CCG RHIOT School

From September 21st 2004 through September 28th 2004 CCGA-12 member Scott Baker attended RHIOT in Bamfield BC and kept the following log of what transpired during the course.

Also, the photos in this section are just some of the many taken during the course:




The Log:
Day: 01234567

RHIOT Background

The following formal description of RHIOT will give you some idea of what the course entails - but the log itself will probably provide a much better overall picture.

Each year, in the Fall and early Spring, students from throughout North America come to Bamfield, British Columbia to take part in the Canadian Coast Guard's specialized Rigid Hull Inflatable Operator Training or RHIOT School. It is a combination boat handling, SAR, and leadership skills course with 6 students only at a time and spanning one week. It was originally developed in 1984. Since then, over one thousand Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Coast Guard Auxiliary members have been trained.

Day 0 - September 21st 2004 - Tuesday

Travel Day
Left Sechelt at 1150h on Tofino Air & chatted with a nice man while waiting for the flight - he was an x-paramedic who lives in Gibsons & now travels around BC helping with WCB claims.

The pilot altered course a bit so I could get a good photo of my house as we headed out towards Nanaimo.

Arrived Nanaimo 1210h and I took a cab to the RCMP marine detachment (a RHIOT pick-up point) to meet up with the group heading to Bamfield.
Justin (one of the two instructors) and Patrick (the other CCGA Student) arrived at 1330h with a Zodiac 733 in tow and we departed for Bamfield.

Picked up the other instructor in Parksville (Mike) and then stopped in Port Alberni to launch the 733 - I lost the coin toss for who got to go up on the boat with Mike so Justin and I continued to Bamfield on land (a very bumpy logging road that Justin assured me was in "wonderful" condition at the time. However, he also kept asking if I wanted to buy a truck ;) )

We stopped about 12km out of Bamfield to help someone on the side of the road with a flat and finally arrived in Bamfield at 1635h

The other 4 students from Canada Customs (Marine Detachment - Malcolm, Nathan, Mara, and Joanne) met us there and we were all loaded into a 733 and pointed across the harbour to the lodge - I finally got a few minutes of helm time driving across to the lodge.

Sue, from the lodge, (aka Mom) gave us the low-down and we all went out for a harbour cruse before a steak dinner (we were allowed to use the 733 whenever we wanted - and had time - as long as we stayed in the harbour)
We stayed up late studying for the Col-Regs exam that starts off the course and got to know each other a bit.

2200h - turned in for the end of day 1

Day 1 - September 22nd 2004 - Wednesday

0600h Wake up to a blueberry pancake breakfast and departed at 0730h from the lodge for the 10 min boat ride over to the Bamfield Life Boat Station (at the north-west end of the harbour)

0800h Started the day looking at PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) regarding which I noted several differences between the CCGA and CCG - but for the most part it was the same - we were issued Helmets (2), goggles, gloves, neoprene socks, a PFD, Cruiser Suit, Dry Suit, Equipment Vest, Strobe, Flares, Ear Plugs, Glow Sticks, and several other small things in the vest - even a monogrammed towel (that should keep the hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy fans happy!) - All this PPE stuff felt a bit like suspense before the COL-REGS exam but it finally came. We all passed and breathed a big sigh of relief. For those soon to be attending RHIOT and looking for hints: Know all the distress symbols, low numbered rules, and exact wording :)

1145h stopped for a pea soup lunch (we brought a lunch of sandwiches and soup across from the lodge each day)

1300h DI all the boats (DI = Daily Inspection) which took a while as this was not only our first DI but also the first one for the season. Our boat: RHIOT 3 (there are three boats called - surprisingly RHIOT 1,2, & 3) needed a new battery, lots of air in the tubes, and several bolts to be tightened.

We discussed MOB (Man OverBoard) procedures next and then headed out for our first on the water component - slow boat handling - which consisted of docking and a slalom course (to be completed both forwards and backwards) For those who know the Bamfield area - this was done in Grappler Inlet.

