As the ocean warms with the rising temperature of summer, boating season grows steadily busier with each passing day along the New Jersey shore. In preparation for boating season, the Coast Guard began opening seasonal substations called station smalls along the coast May 1 and will close them for the season sometime around Oct. 15.
The stations consist of a smaller crew and one supervisor. The crews who work there are deployed from their larger parent stations such as Coast Guard Station Atlantic City, N.J., Manasquan Inlet, N.J., Barnegat Light, N.J., Cape May, N.J., Indian River, Del., and Philadelphia.
The purpose of a seasonal station is to augment the number of response units during times of increased activity. Coast Guard Station Great Egg in Ocean City, N.J., is one station small, which is part of the much larger Station Atlantic City.
“Station smalls are vital,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Milcetich, the supervisor of Station Great Egg. “They minimize the Coast Guard’s response time for a search and rescue case.”
The crew at Station Great Egg is responsible for the area between Strathmere, N.J., and Ventnor, N.J., including Great Egg Harbor River beginning at Ocean City and flowing up to Mays Landing, N.J.
The crew spends most of their day conducting law enforcement and safety boardings of boats in their area. The boardings are done to ensure mariners follow proper safety guidelines and to let the public know the Coast Guard is out there for them.
“We need to show the public we’re real people too, and we’re here for education, not just policing the water,” said Seaman Brendan Loerch, a crew member at Station Great Egg. “The more boardings we do, the more people know about boating safety.”
Additionally, Station Great Egg is part of a smaller community, which gives them more face-to-face time with local residents.
“The community loves us,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Sam Freedman, a crew member at Station Great Egg. “We just had a guy drop off cookies to us this morning. He knocked on the door, dropped off cookies and said ‘thank you for doing what you do’.”
Freedman says they’re hands-on with the community by having scheduled open houses at the station where the community comes in to see what they do. This gives the crew a chance to introduce themselves to the locals. He said people they have saved come by and say hello from time to time as well.
“Education and community relations are paramount,” Freedman said. “We get a rapport with the community and we’re not just the Coast Guard anymore. It makes everything more personable.”
Mariners are encouraged to have a no-cost, penalty-free dockside exam conducted by the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Anyone seeking boating safety information or anyone who would like an exam should visit http://www.uscgboating.org/.
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