News - Coastguard Central Region

Saturday 21 August saw CCR hold it's AGM for 2010. Besides the usual AGM procedures Coastguard CEO Bruce Reid provided a presentation as did CCR and CNZ Volunteer of the Year 2009; Gary Darnell (Coastguard South Taranaki) on his exerience with the RNLI earlier this year. Mike Carson (Coastguard Wanganui) also provided a presentation on his time at the Canadian Coast Guard RHIOT School which also occured last year.

Thank you Gary and Mike for sharing your experiences with us; they were both very interesting and obvioulsy thoroughly enjoyed by both of you.

Coastguard Marlborough President David Brown was suprised to learn that the Unit was awarded the CCR Performance of the Year for the Units work in achieving a new one million dollar building project with St Johns which will house both organisations and establishing a numbered identification plate system for the many locations around the Sounds which both the Coastguard and other emergency services can use to identify addresses from 300m distance off shore - the only access to these locations being by water.

A very smart quick method to confirm that the location is the one that the emergency service may be looking for.

Keith Bastin, CCR Board Chairman and Appointee to the CNZ Board for over 7 years and Coastguard Taranaki Unit member for almost 20 years was also awarded the CCR Volunteer of the Year Award for his work in Coastguard which has seen him involved in Coastguard at all levels of the organisation.

Congratulations and thank you to the Coastguard Marlborough Team and Keith Bastin for your continued work in Coastguard. Well deserved and well done.

Photographs: Top left: Bruce Reid addresses the meeting. Middle right: David Brown receives the Performance of the Year Award from Bruce Reid. Bottem left: Keith Bastin receives the CCR Volunteer of the Year Award from Bruce Reid.

About miday Saturday saw the new Police vessel for Wellington; Lady Elizabeth IV steam into Wellington Harbour where she was met by about 20 vessels including Coastguard Wellington's Spirit of Wellington and Phoenix Rescue.

Lady Elizabeth IV is flanked across the head of Evans Bay by Coastguard Wellington's Spirit of Wellington and Phoenix Rescue.

Bob Wright, a long serving Radio Operator with Coastguard Wanganui recently retired after over 14 years of service to the Unit.

At a function recently he was presented with service awards recognising his dedication and time given to the role over that time.

Shore based witness reported a drifting red inflatable boat with no one on board. Police requested Coastguard Mana attend to determine the circumstances. Coastguard rescue vessel Pelorus dispatched and located a red dinghy with one diver on board. Boat had an intermittent engine problem but was still operating.

Wanganui man David Cronin was pleasantly surprised when he received an unexpected call from Coastguard earlier this month. The call wasn’t about a rescue at sea, but rather to let him know he was now the owner of a brand new boat.

“When you pick up your phone on dry land you don’t expect the Coastguard to be on the other end,” says Mr Cronin, who won the Marco 750 Striker boat and trailer after purchasing the winning ticket in the Coastguard Boutique Lottery.

Mr Cronin says, “I‘ve always bought a ticket to support the great work Coastguard volunteers do but never really expected to win so the call was a surprise - but a very pleasant one.”

The boat is powered by a 90hp Yamaha and comes fully equipped for fishing with a fish finder, fishing rods, rocket launchers and all the appropriate marine safety equipment (including life jackets, VHF radio, emergency locator beacon, compass, flare pack, Hutchwilco safety grab bag, anchor pack and fire extinguisher).

The prize also includes special entry in the Marco Fishing Challenge with three night’s accommodation at The Reef luxury apartments in Mt Maunganui – the perfect opportunity to try out the new vessel.

Bruce Reid, Coastguard New Zealand CEO, says “It’s great to be able to give something back to one of the supporters of Coastguard and we hope David will enjoy getting out on the water on his new boat.

“We would also like to thank the Lotteries for the valuable funding it provides Coastguard which is invested back into the four regions and 68 units that make up New Zealand’s primary Marine Search and Rescue response.”

