Hovercraft engine rebuilt for rescue team
A hovercraft performed better than expected during its trial run at Pitt Lake last weekend
Rick Laing perched atop of the Ridge Meadows Search & Rescue hovercraft while it was in Dewdney Automotive Repairs getting a rebuilt engine installed.
Photograph by: Sylver McLaren , TIMES
Ridge Meadows Search & Rescue (SAR) team will be hovering over the waters at Pitt and Alouette lakes with a newly rebuilt motor.
The first such event was last weekend when the team took the hovercraft, nicknamed the Hermanator, out to Pitt Lake for a trial run with its new engine.
"It worked out well. We were there in Pitt Lake for about four hours," said SAR manager Rick Laing.
"Basically, we put the hovercraft to the test, all the basic stuff, including speed, turns, and load capacity," he said, adding that they also went to the sandbar at the bottom of Pitt Lake to test out the hovering aspect.
"It performed better than expected. The operators noticed a much better response when getting over the hump," he said.
"Getting over the hump" is the transition from sitting on the water to hovering above it, explained Laing.
"We clocked it out at 65 knots, and that was not top speed because we didn't want to max out the new engine."
Coquitlam and Surrey search and rescue teams came out to see the Hermanator in action that day as well.
All together there were five boats, including the hovercraft, and 16 search and rescue people.
The hovercraft was used in several tasks before the engine was damaged a few years ago.
The Herman family stepped up in 2007 and raised money for SAR to buy it.
"It all came about with the Herman family after Randy passed away. They did a fundraiser and raised almost all of the money to purchase the hovercraft," explained Laing, adding that the cost of the second-hand vessel was $60,000.
They decided to name it the Hermanator, in honour of Randy Herman, and his family.
The total cost for the replacement engine was just over $10,000 to have it built, tested, and installed, explained Laing. The agency sold the first Ridge 2 for $15,000 and $10,000 of that money will be used towards the hovercraft repairs.
The engine was built by Andy Carr, the owner of Coal Harbour Marine.
John Ouellette, the owner of Dewdney Automotive Repairs allowed Carr to come into his garage and work on the hovercraft.
Rick Laing perched atop of the Ridge Meadows Search & Rescue hovercraft while it was in Dewdney Automotive Repairs getting a rebuilt engine installed.
Photograph by: Sylver McLaren , TIMES
