Waterline December 2016

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The Bay of Plenty & Coromandel’s own watersports news. Phone 07 578 0030

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DECEMBER 2016

Lessons on the sea Michael Churchill, 8, is a level two Learn to Sail student at Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club’s sailing school.

02 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

The Bay of Plenty’s own boating, fishing, diving, yachting and watersports news.

Phone 07-578 0030 Fax 07-571 1116 No.1 The Strand, Tauranga 3110. PO Box 240, Tauranga 3140 email: brian@thesun.co.nz For advertising, call Chloe on 07 928 3054 email chloe@thesun.co.nz

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March 2017 June 2017 Sept 2017 Dec 2017

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S E Rire VICES

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Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height

DECEMBER 2015 1 Tu 5:43 0.1 12:10 2 We 0:30 1.7 6:30 3 Th 1:19 1.7 7:19 4 Fr 2:09 1.6 8:08 5 Sa 3:01 1.6 8:59 6 Su 3:54 1.6 9:52 7 Mo 4:48 1.6 10:45 8 Tu 5:40 1.6 11:37 9 We 0:06 0.4 6:30 10 Th 0:52 0.4 7:17 11 Fr 1:36 0.3 8:02 12 Sa 2:20 0.3 8:46 13 Su 3:02 0.2 9:29 14 Mo 3:45 0.2 10:12 15 Tu 4:29 0.2 10:56 16 We 5:14 0.2 11:41 17 Th 6:02 0.2 12:28 18 Fr 0:46 1.8 6:52 19 Sa 1:39 1.8 7:45 20 Su 2:37 1.7 8:43 21 Mo 3:39 1.7 9:43 22 Tu 4:42 1.8 10:45 23 We 5:45 1.8 11:47 24 Th 0:17 0.1 6:44 25 Fr 1:14 0.1 7:40 26 Sa 2:07 0.1 8:33 27 Su 2:57 0.1 9:23 28 Mo 3:46 0.1 10:11 29 Tu 4:32 0.1 10:57 30 We 5:17 0.2 11:42 31 Th 0:01 1.7 6:01

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Edition Deadline

TIDES Date

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1.9 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 0.3

18:18 12:58 13:46 14:34 15:23 16:12 17:01 17:49 12:26 13:13 13:59 14:44 15:29 16:14 17:00 17:48 18:37 13:18 14:11 15:07 16:05 17:05 18:04 12:47 13:44 14:38 15:29 16:18 17:06 17:51 12:26

0.3 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 1.8

19:08 19:57 20:47 21:37 22:28 23:18

0.3 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4

18:37 19:24 20:09 20:54 21:38 22:23 23:08 23:56

1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8

19:29 20:23 21:20 22:19 23:13

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

19:02 19:58 20:51 21:41 22:30 23:16

1.8 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8

18:36 0.3

Date

Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height

JANUARY 2016 1 Fr 0:46 1.7 6:45 2 Sa 1:32 1.6 7:30 3 Su 2:19 1.6 8:17 4 Mo 3:09 1.6 9:06 5 Tu 4:02 1.6 9:58 6 We 4:56 1.6 10:51 7 Th 5:49 1.6 11:45 8 Fr 0:12 0.4 6:40 9 Sa 1:01 0.3 7:30 10 Su 1:49 0.3 8:17 11 Mo 2:35 0.2 9:03 12 Tu 3:22 0.2 9:49 13 We 4:08 0.1 10:35 14 Th 4:56 0.1 11:22 15 Fr 5:45 0.1 12:11 16 Sa 0:31 1.9 6:35 17 Su 1:25 1.8 7:29 18 Mo 2:22 1.8 8:26 19 Tu 3:22 1.8 9:25 20 We 4:25 1.8 10:27 21 Th 5:27 1.8 11:30 22 Fr 6:27 1.8 12:30 23 Sa 0:54 0.2 7:22 24 Su 1:48 0.2 8:14 25 Mo 2:37 0.2 9:03 26 Tu 3:24 0.2 9:49 27 We 4:08 0.2 10:32 28 Th 4:51 0.3 11:13 29 Fr 5:32 0.3 11:54 30 Sa 0:13 1.7 6:13 31 Su 0:55 1.7 6:55

0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9 2 2 2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 0.4 0.4

