CG Heavy Weather Surf Training

Harking back to the days of the United States Life-Saving Service, a Surfman is a consummate Coast Guard boat coxswain. Through years of specialized training and experience, he or she is intimately familiar with search and rescue planning, operations and equipment. Surfmen are trusted to operate the most seaworthy craft in the Coast Guard inventory in extreme weather conditions. Their motto, coined at the turn of the twentieth century underscores their commitment: "The book says that you've got to go out, but it doesn't say a word about coming back". Today, you will find Surfmen standing duty at one of nineteen designated "surf stations" ranging from Quillayute River, Washington to Morro Bay, California; from Merrimack River, Massachusetts to Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina; and at the world famous National Motor Lifeboat School at the mouth of the Columbia River at Cape Disappointment, Washington. 161 Surfmen stand ready at these stations to respond to calls for assistance with 47 foot motor lifeboats and, at select stations in Oregon and Washington.