Photograph: Kevin McKenna, President of the Coastguard Wanganui Unit congratulates David Cronin on his win.

On Saturday 22 May 2010, Coastguard Marlborough completed a day of winch training with the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Picton Volunteer Fire Brigade and St Johns Ambulance.

On Saturday 15 May 2010 Volunteers from Coastguard Air Patrols based at New Plymouth, Kapiti and Nelson converged on New Plymouth for Helicopter Escape Training (HUET) . The day consisted of the HUET , sea survivability exercises, getting in and out of rafts and winching.

Coastguard Air Patrols from across NZ converged on the Kapiti Coast over the weekend to participate in the annual CNZ CAP Fly In. There were presentations from the CAP Units, SARNZ and Police SAR. An excercise also took place Saturday afternoon.

Thank you to our CAP Volunteers for their full participation, Coastguard Kapiti Coast for again hosting this event, and those agencies who presented.

Coastguard Marlborough has over the past two years been working with the Marlborough District Council to establish a database of jetty owners in the Marlborough Sounds and in doing so have issued 580 owners with jetty numbers.

Coastguard Marlborough can provide and fix the reflective signage to the jetty so the location is very identifiable from a distance – critical in an emergency.

Coastguard Marlborough is the only accredited marine ambulance in NZ responding to about 50 emergencies a year with about 50% being medical evacuations tasked by St John Ambulance.

Gary Darnell, Coastguard Central Region and Coastguard NZ Volunteer of the Year for 2009 is currently at the RNLI Lifeboat College at Poole.

Photograph: A very simple but very effective monument at the RNLI Lifeboat College.

Thank you for your support of the Coastguard Summer Lottery. Your support certainly assists Our People to Save Lives at Sea.

Yesterday the Coastguard Marlborough Team assisted a launch which had collided with Taranaki Rock in Tory Channel.

Sunday 21 February 2010 saw Coastguard Mana's Waveney head out from Mana probably for the last time as she headed south on a voyage to her new owner at Christchurch.

Photographs show her moored with her replacement; a refurbished 12m Ray Glass Protector and the Units smaller rescue vessel Pelorus Rescue.

Four people including a child have been rescued this morning after spending all night sitting on top of their capsized boat.

A Waverley family comprising dad (36), mum (45) and son (10) went out fishing from Waverley Beach yesterday (Thursday, 17 December) with a family friend, a man aged 42. They were on a 16ft Stabi-Craft, an aluminium pontoon boat. They were seen and spoken to around 3pm yesterday by people they knew who were out fishing on another boat.

Those same people noticed their car and empty trailer still in the car park this morning around 7am and raised the alarm.

A search and rescue operation was immediately launched with Coastguard boats from Wanganui, South Taranaki and Manawatu all mobilised. An RZNAF Iroquois and Helipro from Palmerston North made their way up to Wanganui and a twin-engine fixed-engine aircraft from Wanganui was ready to join the search. Coastguard Air Patrols from Kapiti and New Plymouth and the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter were also on standby. Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (RCCNZ) were alerted and they assisted with determining the appropriate search area. A freighter heading up the coast from Wanganui was also making itself available to assist.

About 9.25am the Coastguard Wanganui boat found the capsized Stabi-Craft around 7-and-a-half kilometres due south of Wai-Inu Beach, and brought the four people back to be met by two ambulances at the Wanganui slipway. All four are currently at Wanganui Hospital. None are injured but they are being treated for their exposure to the elements and are described as stable.

Early information suggests that their boat capsized around 30 minutes after they spoke to the other boaties, meaning they spent more than 17 hours on their upturned craft. The sea conditions were good yesterday but have deteriorated this morning.