13:09 13:53 14:37 15:24 16:13 17:04 17:55 12:37 13:27 14:16 15:04 15:52 16:40 17:29 18:19 13:01 13:53 14:49 15:46 16:46 17:46 18:45 13:27 14:20 15:09 15:56 16:40 17:22 18:03 12:33 13:13

1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.7 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 2 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 1.8 1.7

19:21 20:05 20:51 21:40 22:30 23:21

0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4

18:47 19:37 20:27 21:15 22:03 22:51 23:40

1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9

19:10 20:04 21:00 21:58 22:58 23:58

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

19:41 20:33 21:21 22:07 22:50 23:32

1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8

18:43 0.4 19:24 0.4

Date

Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height Time / Height

FEBRUARY 2016 1 Mo 1:38 1.7 7:38 2 Tu 2:25 1.6 8:24 3 We 3:16 1.6 9:14 4 Th 4:10 1.6 10:08 5 Fr 5:06 1.6 11:04 6 Sa 6:01 1.7 12:00 7 Su 0:26 0.4 6:55 8 Mo 1:18 0.3 7:46 9 Tu 2:09 0.2 8:36 10 We 2:59 0.2 9:25 11 Th 3:48 0.1 10:13 12 Fr 4:37 0.1 11:02 13 Sa 5:28 0.1 11:52 14 Su 0:16 2 6:19 15 Mo 1:10 1.9 7:13 16 Tu 2:06 1.9 8:10 17 We 3:06 1.8 9:09 18 Th 4:07 1.8 10:11 19 Fr 5:08 1.8 11:13 20 Sa 6:07 1.8 12:12 21 Su 0:35 0.3 7:02 22 Mo 1:28 0.3 7:53 23 Tu 2:16 0.3 8:39 24 We 3:01 0.3 9:23 25 Th 3:44 0.3 10:04 26 Fr 4:24 0.3 10:43 27 Sa 5:03 0.4 11:21 28 Su 5:43 0.4 11:59 29 Mo 0:22 1.7 6:22

0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.8 1.8 1.9 2 2 2.1 2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.4

13:55 14:39 15:27 16:19 17:15 18:11 12:55 13:48 14:39 15:29 16:19 17:09 17:59 12:43 13:36 14:31 15:29 16:29 17:29 18:28 13:08 13:59 14:47 15:31 16:12 16:51 17:29 18:07 12:37

1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.7 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 2 2 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.8

20:07 20:53 21:43 22:37 23:31

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4

19:07 20:00 20:52 21:43 22:33 23:24

1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 2 2

18:51 19:44 20:40 21:38 22:38 23:38

0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3

19:22 20:13 20:59 21:43 22:24 23:03 23:42

1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8

18:46 0.4

Tauranga tide heights in metres. Bowentown: subtract 5 minutes from Tauranga (both HW and LW) Katikati (Kauri Point): add 30 minutes to Tauranga (both HW and LW) Whitianga: High Water subtract 2 minutes from Tauranga HW tide; Low Water add 2 minutes to Tauranga Low Water. Every effort has been made to ensure that these times and tides are correct, no responsibility will be accepted for any inaccuracies, omissions, or misuse or misinterpretation of the values for tides and times published. Times used in the tide predictions are in New Zealand Standard Time (NZST1). Daylight savings add one hour.

WATERLINE 03

DECEMBER 2016

Species to buy, target, avoid There’s plenty of fish in the sea, or so the saying goes.

But not all fish are equally sustainable, nor are our methods of catching them.

Boaties heading out for a feed this summer are advised to check it out. It makes fascinating reading and puts a whole new perspective on which species should be the most desirable to target.

Forest and Bird has just updated their ‘Best Fish Guide’ – and it’s bigger and better than ever. It provides fishers and consumers with a better idea of which species to buy, target or avoid – to help ensure the oceans are managed sustainably.

For instance, a species scores low if it’s caught using environmentally damaging methods such as bottom trawling, dredges and gill nets.

The rankings take into consideration how the seafood was farmed.

Some species rely on the natural surroundings for food, for example mussels, while other species must be fed large quantities of wild caught fish, for example salmon.

Where possible, choose farmed seafood that has not imported wild fish for feed. Global populations of fish species used as feed are in decline. Farms that require large quantities of feed also add waste to the local environment.

Snapper: A New Zealand favourite but ranked low on the sustainable ladder.

Porae are great eating and high on the list for sustainability.

