From The Commander:

Hi Senior Chief:

     Just a note to thank you for letting those of us Auxiliarists doing the Boomsday Patrol to come aboard your vessel.  We were sorry that we missed you there but understand that you were called away.   Your men as always were friendly, courteous and professional.  Sunday was a very hot day and it was great to have a place to assemble our crews and even better get something to eat and drink while we were there.  I think, and the others I am sure will agree, that it is always a treat to visit a working ship and meet with the crew. Thanks again for your hospitality and when in the area if you ever require anything please feel free to call.  I know you spoke some months ago at a Flotilla 12-1 meeting for I was there visiting and in the future if you find yourself in the Tellico area on the fourth Wednesday of a month I would love to get you to come and speak at my Flotilla meeting, 12-2.  You can, as you know, always just park your transportation in my back yard.  Appreciate you.
                                                                              Sincerely,
                                                                              Jim Vreeland, F.C. 12-2

Hi All,

     Just a note to thank all who served at the Boomsday Celebration whether on the line or behind the scenes maybe helping the significant other to get ready.  It was my third one and it as usual was a hot, crowded day but, I do think we make a difference there.  This was evidence when on Monday at the Volunteer Marina Fuel Dock as we were leaving town, the Captain of the Volunteer Princess, an area dinner cruise ship, came running out to personally thank us for helping him the night before, Boomsday night, get out to go downstream on his cruise and then come back again to his dock through all the traffic.  Also while heading downstream towards home on Monday, another passing boat reached out by radio to thank us for our service there.  So again my personal thanks to everyone there who served and especially my boat's captain and crew for a job well done.
                                                                         Jim Vreeland, F.C. 12-2

Hi All,
    To all of those auxiliarists that plan on patroling or attending the Boomsday Celebration in Knoxville.  I just received a call from Senior Chief Tony Economy of the Oachita Cutter.  They are at this time proceeding up to Knoxville for Boomsday possibly arriving Saturday night.  They will spud down in the area south of the bridges where they were other years.  Patcom will be located on their bridge during Boomsday.  Tony stated that Sunday, Boomsday, they will have open house with a grill set up on deck and will have hot dogs and hamburgers for any of us that want to stop by.  He also asked that if anyone wanted to bring a dish or dessert, it would be appreciated but not manditory.  He said that he would start around 12:30 to 1:00Pm on and that Auxiliarists could stop by anytime.  Any questions, call me, 865-466-7611.  Please pass this on to anyone that I might have missed do to not have their e mail address.  Thank you.
                                                                                          Jim Vreeland,  F.C. 12-2

    There was a patrol up to Knoxville on the Tennessee River where the Coast Guard Aux was interviewed by WBIR, channel 9 & 10 about its duties and the upcoming Boomsday Celebration this weekend.  It should be aired this weekend on the news.
     Boomsday, probably the biggest boating event in the area takes place this weekend on the Tennessee in Knoxville.  There is still need for crew and some trainees on the boats during patrol as well as some volunteers willing to drive some of our boaters back and forth in a car pool as some of our boats are left up there all weekend but the sailors needed to get back and forth.  If you are available try calling Jay MacDonald 865-300-3913 and let him know.  Tim Froehlich is presently out of town.  Don't miss Boomsday on this Sunday it has one of the best fireworks display I have ever seen and it looks even better from the water.
     Lastly I have been asked to forward the following  e mail from the McDermotts to any interested Aux CG members about their GPS Course.  Have a great week.
                                                                    Jim Vreeland, F.C. 12-

Auxiliary Search Coordination& Execution (AUXSC&E) Course Replaces AUXSAR

The new AUXSC&E course is now available at ANSC and is ready to be taught in the Districts. This course replaces AUXSAR in the Auxiliary's suite of AUXOP courses. AUXSC&E, which is the Auxiliary version of the Coast Guard's Search Coordination & Execution course, is an AUXOP course, and as such, is not required for qualification or currency maintenance for the Boat Crew program. Additional information about the new course can be obtained at www.auxtdept.org.   

Rubber Ducks & Boomsday

Hi All,
     Well we just had another successful mission, Saturday, for the Rubber Duck Race on the River in Knoxville.  No boaters or Rubber Ducks were lost and somebody did win but it was not me.  We discovered some discrepencies in the nav aids on the way up and assisted a house boat running out of gas and two rowers that had fallen overboard in the middle of a very turbulent river.
     Our monthly meeting is coming up on Wednesday, August 27 at the Tanasi Clubhouse.  Dinner as usual at 6:00pm and the meeting at 7:00 Pm.  Any agenda issues email Joe.
     Next order of business is Boomsday Patrol in Knoxville.  Those of you that are crew and lacking patrol hours for this year should consider getting scheduled for one of the four proposed patrol boats.  Those that are striving for crew or just want to see what it is like and go out, make your requests known.  Give Tim Froehlich an email at [email protected] and make your request.  It will have to be in order of importance, crew members are needed first, then trainees and then other members.  Thanks and see you soon.

 by Jim Vreeland F.C. 12-2
                                                                        
Hotline Number Discontinued

Coast Guard support of the Toll-free 1-800-368-5647 Hotline Number has been discontinued.  Flotillas shall delete  information regarding this number as it appears on all the Safety Courses, Brochures, Information Pamphlets,  Boating Safety Check Documents etc. on all existing items distributed to the public until such time the current supplies have been exhausted and revised print copies are available for use.

