Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Westfort - Meaford, ON - Landlocked Boats on Waymarking.com

CCGC Westfort was a 44 foot self-righting cutter used for Great Lakes SAR (Search and Rescue) from 1973 to 2005. Normal crew complement was 4 - a Captain, First Officer/Engineer and 2 Deck Hands. It was based out of Thunder Bay until retirement.

At that time Westfort was donated to the Town of Meaford for permanent display at Coast Guard Station Meaford.

Provided by NBritto:

"
Canadian Coast Guard Cutter “WESTFORT” (Callsign: VX2212 - Nightstalker) in Meaford, Ontario! Built in 1973 at the Georgetown Shipyards in Georgetown, PEI the WESTFORT was designed as a high speed rapid response Search and Rescue motor lifeboat for the Great Lakes. In the event of a marine emergency, the Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Coordination Centre at CFB Trenton would dispatch a helicopter and the WESTFORT to begin looking for survivors in the water. Today, the WESTFORT is most known her actions on October 30, 1996. Facing complete darkness, torrential rains and hurricane force winds, CCGS WESTFORT received the first distress call from “Grandpa Woo”, a 20 foot cruise ship that had lost its engine, propeller and was taking on water near the northern shore of Lake Superior. Despite Environment Canada warnings that it was too risky to launch a helicopter or rescue vessels, WESTFORT along with the crew of Thunder Bay-based tug MS Glenada, raced toward the scene. It was considered a suicide mission. After racing toward the stricken vessel for nearly an hour they found two nearly hypothermic survivors barely conscious clutching to the bow of the drifting ship. With waves breaking on the side of the sinking ships bow, the crew again risked their lives by tilting the WESTFORT toward to the waves as a break-wall so the standed sailors could be lifted aboard Glenada. Less than four minutes after they arrived the “Grandpa Woo” smashed against Isle Royale and sank instantly. The crews of both vessels would gain international recognition for their bravery that night. Powered by two 1,200hp Caterpillar Marine 3208 twin-turbo diesels mated to a reinforced self-righting wave skipper hull, the Westfort was capable of achieving speeds of over 35 knots (65km) in hurricane gale conditions, making it the fastest lifeboat in the world at the time. After over 32 years of service to the citizens of Ontario, the Canadian-designed and built, WESTFORT was retired in 2005 by the Government of Canada and donated to the City of Meaford."

Westfort lists a home port of Ottawa, as do all Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) vessels.

Is there a tour: No. If boat is a garden what was planted in it: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/13/2021 Nbritto visited it