Freshwater species are on the list for the first time.

The 2017 Guide is available as an app, or from the website. It ranks more than 80 commercial species.

Some have more than one ranking, depending on where and how they are caught.

For the first time the guide includes freshwater species such as whitebait and eels.

At the top of the list, are green-lipped mussels, albacore tuna, skipjack, cockles, kahawai, blue cod, , paua, Pacific oysters and trevally.

Kina, mullet and crayfish are pretty high on the okay list.

Butterfish and John Dory rank reasonably high, as with most other species targeted by spearfishers, as they can be very selectively harvested and there’s no by-catch.

The favourite of many NZ fishers, Snapper, is ranked the second worst choice; almost as unsustainable as Orange roughy and several species of sharks.

By Brian Rogers

04 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

‘Moutohora C Once almost devoid of vegetation and native wildlife, Moutohora Island, just offshore from Whakatane – a stunning example of successful pest eradication and re-planting – is well worth a visit.

Due to the precious nature of this pest-free island, access is highly restricted to the public so the best way to visit is with a Department of Conservation approved concessionaire, of which White Island Tours is one.

On a beautiful October morning I joined a small party aboard ‘The Moutohora Cat’ skippered by David Plews with guide Fiona Coulter for the trip across the Whakatane bar and out to sea to the island.

Moutohora Cat is the ideal vessel in which to visit Moutohora (Whale Island) because, depending on the conditions, she can be maneuvered close inshore, as on our first stop to view seals resting on rocks on the island’s western side.

A few minutes later Dave nosed Moutohora Cat onto the beach at Boulder Bay, and we alighted by

Family’s blacksmithing traditions endure J F Breingan and Sons of Gisborne makes a range of anchors.

Anchors and cray pots hang from the ceiling; replica motorbike frames, and car and truck springs are on the floor below, in the half-a-centuryold business of J F Breingan and Sons in Gisborne.

Blacksmith Jack Breingan began the business. Later it was taken over by his son Ray, who also raced motorbikes internationally, going on to build frames and construct replicas of famous bike brands.

Since his father and brother have died, Peter Breingan has run the business, keeping up the family blacksmithing tradition, although his trade is as a tool maker, specialising in plastic injection moulds.

Peter and his staff also continue to produce the unique eight-pronged anchor his father Jack invented.

“Grapnels are difficult to stow in a boat but this one isn’t,” says Peter, demonstrating how one arm of the grapnel swivels to lay on top of the other.

It also has an eye at the bottom. “We always suggest people attach the anchor rope or chain to the eye and secure it to the top of the anchor with a cable tie. That way if the grapnel sets stuck, you can pull it to break the cable tie and lift the anchor from the bottom end.”

The company produces a range of anchors including ones big and strong enough to hold a 14 metre boat.

Peter and staff member Lawrence Schouker were busy in early-November building up stocks of the company’s solid cray pots, ready to meet the demand from recreational fishers this summer.

The company also produces cray pot for commercial fishers and all meet compliance standards set by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

The factory has its own forge and a range of tool and machines for working hot metal, some of which the late Jack Breingan adapted or built specifically for his business.

Peter says the bike frames his brother Ray built are still in demand among enthusiasts so he’s keeping that tradition going too.

By Elaine Fisher

All aboard – rejoining the Moutohora Cat at Boulder Bay.

WATERLINE 05

DECEMBER 2016

a Cat’ ideal vessel for island visit

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way of a ladder over the bow.

As Fiona took our small party on a guided walk, she explained that the island’s original native vegetation and wildlife had been largely destroyed by human activity and feral animals including goats, rabbits, rats and cats. The island, a remnant volcanic cone which has eroded away to leave its two distinct peaks, has a number of significant archaeological sites, including an extensive pa.

In the 1830s a shore-based whaling station was established but the venture failed without a single whale being captured. Forty years later sulphur was extracted from the island’s still active geothermal area but was of such poor quality, the venture was abandoned in 1895.

The next phase of industrial activity came in 1915, when quarrying provided rock for the construction of the Whakatane harbour wall. A total of 26,000 tonnes of rock was removed over five years.

In 1965 Moutohora was declared a wildlife refuge and the island was bought by the Crown in 1984.

The most significant feature of Moutohora’s current fauna is the breeding colony of grey-faced petrels. Sooty shearwaters, little blue penguins, the threatened New Zealand dotterel and variable oystercatcher also breed on the island.