Search and Rescue Incident Co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Darcy Forrester said: "These people are very lucky to be alive considering their ordeal; choosing a pontoon boat probably saved them as it is almost impossible to sink this type of boat. Other saving graces were the fact that they were wearing life-jackets and the other boaties who saw them yesterday afternoon were able to give us the coordinates of their last known location. This helped us greatly in focusing our search. It was an excellent team effort this morning with a huge number of resources joining the effort ensuring a prompt response once the alarm was raised."

Police however do want to take to the opportunity to remind people of safety measures to take before going out on the water, especially as we move into the popular boating season.

Senior Sergeant Darcy Forrester said: "There is no doubt that this is an averted tragedy. No trip report had been filed by the boat with the local Coastguard, and no arrangements had been made with family of friends to raise the alarm if they were not back by a certain time. If these precautions had been taken, the alarm would have been triggered last night and their ordeal would have been a lot shorter. A small amount of time can be the difference between life and death in these situations."

Boaties are also reminded to have an appropriate emergency locator beacon on their vessel. The capsized boat did not have an emergency locator beacon system. It did have a radio and flares and police are still to establish whether any attempt was made to use these.

Police will speak to those involved to clarify exactly what happened and if there is any information they have that will help search and rescue operations in the future.

Tuesday 16 December 2009 saw Coastguard Kapiti Coast called out to assist divers who's 14ft boat was swamped about 200m from Browns Island near Kapiti Island. This is the second similar incident over the past two weeks where conditions were less than ideal to be at sea in a small boat with little freeboard while there was a 1m sea running with wind against tide (which makes the waves stand up more).

Coastguard Regional Manager Phil Pollero reminds people putting to sea to check the weather forecast, tide times and sea conditions as the three can combine to make sea conditions unsuitable for smaller boats.

Saturday 5 December 2009 saw a group of young people from Canteen visit Coastguard Manawatu. With the assistance of the Unit's Rescue vessel, jet ski and three private vessels the group were taken for a ride on the

river and out over the bar.

Feedback is that it was a great day which was thoroughly enjoyed by the young people - the smiles on faces and the thumbs up say it all!

The generosity of Wellington benefactor, the late Thomas George Macarthy, was recognised again this year with the announcement of the 2009 grants for the TG Macarthy Trust by Public Trust, trustee for the TG Macarthy Trust by way of a grant of $50,000.00.

Coastguard Central Region Manager Phil Pollero says, “We are very grateful to the TG Macarthy Trust for its ongoing support of our Units. Our 'Professional Volunteers' provide marine search and rescue in the region as well as educational support to their local boating communities. This grant will help our volunteers from Wellington to Wanganui to meet their day to day operational, administration, training and maintenance costs. We rely on the contribution of grants such as this, sponsorship, as well as the more than 300 volunteers to provide Coastguard services in Central Region.”

Established in 1912 after the death of the Wellington brewer and benefactor, the TG Macarthy Trust has been managed by Public Trust since its inception. The Trust’s purpose is to provide assistance to a wide variety of charities and educational institutions in the greater Wellington region.

Saturday 28 November 2009 Coastguard Kapiti Coast launched its new dedicated search and rescue vessel, K2 Rescue at a ceremony at the Waikanae Coastguard base.

The new 7.5 metre rigid inflatable vessel, built by New Zealand manufacturer AMF, was officially launched on Saturday, and has the ability to handle heavier weather conditions further out to sea, replacing a smaller 6.8 metre inflatable vessel.

Coastguard Kapiti Coast President Rob Faulke says the arrival of the rescue vessel comes just in time for the summer peak boating season and will complement the Unit’s existing vessel at Kapiti, enhancing the search and rescue capability in the area.

He says, “The new vessel was custom-made for Coastguard Kapiti Coast with our shallow beaches and changeable weather conditions in mind. Unlike the vessel it replaces, it launches bow-first, making for faster and simpler entry into the water especially when the swell is up.

“The new vessel will make a difference to our response times and ultimately the safety of those boating off the Kapiti Coast,” says Mr Faulke.

