Lighting Boston Harbor for 150 years
Story by Sally Snowman
Lighthouse keeper, Boston Light
Photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell
First Coast Guard District Public Affairs, Boston

One-hundred and fifty-years ago, at sunset on the winter solstice, Boston Light’s newly installed second order classical Fresnel lens was lit for the first time on the country’s first lighthouse.

The lighthouse, situated on Little Brewster Island at the entrance of Boston Harbor, was built in 1716 to guide ships in safely transiting into the outer harbor. With technological advancements, the most effective lamp device available in the world was installed at Boston Light in 1859. It’s a flashing mechanism is comprised of 4,000 pounds of brass and glass rotating on a clock-works mechanism.

The inventor credited for revolutionizing illumination optics in the 1820’s was Augustin Fresnel from France. This technology was adopted for use in lighthouses and the U.S. began importing these lenses in the 1840’s.

Boston Light’s entire assembly is 11 feet tall comprising of 336 individual prisms with 12 bullseyes. Today, the illuminate in the center of the lens is a 1,000 watt lamp, magnifying the light 2,000,000 candle power that’s visible for 27 nautical miles on a clear night.

The lighting characteristic is distinguishable from other lights in the harbor with its one flash every 10 seconds. The lamp appears to only flash, but in actuality, the rotation of the lens mechanism allows the bullesyes to capture the light from the 1,000 watt lamp, sending 12 beams of light across the bay appearing as one solid flash of light.

Today the 150 year old lens is fully automated and one of the few remaining classical lenses functioning as an active aid to navigation. It no longer needs vigils during the night to keep the light burning. However, Boston Light is very unique in that it remains the last Coast Guard lighthouse in the country with a lighthouse keeper. Due to it being the first established lighthouse in colonial America, congressional law has proclaimed it is remain “manned”.

Little Brewster Island is also included in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area with tours of the island offered by the Park Service during the summer months.

Growth for a cause
Story and Photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell
First Coast Guard District Public Affairs

While some men sport mustaches to look older or just for a new look, the men at Coast Guard Station Merrimack River in Newburyport, Mass., had other reasons.

Their motivation to grow out their “mo,” slang for mustache, came from Movemeber, a program designed to raise money and awareness for testicular and prostate cancer through growing a mustache during November.

Chief Petty Officer Jason Holm, the officer in charge of the station, said when browsing the Internet one day, he came across information about Movemeber and thought it could be something fun for the station crew to participate in.

During quarters, a unit meeting, the chief invited everyone to participate, said Petty Officer 2^nd Class John Jenkins, a boatswain’s mate at the station.

Not only did Jenkins think Movember would be fun, he had a more personal connection.

“My 19 year-old cousin died from testicular cancer,” said Jenkins. “We were best friends.”

Jenkins’ cousin lost the battle with cancer about one year after being diagnosed.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35 years. In the past 35 years, the number of men diagnosed with testicular cancer has grown by approximately 60 percent.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one in six men.

Even though the crew was raising money for a serious matter, they kept things at the station lighthearted and upbeat.

As the “mo’s,” grew, so did the crew’s morale.

Everyone was trying to predict how it was going to go, who was doing well, said Jenkins. With our duty schedule we would be away for two or three days so it was interesting to see how much everyone’s mustache grew while they were gone, he said.

Some of the crewmen also took fun photos of themselves with their “mo” for the website where friends and families could donate to the Movember Foundation.

The men didn’t have all the glory though – the women at the station also got involved.

While everyone was getting ready for quarters, the station’s women marched in wearing fake mustaches glued to their  upper lip, Jenkins said.

“It was so funny,” said Jenkins. “We all lost it.”

One of them also brought in a grab bag of stuff to help the men groom their mustaches.

They definitely helped keep the morale high, said Jenkins.

Jenkins said that while it was fun growing the “mo,” he sometimes felt people were staring when he went out in public.

“I felt a little self-conscious, but then you remember why you’re doing it,” Jenkins said.  

“I thought we would raise between $50-$100,” said Holm, but with several of the crewmembers participating the station ended up raising nearly $1,500 in the month of November.

Free exams for a safer sea
Story and photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell

“The sea is a treacherous place,” said Richard Fitzgerald, a Coast Guard auxilarist.  “We’re trying to make it safer.”

To help keep fishermen safe, Fitzgerald and fellow auxilarist, Richard Skryness, travel from Boston to Newburyport, Mass., providing free dockside safety exams as part of the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program.