Threatened species which are occasional visitors are the Caspian tern, the North Island kaka and New Zealand falcon.

Almost as soon as we entered the re-generating bush we saw kakariki (red crowned parakeets), tui and fantail. Shortly after I heard, then caught my first ever glimpse of a tieke – North Island saddleback.

That these vocal and attractive birds are on the island is a result of local Ngati Awa and the Department of Conservation joining forces in March 1999 to transfer 40 tieke from Repanga (Cuvier Island), off the coast

A circumnavigation of Moutohora Island reveals its rugged seaward coastline. of Coromandel, to Moutohora. Bellbirds and grey warblers also call the island home.

The island also has a population of little brown kiwi which we didn’t see. We know they are there because Fiona located some of the males with an antenna, which picked up the signal from their transmitters.

Fiona also lifted the lid of a gecko “motel” to reveal a number of the lizards in the specially made shelter. “There are tuatara on the island too and sometimes we see them resting by the track,” she said – but not that day.

We stopped to take in the spectacular views from the saddle on the island’s ocean side before walking to Sulphur Bay, where hot pools that once existed were used by early pioneers as therapy for invalids.

After lunch on the beach and the chance of a swim, it was back to Boulder Bay where Dave brought the cat to shore for us to

board, and then made a circumnavigation of the island so we could to view its rugged ocean face.

Moutohora/Whale Island tours operate daily but trips are subject to weather and demand. To find out more, visit: www.whiteisland.co.nz

By Elaine Fisher

Seals resting on a rocky shore at Moutohora Island.

Moutohora Island is a remnant volcanic cone, which has eroded away to leave its two distinct peaks.

DECEMBER 2016

06 WATERLINE

Family boating ... i

Geordie Nichols

Monterey Boats are relatively new to New Zealand shores but have been making boats in Florida, USA, since 1985.

In the early days they only had two 19-foot runabout models but in 1989 introduced their first family cruiser.

By the mid-1990s Monterey offered a complete line of Sport Boats and today Monterey Boats builds Sport Boats, Deck Boats, Cruisers and Sport Yachts from 18 feet to 41 feet. The company produces more than 2000 boats per year. Well regarded for its contemporary styling and above-average construction, Monterey has

a reputation for customer satisfaction with the strongest warranty in the industry.

they are also the proud agents for Impression, Nacra Catamarans, Agapi and Monterey.

The Pinnacle of pleasure craft

The Gin Palace

Pinnacle Marine is relatively new to the marine scene in the Bay of Plenty, however Geordie Nicholson and his wife Kirsten are fairly well known in New Zealand boating circles. Geordie has 30 years’ experience on the water spending many hours at sea with his Dad who was a fisherman in the early years and then progressing to sailing boats before circumnavigating the globe in some of the world’s most impressive mega-yachts. Based at Sulphur Point here in Tauranga, their company is the sole distributor of Azimut and Elan Yachts in New Zealand and

Being a sucker for a bit of luxury on the water, I jumped at the chance to take the Monterey 217 Blackfin out on the water. Stepping aboard the Monterey was like stepping into the future, its award-winning design unquestionably setting the standard for luxury performance watercraft.

Every aspect of this boat a testament to Monterey’s commitment to perfection and seeing a boat of such high specification as standard was quite breathtaking. Geordie told me “Monterey’s engineers work hard to make sure their boats are the leaders in innovation, Monterey

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WATERLINE 07

DECEMBER 2016

. in fine style

Monterey Black Fin 217

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is one of the few boating manufacturers that update their model line every year”.

The boat offers versatile, hybrid functionality from fishing to water sports to cruising.

The interior’s abundance of fiberglass surfaces complimented by white leatherette give a feeling of absolute luxury – a gin palace fit for the more discerning boatie yet still practical enough for a ski or a fish if the moment takes you.

The 217 Blackfin sports gunwale rod holders and plenty of stowage. An aft seat is hinged, concealing massive stowage within. A cooler stows under another seat, with access to the battery switch and stereo amp. The 217’s dash is handsome with shaded analog gauges, rocker switches, stereo controls, a cup holder and

leather accents. Our test boat was equipped with an integrated Garmin GPS and fish finder to enhance fishing and navigation functionalities.

