Coast Guard volunteer boat runs aground

Google found this story : Press-Telegram - Coast Guard volunteer boat runs aground

LONG BEACH - A 51-foot Coast Guard volunteer boat ran aground Saturday while on patrol in Long Beach Harbor, a Coast Guard official said. // The Moonlight Express, a pleasure vessel, ran aground near Island Grissom about 10:25 a.m. while conducting a Coast Guard Auxiliary patrol, said Lt. Andrew Munoz of the Coast Guard.

At a quick scan of the story, I didn't think much of it....just another grounding. But something kept quietly nagging in the back of my mind...."volunteer" boat. What the heck is a Coast Guard volunteer boat? I read the story a second time, and of course a volunteer boat is some one's idea of keeping the words Coast Guard Auxiliary out of the headline.


Here is a question for you: instead of running aground (on a well marked oil island in the middle of Long Beach Harbor in broad daylight), had the Moonlight Express rescued a lost swimmer, do you think the headline would read that a Coast Guard Volunteer Boat had conducted the rescue? I think the headline would read "Coast Guard Auxiliary Rescues Swimmer".


At this point, I don't know who the source of the headline or who chose the word Volunteer, but I've got a call into the newpaper and I'm trying to find out.

Can anyone explain why the Long Beach Beach Fire Department is attempting to pull this boat off? And the final sentence:

If all else fails, the Coast Guard may have to bring in a crane barge, he said

Huh?