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Bamfield Celebrates 100 Years of Mechanized Sea Rescue |
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Written by A. Douglas Lee
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June 13–15 the seaside community of Bamfield will host a special event to mark a historic first in the world of marine rescue technology—namely, the advent of self-bailing, self-righting rescue boats that could be propelled through raging ocean surf not just by conventional human-powered oars alone but also by a propeller connected to an internal combustion engine.
The Bamfield lifesaving station is situated on Vancouver Island and lies at the northern end of the West Coast Lifesaving Trail. This extremely rugged sea view pathway looks out over what was called the Graveyard of the Pacific, so labelled because of the tremendous number of ships that met their watery demise in this treacherous zone. The station has served as the operational base for courageous teams of lifesavers for more than a century.
For more details on the centennial program—including a symposium organized by Clay Evans, historian, author of the landmark volume Rescue at Sea and a Coast Guard officer with the Bamfield Lifeboat Station—visit www.bamfieldlifeboat100.ca.
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