Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - Station 37 Sooke

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - Station 37 Sooke Search and Rescue Stern of Spirit of SookeWe are a nonprofit organization and a registered charity made up of volunteer members.

Trained crews stand ready to respond within minutes of being paged, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year search and rescue services on the vast area of ocean between Race Rocks and Nitinat Lake to help prevent the loss of life or injury. Our Unit:

* Maintains a 24 hour a day, 365 days per year search and rescue readiness in the Sooke area.
* Responds to an average 40 calls per year.
* Prom

otes boating safety, including programs designed to increase water safety awareness
* Recruits volunteer search and rescue crews.
* Provides ongoing training to volunteers in search and rescue techniques, navigation safety, seamanship, communications, and first aid. Although the national Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary organization provides some funding for training and reimbursement for search and rescue missions, it does not provide capital funding for the rescue vessel upon which mariners in the Sooke area rely. The rescue boat is paid for by the Juan De Fuca Marine Rescue Society, which draws on a range of funding sources such as individual donations and support from the municipalities which benefit from a local marine search and rescue service along with our own fundraising activates.

Where the land (SAR) ⛑️ meets the sea (SAR) 🛟
06/05/2026

Where the land (SAR) ⛑️ meets the sea (SAR) 🛟

What great way to wrap up National Volunteer Week with our volunteer SAR colleagues at Metchosin Search and Rescue, Roya...
04/26/2026

What great way to wrap up National Volunteer Week with our volunteer SAR colleagues at Metchosin Search and Rescue, Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - Station Oak Bay, and Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue - Station 35 Victoria!

January 31, 2026SAR37 and Victoria Lifeboat Station Yesterday our RCMSAR team had the opportunity to train alongside the...
02/02/2026

January 31, 2026
SAR37 and Victoria Lifeboat Station

Yesterday our RCMSAR team had the opportunity to train alongside the Victoria Lifeboat Station of the Canadian Coast Guard, working together in the waters off the village of Scia’new First Nation.

A major focus of the day was advanced vessel-handling and transfer work. We practiced a technique known as pacing — matching speed with another vessel, drawing in gradually, and holding position at a controlled angle so the vessels settle together in the trough. When executed correctly, the pacing vessel effectively dampens relative motion, creating a stable working platform. This allows crews to pass equipment between boats or conduct personnel transfers in conditions where stopping or tying up would be unsafe or impossible.
We also spent time running patient transfer scenarios from our SAR vessels to the lifeboat. Using our training dummy Oscar and the stretcher system carried onboard, we practiced realistic evolutions involving a floating stretcher, full patient restraint, and a dedicated safety line maintained throughout the transfer. In these scenarios, vessels are secured alongside the lifeboat, and communication, timing, and redundancy are critical to managing risk.

Getting a closer look at the CCGS Cape Calvert itself was a highlight. She is a purpose-built search and rescue lifeboat, engineered to operate when conditions are deteriorating or outright hostile. The vessel is self-righting, with multiple watertight compartments, allowing it to recover from a capsize and continue operating — a non-negotiable feature for offshore and exposed-coast rescues.

The hull and systems are designed for high maneuverability, rapid response, and survivability. From the protected cockpit layout to the navigation, radar, and SAR-specific electronics, everything is optimized for operating at night, in reduced visibility, and in heavy weather. It’s a platform built not for comfort, but for control, endurance, and bringing crews home safely after doing difficult work in the worst conditions.
Huge thanks to the crew of the Victoria Lifeboat Station for their professionalism and generosity in sharing both their time and their knowledge. Training alongside lifeboat crews — and seeing the capabilities of vessels like Cape Calvert firsthand — is a powerful reminder of the skill, preparation, and engineering that underpin marine search and rescue on our coast.

Over the past month or so, we have assisted the Canadian Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental and Hazards Response program...
01/23/2026

Over the past month or so, we have assisted the Canadian Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental and Hazards Response program with several calls involving vessels suspected of being abandoned or derelict.

Our role focused on assessing risk and taking practical steps to reduce immediate hazards. This included moving and properly re-anchoring a sailing vessel, pumping accumulated rainwater from a large powerboat, and providing a status update on another vessel that was aground.

These vessels are being monitored by the Coast Guard and, where appropriate, referred to Transport Canada’s Navigation Protection Program for follow-up under the applicable legislation.

If you have concerns, information, or updates about wrecked, hazardous, or abandoned vessels, contact the Coast Guard Regional Operations Centre at 1-800-889-8852.

January 1, 2026Sooke Polar Bear SwimStation 37 participated in on-the-water safety for the highly attended Sooke Polar B...
01/02/2026

January 1, 2026
Sooke Polar Bear Swim

Station 37 participated in on-the-water safety for the highly attended Sooke Polar Bear Swim at Whiffin Spit - over 200 people swam.

Four team members were stationed on the Type I vessel, while three remained on shore, collaborating with our friends at Otter Point Fire Rescue - all in steady communication - watching, waiting, ready to support any swimmer who might discover, suddenly, the true weight of cold.

The Juan de Fuca Strait did not feel indifferent today - it was calm, spacious and eternallywelcoming. After the sound of a heavy gun, the swimmers rushed into the sea.

