So far this year, members have completed verification assignments for all five bridges in our area (one found discrepant) and 26 of our 44 private aids to navigation (one found discrepant, as reported this summer). Still to do are seven private aids in Island County and 11 in San Juan County.
Two days at Coast Guard Base Seattle, November 6 and 7, on how the Auxiliary can serve the active-duty Coast Guard in Puget Sound.
The Auxiliary elected its national leadership for 2026–2028 in August. COMO Curtis Han will represent the Pacific Area, which includes our Northwest District.
Two Auxiliary programs the Northwest District is developing: AuxPad puts members in kayaks alongside paddlers, and drone pilots support Coast Guard units.
Auxiliarists help FEMA map disaster damage from satellite, aerial and open-source imagery, working from home. Here is the work and how to join the team.
A closer look at the Auxiliary careers of Steve Bell (24 years) and Hoyt Hatfield (25 years), who retired this summer: their qualifications, offices and awards.
Dry suits, life jackets and a VHF radio saved a kayaker capsized near Parker Reef in the San Juans on September 25, rescued by a Station Bellingham crew.
The Coast Guard grew from five older agencies, merged between 1915 and 1946. Their stories, their traces in the Salish Sea, and the Auxiliary's own root.
New Arctic piers and icebreakers, Operation Pacific Viper, a change of command at Air Station Port Angeles, and the Coast Guard at Bellingham SeaFeast.
New boat crew qualifications and recertifications, Coast Guard courses completed, and all of the flotilla’s scheduled training finished for 2026.
The flotilla website has been rebuilt: Alert 11 articles to read online, browsing by issue and topic, a Members Only area, and editing from the browser.
The sun sets over the Pacific as the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse stands vigil above the Columbia River Bar: the closing photo of Alert 11, Fall 2026.