The duo perform the exams to check for required safety equipment, that the equipment works properly and that it’s accessible when needed.

“We check things fishermen may forget about like fire extinguishers,” said Skryness.

Patrick Santos, captain of the Gloucester, Mass., -based fishing boat Rizla II, said he gets the exams because not only was he on a boat that caught fire once, but he also lost his father to the sea. 

In addition, the examiners check the boat’s navigation lights and alarms and provide the fishermen with ways of making their boat safer.

“At first the fishermen were pretty reluctant to have someone else come look around their boat – it’s like their office,” Skryness said. “They embrace it now.”

The exam gives fishermen the knowledge that they meet requirements and improves safety in the fishing industry, Skryness said. Also, once a fisherman gets the exam decal, a Coast Guard boarding could run a lot smoother.

Although the exam doesn’t exempt fishermen from a Coast Guard boarding, it may reduce the amount of time spent aboard and the fishermen can get back to work sooner, Skryness said.

There is no penalty for failing the free dockside exam, but if the Coast Guard later boards the boat, they may receive penalties if there are discrepancies found that need to be corrected.

The examiner uses a checklist to indicate which gear the boat has and which it still needs. At the end of the exam, the boat’s captain receives a copy of the form and will be able to see what is needed to comply with regulations. If the vessel failed to have the required gear, the captain will not receive a decal until he corrects the discrepancies and notifies the examiners. If the boat passes, the captain will receive a decal for their boat that is valid for one year.

When they don’t have any exams scheduled, Skryness and Fitzgerald walk the piers and talk with the fishermen, get to know them, and sometimes even get asked for a free safety exam.

Fishermen interested in getting a free dockside safety exam should contact their local Coast Guard unit.

The Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle visits Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

 Story and photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class James Rhodes

Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle conducts training with the Canadian Air Force

During a visit to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, a crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle trained with the Canadian Coast Guard and Air Force to practice a joint-agency response to simulated search and rescue scenarios.

The Canadian Coast Guard simulated a capsized vessel, with people in distress by placing three people in the water with an overturned boat. After the people and overturned vessel were in position, a Canadian Coast Guard boat crew performed the rescue by pulling alongside and taking the people out of the water.

“This training was different from our own in that they used people during their training exercise instead of life-sized dummies,” said Lt. Brooke Millard, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle. 

With the U.S./Canadian border in the First Coast Guard District, this training anticipates a scenario where an emergency would call for cooperation between the two services.

“It was a great experience to conduct search and rescue training with the Canadians,” said Millard. “Seeing how they conduct their search and rescue operations helps us prepare for a joint-search and rescue scenario where the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard will work together to save lives.”

After the Canadian boatcrews conducted search and rescue exercise, the Grand Isle crew worked with the Canadian Air Force to practice airlift operations from the cutter's deck.

The Canadian helicopter lowered three rescue swimmers to the ship’s deck throughout the exercise.  The swimmers were lowered to the deck of the Grand Isle, and then hoisted back into the helicopter.

After the training exercise was complete, the Grand Isle crew was able to enjoy the local culture and enjoy a continuing relationship with the people of Lunenburg before returning to Gloucester on Monday, Sept. 14.

Coast Guard Station Gloucester, Mass. - On the job, rain or shine

Story, video and photos by:  Petty Officer 1st Class Zach Zubricki

**Click here or on below thumbnail image
    to view video of a real Coast Guard search
    and rescue case**

Coast Guard Station Gloucester is nestled within the heart of Cape Ann, Mass., which according to the National Weather Service, received three inches of rain over the normal precipitation level for the month of July, 2009.

Despite the unusually rainy, cloudy, cooler weather, it was business as usual for Gloucester small boat crews last month, which have been dedicated to marine search and rescue and boating safety issues for the over 100 year history of the station.

This was on display Sunday, July 26 just after lunch when a lone fisherman in an 18-foot pleasure boat called Sea Tow’s dispatch center explaining that he could not start his outboard engine and was in danger of smashing against the rocky shoreline of Misery Island in Beverly, Mass., which is part of Station Gloucester’s area of responsibility.  Sea Tow, Inc. is a commercial company that helps boaters, and is similar to the American Automobile Association (AAA) for car drivers.  Sea Tow called Station Gloucester, which launched a four-person boat crew aboard a 25-foot response boat.

“He was drifting towards the rocks and in the process was trying to start his engine but couldn’t,” said Petty Officer 2^nd Class Omar E. Garcia, a boatswain mate and coxswain – or person in charge – of the boat that responded that day.

