Surf club celebrates 50 years of 'rubber ducky'
The 50th anniversary of the inflatable rescue boat was celebrated by Killcare Surf Lifesaving Club on November 1.
Killcare club's information officer Mr Craig Sheppard said: "Fifty years ago, the rubber ducky revolutionised how we performed rescues.
"It has since become a vital piece of equipment that is used not only in Australia but right around the world.
"Since records started the boats and the crews that man them have saved 108,000 lives," he said.
Mr Sheppard also shared some historic photos of club members operating the club's own rubber ducky, including one of Mr Steven Ginnsburg and Mr Greg White aboard the club's first ever rubber ducky in 1979 and one of former club captain Mr Steven Woulfe in 1982 with the vessel and another historic piece of club equipment, the beach rescue buggy.
According to Mr Sheppard, in those days before specialised beach vehicles, individual clubs had to come up with their own ways of transporting equipment like rubber duckies to parts of the beach where they were needed.
For Killcare that problem was solved by the, an old Volkswagen that had been modified to transport boards and other pieces of the club's equipment around Killcare Beach.
"Rescue tech and tools come and go, but the good old rubber ducky is one that has truly stood the test of time," Mr Sheppard said.
SOURCE:
Newsletter,1 Nov 2019
Craig Sheppard, Killcare SLSC