The 217 is sports-friendly as well, with a removable ski pylon plus a huge ski locker in the belly and we found the 200 horses capable for any behind-the-boat disciplines. The 217 boasts a deep-seating configuration making for a spray-free ride and keeping the family feeling safe in big water. There is a boarding ladder and a unique “wraparound” swim platform that is a really neat feature too.

This is the perfect vessel for boaties seeking an outboard-powered boat that meets the needs of family boating with a five-star finish.

The verdict

If you are prepared to spend a little more for comfort when you are out on the water then look no further than the Monterey Black Fin. Available in the colour, size and specification you want including outboard and the latest inboard engine options – these boats are built to order and delivered within a matter of just a few months. And whilst the Black Fin 217 may appear to be a big machine, myself, Chris our photographer and Geordie all stood around chatting while Kirsten backed the trailer down the ramp, landed and loaded the boat single-handedly and with ease – she is a keeper Geordie.

By Matt Batchelor

DECEMBER 2016

08 WATERLINE

GPS Log

WATERLINE 09

DECEMBER 2016

Drifters, drones and GPS A partnership programme between an anti-virus software company and Surf Life Saving New Zealand is mapping currents and rips around New Zealand beaches this summer.

Seven people drowned in rips last year and about 85 per cent of Surf Life Saving NZ’s 1200 rescues are due to people getting caught in rips.

The project in conjunction with Emsisoft, a global antivirus software company operating from New Zealand, will use ‘drifters’ to plot GPS data and drones to accurately map the rip currents and their behaviours.

This will measure the physical layout of a headland rip current across a range of different swell, tidal and wind conditions during a six-week period on selected beaches.

SLSNZ national lifesaving manager Allan Mundy says up until now, data on currents has been mapped from 500m offshore. The project with Emsisoft, will provide more accurate data, which will lead to a better understanding of the workings of rip currents at different locations.

“If someone should get swept away in a rip, having the knowledge and understanding of the currents in that particular location will help narrow down the search area,” says Allan.

Data collection will involve collaboration by SLSNZ lifeguards and Coastguard New Zealand personnel to carry out the deployment and retrieval of the GPS drifters, which can replicate a swimmer within a rip current due to their weight. Half of the drifters will be modified to sink below the water’s surface to mimic how a body behaves once it becomes submerged after a drowning.

“This data will be priceless as it will help searchers better identify where to look for lost persons in the benthic current [the current on the bottom of the sea floor] which we don’t currently have data on,” says Allan.

“Dyes and similar drifters used in the past have only been observed within surface currents which often flow in very different directions to the currents on the sea floor.”

Allan says SLSNZ and Coastguard NZ are proud to announce the exciting new partnership project that will map currents and rips around key New Zealand beaches this summer.

“What we are doing essentially the trial is to prove the method being able to map the rip. The rips are primarily headland rips around rocky

Allan Mundy, mapping coastal rips

outcrops such as Moturiki, Mauao – they don’t change. And then once we have got that data, essentially the major aim or one of the outputs is to be able to measure the bottom part of the water column or the benthic current which we can’t see.

“Once we have got that in place then we can start populating our data field then we will be looking at using the equipment to measure some of the well-known rips. There’s a rip here off Omanu even though it does move a bit, it is always generated off the pipeline.”

Other rips along the ocean beach which move about more won’t generate the data that they can rely on. Locals that have an understanding of rips they are not the key target, says Allan. It’s for the new people comping into an area and to inform lifeguards.

“The applications are quite varied and they are multiple. The information on the anatomy of a rip will go to the lifeguards because that is something we don’t information on.

“We are already starting to get some amazing imagery which we can get through to public education programmes, so people can get a better understanding of what it is that lifeguards see, and to apply that and hopefully keep them out of trouble.

“What we are hoping to do and it’s a real big if, but we are setting our goals to be able to say, well if we want to map a rip somewhere, this is how much it is going to cost, and that cost will go on to the local authorities to be able to provide the funds to let us do this.”

By Andrew Campbell

Ensure lifejackets are part of your summer dress code Boardies, jandals, hats and sunblock are Kiwi summer essentials, but there is one piece of clothing Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard is urging boaties to add to their wardrobe – lifejackets.

Each summer the Waihi Beach’s community swells from 2700 permanent residents to an estimated 25,000-30,000, leading to a rise in the number of people the coastguard’s volunteer unit must watch on the water.