The official launch ceremony was attended by Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Nathan Guy and Kapiti Mayor Jenny Rowan along with Coastguard volunteers and supporters.

The provision of K2 Rescue has been made possible by the support of the Lottery Grants Board, New Zealand Community Trust and the Lion Foundation. Coastguard Kapiti Coast would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of Pharazyn Trust and Orb Communications.

Photographs: Top left - K2 shakes off a breaking wave. Bottom right: K2 making her way through the breakers after launching off the beach.

The weekend of the 6 & 7 November 2009 saw Coastguard Wellington crews competing in the annual Caltex Cup. The competition consists of the Crews doing a written paper, the Crew Radio Operator also completing a written paper then an on the water scenario.

While it was a close event there could only be one Crew and Radio Operator take away the Awards. The winning Crew was Geoff Layton's Crew and the Radio Operator was Andy Blockley. Well done all of you!

Photographs: Above right - Radio Operator Andy Blockley receives the Radio Operator Award from Chevron Area Manager Vanessa Hurt.

At left - Geoff Layton with a some of his Crew after receiving the Caltex Cup Trophy.

Well done to all of Our People who work tirelessly at Units around New Zealand and in particular congratulations to those of you who were awarded for your efforts at the CNZ Awards at Christchurch recently.

Gary Darnell - Volunteer of the Year: – Gary was instrumental in setting up the South Taranaki Unit in 1996 and has contributing countless hours over the past 13 years both as a Volunteer and Police SAR Advisor. More recently he served on the CCR Board - from its inception until August 2009 when he stepped down.

Coastguard Hawke’s Bay - Performance of the Year: Exceptional commitment to engaging and educating the wider community on key water safety issues was just one of the reasons the Hawke’s Bay Team was honored in 2009. Also their 19 hour rescue of the vessel ‘Geisha’ was another which involved 272 volunteer hours and 13 Crew.

John MacPhail - Air Patrol Volunteer of the Year: John has been a Volunteer with both the Coastguard Kaikoura Air Patrol and Coastguard Kaikoura for over 13 years with particular contributions to both operational SAR and training.

Dave Collins - Rescue Vessel Volunteer of the Year: Dave is a long serving Master with Coastguard Wellington and has been a role model and mentor within the Unit for the last 15 years. He has been involved in management and training and on one occasion completed an impressive three rescues in 18 hours.

Gary van de Werff - Operational Volunteer of the Year: Gary has been part of the Opotiki and Whakatane Coastguard Units and has served as President. He has contributed hugely to both the attraction and training of new Volunteers and the sourcing of donated mission-critical equipment.

Again congratulations to you all on the effort you have put into Coastguard which is recognised in theseAwards.

Over the w

eekend of the 22 August 2009 Coastguard Central Region (CCR) held its AGM and Awards Presentations. At the AGM two long standing Board Members stood down. Gary Darnell and Stephen Perry received Service Certificates, a small gift and thanks for their time and effort on the Board.

As a result of their standing down two new Board Members were elected: John Linn and Dean Stella join Keith Bastin (Chairman), Ian Shaw (Vice Chairman), Peter Dixon, John Weiss Jr, Dick Chapman (Board Members) on the CCR Board.

Last years Operational Volunteer of the Year Award recipient; Coastguard Mana's Chris Henshaw also provided a presentation on his time with the Australian Coast Guard which was part of his Award. Following his presentation the CCR Awards for 2009 were announced:

Congratulations to you all on the effort you have put into Coastguard which is recognised in these Awards.

Dave, Gary and Audrey have been nominated as CCR's nominations for the national Awards which will be announced at the Annual Conference in September 2009.

Photograph above left: Gary Darnell receives his CCR Board Service Award from CNZ CEO Bruce Reid. Photograph above right: Stephen Perry receives his CCR Board Service Award from CNZ CEO Bruce Reid

Coastguard New Plymouth has received vital local support for its real-time VHF radio weather reporting system thanks to local boating specialists Tasman Marine.

