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Fishing derby aids water rescue organization

June 9, 2009 12:35 am

THESE rescuers run missions in heavy seas and high winds, through the dark and around shoals that could crush their boat bottoms like eggshells.

The volunteers of Smith Point Sea Rescue, based in Reedville, have pulled people from the water after vessels capsized, found lost boaters all across the Chesapeake Bay and rescued folks from dead batteries, failed engines and groundings hundreds of times over 35 years.

"We're organized much like your land-based volunteer rescue squads, but our territory is out on the water," said Captain Buddy Sylvia. "We are there to help those in need however we can."

On the eve of the group's 26th annual Fishing Derby Friday and Saturday at Buzzards Point Marina, now's a good time for a look at the group.

For decades, anglers from the Fredericksburg area and all across the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula have flocked to the Chesapeake Bay to fish for fun and tens of thousands in prize money.

At first, it was called the Bluefish Derby, and the draw was catching big blues. When their numbers declined, it became the Fishing Derby, with anglers seeking striped bass, croaker and bluefish.

EARLY DAYS

Retired druggist and former menhaden boat captain Wendell Haynie was one of the charter members of Smith Point Sea Rescue.

The group was formed after a harrowing rescue in the fall of 1973, when a recreational boat went down near Reedville.

As the boater clung to his vessel with two small children, others in their own vessels joined the Coast Guard in the effort that saved the trio on the chilly night.

Those local boaters realized there was need for an organized, ever-present group.

Smith Point Sea Rescue eventually became a group that took boat-rescue calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Haynie said rescue boats were eventually donated and purchased, with volunteers trained to find and bring back stranded boaters.

"Back then, there weren't VHF radios, cell phones and GPS units, which make getting and responding to calls easier today," he said.

Then, he said, calls often came from relatives reporting boaters overdue, with little clue as to exactly where the boat might be.

Haynie said many times he would lock his drugstore and head out when a call came.

The group, which gets no governmental funds, found its key fundraiser when it began the Bluefish Derby.

"It was a good money-maker from the first time out," said Haynie. "And it still is."

STILL GOING STRONG

Sylvia now runs missions on a boat equipped with the latest in radar and electronics.

Nosing the 42-foot Provincial "Rescue 1" toward the bay, Sylvia said the group now has two bases of operation.

Rescue 1 and a 23-foot Southwestern center console are based in a boathouse the group owns on Cockrell's Creek near Reedville.

A 26-foot Mako is kept on the Coan River off the Potomac.

About 20 volunteers support each of the boats, usually going out on calls in crews of a captain and two mates.

The group responds to calls on the Potomac River, from Ragged Point across to Tall Timbers, down to the Chesapeake Bay and south to the Rappahannock River.

Sylvia said he and other volunteers carry portable radios and are on call in weeklong shifts.

"It can be anything from an engine that won't start to a rope that's gotten fouled in a propeller," he said. "For boats taking on water, we have pumps to keep them afloat."

Sylvia said the group will go the extra mile.

"We'll take them to their home dock or a marina if they need repairs," he said, noting that they often work in support of the Coast Guard, which responds only to calls where sinkings or injuries are possible.

He smiled and added, "Most of us in the group have been rescued in our own boats at least once. If you've never needed help out on the water, you've never left the dock."

Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com