Next we moved out into Trevor Channel to practise some basic tilt/trim and put the MOB discussions into practice. We finished at about 1705h and returned back to the Lodge for supper at 1800h

Most people were starting to get a bit tired after the studying from the night before so I was the only one to do back down to the boats after dinner and play with the Radar and Chart Plotter a bit (we had been told that would be a bit component tomorrow)

Settled into bed at 2005h for an early night.

Day 2 - September 23rd - Thursday

0600h wake up again for scrambled egg breakfast followed by the quick ride over to the station.

0745h straight into lectures covering re-fueling, emergency procedures, capsize recovery, communications, & lifts (getting people out of the water)

After that it was time to try out some of these topics back down at the boats - but since we were not only going to be the rescuers but also the victims we stopped to don dry suits amongst other gear. Everyone got to try all aspects of all three types of lift - single person, two person, and parbuckling (as well as being the victim - if you have never tried it - being parbuckled is a strange sensation!)

After that it was over to the other side of the dock for the thing many of us had been waiting for - Capsize Recovery - there is something strangely satisfying about flipping over a boat when you know "it's supposed to be done" and then watching it pop-up again :)

This was done in two teams of three so that everyone got a try - first the instructors would flip over the "rollover boat" (an old 733 that as we found out later had a really interesting story to go along with it - but more on that later) they flipped it by towing it sideways from the port side hoisting points with the starboard side points attached to the dock (some photos in the gallery of this)

The group who were going into the water would then ride on the hull of the flipped 733 out to the middle of the harbour and one by one dive under the tubes and into the air cavity under the flipped boat - I was in the first group and had been told by several people how light it was underneath - but even with those expectations I was still surprised - there wasn't much room - but enough the clearly see and talk to the 3 other heads bobbing in the fore deck area along with me. Once we had had a chance to experience what it was like underneath - we all went back under the tube and out again to swim along the "recovery line" out past the stern. The last man out (and in our case the instructor) pulled the release and 4000psi of air filled the capsize recovery bladder to flip the 733 back right side up. The whole procedure was repeated again for the other group lending to many good photo-ops :)

We stopped for lunch at this point and then tucked into the radar and chart plotter practicals for a good 2 hours - culminating in a short 3 mile loop around Wizard Is. before heading back to work through an engine mechanics quiz - which was really just a group study project.

We finished the day at 1840h with Patrick and I towing the "rollover boat" alongside back to the lodge where it would stay until needed for the next course.

Tonight everyone went out again to practise after dinner for about an hour before turning in at 2100h

Video of the capsize recovery:
uncapsize.avi (sorry about the limited quality)

Day 3 - September 24th 2004 - Friday

a 0615h start today and eggs-benny for breakfast - as an aside I should mention the food - which is good and plentyful sometimes to the excess!

Started class at 0800h today with an informative but very cheezy "waves" video and some good powerpoint presentations on waves, station keeping, pacing, and heavy weather.

We started out around 1000h after complete DI for all the vessels to station keep at the Seapool Rock buoy at the entrance to Trevor Ch. after staring at a bobbing bouy for 45 mins in slow rolling 10' swells I, at least, felt the most sick that I did throughout the entire course. We also tried out a few "Transit Lines" on the way back for spicy turkey soup before getting right back out to try pacing and "Rough Weather" and boy did we have it easy!

The Rough Weather component of RHIOT is frequently one of the most talked about aspects of the course - being on the rugged west coast of BC in the Fall and Winter the seas can become, shall we say, interesting... I'll admit now that the largest swell we saw was probably about 20' and that was it - we basically had no significant wind throughout the entire course. That said, I believe that may have been a good thing for everyone that attended as none of us work in an area where the weather would create seas that even get near 20' let alone some of the huge seas that some get during RHIOT - as such we spent more time practising skills that probably will serve us better in the long run - however, back to the story...

First: pacing - this was done with the 47' lifeboat Cape Mackay - one of the new CCG MLB (Motor Life Boat) vessels and was both fun and very practical (I had already used this several times on CCGA incidents)

They started off with the 47 at about 5 knots as the three RHIOT boats took turns matching speed, then coming along side while under way. As we continued to practise the 47 continued to speed up until we were completing the packing procedure at about 20 knots - at which speed the 733 would heel about 35° on the bow wave from the 47.