Appropriately named NowCasting, the service provides mariners with “up to the minute” weather conditions at critical locations within the local VHF radio coverage area which then broadcasts that information on Channel 23. The continuous broadcast provides wind data for New Plymouth, Taharoa and Maui, daily tides for New Plymouth, MetService weather forecasts and Marine Safety Notices when necessary.

When local New Plymouth businessman Lee Drummond of Tasman Marine heard that Coastguard’s NowCasting safety service had been introduced to New Plymouth he was very quick to put his hand up as a sponsor.

Lee said “When we heard about NowCasting being provided free to the boating community we knew we had to support it and assist with the maintenance and equipment costs. Its introduction is a superb development for boating education and safety in the New Plymouth area, and we are very happy to lend our support”.

Regional Manager for Coastguard Central Region, Phil Pollero said “It is a very encouraging to receive this sponsorship given we have only launched the project at New Plymouth in the last month. We are very grateful to Lee and the Tasman Marine Team for their support and recognising the value of this service".

“We have been very fortunate in the support we have received to get NowCasting operational at New Plymouth. In particular, the assistance of the Regional Council in providing the broadcast site and housing the hardware and the New Zealand Community Trust who have assisted Coastguard in funding the hardware”.

The service has been successfully up and running for 3 weeks receiving positive feedback from the local boating community. It improves marine safety by providing all mariners, professional or amateur, with a 24 hour continuous automatic information stream of the latest possible weather information. This enables them to make better decisions about commencing or continuing their journeys.

Wind is the most critical factor in knowing the sea-conditions so Coastguard uses automatic anemometers positioned at various sites, which are radio-interrogated every sixty seconds. The wind data is brought back to a central computer and broadcast on VHF radio within seconds of it being received – in doing so providing up to the minute data.

NowCasting at Wellington operates on VHF Channel 23 & at Nelson on VHF Channel 22.

This service gives mariners “up to the minute” weather conditions which are happening NOW at critical locations within the relevant local VHF radio coverage area. The objective is to improve marine safety by providing all mariners, professional or amateur, a 24 hour continuous automatic information stream of the latest possible weather information, so that they can make better decisions about commencing or continuing their journeys.

NowCasting was first introduced into the Hauraki Gulf by Auckland Coastguard some twenty years ago and is considered by their members to be one of the top safety services provided by Coastguard.

The service has since been introduced into the greater Wellington/Cook Strait area providing for excellent coverage of Wellington Harbour, Cook Strait, Marlborough Sounds and west coast of the North Island to Foxton. The Nelson based service is broadcast from a site on Mount Campbell near Takaka, which at a height of over 1,300 metres provides excellent coverage in Golden and Tasman Bays and into parts of The Marlborough Sounds.

Wind is the most critical factor in knowing the sea-conditions. Coastguard uses automatic anemometers positioned at critical sites, which are radio-interrogated every sixty seconds. The data is brought back to a central computer and broadcast on VHF radio using recorded voice segments. Recordings of the latest marine forecast and tide times plus station notices complete the repeating circuit.

NowCasting: Voice announcement of 1-minute-old data of PEAK, AVERAGE and DIRECTION (true) wind-strength from the automatic wind stations sited at headlands, channels or significant waypoints in the coverage area.
Weather forecast: The latest MetService marine forecast(s) for Abel and Stephens and Cook areas.
Tides: Announcement of high & low tide times and heights
Marine Safety Notices: Local notices of hazards, or other marine safety items.

Coastguard New Zealand developed the technology and software to provide the service which is provided free-to-air at Coastguard’s cost, assisted by sponsors and supporters. MetService works with Coastguard on the data-gathering, as the data is also input to national marine forecasting to improve their quality.

Overtime further broadcasting sites will be established throughout Central Region and a good part of the rest of New Zealand.