Fifty-five years they’ve dedicated to saving lives at sea. Pat van Eyssen and Ian Hamilton are two local legends who’ve been honoured for their decades of service with the NSRI.
Cape Town, South Africa (22 October 2026) – Two of South Africa’s finest sea rescue veterans are celebrating more than half a century as volunteers!
Pat van Eyssen and Ian Hamilton have officially marked 55 years of volunteer service with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
In the late ‘60s , Pat was a 19-year-old from Bloubergstrand who joined a training session thinking sea rescue sounded like fun.
“I was a young 19-year-old and soon got stuck into training and everything else required of a young trainee,” Pat says, as per the NSRI. “Being a member of the NSRI became part of my life.”
Around the same time in Mossel Bay, Ian was tasked through the local Rotary Club with setting up a new rescue station, despite knowing very little about boats at the time…
“In 1969, he was the youngest member of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club and was drafted onto a committee investigating the need for a sea rescue station in the town. Having grown up in Pretoria before moving to Mossel Bay in 1968, he had little experience of the sea. But the enthusiasm of the then NSRI leader, Lieutenant Commander Alan Hollman, proved infectious. When Station 15 officially opened on 1 June 1971, Ian was a crew member.” the NSRI shares.
Over the next five-and-a-half decades, Pat (Station 3 Table Bay) and Ian (Station 15 Mossel Bay) watched as the NSRI transformed into the world-class rescue organisation we know today. Back then, it was still in its humble beginnings.
“In the beginning, there was no money, so when something broke, we fixed it. When we needed something, we went out and found someone to donate it. When I was Station Commander, my car was the Station Mobile, and I paid for the petrol,” Ian recalls.
“In the early 70’s the NSRI was a cinderella organisation. Today it is an icon and a world leader in search and rescue at sea. Something to be truly proud of.”
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Pat remembers searching for over 20 hours in thick fog for a lost fishing vessel. The vessel and its crew were eventually found. The following day, he went looking for the fishermen in Paternoster and found them in church with their families, giving thanks.
“Seeing the relief and appreciation on the family members’ faces when you return to the station with a casualty who has been rescued. This is difficult to describe. This is what makes being a volunteer for NSRI all worth it.” says Pat.
Ian remembers battling a fierce south-westerly gale to rescue four people on a stalled ski-boat. They found them just as their flare was dying out. Everyone returned to family and friends, hot coffee, breakfast and dry clothes.
“…satisfied that we had saved 4 lives and had made a difference for their families.”
Now as he celebrates 55 years of heroic service, Pat’s advice to young volunteers, much like he once was, applies to anyone, really.
“Always give your best as this moulds you and prepares you for many things in life and makes you a better person.”
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