Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club, Mooloolaba, Queensland 02

The surf life saving reel was a beach life saving apparatus from Australia. Lyster Ormsby, Percy Flynn and Sig Fullwood are credited as the inventors of the first life saving reel in 1906. It was used for a display of proper methods to be employed in rescuing on 24 March 1907 and was named the "alarm reel". It was then later that year redesigned by G H Olding. It was a giant reel with rope wrapped around it with a harness at the end. The reel rested in a frame that would rest on the sand. The life saver would attach the harness to his or her self then swim out to the struggling bather/surfer. Once they reached the patient they would attach the patient to the harness and another life saver on the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

would reel them in. The life saver in the water would tend to another patient or swim alongside the patient to reassure them if they were conscious or make sure that nothing went wrong if they were unconscious. The actual reel and rope would weigh about 50–60 pounds and was officially made part of the

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...

community on Sunday 24 March 1906. The reel then was used in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

shortly after being invented. This large reel was redesigned to the modern design by members of the

Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club The Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 1906 and operates at Tamarama Beach, Sydney. The clubhouse sits at the northern end of the beach. The club was formed after a dispute between local beach-goers and the operator of an amusement pa ...

in 1908 and has remained fundamentally unchanged to the current day. Utilising an 8mm cotton line coated in beeswax and an attached belt/harness the Tamarama model was readily portable and able to be carried to rescues with the floating line negating many of the issues of the heavy line of its predecessor. One of the last places to accept the reel was Cairns in 1925. The reel was used up to 1993 as a primary rescue method until the early 1980s from which time its use declined as rescue boards and inflatable rescue boats offered greater ease and speed in surf conditions. The Surf Life Saving Reel continues to be used today in a number of surf lifesaving competition events, notably Rescue and Resuscitation and March Past. Anecdotally, the first person to be rescued at Bondi using the reel was the famous aviator

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

. The surf lifesaving reel was especially useful during the disaster on 6 February 1938. This day at Bondi was given the name Black Sunday after the events that took place on that day. On this day a series of

freak wave Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to l ...

s hit the beach and washed about 300 bathers into rough surf conditions where most required assistance. 80 surf life savers equipped with 8 reels saved all but 4 swimmers that died before reaching shore. These were the first surf related deaths ever on Bondi beach. Surf Lifesaving reels are still used today at carnivals in the March Past events. In this one team from each club marches as a team of 12 carrying the reel and their club's flag around a course to bag pipes. This is pretty much the only use of the reel today.

Notes

References

External links

Surf Research
{{Lifesaving and Lifeguarding Surf lifesaving Lifesaving in Australia