Volunteering with ABSAR

I have recently become a volunteer with Antigua & Barbuda Search and Rescue, a non-profit organization that is committed to providing emergency services to people on the island. It is directed by a paramedic from the US who grew up in Antigua and is dependent on donations for funding. ABSAR has two boats and two emergency response vehicles so they can cover both land based and marine emergencies. Volunteers go to weekly training sessions on a variety of topics, are on-call for emergencies and support certain non-emergency events like the Transatlantic Rowing Race. I was able to go out one recent evening to greet, support and guide one of the transatlantic rowing boats after 63 days of rowing. We headed out into the darkness to a spot about five miles east of Antigua to the rowers’ last satellite tracked position. A small light showed up on the horizon, bobbing up and down in the large Atlantic swell. The two French rowers were elated to complete their journey and it was very emotional to watch their faces as they crossed the finish line along side our boat. We escorted them by the outlying reefs and by the famed Pillars of Hercules that mark the entrance to English Harbour. All the boats inside the harbor blasted horns as the rowers cut across the calm waters with the night sky lit up by flares. Last weekend, I joined the ABSAR boat to support a long distance swim sponsored by a local swimming club. We ferried some 33 men, women and children to an uninhabited island 2.5 miles off the coast and dropped them in the water. We cruised alongside to support any tired swimmers and tried to keep a running head count going as the group began to spread out. Luckily two other boats and a few kayaks helped to keep track of the elongated line.