Coast Guard Auxiliary maintains safe waterways

SANDPOINT — For some people, joining an organization is a matter of choice. For others, it is a mandate.

In Rich Crettol’s case, getting the boat he wanted came with a particular caveat. Join the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the salesman told him, or forget about the vessel. It’s a relationship that has worked out well, resulting in a 27-year term of service that the past-Division Commander said sprang originally from an interest in teaching.

“It’s like anything else — you see a need,” he explained. “And the need here was that we were having too many accidents on our lakes and rivers.

“People didn’t know what the devil they were doing,” the commander continued. “They got a boat, they grabbed the keys and they just ran.”

But, oh, how things have changed — thanks in large part to the auxiliary’s efforts on local waterways.

On Saturday, the members of the auxiliary, supported by a $2,000 partner grant from the Elk’s Club, began a three-session “Boat-a-Rama” education series for 50 area students ages 12-18. Participants will spend half the day in the classroom and the other half putting new skills to work on the water.

Crettol’s status as Master Instructor for the Coast Guard Auxiliary will come into play, along with instruction from the Sandpoint Sailing Association’s Bruce Robinson and a class on paddle sports taught by Jason Wyle. Given the explosive popularity of kayaking and canoeing, those sessions will be invaluable, according to Crettol.

“Forty percent of the accidents we have right now are from non-propelled vehicles — paddle sports,” he said.

The classes will conclude with a banquet and graduation ceremony on the final day of instruction, with each student receiving a diploma and their own personal flotation device as a reward for the training.

“If this goes well and Elk’s International likes it, maybe we can get $4,000 next year and advance the program,” said Crettol.

Starting early with the safety message has become a mantra for the commander, who most recently took part in Safety Day presentations at Idaho Hills Elementary School and came away impressed by how quickly youngsters learn and how well they understood

the importance of his message.

“I love these kids,” he said. “They’re like sponges. You can almost open their heads and just dump in the information. This is the fun of teaching.”

Crettol’s 27 years of work with the auxiliary — all of it done on a volunteer basis — includes his involvement with the Coast Guard Academy, which he has been a part of for the past two decades. The winnowing out process for candidates puts the academy right up there with some of the most prestigious, hard to enter, schools in the world.

Some 50,000 candidates are contacted initially, leading to 5,000 applications. Of those, only about 3,700 complete the entire application and interview process.

“Out of those, we chose 274 students for the Class of 2017,” said Crettol, who sits as Idaho State Coordinator for the Coast Guard Academy.

A love for teaching, along with an allegiance to the Coast Guard, were passed on to Crettol’s son, Greg, who joined on a direct commission after college and has served for the past 15 years. Now a lieutenant commander, Greg is about to enter a position where he will be teaching chemistry and helping to head the Chemistry Department at the Coast Guard Academy.

“He’s on the gold side,” Crettol said, drawing attention to the color of the bars worn by officers in the U.S. Coast Guard, as compared with those worn by leaders like himself in the auxiliary. “I’m on the silver side. I’m really proud of that kid.”

His son previously taught at the International Maritime College, administered by the Coast Guard. The institution caters to navy personnel from smaller foreign countries, serving an uncharacteristically distinguished student body.

“It’s amazing,” Crettol said. “You have no idea of the brain power sitting in those classrooms. You walk in there and everybody is an officer. It’s the cream of the cream of the cream of the crop.”

Here at home, he sees that education is still needed, both to stave off the skyrocketing accident rates that have accompanied sales of lower-priced, unpowered vessels, and to inform the public on the auxiliary’s role in boater safety.

“A lot of people don’t realize that we have the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Sandpoint,” said the past-Division Commander, who, as past of Flotilla 87 is part of a 24-member regional group that first was formed in the mid-1940s in Priest River and was re-established on Lake Pend Oreille in 1992.

If you encounter the Coast Guard Auxiliary on the water, Crettol pointed out, don’t expect a ticket for any infractions. Do, however, expect some schooling on safety.

 “We’re here to educate, to help people, to patrol and to go to the schools,” he said. “We’ve been going for 200 years as the volunteer arm of the Coast Guard. We’re 32,000 strong and we’re here to protect.”

For more information of boater safety classes, the Coast Guard Academy and the work done by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, contact Rich Crettol at (208) 263-1731.