In conjunction with Proteccion Civil, Sayulita Surf Rescue conducted another very successful two-day training, April 7th and 8th. This now brings us over the 300 mark of the number of people that have been trained since the inception of this program in the fall of 2010.
The training was initially started in reaction to the drowning of Zach Chambers, a Firefighter from Port Townsend, WA. A group of friends and local businesses formed the Zach Chambers Foundation which funded, along with Pro Sayulita, many of the trainers who would fly in from all over America to conduct the training. Firefighters Crossing Borders (FFCB) was instrumental in hosting this event as well. Over the years, Sayulita Surf Rescue was formed and is funded solely on donations received through Pro Sayulita and the sale of our Rescue t-shirts, now available at Northside Café.
The widow of another one of our drowning victims, Mark Stoneberg, has written a book about the experience. Nancy Stoneberg, in collaboration with Bonnie Boufford, has written a full accounting of the trip they were on when on day four Mark was taken away by a rogue wave and washed out to sea. The book is called STONEY, The Waves And The Silver Lining and is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle forms. I happened to finish the book on the first day of this recent training. The last few paragraphs are thanking Pro Sayulita and FFCB for the dedication and work done on this program. The final paragraph states that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Pro Sayulita! My reaction was goose bumps and tears! Thank you to the Stoneberg family for their generosity and lasting friendship. Click here to order your copy: https://www.amazon.com/STONEY-Silver-Lining-Nancy-Stoneberg/dp/0578371804
The Silver Lining refers to our Beach Safety Program which really ramped up after Mark drowned. This was the impetus to build the Lifeguard towers, the first of which is dedicated to Zach and Mark.This training was as different as it could be. Thanks to our local and very talented Janalyn Rose, we conducted the training with only one representative from Proteccion Civil. Thank you, Janalyn, for your most excellent work on creating the program and executing it in a very professional manner. Also, for the very first time, 50% of the class were females! They will now join the ranks of the over 300 people who we have trained and continue to save peoples lives. We literally have saved hundreds and hundreds of people over the years!
Thank you to everyone who has donated to this most excellent cause. We appreciate your donations and continued support. Your donations will go towards Sayulita Surf Rescue.
CLICK HERE to donate to Sayulita Surf Rescue.