Garcia was concerned because the fisherman was in danger.  “He could probably hit the rocks and damage his boat,” Garcia said  “There were endless possibilities.  He could take on water, possibly capsize, now you got a person in the water.”

The seas were 2-to-4 feet. Winds were 10-knots and visibility was poor due to overcast skies and a thick, milky haze.

Garcia hit the throttle on the twin-screw, 225-horsepower outboard engines of the orange response boat, at times coming completely out of the air.  The boat raced towards Beverly while trying to avoid the many lobster pot buoys that are sprinkled randomly upon the ocean surface there.

The rescue boat covered about five nautical miles in 15 minutes.  Once on scene, they quickly spotted the fisherman, Ed Haley, 44, of North Reading, Mass., who was still in his boat and a safe 400 yards away from the treacherous shoreline.  Haley explained he was able to restart his outboard in time to back off the rocks when the Coast Guard boat was en route, but it was a close call.

“He was able to push himself off the rocks with about a four-foot fishing net that he had,” Garcia explained.  “He was pretty close, probably only in four or five feet of water.  In talking to the guy, he was pretty experienced, so that helped him.  He was able to do some work and get himself out of a hairy situation.  I think what saved that guy was his experience.  He did say to me that he was boating since he was 12 or 13 years-old.  To me, that did play a big role in how this one turned out.  It could have been a lot worse.  His experience took over.  Whether the mariner helps himself, or we help him, it's always good [when it turns out ok.] ”

Haley stated his boat was suffering from an unknown electrical problem, and that the problems may have been with the boat’s batteries.  Whatever the case, the Coast Guard crew said they were glad Haley was ok, and escorted him and his boat under its own power back to Beverly Harbor to make sure he reached shore safely.

Haley talked more at the dock and appeared visibly shaken when reflecting how close he had come to seeing his boat get smashed up.  He explained that right at the last minute he was able to get the engine running as he held up his fishing net with a look of relief.

He thanked the Coast Guard crew for coming to his aid, and appreciated the escort back to the dock in case the boat lost power again.  Haley explained that with all the rainy weather, he was really looking forward to some fishing before his boat experienced the trouble.

Station Gloucester is a part of a network of small boat stations that line the coast of New England’s First Coast Guard District, which comprises an area from the Maine/Canada border to Northern New Jersey.

The Station operates two 25-foot response boats and two 47-foot motor life boats year-round, 24 hours-per-day.  The response boats are equipped with advanced electronics and communications equipment and have twin-screw, 225-horse power outboard engines.  The motor life boats are designed for heavy seas and can automatically right themselves if they ever tip over in rough surf.  

A Coast Guard Station Gloucester, Mass., 25-foot response boat ties up at the Station dock after a morning patrol of the harbor Sunday, July 26, 2009. The two Gloucester response boats are equipped with twin screw, 225-horsepower outboard engines. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Zach Zubricki)

The station is commanded by Chief Warrant Officer Chris Sparkman, who oversees an all enlisted workforce who are trained in occupational specialties, or ratings, of Boatswain Mate, Machinery Technician, Storekeeper and Food Service Specialist.

Boatswain Mates are qualified expert seamen who operate and crew the small boats, which in the Coast Guard is a vessel under 65 feet in length.  Coast Guard vessels that are over 65 feet are called cutters.

BOSTON - Petty Officer 2nd Class Omar E. Garcia, a boatswain mate, fuels up a Station Gloucester, Mass., 25-foot response boat after a morning patrol in Gloucester Harbor, Sunday, July 26, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Zach Zubricki)

Machinery Technicians are trained at engine repair and keep the boats running and ready to respond.  They also serve as boat crewmen and must be on a small boat every time one gets underway.

BOSTON - Petty Officer 3rd Class Phil M. Grouf, a machinery technician, works on an outboard engine aboard one of Station Gloucester's two 25-foot response boats at the station dock in Gloucester, Mass., Sunday, July 26, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Zach Zubricki)

Storekeepers maintain supplies and are expert logisticians and the Food Service Specialists are the station cooks, who work long days serving three square meals per day for duty crews, keeping them well fed for the long hours that are sometimes required at a Coast Guard rescue station.

There are also non-rated personnel on duty at the station, who train to qualify as boat crewmen, engineers, and as radio watch standers in the station’s communication center. 

