Jack Leth- Division 11 Operations Officer

Division 11N-11‘s Area of Responsibility (AOR) includes not only world famous Lake Tahoe but also Pyramid Lake, which is about 35 miles Northeast of Reno, NV. Pyramid Lake is 27 miles long and anywhere from 4 to 11 miles wide. It is fed by water from Lake Tahoe (the Truckee River) that travels through Reno before ending up at the South end of Pyramid. As a result, the water temperatures during the winter are pretty much the same as they are at Tahoe (generally in the low 40's).

The lake is on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation and is famous far and wide for its fishing. It holds the World's Record for Lahontan Cut-throat Trout. The Tribe hosts many fishing derbies during the winter as it is best time to fish. Safety Patrols are conducted by facilities from the Reno Flotilla (11-03), sometimes augmented by a SAFE boat from CG Station Lake Tahoe. The more popular Fishing Derbies put over 100 small fishing boats on a lake that covers 183 square miles. This is quite a challenge to patrol at any time, but particularly in the winter.

The Rescue and Survival Systems Manual (COMDTINST M10470.10F) specifies that when the air and water temperatures are both below 50° F a dry suit or MSD900 must be worn. The previous Officer in Charge (OIC) of CG Station Lake Tahoe (BMC Raymond Holcombe) recognized the need for adequate patrol coverage that had to be in appropriate Personal Pro-tective Equipment (PPE) and began a program that issued MSD900 suits to Coxswains and Boat Crew who would be patrolling Pyramid during the winter months. As the number of patrols and boat crew grew, so did the MSD900 program for Auxiliarists.
We mirror the "gold side" and require that any Auxiliary boat crew who will be wearing MSD900s have to complete an annual 10 minute swim in an MSD900 (after a classroom session); the "in the water" portion concludes with a 50 yard swim. This fall we had 14 Auxiliarists do the 10 minute swim. It‘s a lot of fun…really!!! (See the accompanying photos.) This year we did it with the active duty personnel from Station Tahoe. Last year I missed the main training day and did my ―makeup‖ on a day in January when it was in the teens with a good wind blowing out of the East. By then the lake water next to the CG Station was 37°, so when I walked up the launch ramp all the droplets of water on the suit froze and I got a couple of icicles on the flap in the back! This year the training also included shooting off various types of flares. We could have qualified 2 more Auxiliarists in the water but there just were not enough suits available; funding limits the number of suits available from Station Tahoe so we have to pass them around as needed like a library. (I'm the "librarian".)

The MSD900 is a three-part suit, called by its manufacturer (Mustang Survival) a Breathable Immersion Work Suit. The innermost suit layer is a thermal liner that functions as a second layer of thermal protection (the first layer is polypropylene long underwear provided by the wearer) and provides inherent buoyancy. The second layer is the immersion module and provides the suit with watertight integrity and the equivalent protection of a dry suit. It is constructed of a waterproof and breathable (moisture vapor permeable) fabric. Sock-type feet are integrated into the legs. The third layer is the outer shell (urethane-coated nylon), which provides a durable water-resistant barrier to wind, sea spray and rain. An integral foam-lined hood provides protection both in and out of the water. An addi-tional hood and gloves complete the package. If you're interested in more detail, it is available on the Mustang Survival Web site and in the RS&S Manual. The permeable, or breathing, feature is nice unless there is a cold, biting wind blowing. My first use of a MSD900 was in December of 2004. See the accompanying photo of me on the ice-covered dock, meas-uring wind and temperature…Temperature was 19°, it was foggy, and the wind was 12 knots. I couldn‘t get back to the car and its heater fast enough!

You climb in to the suit from the back. Once you're in (having squeezed your hands through the wrist seals and your head through the neck seal…hope you‘re not claustrophobic!), there is a substantial waterproof zipper across your back that has to be "two-blocked" to complete the watertight seal. There is a "pillow" that has to be inflated once you're in the water to provide the specified buoyancy. [At this time there is a Boat Forces Safety Advisory in place that requires the use of an appropriate PFD to supplement the inherent buoyancy of the MSD900.]

The suit provides plenty of protection for us in these 40° water tempera-tures. I hope so!!!… see the RS&S Manual for hours of "useful conscious-ness" vs. water temperature. They take a little getting used to, but I've been wearing them on daylong patrols for 2 or 3 years and find them quite acceptable. Adding a PFD may be a little different; we'll see.

We patrol year-round in real winter conditions; thanks to the insight of Chief Holcombe and his initiative the Auxiliary patrols on Pyramid Lake are in the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We wish we had more suits but do understand the funding issues. We have heard that the active duty boat crews will be going back to the "Kokatat" style dry suits which could free up some MSD900'Division 11 is part of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary is a volunteer organization that teaches boating education classes, inspects boats for safety, performs safety patrols on waters in our jurisdiction, and works with the Coast Guard in performing Homeland Security.

Courtesy of District 11N Northwinds Article