Tag Archives: rescue

Rubber Duck Rescue

Rubber Duck Rescue
Here in South Africa we have a few quirks in how we name things. A common quirk is that we call traffic lights "robots" without ever giving a thought to the fact that robots are something quite different - the kind of thing that may in fact have dire consequences for the world, as they did in Battlestar Galactica and Terminator.

Something else that I realised this evening is that we calmly refer to the type of boat in this photo (you know, one of those inflatable boats with big outboard motors, that wiz around our lakes, rivers, dams and coast lines) as a "rubber duck". No, I never said that they wiz around our bathtubs... and nope, we totally don't have a picture of a little yellow duck in our minds when we utter the words.

Do other people refer to these are rubber ducks?

NSRI at Camps Bay

NSRI at Camps Bay
I'd heard that the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) had a station in Camps Bay, but I'd never worked out exactly where it was. Kerry-Anne and I happened to stumble upon it while exploring a small residential part of Camps Bay, just outside of the busy commercial section, in the Llandudno direction. That over there is their station with it's own little slipway. Nice hey?

SOS and the NSRI

SOS and the NSRI
I've always intended to pay a visit to the National Sea Rescue Institute at the V&A Waterfront, but I never seem to get around to it!

The NSRI are a group of about 1000 unpaid volunteers around the country who respond 24x7 to calls for emergency sea rescue. Visit their site for interesting information about who they are as well as stats about how many lives they've helped save.

The instituted is highly respected and I have no hesitation in suggesting that you consider donating towards rescue equipment, fuel and the maintenance of their vessels.

Life guards at Big Bay

Life Guards at Big Bay
The guys in the boat are presumably from the Big Bay Life Saving Club, located about 100m to the left of where I took this photo (close to all the restaurants at Eden on the Bay). I presumed that they may have been warning the surfers of some unseen danger - perhaps a shark. The only confusing part was that the surfers looked far too calm - leading me to wonder exactly what the life savers were doing!

While visiting their website I came across an interesting article on rip currents, how they work, how to identify them, and (more importantly) how to escape them. I've always heard that in the event of being caught in a rip current that you shouldn't try to fight against it, but rather swim along the shore until you escape it. Read the article, take a look at the pictures, and familiarise yourself with the technique - it could save your life. :)