Vreeland Goes Down River

            Well I am back from my boating trip down the TN.  We went as far as the gorge, sometimes referred to as the " Grand Canyon of TN" below Chattanooga.

            Beautiful scenery and we would like to return in the fall for leaf viewing.  Pandora and I were accompanied by Bill Barkley 12-1, Pat Rule of 12-3 and their dog Razz in their new Sea Ray.  First we anchored out in a good rain storm only to find out that both camper tops on the two new boats leaked.  Funny, the tops for both boats are made by the same company right here in Vonore.  Amazing the quality of American made products, especially for over a half million dollars worth of investments.  I also found that the CO Detectors installed on my boat are so sensitive that I got tired of resetting them and had to unplug them.  More modern technology.  Otherwise with a few other minor problems we had a good time. 

            One thing I found of great value on a trip of this type is a weather displaying GPS.  Mine is from my airplane and is portable so I use it on my boat as well so I don't have to pay for a separate monthly subscription on the boat too.  While traveling I found it very valuable to see what kind of weather is coming at you especially with a leaky roof to think about.  Covered slips in various marinas along the way came in handy. 

            One night we anchored in a small creek off the Hiawassee River.  We quickly appreciated the value of putting out a second or stern anchor in a narrow stretch of water.  The wind  howled that night and completely changed direction by morning and probably would have swung us into the brush along the bank or into the shallow water during the night except for that little stern anchor.  

            Next we visited a marina on the Hiawassee so I could borrow an oil filter wrench to check the tightness of one engines oil filter as it was leaking all over that engine and the bilge.  That's why you should do your own labor.  Apparently it was never tightened properly by the dealer's mechanic.  Next we spent two days in Chattanooga walking around the waterfront and riding the cable car up Lookout Mt.  

            While walking around Chattanooga I observed a Coast Guard Helo circling the waterfront.  After some time the chopper landed in the park opposite the city.  They unplugged their batteries and let children go through aircraft.  It was a big hit with the children of the locals.  I wouldn't want to fly that craft after all those kids flipped all the switches to different positions than normal.  We approached the craft and found the senior officer in charge and asked him what else was going on.  He stated that later in the afternoon they were going to do a demo rescue of an imaginary downed fixed wing pilot in the river.  I stated that we were all USCG Aux personnel and that we had two boats at the pier across the river if they needed any help.  With that, the pilot replied to the senior in charge that he would really like some boats in the water for back up in case of trouble retrieving his swimmer in the strong current between bridges, not to mention that he wanted any traffic coming up or down river diverted during the show. 

            We immediately volunteered our services unofficially.  I told him that he could have one Operational Facility crewed with the proper, no uniformed personnel (since we didn't have that stuff with us) or two volunteer pleasure boats    (Barkley's boat not a facility) with mixed crew and still no uniforms.  The Coast Guard pilot stated that he would greatly appreciate two boats any way he could get them.  He did say that perhaps we would want to go with one boat so we could legally put in for orders and get the fuel paid for.  I said that it would be our pleasure to assist them with both boats and that we had already run out our gas credit cards on this trip  and we would volunteer the boats without pay.  So later that afternoon we dispatched ourselves one upstream and one down. 

            The demonstration went off without a hitch, we received a hearty thank you by radio and as the helo departed low level, toward my upstream location we received an exaggerated wing wag or should I say an aircraft roll and I saluted him back as he went over.  It all goes to show you, that you never know when you could be called to serve.  

            The trip upriver and home was uneventful except that the river turned, I mean churned into an ocean type scenario complete with waves and according to my XM Weather GPS it was time to weather out the coming storm in another covered marina slip which we did.  Even though weather reports the next day looked bad and sounded bad, the Weather Radar GPS showed differently so we made a run for home.  Besides heavy wind in the Ft Loudon Lock that wanted to rip us off the lock wall, the trip was a success.  The one bad thing is that we both found out that we only got about one mile or slightly more per gallon.  It is about 150 plus miles to Chattanooga one way.  You figure the math!  Many thanks to our good natured and experienced travel partners.  They are highly recommended.

                                                                   Jim Vreeland   FC  12-2

Flotilla 2 Mission & Goals