Occupational dream chasing leads to epic life-saving book

Most of us dream of an occupation charged with passion and purpose. Tom Rau is one of those working dreamers who realized his quest in a most unusual way. In 1982, a Saul Damascus-like vision struck him that drastically changed his life and, in time, would lead to a life-saving book for recreational boaters.

Three dead-end corporate jobs had led him down a meaningless one-way path that found the 39-year-old bachelor stumbling towards a mid-life meltdown. He was desperately in need of a soul-saving miracle.

The life-altering event happened at sea aboard Coast Guard cutter Point Bridge during a rescue off Santa Cruz Island. The island is one of four in a chain in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. He had recently reenlisted in the Coast Guard reserve and was assigned to the Coast Guard's coastal search and rescue facility at Marina Del Rey, California. The coastal facility was homeport to cutter Point Bridge, an 82-foot long patrol boat.

Coast Guard Group Long Beach had directed Point Bridge to medivac a 15-year-old girl who had fallen off a steep trail near Smugglers Cover, Santa Cruz Island. The crew launched a small inflatable boat to shore to extract the injured girl.

While pounding across the Santa Barbara Channel to awaiting paramedics, the cutter battled ten foot seas that crashed over the foredeck and bridge. It was a bona fide rescue with all the drama of Hollywood script. "From that moment on, assisting people on the water would be my life's passion," said Rau.

He attempted to enlist in the Coast Guard full time but was turned down due to his age. As a reservist, however; he was eligible for Operation Summerstock. He jumped at the opportunity. The Coast Guard's Summerstock program solicits reservists from around the nation to stock Coast Guard search and rescue facilities around the Great Lakes between May and October.

In May, 1983. the Coast Guard assigned him to Station Manistee, Michigan located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

"The pastoral beauty of Lake Michigan's western shore blew me away," said Rau who spent most of his life in arid Southern California. "That Lake Michigan offered such splendor with its pristine beaches, boundless freshwater, and forest lined shores held me in awe."

On returning to Southern California, he sold his Burbank home, packed up his Audi 5000 and for five years called his automobile home. "I found enough Coast Guard temporary active duty assignments along with Operation Summerstock to foot my FTS needs- food, transportation, and shelter," said Rau.

Rau didn't claim a residential postal address until 1989 when he moved into a rental in Manistee for $75 a month. In that five-year span, he had slept in 119 different locations, including his car. One night while sleeping in a church parking lot in North Hollywood, California, he was aroused by a rustling sound on the driver's side of the car. He tossed back a blanket covering his head. A man was pushing a lock shimmy between the door and window. "I let loose a furious growl and laughed as I watched two men scramble for a nearby car and lay rubber as they sped away," said Rau.

He may have been homeless for five years, but certainly not hapless nor without adventure. The Coast Guard was his center point driven by a new founded purpose. The inconveniences of living out of a car paled in comparison to his prior life without purpose. His odyssey led to marriage to a Midwest girl. Now he owns two homes, one with a garage in which to park his homeless car.

Rau retired as a senior chief at age 60 after serving 19 years in operation Summerstock at six search and rescue facilities on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. During that period he rescued hundreds of boaters and while doing so he fulfilled another passion: writing.

In 1986, while stationed at Station Manistee, he began writing boating safety articles for the Manistee News Advocate about Coast Guard rescues. The writing evolved into a syndicated column called Boat Smart that he continues to write with the Coast Guard. The column runs in a score of Midwest newspapers and magazines. Two Coast Guard Commandants have personally award citations for the Boat Smart column. He's recognized across the nation as a leading authority on recreational boating safety.

His life-saving effort has culminated in a book, "Boat Smart Chronicles, Lake Michigan Devours Its Wounded," a guide to safe and responsible boating. The book, endorsed by leading maritime officials, is packed with life-saving information for boaters. "My quest now is to get the book into the hands of every recreational boater in America. I believe it will become the catalyst for mandatory boating education nationwide," said Rau.

Little did he know during that rescue so long ago off Santa Cruz Island that so many years later he would be more involved than ever in assisting mariners. Yes, well-founded dreams do come true.

Books available at: www.boatsmart.net, www.seaworthy.com, www.amazon.com, or through local bookstores, book distributors: Partners, Michigan, Ingram Book Group. Book released August, 2006.