Cutter’s Last Stand : Ship: The Coast Guard’s Point Divide is decommissioned after 32 years of service. Crew members bid a fond farewell.

It had endured natural disasters and pounding surf to save lives and rescue disabled vessels.

But on Thursday, the time came for veteran crew members and officers to bid an emotional farewell to the 32-year-old U.S. Coast Guard cutter Point Divide as it was decommissioned here and prepared to leave on its final voyage.

“She’s a rugged, unglamorous workhorse with a tough job,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Jackson, the patrol boat’s last commanding officer.

“Symbiosis” was the word he used to describe the close relationship between the 82-foot boat and the thousands of sailors who served on it over the decades, including the last crew of 26 sailors.

Lt. Cmdr. John Zantek, who commanded the Point Divide from 1982-84, recalled how intimately crew members got to know their craft.

“You have to know every sound, creak and part of this cutter when you’re out there running like the police and fire departments,” he said.

“You get very tight with the steel and the water,” he added, holding back tears. “Losing her now is like losing a friend.”

Point Divide was built in Maryland in late 1962 and was transferred to Newport Beach the next year, where the boat went on missions for law enforcement, recreational boating safety, military preparedness and in response to environmental problems.

The 70-ton craft, one of about 15 patrol boats operating off the California coast, bears a service ribbon denoting six commendations.

For 15 straight years, it took top place in annual competitions that graded cutters in everything from number of search and rescues to boat drills.

Of the dozen vessels Zantek, 43, has operated, he said Point Divide ranks as No. 1. Hanging from its masts were two unit citation flags, one of which Zantek and his crew earned during his command.

He vividly remembers that day in 1982 when his crew and boat took the action that won the citation.

Zantek and the crew were playing volleyball on a summer Sunday afternoon at Newport Beach when a fishing vessel carrying 58 people exploded at Channel Island, sending the passengers into the water.

The crew and boat responded immediately to extinguish the fire, rescue the victims--one of whom didn’t survive, Zantek recalled--and tow the disabled boat.

His two years on Point Divide, Zantek said, were the best of his life.

But like aged sailors, boats get old and can no longer go to sea.

The 30-minute decommissioning ceremony drew about 100 of the vessel’s past crew members and prompted an exchange of stories.

For Pat Swope, 65, the only female member of its last crew, her fondest memory was last August, when she stood on the Point Divide’s deck and spread her deceased husband’s ashes into the sea.

The craft, she said, “is like home. It’s a part of you.”

Jackson said Point Divide will be moored at a maritime academy in Seattle, where it will serve as a training vessel.

Through the support of Newport Beach, another boat, Point Stuart, will replace the decommissioned boat and arrive next week.

The ceremony ended with the clanging of eight bells, which marks the last watch of a daily run. Jackson walked away saying, “So many went out to sea to save lives on this cutter. And all that is coming to a close today. It’s sad to see her go.”