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| BAMFIELD LIFEBOAT HISTORY
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June 4, 2008. This article appeared in the April issue of Mariner Life, an excellent workboat magazine published in Vancouver. Those visiting Barkley Sound should find the information interesting. The article and photo are reprinted here with permission.
BAMFIELD LIFEBOAT CENTENARY
By Clay Evans, edited by Phil Dauphinee
The paper presented at the February Vancouver Island CIMarE Branch meeting was entitled History of the Life Saving Service in Bamfield. Clay Evans shared with those present both the history and some of his personal experiences with the lifeboat service. The Bamfield Station and the community of Bamfield will be holding a centennial celebration from June 13 to 15th, 2008 to celebrate 100 years of saving lives at sea as well as the arrival of the first purpose-built motorized lifeboat, the MLB Assistance, over a century ago. Clay Evans is the coordinator of this event and wrote the article, which follows. For more information on the Bamfield Lifeboat Centenary check www.bamfieldlifeboat100.ca
The Bamfield Lifeboat Station, now known as CCG Station Bamfield, was established in the winter of 1907 following the loss of dozens of ships on the treacherous southwest coast of Vancouver Island. The most infamous wreck was that of the American Steamship Valencia, which went down southeast of Pachena Lighthouse with more than 125 men, women and children in January of 1906. This particular loss resulted in boards of enquiry on both sides of the border. They recommended that the telegraph trail from Port Renfrew to Bamfield be expanded into a true lifesaving trail, complete with houses of refuge; that a lighthouse be constructed at Pachena Point; and that a lifeboat station, provided with the latest in rescue craft technology be stationed at "Banfield Creek."
At the beginning of 1908 the new Bamfield Station would receive a 36-foot, self-bailing and self-righting, pulling and sailing motor lifeboat (MLB) purchased by the Dominion Government and constructed to a United States Life-saving Service (USLSS) design by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. This large rescue craft, state of the art for its time, was the world's first "purpose-built motorized lifeboat,” or MLB. Hundreds of 36-Footers would be constructed in the United States and Canada over the next 50-odd years, with the auxiliary oars and sails eventually being phased out in favour of motorized propulsion only.
Since that time, the Bamfield Station has had a series of self-righting motor lifeboats, including two more 36-Footers (the last of which is on display at Port Alberni), CG 104, a 44-foot Waveney type MLB and now the latest Canadian version of the 25-knot 47-foot MLB. The Bamfield Station has also been instrumental over the years as a location to experiment with and train on the most popular type of rescue craft in the world today -- namely the rigid hull inflatable, or RHI.
Starting in the mid 1970's these hard-bottom inflatables began to appear and have evolved into 7 to 9 metre variants. They sport twin outboards with a combined horsepower in the 300 H.P. plus range, and can operate at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour, as well as quite effectively in extreme sea and weather conditions. Given these operating parameters, the Canadian Coast Guard decided to establish a training program for these craft in the mid-1980s, with Bamfield being the obvious location of choice due to the wide variety of challenging sea and coastal conditions in the area.
The Rigid Hull Inflatable Operations Training, or RHIOT School, remains in operation today, averaging approximately 20 one-week courses a year. Students come from the Canadian Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary as well as other government departments and agencies and foreign rescue services, including the United States Coast Guard.
CCG Station Bamfield today operates a 47-foot MLB and the 7.33-metre RHI Bamfield 1 with two crews of four personnel working a two-week on/two-off rotation. These crews are also augmented by volunteers from Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Unit #53 (Bamfield) who also carry pagers for call-outs when additional personnel and/or both vessels are required. The station handles approximately 100 search and rescue cases a year as well as over 200 other marine related taskings.v
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