Extreme Surf is indeed Their Turf!

USCG Station Grays Harbor is In Westport Washington is one of the many stations where Coast Guard presence is a God send in the demanding, treacherous seas and coastline of the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Stemming out various locations in the region where the original lifeboats were launched from horse drawn carriages through the surf and rowed to the scene of the distress, in 1914, the first motorized lifeboats arrived. USCG Station Grays Harbor station was then moved to a newly-built pier inside of Grays Harbor. After several more reconstructions in the 1930s and 1940s, the current station was built on the east end of the Westhaven Marina in 1973. Today their assets consist of a 52-foot motor lifeboat, two 47-foot motor lifeboats and one 25-foot response boat small.

Grays Harbor's area of responsibility extends more than 63 miles along the Washington coastline from the Queets River in the north, to Ocean Park in the south and 50 miles offshore. Seventy-five percent of the station's mission is search and rescue. The other 25 percent is law enforcement, marine environmental protection, and recreational boating safety.

During search and rescue seasons, which begins with the opening of coastal recreational salmon season and extends through its closing, the unit answers three to five cases each day. When the recreational salmon fishing season was strong, the unit would average 600-700 search and rescue cases a year. When the salmon seasons started getting shorter and shorter, the number of cases steadily dropped and it is now rare to receive over 300 calls for assistance a year. However, every year during the stormy winter months during commercial Dungeness crab season, the station can expect to receive several calls involving capsizing, sinking, or rough bar escorts.

Greys harbors 47 MLB Crews are the tip of the spear of extreme surf rescue. We thank them for their daring mission that is as unique as any special forces in the US inventory!

Hoo-Yah Greys Harbor Coasties!