These non-rates are usually recent graduates of recruit training at the Coast Guard’s only enlisted boot camp in Cape May, N.J.  They help keep up the station by cutting the grass and making sure the bathrooms are clean, the floors waxed, as well as helping out in the galley.  Non-rates also work hard to become rated in one of the Coast Guard’s 20 occupational specialties for enlisted personnel.

Coast Guard tradition and doctrine holds that senior enlisted members mentor junior personnel to instill discipline, stress training, and develop a sense of pride that comes with being in America’s oldest, continuous, sea-going, military service.

Whatever the experience level of station personnel, they all work as a team and help carry out one of the Coast Guard’s bread and butter missions:  search and rescue (SAR), which for summertime in New England keeps them all very busy.

Moreover, the weather in July, rather than drive people away from the water, has also presented the station with a unique challenge, explained Seaman Brett Teuber, a qualified boat crewman.

“This whole summer when you get a sunny day in, people just want to go out, and squeeze out every moment, and so you can get lots of boats out,” he said.  “That’s sometimes when the trouble starts.”

The station counted 30 search and rescue cases in July with five on July 5 alone, according to Chief Petty Officer James Bridges, one of the station's most senior leaders.

But there was no sun shining on Friday, July 24:  weather was very poor, with five-foot seas, winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour.  There was heavy rain.

The 24-foot sailing vessel Barker was in Gloucester Harbor then when its anchor began to drag and the vessel smashed against the harbor side of the break wall.  The boat’s three person crew managed to jump off the boat and onto the break wall, saving themselves. 

The Station launched a 25-foot response boat after getting word the sail boat was in trouble and made a quick transit to nearby scene.

“We got there and we were scanning for the boat when we saw it smashing against there,” said Teuber.  “We responded to take the people off [the boat], but we saw them already crawling off up onto the jetty.  They had all the survival gear on, including rain gear because it was raining pretty bad.”

Teuber explained that the survivors walked on top of the jetty to get back to shore.

“We sent a GV [government vehicle] to go pick them up, but the Gloucester Police Dept. intercepted them and brought them back here to the station,” said Teuber, who reported the survivors appreciated the help from the Coast Guard. 

“We gave them hot food from the galley here and brought them some hot coffee,” he explained.  “It was pretty bad out there, and the last month has been pretty bad weather here.”

According to Teuber, the duty boat crew wanted to make sure the people were ok, and they also had a new problem to resolve:  the badly-damaged sailboat was sitting atop jagged rocks, half sunk, its masts only visible at high tide.

The officer of the day at the Station, Petty Officer 1st Class Michael M. Faivre, made calls on behalf of the sail boat crew, who arranged for a marine salvage company to come and extricate the sail boat from its unsafe perch upon the ancient rocks of Gloucester harbor.

August has arrived, and maybe more usual summer weather will return to the rocky, scenic, shoreline of Cape Ann.  But whatever happens, Coast Guard Station Gloucester will answer the SAR alarm, no matter what Mother Nature is up to.

ICS: Sail Boston behind the scenes
Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class James Rhodes
First District Public Affairs

Sail Boston 2009, an event where tall ships from all over the world sail into the Boston Harbor, draws crowds as diverse as the vessels themselves. Nearly 50 tall ships arrived from overseas in Charleston, S.C., on June 25, for a five-day visit. From there they sailed to Boston. With the influx of boats came people interested in seeing the large vessels. This brought a need for people at work behind the scenes to make this event come together to ensure safety and security. These people are all members of an incident command system, also known as a unified command.

The unified command for Sail Boston was located in the North End at Coast Guard Sector Boston and consisted of many different agencies, local and federal. All of these agencies bring their jurisdiction and authority to a command structure designed to simplify the use of assets and flow of operations.

Prior to an incident command system in order for one agency to receive assistance from another they would have to track down the appropriate authorizing authority. Under the unified command structure, all they have to do is walk across the room and ask an agency representative.

The unified command consists of five divisions of authority within one system. They are the command, planning, logistics, finance, and operations.

The Coast Guard, the lead agency for Sail Boston, made up the command division. The command division is determined using various factors such as location and jurisdiction. They are ultimately responsible for the decisions that need to be made concerning the command post.

The planning division is responsible for coming up with a strategy to make the event possible. They take into account the operation as a whole and what needs to be done to provide a safe and secure event. They determine the resources they might need, which are procured by logistics.

Logistics ensures all the resources are obtained from personnel to assets, such as boats, helicopters, and squad cars. Logistics even deals with things seemingly small, like pens and pencils. However, if they are over looked, it can cause a problem within the operation.