After about 1 hour of pacing it was out the mouth of Trevor Channel and about 6 nm offshore to try some swells. The swell today was only about 10' perhaps 15' so in effect it was very calm.

We turned a few tricks at the wheel and stopped for a swim break in Deadmans Cove to cool off. On the way back to Bamfield we stopped to station keep in some of the narrow coves of Folger Is (which was also a bit of a wildlife exhibition sighting many seals on the rocks) before returning to the Station for a pilotage exercise and then back to the Lodge for dinner at 1830h.

Turned in about 2100h today - with everyone being excited about the night runs tomorrow and Sunday.

Day 4 -September 25th - Saturday

Another 0615h wake up call - this time to eggs in a hole for breakfast before 0800h start at the station for lots of Towing lectures. We looked at towing alongside and stern tows including breaking strengths of line and details of some of the 733 specifications related to towing.

We started the practical components in two groups one practicing the correct procedure for letting out line from the dock while the others towed the MLB alongside and attempted to return her to the dock (without the MLB's engines starting up - a signal that they felt the need to "assist" or "protect" ;) )

After a quick lunch we continued towing out in Trevor Channel - now going through all aspects of setting up a stern tow and towing the MBL for a few moments before handing off to the next RHIOT vessel. Each of the three students on board got to try all aspects of towing - Coxn, Line Handler, and Lookout.

After that we did some timed runs in prep for the night run - the idea for the first night run was to calculate the speed of the 733 and then navigate by DR (dead reckoning) alone (using a stopwatch and the compass) so we ran the 733 at set RPM (3500 and 4000) between a measured nautical mile and timed how long that took. The groups we split off into for this part would remain out groups for the night run tonight and tomorrow. I was working with Joanna and Nathan.

We returned to the lodge for dinner at 1700h and we back at the Station by 1900h to start prep for the night run.

The route was provided by the instructors with the two groups traveling in different directions so as to not be running on the same course. We had to plot a DR course and take turns as Navigator, Helm, and Lookout with the idea being that each person navigate one of the three legs. The two teams of 3 would complete the legs one in the order listed  and the other in reverse - to keep us apart. We had a good plan using both transits, clearing lines, and courses but "Captain Bob" messed thing up for us right from the start!

Captain Bob is one of, if not the, largest tug boats on BC's coast and he was heading right across out path as the night run started, This led to some quick adjustments to our courses - which with DR was a bit of a problem. We started with Joanna Navigating, me at the Helm, and Nathan as lookout. We ran our first leg and missed the intended destination on the first try - there was a false cove just before the actual one (which we knew about from the chart) but we got to the correct entrance eventually. We then switched so that I was nav, Nathan was Helm and Joanna was lookout. we completed the second leg fine and made the next port-of-call, and finally with one more switch Nathan navigated us safely back to Bamfield. We were 10mins behind our expected ETA in the end - mainly do to the false cove and Captain Bob but still did very well and everyone was pleased when we finally turned in at 0002h after staying up chatting for a while back at the Lodge.

Day 5 -September 26th - Sunday

WOW - what a day...

the 0715h wake up (which felt like sleeping in for hours) really helped as everyone is quite tired now - eggs for breakfast before a 0900h start with Tube repair lecture and a closer look at one of the 733s that was up on the ways for repair.

We also covered search patterns in the classroom before stopping for lunch then it was straight off to DI the boats before heading out to Sechart Channel to put some of the search patterns into practise. We ran expanding square and sector searches. Justin leaving the little tip that to achieve the 120° turn required for the sector search you can just follow your own wake and run alongside it (wake leaves a displacement hull at approximately 120°)

After the searches the instructors ran us through the broken island group to a small bay where we had to locate our current position on the chart using only visual aids - this was made slightly more difficult by the fog that was starting to roll in. We took an offshore route back from the Broken Islands Group down Imperial Eagle Channel and around Folger Is to return to base at 1535h and dinner at 1600h this gave us loads of time for more laughs around the table despite the impending night run at 1900h Mara Joanne and I even got in a bit of boat handling practise before heading back to the station at 1900h

FOG
This night run was going to be made extra interesting by the pea soup thick fog that had rolled in after dinner - visibility was far less then 1nm in many places.

