Johnathan Camnetar (43), George Innerarity (4-10) & Monty Moncrief (4-11)

Recovery efforts reunite Division 4 District 8 Coastal Region

Auxiliary members with Space Shuttle debris recovery personnel

On February 9, 2004, Division 4 Auxiliary members were called upon to assist in a multi-force detection and recovery mission in the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) at Lafitte, Louisiana.  Coast Guard Marine Safety Office New Orleans (MSO-NO) had requested the assistance of Auxiliarist Mike Howell and the Auxiliary Vessel Mañana in a joint project with MSO-NO, Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the US Navy and a commercial survey boat, Pac Brian, from Baton Rouge.

Auxilary vessel, Manana & Mike Howell (43)

The Marine Safety Office New Orleans, under the command of LT Aaron Demo, CWO Michael Donovan and LCDR Gregory Depinet, was attempting to recover a small powerboat that was struck on the 6th of December by a tug with barges. Two men were on board the small craft and one was killed in the accident. The point that the boat was struck was known; however, the wrecked boat was thought to be anywhere as far as seven miles in any of three directions due to the strong currents and tides.

CWO Michael Donovan

The search area was located at mile 14.8 (Jones Point) of the ICW and was primarily focused at the intersection of the Barataria Waterway at the ICW.  The crew of the Mañana was tasked with maintaining traffic control of vessels transiting the ICW, Barataria Waterway and Lake Salvadore ensuring that all vessels and tugs with tows stay clear of the wreck site while recovery efforts were underway.

ICW Traffic

Auxiliary members, Mike Howell (43), Jay Cohen (49), Dan Hall (49), Monty Moncrief (4-11) and George Innerarity (4-10), set up a system that tracked vessel traffic from all three directions with a description of their tows.  Jay Cohen’s experience and knowledge as a Mississippi River Vessel Traffic Controller was invaluable in this project.  The combination of the heavy commercial marine traffic in these areas of the ICW and inclement weather underscored the importance of the Auxiliary’s watchstanding duties.  The Mañana was also tasked with maintaining a safety zone perimeter for the Navy vessel and the survey boat equipped with side-scan sonar which is designed specially to 'see' objects on the sea floor. The sonar worked by sending narrow pulses of sound energy through the water and measuring the amount of that energy reflected back by the sea floor. To confirm sonar sightings of debris on the bottom of the waterway, the Navy deployed two divers throughout the recovery mission.  The Mañana recovered a boat and a tug boat rudder and brought them to the bank.

In addition to the commercial traffic on the waterway, the search perimeter was located adjacent to Louisiana Swamp Tours which ran hourly tours and air boat rides.  On Sunday, February 15^th, Bob Hazey (4-10) and Cheryl and Tom McKinstry (4-10) performed a safety patrol in the Auxiliary vessel, Blue Runner, keeping all high speed boats from coming too close to the Navy divers.  Most of these private boats were not communicating on VHF-FM radio.

Navy Dive Boat

Division 4 really came together to crew the Mañana for this important mission. During the ten-day mission, Jay Cohen (49), Dan Hall (49), Monty Moncrief (4-11), and George Innerarity (4-10),Karen Reisch (49), Erston Reisch (49), Ira Delasdernier (42), Johnathan Camnetar (43), Joe Stephens (43), Paul Lumpkin (47) and Whitney Wagner (49) all crewed with the highest skill, discipline and fellowship to make this a very successful mission. Some of these Auxiliarists stayed for four to five days.

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries

The Mañana handled an average of 30 tug boats with barges per day with a maximum of 43 on one day. This required radio traffic on at least two channels because the boats and divers were on private operating frequency separate from the bridge to bridge river traffic channels. Murphy's Law dictated that everyone wants to talk at one time.  This was a tremendous lesson in watchstanding and disaster traffic control.

Commercial survey boat, Pac Brian

“The Coast Guard Auxiliary was a tremendous asset for this operation. A complete and proper execution of the Navy salvage operation and the smooth flow of commerce was a direct result of Auxiliary participation,” reflected CWO Chris Donovan on the mission. “ The experience and platforms of all Auxiliary Officers involved, especially that of Mike Howell, ensured the control of commercial traffic.”

Dan Hall (49) at work

As fate would have it, the mission turned out to be a reunion of sorts.  The survey boat and Navy unit were also involved with the Toledo Bend Space Shuttle recovery efforts with Division 4 Auxiliary members in February 2003.  Even though the wreck wasn’t located, the opportunity to take part in this multi-force project was an honor and privilege. The mission proved the Auxiliary can work efficiently with law enforcement, military and civilian contractors.  Knowing their safety zone perimeter was secured allowed the on-scene commanders the freedom to work with the sonar and dive boats without worry. The mission also gave Division 4 Auxiliary members the opportunity to show that our skills and training allowed us to participate as qualified members of Team Coast Guard.