Brand New Zodiac!

The new vessel is a Zodiac Hurricane 753 (the first of it´s kind purchased into the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary - Pacific) and is a newer version of the 733 - the standard Fast responce vessel used by the CCGA and CCG.

Our unit has been raising fund for the vessel for the last 3 years - we are not quite there yet - but had enought to order and bring the vessel home.

The Specs


We got a ride from our unit leader to the Zodiac factory in Delta BC to find the new Boat up on a trailer in the front of the Yard waiting for us (photo) it was wonderful. I should probably give some background About our old vessel - an ageing Zodiac 733 - with analog RADAR and simple GPS. It is literally falling apart (to the degree of bolts popping in rough weather) so getting a new vessel was not an option - it was a necessity.

Anyway, we launched the Boat and were escorted down the Frasier River by CCGA-7 (the local CCGA unit) and then it was off down the Strait of Georgia. The 753 performed wonderfully - very smooth and stable - we marvled the whole way Back over the newe Raymarine e-series electronics and radios. We couldn´t really open her up to full throttle as we were working through an engine break-in procedure but we could tell she was truly going to fly if we needed her to.

The trip was awesome and apart from someone hitting their DSC distress somewhere near by and setting off every alarm on the Boat (which not being used to the new vessel gave us a bit of a start) everything went swimmingly.

We stopped off in Gibsons for an ice cream and to let the unit leader from CCGA-14 (we frequently train together) have a look - and finally it was Back home to the Dock in Halfmoon Bay.

- I´m sure I´ll have many good stories to tell About this vessel over the years - I´m especially looking Forward to reporting her first rescue - but we need to get all the CCGA registration and paperwork and our decals applied from that first - hopefully only a week or so and we can bring her Back into service.

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