Hence the annual safety message reminding the public to keep safe at sea, with recent statistics showing there were more boaties on the water during the 2015 summer than ever before.

“Lifejackets are a no-brainer each summer.

The importance of them is widely reported each year and it is essential people ensure they are in good nick heading into the summer period,” says Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard spokesperson Jim Pooley.

“To do so, people need to make sure their lifejackets are still fit for purpose and have enough on their vessels, whether kayak, boat or paddleboards. Service any inflatable lifejackets and ensure you have two reliable forms of communication equipment.”

Owners of inflatable lifejackets need to check the outer cover and straps for holes or signs for wear and tear, check the gas cylinder for corrosion and manually inflate the jacket. If the bladder deflates after 24 hours, send it away for repair.

Recent research released by Maritime New Zealand indicates that fewer people were reported wearing a lifejacket all the time they were on the water. Those most likely to wear lifejackets were kayakers - 81 per cent reported they always wore lifejackets.

Least likely to always wear lifejackets were powerboat users - 52 per cent - down from 61 percent in 2014. Powerboat users make up the second largest group of boaties, 64 per cent of whom are male.

Jim says the biggest message the public should

take away is that no matter your level of swimming competency, the water is the ultimate leveller.

“The water doesn’t distinguish how tough you are. Often the biggest heroes on the water are brought back to reality and can find themselves in distress if they don’t have the right equipment.”

In the last three years the coastguard responded to 83 calls for assistance and returned 201 people to land. While in 2015 alone, they provided 7800 volunteer hours and logged 10,792 radio calls with boaties.

This summer, coastguard will be aided by the addition of AVOCO Rescue, a 5.8m Naiad designed Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat powered by twin 115hp Yamaha outboards – allowing coverage of the channels and shallow areas of the Northern Tauranga Harbour.

Sponsored by AVOCO, New Zealand’s largest avocado export group, the vessel replaces ‘Search Two’. Launched in 2003, at 5.5m-long Search Two has since clocked up more than 1000 hours on the water.

10 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

CLUB NEWS

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club

Hard decisions for race offic Max Scott.

The centreboard division is in full swing and ready for summer.

Sunday racing in particular is a treat, being out in the harbour on a Sunday is just bliss; they are my favourite days at the club.

who provide us with some entertaining racing, which will only get better after exams finish.

I would like to extend a welcome to the fleet for Blaire, Bradley, Jack, Joel, Tana, Harry and Rick.

And P class is also going well, with most of the fleet sailing in multiple classes. When there is a match up it gets very close.

The club now has many different sides to it, thanks to the sailing school and College schools racing bringing in all the extra energy.

So it has been very full on with the belief and hope that we can do it, especially after the examples of our Olympic champions who were at Rio. Sunday racing has had very mixed days, from nice and sunny with light wind, to so much wind that the race is blown out. Warren Belk our race officer has had a lot of hard decisions to make, such as where to set the courses and whether to sail or not. Unfortunately, we have had to cancel three race days already with all this crazy wind we’ve been having.

With the equinox weather system, Warren has gotten it right every time. The other issues we’ve had include placement of the course in light or heavy conditions, tides, sand banks water depth, and channel tidal rates. Wow, there are quite a few factors.

The racing among the Optimist kids has taken my attention. The numbers have been great, with about 12 regularly every week. A number of these will be coming out of the green fleet to challenge Teaghan Denney and Anya Pierce, who have been able to keep them at bay so far.

We have great numbers in Starlings as well,

Starling match racing Gary Smith and Richard Burling ran this event on a Saturday morning in the near past. Thanks so much to them. The weather brought lighter conditions with four boats challenging for the title. After this event, everyone came in with a smile as it was a very challenging and close win, every race was fought with incredible vigour from everyone participating. Joel Kennedy took the lead, then Harry Bailey, Brayden Denney and Elly Warren close behind.

big waves from ocean swell. We weren’t disappointed the first day was called off due to big conditions, wind and waves.

The second day the wind died out, leaving huge waves the third day and a little more wind with those big swells again this time threatening to break from the top. These conditions aren’t easy to sail in but we all gave it a great effort. In Gold fleet James Barnett 11th, Lachlan Dillion 13th, Silver fleet Max Scott third and Teahgan Denney, Anya Peirce, Monty Carty following up, and a big performance by Simon Wagstaff. I can see the entire TYPBC crew lifting for the Sir Peter Blake regatta.

