OVERVIEW:

In its inception in 1988, Station 10 was originally named Station 7 funded through “The Steveston Marine Rescue Society”. At this time operations where based in Steveston only and the monies raised by the Society supported RCMSAR 7. Small fundraising operations were organized and usually less than $1,000 was raised a few times a year, which did keep the unit functional. All members were required to purchase their own equipment and there was no funding to cover those expenses.

In 1991, there was a general feeling that a Dedicated Response Vessel was needed near the airport. The Society was asked to come up with a plan to raise funds to purchase a such a vessel, similar to those being utilized in other Units. A request was made to Canadian Airlines Employees Charitable Donations and they established a campaign to raise funds. This resulted in our first Rigid Hull Inflatable vessel in 1992, which was named “Guardian”. A station was established in the Middle Arm, just north of the Richmond Yacht Club.

This immediately raised another problem and that was that most of the fundraising by the RMRS was limited to the Richmond-Steveston area. So in an effort to attract more funding to help with the ever increasing expenses, the Members opted to establish a Society solely for RCMSAR 6,“The Strait of Georgia Marine Rescue Society”, which concentrated their fundraising from the Greater Vancouver area. In 1997, RCMSAR 6 was able to buy a Zodiac 733, which was sold in 2002 to Long Beach and consequently the Carswell XL 249 was bought.

The RMRS, in the meantime, concentrated on fundraising for RCMSAR 7 and eventually bought a new boat as well. Currently we have a Titan 249 RHI Delta operational in the Steveston area and a Carswell 300 Cabin Vessel in the Middle Arm (near the Olympic Oval).

From the beginning, Unit 10, consisting of to vessels, RCMSAR 6 & 7, and its members have become recognized as one of the top units, not only in the Pacific Region, but in Canada. The members have worked hard and diligently to establish a reputation as highly trained, and capable of taking on many tasks to support boating safety and search and rescue. This is reflected in the numerous awards and citations, not only for the unit, but for its individual members.