CCGS Cap Percé

The CCGS Cap Percé is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape class motor life boat. She was scheduled to be stationed at a new Coast Guard station in Kegaska, Quebec, on the Gulf of St Lawrence. Like her sister ships she will be staffed by a crew of four, two of whom will be Search and Rescue technicians.

According to Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada: ''"Given the intensive commercial fishing activities and the pleasure boat and ship traffic that characterize the area, Kegaska is a strategic location for a Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat station. Furthermore, this will allow us to consolidate our coverage in this critical sector of the Gulf of St. Lawrence."

Design
Like all Cape-class motor lifeboats, Cap Percé has a displacement of 20 ST and a total length of 47 ft and a beam length of 14 ft. Constructed from marine-grade aluminium, it has a draught length of 4 ft. It contains two computer-operated Detroit DDEC-III 6V-92TA diesel engines providing a combined 870 shaft horsepower. It has two 28 x 36 in four-blade propellers, and its complement is four crew members and five passengers.

The lifeboat has a maximum speed of 25 kn and a cruising speed of 22 kn. Cape-class lifeboats have fuel capacities of 400 USgal and ranges of 200 nmi when cruising. Cap Percé is capable of operating at wind speeds of 50 kn and wave heights of 30 ft. It can tow ships with displacements of up to 150 t and can withstand 60 kn winds and 20 ft-high breaking waves.

Communication options include Raytheon 152 HF-SSB and Motorola Spectra 9000 VHF50W radios, and a Raytheon RAY 430 loudhailer system. The boat also supports the Simrad TD-L1550 VHF-FM radio direction finder. Raytheon provides a number of other electronic systems for the lifeboat, including the RAYCHART 620, the ST 30 heading indicator and ST 50 depth indicator, the NAV 398 global positioning system, a RAYPILOT 650 autopilot system, and either the R41X AN or SPS-69 radar systems.