We were back to the same groups as on Saturday but with a much longer route and the use of all our navigational aids this time. We planned our route on the chart again as a team. Again everyone was to rotate positions so we decided to keep things in the same order as on the previous night.

Our first leg's run was uneventful, despite running with less then 1nm visibility but Joanna navigated us through without a hitch. I took over Nav. We were proceeding across the Channel when Mike (the on-board Instructor/observer Mike "I'm not here" Smith hit us with our first "wrench" - Off with the GPS) - of course we knew this was coming and Despite Mike's efforts to thwart our transit - we run straight to our destination and made it in without a hitch, left the passage and transited across towards a small light and our final switch for Nathan to Nav. Insert Wrench #2 Mike "I'm not here" Smith we soon discovered really wasn't there - he had jumped overboard and we were about 2 nm away making for Rainy Bay - granted it was a MOB scenario and we didn't notice - but he also had spent the last 30 mins telling us he wasn't there and just an observer... He had also made it fairly clear during the course that this kind of thing was to be expected, having taken a similar leap several times. In any regard - we were so far away by the time that we heard his call that the other RHIOT boat got to him first and plucked him from the water - and tail between our legs we had to backtrack to pick him up. Fate it seems, does have a sense of humor - and Mike was given his own scare when a sea lion surfaced only feet from him after he jumped overboard (which gave us all a much needed laugh)

The rest of the run went flawlessly despite fog so thick that we didn't see anything including some large radar contact (to this day we don't know what that was) heading back until we were 3 cables off the Pt. Aguilar Light and thus home again.

We had a great time with this foggy night as even the run back to the lodge for a 2345h bedtime was a challenge.

Day 6 - September 27th 2004 - Monday

0715 wake up to another foggy morning and french toast for breakfast. We motored over to the station for a 0900h start and more relaxed day knowing the night runs were behind us.

Because of the fog and much less expensive fuel in Ucluelet we plotted another nav run across Barkley Sound this time to take all three boats so Patrick and I paired up to go together (that left the 4 from customs to pair up in their actual working groups) Pat and I had an uneventful run across despite the still thick fog which cleared while we fueled up and left us a fast 35+ knts run back for a late lunch.

The afternoon was relaxed watching some more videos (Middle Cove) and discussing safety scenarios before and early end to the day.

Justin and Mike joined us at the lodge for dinner and we all shared many more laughs.

The final exam was looming tomorrow morning so most went off to their rooms early to study - but I believe we all expected it to be fairly straightforward provided one has been paying attention to the barrage of information being presented.

Day 7 - September 28th 2004 - Tuesday

0615h wake up again for another huge egg breakfast and straight over to the station for the final exam at 0750h

As we expected the exam was straightforward if you had put in the work during the week and all present achieved marks over 90% The exam took about 45mins-1hr and as soon as we were finished we started in cleaning up the station, washed the 733s, moped the floors, turned in all the gear etc.

By 1000h we were all finished, packed, and on our way across Bamfield harbour for the last time.

We parted ways at 1050h when the 4 from customs took their truck, Patrick, Justin, Mike and I hopped into the Suburban and we left Bamfield behind.

Closing Thoughts

I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to participant in RHIOT - it is a once-in-a-life time experience and will be invaluable for my future with the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

I have returned back to Unit 12 with many new ideas and look forward to the chance to share what I have had the privilege to learn with others in the Unit.

From all that I had heard in the past - RHIOT, overall, did come as a bit of a surprise - I expected a course based firmly in the boat handling realm - but looking back it was more an overall course that puts into practise all aspects of what we cover in our Auxiliary training - allowing us to actually do some of the things we only read about in our crewing manuals - with the boat handling training coming along with that as a necessary part.

I hope to add more to this page as other members of the course have promised to email  me some of the video we captured during the course - so stay tuned!