Optimist North Islands We had a good crew go down to New Plymouth with our head race coach Maria Ferrario.

From the Tauranga club, we had two sailors who had previously made it into travelling teams, James Barnett and Lachlan Dillon, as well as Taupo-Tauranga sailor Sydney Cunliffe, who won herself a place in the Girls’ Development Team. Other sailors, Tauranga club members Max Scott and Teaghan Denny along with Taupo-Tauranga member Andrew Stretton also have their sights set at gaining a place on a Travelling Team. Maria trained them hard for the two weeks leading up to this regatta, trying to get our crew ready for

Simon Wagstaff.

WATERLINE 11

DECEMBER 2016

ficer in spring weather For the next ranking regattas good luck.

We can’t forget our Taupo crew Shayna Nash with Andrew Stretton and Sydney Cunliffe, who both finished in the gold fleet with excellent results.

James Barnett.

P Class North Islands and Tanner Cup trials This entire crew is exciting; watch the space as it wouldn’t surprise me if we get a national title. At the North Islands in Taupo we had three in the top 10: Max Scott taking 4th, Joel Kennedy 6th and James Barnett 8th. The conditions were varied but mainly light and flat water - small lake chop. The number of boats was 32, not a big number but the quality of sailors very high. The top 20 is full of members of the New Zealand team.

The Tanner Cup trials have come with new rules thanks to Gary Smith, who had been pushed for years from sometimesout-of-control parents. The new rules are on the TYPBC website if anyone wants to Lachlan Dillion.

to them. Olly Maidment on his windsurfer comes to all our club days with Pat Wrigle ready to give him a run for his money. Olly also has a competition going with his brother and a roar will go up from the club: “Olly Olly Olly!” If he wins. Tom Maidment has that nice-looking Paper Tiger down the club and Elly Warren and Ritchie Wright training hard right alongside. Great to see our windsurfing crew back from Europe what a great adventure they have had. The Zephyr crew is keeping the beer fridge full, so well done. We had the Finn North Islands at the club. What a great bunch of guys with our guy Karl Purdie winning. And in January Nigel Rippey is going to be running the 470 Nationals; and in February we have the Tauranga regatta.

Christmas on the beach

were 20-plus knots going to 25 and gusting to 30 knots. Wow what a hard little boat to sail in these conditions. The standout being the winner of this race was Joel Kennedy and second James Barnett swimming thrice on one downwind leg. I would like to thank all that helped make up the numbers.

Monty Carter, I believe, was the capsize king of this event, we lost count, with Simon and Sam not far behind. Teaghan is a little lady to watch in the future and a real special thanks to Brayden, who had been sick. The first Tanner Cup Bay of Plenty team is James Barnett 1st, Lachlan Dillion 2nd, Joel Kennedy and Max Scott 3rd 4th. Good luck guys for the Tauranga and Tanner Cup in Palmerton in the New Year.

Schools and 420 sailing

read them. The result is that there were four positions from the BoP region. The first day was medium to light winds. The racing was great, nothing in it for the top four sailors, with the sailor going against the grain and taking risks to win. Lachlan Dillion and max Scott showed good boat speed but the determining moment being James Barnett sailing away from the pack into the tide where he got a lift and gained two places to take another win. The second day was very windy again Warren Belk having to make a hard decision and proceed. The conditions

Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club

The schools racing has been great for the yacht club. With most schools putting at least one but multiple teams in as well. One experienced sailor with a newcomer makes for a semi-social event bringing a fun and lightness about them. They are all training hard for their regattas next year. When you are looking out on the harbour, they are the ones you will see with yellow or blue sails.

I would like to thank Leanne Warren who puts in time and care to make this work.

The winter series we have had three boats racing on club days. The pair looking good out there in the summer series is Sandrine and Anna, watch out Jack, Luke, William and Charlie, because they are looking sharp.

Open fleet and events

We have two teams going to Kawau earlyDecember with the NZ Yacht Squadron for a training week. How exciting. I am sure they will do us proud, so good luck

Peter Blackie has organised this on December 11, with everyoneall welcome, especially our youth. For more information contact the club.

We take ribs and sail boats over to Matakana and have some fun at the beach. By Greg Scott

Summer is here!

Greetings fellow trailer yacht and small boat-users.