People lingered in the water longer than expected, suspended in that brief, strange space where discomfort turns into joy and resolve. Bystanders watched. Swimmers laughed. Breath hung in the air.
It was, unmistakably, a happy event—one of those moments where community meets the edge of nature, and steps forward anyway.
We were there to witness it, enjoy the energy and to be ready if the water asked for more than celebration.

December 2025Station 37 Sooke Santa Claus ParadeWishing everyone the happiest holidays in the lovlie community of Sooke....
01/02/2026

December 2025
Station 37
Sooke Santa Claus Parade

Wishing everyone the happiest holidays in the lovlie community of Sooke.l
❤️

THE RCMSAR 37 team just wrapped up another round of coastal response training with the Western Canada Marine Response Co...
12/07/2025

THE RCMSAR 37 team just wrapped up another round of coastal response training with the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) — staying ready in case we are involved in a marine petroleum spill. It’s not something anyone wants to imagine happening, but training like this matters.
This is our third year going through the exercises, and each time we build more skills, more confidence, and more respect for what’s at stake. This year we focused on deploying boom and practicing anchoring it in different configurations — exactly the type of boom setups that would be used to protect sensitive areas in near shore areas: important Indigenous heritage sites, fisheries, shorelines, and fragile coastal habitats.

WCMRC is the only Transport‑Canada–certified spill‑response organization for Canada’s West Coast, responsible for readiness all along B.C.’s 27,000 km coastline. Through the organization’s Coastal Response Program WCMRC works closely with coastal and Indigenous communities — to build partnerships, share knowledge, and map out protection strategies tailored to each community’s coastline and priorities.

On our first day of training, as we did our classroom work at the WCMRC base in Beecher Bay we could hear the local First Nation the Sc’ianew — singing and drumming at the near by big house. It was a powerful moment that reminded us how interconnected everything is — environment, culture, communities.

Training isn’t just about equipment or procedure — it’s about honoring the waters, respecting the people whose lands and livelihoods depend on them, and being ready to act responsibly.

December 6, 2025Juan de Fuca StraitRCM SAR 37 was tasked today to re-anchor a sailboat found drifting close to shore. Th...
12/07/2025

December 6, 2025
Juan de Fuca Strait

RCM SAR 37 was tasked today to re-anchor a sailboat found drifting close to shore. The stern anchor had a chain running all the way up the vessel, and the bow “anchor” turned out to be a line tied to an outboard engine being used as a weight.

We checked the boat to make sure no one was on board, then re-rigged the proper anchor and chain off the bow and set it in good water, with some protection from the wind and in a spot where it can be monitored easily. We didn’t have shackles available to fully secure the chain, so we may return to replace the temporary line with a proper shackle. With the recent storm — high winds and outages — and more weather coming, securing this likely derelict vessel is important.

Hauling the outboard engine up from the deep, along with the metal weights tied to it, wasn’t easy. One of our SAR members came up with a system using a bight to get more purchase, and it worked well… though a lot of sand came up from the bottom with it.

“Abandoned ships are ghosts that never learned to die.” — Unknown

October 8, 2025 — Training and Rescue MissionRoyal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue — Station 37 Sooke & Station 35 Vic...
10/19/2025

October 8, 2025 — Training and Rescue Mission

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue — Station 37 Sooke & Station 35 Victoria

This evening, two of our SAR vessels — affectionately known as the 850 and Type 1 — teamed up with our sister station, 35 from Victoria, BC, for a night training exercise off Race Rocks.

The plan was simple: Station 37 would play the “vessel in distress,” and Station 35 would work to locate and tow us to safety. The 850 was up first, quietly drifting in the dark waters as the 35 crew methodically narrowed in on our position.

But as often happens in this line of work, real life and training blurred together. Midway through the exercise, an actual rescue call came in — a vessel was adrift on the west side of Race Rocks. Without hesitation, our Type 1 SAR37 broke off from the drill and responded, heading into the blackness to assist.

From our position, we could see their blue strobe light flickering far in the distance, a tiny pulse of purpose against the dark horizon. And, we could hear the operational communications between our team mates and the Victoria Coast Guard.

The ebb current was running strong, and watching them ply their way steadily through the night was something quiet and powerful — a reminder of why we train.

The air out there smelled clean and cold — a kind of salt and cedar freshness that only the Juan de Fuca Strait can offer. The night was calm, the water breathing slowly beneath us. There’s a stillness in those moments that’s hard to put into words: The sense of vastness, of being small but deeply connected to something bigger.

By the time we returned to base and debriefed the exercise, our Type 1 crew was still out, ensuring the vessel and its people made it safely to Pedder Bay. It was late when they finally came home — tired, but with that unmistakable quiet confidence that follows a mission well done.

“I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.” — Alaine Gerbault (French sailor and first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic)

This weekend we trained with our friends at Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue , Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - S...
06/16/2025

This weekend we trained with our friends at Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue , Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - Station Oak Bay and the Canadian Coast Guard. It was a fantastic exercise that helped us learn how our partners work and practice interagency communication so we can better collaborate on coastal rescue missions.

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1800 Maple Avenue South
Sooke, BC
V9Z0N9

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