavy weather curriculum to 12 students. That’s exactly what my staff did. I have to give kudos to Sta. Provincetown for organizing this training and going above and beyond to get us to come out and do this. Each student completed all requirements as if they were sitting at our training facility back in Ilwaco.

    Any extra training you can give your unit is valuable and worthwhile. I would be interested in hearing from anyone that may have comments on how to improve the training process.

    BOSN3 Mike Russell
    Commanding Officer
    NMLBS

  • PACNW-HWX-GUY

    “*CRICKET*CRICKET*”

    1) A D9 47MLB experienced a 90+degree roll/knock-down recently; injuries incurred.

    2) A Surf unit close to P-Town recently had at least one (both?) of their SPC’s heavily damaged in heavy weather ops; injuries incurred.

    It sounds like NMLBS, D1, and P-Town collaborated in the spirit of the history of the NMLBS. Undoubtedly, egos weren’t as much of a factor in those days.

    The men of the LSS manning those East Coast and Great Lakes stations, oars in hand, would likely convince you otherwise. Nothing about NMLBS is a joke, shipmate.

  • AJ

    Howdy Shipmates…

    I haven’t seen the conditions up in PTown, but I did do a tour down in Chatham (an hours drive south) as a reservist while I was in college. I saw plenty of surf on the bar and out at sea. I’ve also made a trans-atlantic crossing, taking a northern route, on a 540-foot ship in the middle of winter. We got the crap beat out of us for two weeks with 25-foot minimum seas. The Atlantic is a dangerous environment…. Going off of post #12, I’m pretty sure Chatham is the only surf unit near PTown, and if they were busting up their boats and getting injured, I wouldn’t be surprised… Did we not just have an OiNC get canned out on Montauk because they weren’t qualified as heavy weather coxswains? That’s all high-energy beach in that area… if D1 needed this help, they needed this help. It’s way better than wandering out into heavy weather blindly…

  • CWO2 Mark Toomey USCG Ret,

    It was said above in criticism that “P-town isn’t remotely as rough as where NMLBS is located.” and another commented that “They have about as much HX and Station Miami…”

    Well I believe that there are at least two Surfmen who, if they were alive today, might disagree!

    If you remember your Coast Guard history, you may recognize the names Joshua James and Bernie Webber who just a few miles to the west and south of Provincetown, executed the greatest heavy weather rescues in CG history. I offer the following links for your edification:

    So many ships have piled up on the hidden sand bars off the coast between Chatham and Provincetown that those fifty miles of sea have been called an “ocean graveyard.” Indeed, between Truro and Wellfleet alone, there have been more than 1,000 wrecks.

    Fair winds and following seas to all that sail in harms way, no matter from what points of the compass they hail.

  • CWO Jay Greiner

    I applaud the NMBLS, D1 and the crew at Sta P-Town for working together to find new ways to get top notch training to the operators in the field. I am sure the students that went through this course are very appreciative of the efforts and they are better operators because of this course.

    CWO Jay Greiner
    Commanding Officer
    Station Barnegat Light, NJ.

  • Jim Sanford

    This is starting to sound like every BM discussion on Freds Place. I think we should just all ‘agree to disagree’.

  • Slogan

    Having been an instructor at the Lifeboat School I personally had the opportunity to see the politics of money and logistics in getting ANY thing done. I did about 50% of the transistions for the stations. It is difficult to get the time and money to do the right training for sure. The one observation I have made is that there continues to be a mindset with this hull that seems to limit the capability of this boat. Over the last five years I have watched various videos of surf training. It seems our folks are still driving like a 44′. The incident on Lake Ontario seems to fall in that category. Even being off the boats for as long as I have I can almost see what caused that knockdown. Lack of power and angle to break. My question is, has the Lifeboat community embraced the design of this hull or is the mindset that all lifeboats drive the same? Having said all that I salute the school for going outside the box. That was outstanding!

  • Auxiliarist Larry Cox

    As an Auxiliarist who has worked with Stations Yaquina and Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast for the past six years I feel compelled to respond. I applaud the NMLBS and the members of Station Provincetown for their teaming to provide outstanding heavy weather training. I owe my Auxiliary Coxswain qualification to the superb mentoring and training I received from three Surfmen, two of whom were instructors deployed to Provincetown, and one currently assigned to Station Yaquina Bay. They are true professionals totally dedicated to saving lives as are all members of the Surf Community, and I find it difficult to understand why anyone in the Coast Guard would make negative and disparaging comments about this training. I spent 24 years active duty in the Navy and Air Force, with all of my Navy time on the East Coast. During a tour on a destroyer in the Atlantic we survived a horrendous North Atlantic storm where the waves were coming over the bridge, and everyone on board was sick. I also spent four months (Nov – Feb) launching sounding rockets (AF program) into the Atlantic from North Truro on the Cape, and witnessed many heavy weather conditions. Anyone who thinks there isn’t heavy weather on the East Coast needs to pack a bag and head for the Cape in the Fall and Winter months.
    BRAVO ZULU to the NMLBS instructors and members of Station Provincetown.

  • BM1 Adam Johnson

    I am a surfman that served at Station Chatham (just south of Provincetown) for six years. Some friends and fellow surfmen have asked if I was the A. Johnson that left the negative comment above. I am not.

    I was never able to attend the NMLBS’s Heavy Weather class but was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend a month at the school while prototyping a new surf boat. The men and women I worked with there were extremely knowledgeable and professional. The training I witnessed and support I received was incredible. I left there amazed by the instructor’s level of expertise and more jealous than ever that I had been unable to attend their class. Even now as a certified surfman I would jump at the chance to attend any training the NMLBS provided and am positive I’d be a better boat driver for it.

    I think that the NMLBS bringing their expertise on the road is incredible. I would have done just about anything for a road show like this while stationed at Chatham. I sure it was very difficult to arrange. Congrats to D1, the NMLBS and Station Provincetown for making it happen.