A.B.S.A.R.
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA SEARCH AND RESCUE
Antigua, West Indies
E-Mail: absar@candw.ag Visit: www.absar.org
Tel: (268) 562-1234 VHF: Channel 16

Coswain Cornelius and his crew come alongside a vessel in distress.

"So that others may live"

Just as we in the USCG Auxiliary participate in any number of different missions in support of the USCG, so do the volunteer members of our sister organization, the Antigua & Barbuda Search and Rescue, or ABSAR. Here is an account of one of their recent operations which is unusual, to say the least:

On 3 Feb 07 the Atlantic Rowing Vessel "Puffin", captained by Graham Walters of The Ocean Rowing Society International, departed the Canary Islands, Spain. So began a 2,978 mile odyssey which would finish in St. Jean, St. Barts, in the Caribbean 99 days later on 13 May 07.

All teams that departed from La Gomera in December 2006 - February 2007 displayed the Puffin logo in memory of David Johnstone and John Hoare, the crew of the original "Puffin" who were lost at sea in 1966 during the first attempt to row an ocean in the 20th century.

Graham Walters in “Puffin” as he prepares to depart on his 99 day transatlantic odyssey.

Volunteer members of ABSAR monitored the progress of "Puffin" as Walters made his way across the Atlantic towards Antigua. Over several weeks he had several major setbacks as the wind pushed him far north above Antigua & Barbuda. As it got closer, "Puffin" made significant progress southward, passing within four miles of the north shores of Barbuda. His monitors in ABSAR had warned him of the dangerous reefs around Barbuda and urged him not to attempt landfall during the night.

Very early in the morning of 12 May, local fisherman Charlie Simon and his crew on the vessel "Five B's" departed to locate and escort Puffin to Barbuda; but during the night Walters rowed "Puffin" more than 20 miles past Barbuda.

The ABSAR team lost communications with "Puffin." With no word on "Puffin's" location, a call was placed to pilot Greg Scott at Caribbean Helicopters requesting their assistance.

Coxswain Jonathan Cornelius and medical crew members Dr. Geoff Bryant, Dr. Jane Pateman, David Fletcher with Elana, Sue, Becky, Mark, and Kate as boat crew in their new SAR facility.

At mid-morning the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre at Fort de France was notified so they could assist with communications with the vessel "Five B's." The helicopter arrived on scene to begin the search. A drift prediction was calculated and an initial search was made along Walters' last known direction of travel and the direction of the drift prediction.

The vessel "Five B's" reported no sightings of "Puffin" and after a one-hour on scene search the helicopter had to return to Antigua for fuel. ABSAR volunteers learned while en route to Antigua, that contact was re-established with "Puffin" and that Walters was making progress towards the island of St. Marten.

After noon the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre at Fort de France was notified that contact had been re-established with "Puffin" and that Walters intended to continue to St. Marten. Fort de France advised the crew of the vessel "Five B's" to discontinue the search and to return to Antigua.

Coxswain Jonathan Cornelius with Dr. Jane Pateman – navigator, David Fletcher – paramedic, Sue Connolly – EMT, and Dr. Geoff Bryant – medic, training to respond to a SAR call-out in Antigua.

An hour later ABSAR handed off monitoring of "Puffin" to Fort de France as Walters proceeded to St. Marten. Of the 279 attempts, Graham Walters became the 174th person to complete an ocean crossing.

The ABSAR team of volunteer lifesavers is proud to have participated in this event – one of many. ABSAR members have been involved in many search and rescue operations in which they help their local Coast Guard. Their efforts allow the Coast Guard to devote their efforts to more serious operations i.e. illegal migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, large-scale problems, etc.

We thank The Ocean Rowing Society International who graciously provided us with many of the photos and statistics used in this article.