their related hazards vary dramatically from place 

 to place. Crowd conditions, water currents, 

 dangerous sea creatures, weather and many other 

 factors contribute to these variations. 



'Every beach has its own personality — 

 energy, current pattern and beach slope," says 

 Jim McCloy, associate vice president of research 

 and academic affairs at Texas A&M University 

 at Galveston and former Texas Sea Grant 

 researcher. "Beaches also have their own 

 culture." 



Along the Outer Banks, many surfers 

 congregate at the beaches. 



Because of the rough surf, Outer Banks 

 beaches — from Corolla to Hatteras Island — 

 have beach rescue services in each municipality. 

 From Memorial Day to the end of September, 

 lifeguards sit in stands and also patrol the beaches 

 in all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). 



'Ten years ago, there were probably half as 

 many lifeguards as there are now in Dare and 

 Currituck counties," says Sandy Sanderson, Dare 

 County's emergency management director. "The 

 Outer Banks has taken the lead in North Carolina 

 in innovative, proactive lifeguard services. The 

 town of Nags Head was the first in the country in 

 1975 to use jet skis in formal rescue operations. 

 They were also the first to incorporate an ATV 

 beach patrol operation in 1979." 



On a typical day, a lifeguard's work isn't as 

 glamorous as on the old television series 

 "Baywatch," according to Yeatts. 



"We don't have drownings every day," he 

 says. "It is real life and real emergencies." 



At Kill Devils Hills, the lifeguards first 

 get together for a briefing on the water 

 temperature and surf. Then, they head for the 

 beach where they check out the town's rescue 

 equipment and umbrellas. All told, the town of 

 Kill Devils Hills has 17 lifeguard stands, four 

 patrolling ATVs and two trucks. 



On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 

 Kill Devil Hills lifeguards arrive at the beach 

 early for physical training — from swimming 

 and running to line pull drills and other 

 exercises. 



Mirek Dabrowski, owner of Surf Rescue 

 that contracts lifeguard services for the town of 

 Duck, says the hardest part of being a lifeguard 

 is being "out in the sun all day and dealing 

 with different weather conditions." 



By the end of one summer season, the 

 first-year lifeguards have matured a lot 

 because of the enormous responsibility of the 

 job, according to Tim Morrison, Kill Devil 

 Hills ocean rescue support director. "They also 

 meet people from all over the country and 

 develop a great network," adds Morrison. "It's 

 a great job." 



Despite the intense training and 

 sophisticated equipment, Yeatts says 

 lifesaving is still the rescuer versus the ocean. 



"It is so pure — fins, buoys and saving 

 peoples lives," he adds. □ 



RESTAURANT 

 SHOWCASES LIFESAVING 

 MEMORABILIA 



As a young boy, Lionel Shannon would 

 often sit on the beach by the old Kill Devil Hills 

 Coast Guard station and watch a captain re- 

 enact a rescue with an old-time lyle gun. 



"Capt. Pennel Tillett would scoop up a 

 hole in the sand for his stomach and then lay 

 down and line up the Lyle gun to fire it across 

 the practice pole," says Lionel Shannon, one of 

 the owners of Owens Restaurant in Nags Head. 



Then the Coast Guard rescuers would use 

 the shot line to pull out the block and tackle for 

 the breeches buoy apparatus and pull in the 

 victim, adds Shannon. 



"From an engineering standpoint, I was 

 always fascinated with how the Coast Guard 

 could do so much with so little," says Shannon. 

 "How many people today could rescue someone 

 500 yards off the beach in rough waters with 

 simple beach apparatus? They used the same 

 equipment again and again to rescue people." 



Shannon's fascination led to his setting up 

 displays of U.S. Lifesaving Service and Coast 

 Guard memorabilia in the lobby and hall of 

 Owens Restaurant. 



The breeches buoy is one of the most 

 frequently used tools employed in U.S. Lifesaving 

 rescues during the 1 800s, before the Coast 

 Guard took over the service. 



"The crew would run up the beach and pull 

 the buoy in and out," says Shannon "The buoy 

 has canvas seats for two victims." 



The restaurant is filled with memorabilia 

 from Coast Guard ships, including dress 

 uniforms, china and a telescope. 



"All of my family worked on the water," 

 says Shannon. "One of my grandfathers was 

 chief engineer of a Coast Guard ship. My other 

 grandfather was a fisherman and farmer in 

 Currituck County." 



A framed 1 933 Coastland Times article gives 

 a glimpse into the drudgery and physical 

 intensity involved in early lifesaving services. 



"Five days a week devoted to drills at each 

 station, boat drill, beach-wear drill, signaling 

 with a wig-wag and semaphore, fire drill and 

 drowning and resuscitation drill so that the crew 

 are kept at a high level of efficiency which can be 

 translated into action in case of emergency," 

 according to the article. 



-A.G. 



COASTWATCH 15 



