Newspaper article featuring the first Wolverine Tunnel Jet RIB Boat.
tkharmon | 24 March, 2007 14:23
AFD enhances water rescue fleet
New craft designed for the Eagle River
By MARY M. RALL
Alaska Star Anchorage Fire Department's Station 11 in Eagle River has added an innovative boat to its collection of water rescue crafts.
Capt. Bill Green said local rescue personnel have been using Jet Skis and a raft for water rescues for several years, but needed a watercraft capable of doing more than scouting upstream or being sent out for rescue on a line.
He said that while both are ideal for certain situations, a watercraft capable of carrying personnel upstream to rescue victims was needed, although the right platform for the sometimes shallow waters of the Eagle River was previously unavailable.
All that changed when rescue personnel heard tales of a boat created by Tracey Harmon of Anchorage, who hand built a craft to navigate shallow waters to access his secret sheep hunting location.
"I was trying to get up shallow, fast, rocky streams," Harmon said, which is something the rescue personnel of Station 11 needed to be able to do as well.
Green said a ride on Harmon's personal prototype last year clinched the idea that the boat was just what the department needed, but the $25,000 to acquire the boat, complete with motor and trailer, was not available.
"Money is tight in all of the different municipal agencies. We're always trying to look for ways to do more with the money that we get," Green said. "This was something that when we approached some of our administrative folks about it, the idea intrigued them, but money, as always, was a problem."
That's when the department turned to local legislators to seek the necessary financial support, he said.
"They felt they did not have local resources to acquire the boat," said Rep. Mike Hawker. "It was a high enough priority that we were able to get that added to the (2006) capital budget as a direct appropriation from the state."
Green said the resulting funds allowed the department to work with Harmon to specially design a boat to meet rescue needs unique to Eagle River, which can vary from being extremely shallow to deep and fast-running as the seasons change.
Harmon said the 16-foot boat has been designed with the river's traits and rescuers' needs in mind, resulting in a jet boat capable of operating in as little as two inches of water and featuring self bailing, instant repair and immediate inflation capabilities.
He said specific modifications were also made from the prototype, such as a blunt nose to allow rescuers to pull up to rocks to pull victims into the boat and a stand up tiller to permit drivers to read the river as they navigate.
"It looks like it's going to be just the thing," Green said, adding that rescue personnel will be training on the boat in area waters throughout June in an effort to prepare for the Eagle River recreation season and the rescues that inevitably accompany it.
"It's a deceiving river to people that aren't really river runners," he said. "It looks just bucolic, but it can sneak up on you, and it's ice cold. Just a few miles up river, it's a glacier and it's amazing how debilitating it is when someone gets dunked in that cold water."
Green said the successful creation of a craft capable of challenging the Eagle River has led to Station 11's boat becoming the prototype from which other AFD stations are creating boats to meet their own specific needs.
Hawker said using the boat to standardized state water rescue capabilities is the sign of an important need for rescue agencies.
"Very clearly, waterborne rescue is something that's becoming more and more important in Southcentral Alaska," he said. "Our communities are building out and creating more access to waterways. As our population grows, we're also getting a population that is not as knowledgeable about water safety as the old timers used to be."
Reach the reporter at mary.rall@alaskastar.com.
This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, June 22, 2006.
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recently...
- Here is the spray-on material used to reinforce the hull
- A computer generated view of the bottom of the Wolverine Tunnel Jet RIB.
- A computer generated view of the Wolverine's inflatable collar support wings.
- A computer generated view of the top of the Wolverine, without the floor or floor support stringers.
- The inflatable collar for the Wolverine.
- Dave Kindred of Heavy Weather Boats welding up the one piece hull of the Wolverine.
- Care, maintenance, and repair of the inflatable collar.
- We use King StarBoard AS as the floor material for the Wolverine.
- We use 3/8" UHMW to armor the bottom of the Wolverine.
- Newspaper article featuring the first Wolverine Tunnel Jet RIB Boat.