DESTIN — Monday will mark the end an era at Coast Guard Station Destin when the oldest operational vessel in the force is removed from service.
Crews posed for photos Friday aboard three boats, two 41-foot utility boats that have been at the station since the mid-1970s and a 45-foot response boat that arrived last month. The older boats will be sent to Mobile, Ala., to be auctioned.
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“The only way I can explain it is the 45-foot boat is like the Air Force getting the F-35,” Petty Officer Eric Donovan said. “It’s the F-35 of the water. It’s the newest, latest and greatest.”
One of the utility boats has been at Destin since 1973 and is the force’s oldest operational vessel.
Officer-in-Charge Master Chief Glenn Bucklin said he hopes to bring it back for display if it is not sold.
“I trained on that boat in 1989,” Bucklin said. “That boat was the work horse of the Coast Guard. Its leaving is an era gone by.”
He said every member of Coast Guard Station Destin trained on the 41-foot boats, but the younger generation will have a new, high-tech vessel.
The $2 million, MTU Detroit diesel response boat is jet-driven with double the speed of the older boats. It has new technology and even air conditioning.
The Coast Guard has used the boat since 2008, but it arrived at Destin on March 14, Donovan said. Seamen have spent the last 30 days training on the vessel before it was declared operational last week.
“Today makes a change of the watch,” Bucklin said. “It’s out with the old and in with the new. It’s history.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.