With such a multi-faceted system, there is always the question of how to pay for the operation. That is where the finance division enters the equation. They handle the budget for the operation and make sure the appropriate funds are allocated to the right places.

After plans are made, resources are gathered and things are paid for, someone has to execute the plan. Enter operations; this entails boat movements, security zones, anything happening on the ground or water.

“The purpose of the unified command is to ensure that all the stake holders have a say when issues arise,” said Lt. Stephen West, public affairs officer for the incident command system. “Having a unified command allows us to respond uniformly and quickly, within our jurisdictions, so we are all on the same page.”

Numerous assets fall under this command system, for Sail Boston the resources involved were:

• Three Coast Guard cutters that provided command, control, and communications for the duration of the event, two of them based in Boston. Those are the Spencer, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter, and the Flyingfish, an 87-foot marine protector class patrol boat. The Sanibel, a 110-foot island class patrol boat home ported in Woods Hole, Mass., was also a major security asset on the water.
• The Coast Guard provided boats from the following stations: Station Boston, Station Gloucester, Station Point Allerton, and a Maritime Safety and Security Team from Galveston, Texas.
• The Coast Guard Auxiliary added 19 boats
• The Boston Police Department, which supplied three boats
• The Massachusetts Environmental Police, which supplied 13 boats
• The Boston Fire Department, which provided a boat, a roving shore side patrol, and a Hazardous Material Team
• The Massachusetts State Police Department, which supplied seven boats

 Other on scene agencies that contributed were:

• FBI
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
• Boston Emergency Management Service
• Boston Emergency Management Agency

With so many assets to be managed, the unified command is needed to streamline operations.

“Many different federal, state, and local agencies, which have varied jurisdictions and scopes of authority, are working on the water,” said West. “The ICS is used to streamline communication and ensure we are working as one.”

 The ICS can be used in any sort of incident involving several agencies and jurisdictions.

“We can shift the incident command system to respond to any situation ashore or in the maritime environment,” said West.

The final note
Story and photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell

The somber melody of a lone bugle floats through the air on a dreary New England morning as mourners gather on a damp lawn, quietly weeping as they bid farewell to their loved one.

A uniformed bugler stands in the distance playing the slow, steady notes, known as Taps, at the funeral of a former Coast Guard member.

Taps was originally composed during the American Civil War to indicate “lights out,” but is now played to honor service members during their funeral.

"It signals the end," said Coast Guard Auxiliarist John Collins, who dedicates most of his time honoring service members from all five military branches. "This is the last remembrance of their loved one's life and they'll probably remember it forever."

Last year, the 70-year-old bugler drove about 12,000 miles and honored 487 veterans, sometimes performing at five funerals in a single day.

"They deserve the very best and that's what I try to give them," he said. "That's why I travel so far."

Collins, the Massachusetts director of Bugles Across America, began playing Taps about five years ago after he attended a funeral service where a recording was used to play the melody. Bugles Across America is a group of volunteers who play a live rendition of Taps at military funerals.

"It was embarrassing not having a real bugler for these guys," said Collins. "They put their lives at risk for me - it's the least I can do for them."

"I think when the family sees someone in uniform there playing Taps, it makes it more meaningful," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jaime Mara, an Honor Guard member from the First Coast Guard District in Boston. "It shows them the Coast Guard cares about them."

In addition to a bugler, two Honor Guard members attend the funeral to render military honors such as folding the flag for the service member’s family.

Mara said Collins always offers his help if the Honor Guard wants to practice folding the flag before a funeral, and even keeps a spare flag in his car just in case.

"He has told us numerous stories from all different branches of service about how things could go wrong," Mara said. "It's good because I think about those things in the back of my mind during the funeral so I don't mess up."

Coast Guard members have the same core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty, said Mara, but he goes beyond that.

"He has a love for the service and a love for what he does," she said. "He pretty much does everything for free - using his own time, gas and personal car to go to the services. He sets an example of what we all should be."

In addition to funeral detail, Collins, a member of Auxiliary Flotilla 43, performs at retirement and change of command ceremonies, teaches safe boating courses and assists with open houses at Coast Guard Station Gloucester.

The Auxiliary is a group of volunteer civilians who support Coast Guard missions but do not receive a paid salary.

When Collins is not bugling or assisting an Honor Guard, he spends time with Rose, his wife of 46 years, five children and nine grandchildren. He also performs in several bands, playing a variety of instruments, and enjoys sailing when he can find time.    

"What I do is very rewarding," Collins said. "To know you made a difference - that you meant something to the family."