OAK ISLAND, N.C. — A fun day on the water can go from good to bad in an instant. When rescue is needed, being able to get to those in need of help is a top priority. That’s why the Oak Island Water Rescue team is making it easier to get to people stuck in hard to access places.
The Oak Island Water Rescue team invested in a hovercraft
It makes it easier to get to people stuck in marshy areas
The hovercraft can glide over oysters, mud, sand and even pavement, meaning there is not an obstacle for it
The hovercraft can hold up to 1,000 pounds.
The Oak Island Water Rescue team’s newest addition to its fleet isn’t just any vehicle. It’s a hovercraft!
It can glide over just about anything including rocks, shells, oyster beds, tall grass and even operate in tight spaces.
“A few years ago we had several rescues that involved getting back in the marsh, into the deep mud and the oyster beds and that kind of stuff, and we really struggled to get the help that we needed,” Oak Island Water Rescue Chief Tony Young said. "So we’ve done everything from having boards with ropes on them, to mud shoes, to a sled like a backboard. You might see it on a ski patrol to bring someone down a mountain, but it will slide in the mud, so we tried everything, but it was always in my mind that what we really needed was a hovercraft.”
And now, the team is ready for anything in the hovercraft, even big storms.
“We got it mainly to do marsh-type rescues,” Young said. “But also with the idea that after a big storm, if we needed to go help people that we’re dealing with flood waters, this is a perfect piece of machinery for that as well.”
After Hurricane Isaias, it would have been very helpful to have.
“So Isaias, everybody knows it was just a tropical storm, but it ended up being really bad here at Oak Island because of the storm surge,” Young said. “Had we had this at that time, all those flooded streets that needed to be checked, we could have really helped out those first responders. We could take firemen, electrical workers, police officers, anybody who needed to go somewhere. We could have gotten them there pretty quickly as opposed to waiting for the water recede.”
The hovercraft can hold up to 1,000 pounds — roughly four adults — which can be very beneficial in a rescue situation. It’s also perfect for rescues because, unlike most hovercrafts, it has what’s called thrust reversers, which make all the difference in a rescue situation.
“Just like an aircraft, a thrust reverser would slow us down to come to a complete stop and to even back up, but they also help in tight maneuver situations because you can use them independently of each other so it can actually pivot,” Young said. “Which in an emergency situation is so good to have because now I can see the person I’m going to help the entire time because I can keep my nose pointed directly at them.”
For Young, and the rest of the water rescue team, this new rescue vehicle means everything. Now, there’s nothing stopping them from helping people in need.
“Well I spent 25 years in the Air Force, so my whole career has been trying to be bigger, be part of something bigger I should say, so when I retired and moved down here, I joined the water rescue, just as another way to help out. You know you can only fish and golf so much, and I just love what we do,” Young said. “We’re a nonprofit, we’re not part of the fire department or anything like that. It’s just 20 like-minded people who want to help our friends and neighbors and people who come visit us. It’s a really awesome group of people. We’re just interested in helping people in need.”
Next, the team wants to invest in a high water rescue vehicle that will allow them to go out in high winds, which would be ideal for tropical storms or hurricanes.
If you would like to learn more about Oak Island Water Rescue and its initiatives, check out its website here.