Summer has finally arrived along with it La Nina weather patterns which will produce a mixed bag of waterborne experiences.

A always, I stress the constant need for preparation of your boat and equipment for water excursions. The unfortunate deaths of seven fishermen in one boating accident recently highlights the necessity of making the correct decision of going on the water in less than ideal conditions, a simple decision. For those who are not members of coastguard, please remember the invaluable service this volunteer service provides to the watersports community. Membership is affordable and the knowledge and reassurance that the organisation provides immense. I also encourage attending the radio operators course.

During the summer period TYPBC is holding numerous cruises around the Tauranga Harbour. In addition we have our club racing series. Please look at the club website for information and updates. Please remember lifejackets should be worn as mandatory when on the water.

On behalf of the TYPBC, I wish you a happy and safe summer on the water.

Graham Vincent, TYPBC trailer yacht chairman.

12 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

CLUB NEWS

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club

Getting busy at TYPBC Sailing school

The summer is coming and we are getting very busy at the sailing school organising and running courses for many different levels and abilities.

From kids to adult courses, we strive to provide safe, fun and challenging courses so each sailor can take the most from each lesson and finish with a big happy smile at the end of the day.

Our professional coaches always put a special focus on the safety aspect. They, along with great club members who have enormous racing and sailing experience, put their time and energy into making the school the best it can be. Many others, such as club members help out frequently, from boat maintenance, to organization and helping the coaches. We can say that we are finishing the Term 4 coaching with great success and an amazingly supportive community.

Our Sailing School is running 13 different courses in Term 4; from kids’ Learn to Sail lessons, level two and level three, as well as our variety of race coaching groups. We also started an adult dinghy course last week, which has brought us another great group of sailors wanting to learn how to sail or looking forward to improving their sailing skills.

We are working very hard to be able to offer high quality sailing courses to the Tauranga community, and we have been reaping high rewards to this effect. It has been amazing to see new sailors enjoy their first Learn to Sail course so much that they want to join the next courses as soon as possible. This has led to their families joining the club as new members, enjoying the possibilities, opportunities and discounts that the TYPBC members have.

In the Learn to Sail programme we are very happy to announce that our fleet of 14 Optimist dinghy boats are all ready to go. New trailer wheels, new sails and the boats with the best equipment to make sure that the sailors have an amazing sailing experience. We are also using four of our Topaz fleet for the adult dinghy courses. We are looking forward to having all of the six Topaz boats in perfect condition to use for the summer courses.

Learn to sail programme

Sixty-three different sailors are sailing in the Learn to Sail programme in Term 4. Wow 63. Great achievements this year! These are all sailors from the Learn to Sail programme, to the level two, level three and adult courses.

Congratulations to the 15 new kids that finished their Learn to Sail course last week. Another group of 18 sailors from three different

schools are completing their School Learn to Sail course in two weeks.

Awesome job. We hope you enjoyed your first dinghy sailing experience and we look forward to having you on board for the level two course.

Well done also to the 16 kids, who are finishing their level two and three courses in two weeks. We have also recently started with the adult Learn to Sail lessons, and so far it’s going great. It is always a good time to start sailing and discovering this amazing sport.

Race programme

We are getting into the end of the Term 4 race coaching and we are excited to see so many improvements in the race sailors. The regatta results are starting to show all the hard training that the racers and their coaches have been doing in the great Tauranga Harbour. Also the Optimist, Starling and P race groups have been growing considerably in numbers. New sailors are joining the TYPBC race community, coming from the sailing school LTS programme and also from other regions as Taupo, Hamilton and Cambridge to train with us.

We are working hard to ensure that the sailors emerge from the term of coaching with big sense of self-reliance, appreciation of teamwork and a solid foundation or racing. Looking forward to the next important regattas coming soon, we have a very big group racing at the Sir Peter Blake regatta next weekend. All the best for the TYPBC sailors that will definitely represent the Tauranga region with high honors and great success! TYPBC is a great place to learn how to sail. The summer is coming soon so send us an email if you want to join this great sailing experience, learn how to sail or improve your sailing skills. We can’t wait to see you on the water.

By Maria Ferrario, TYPBC head race coach

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DECEMBER 2016

World Championships Windsurfing Techno 293 OD At the end of September TYPBC members Max van der Zalm and Veerle ten Have left for Europe to compete at the World Championships Windsurfing Techno293 OD at Lake Garda in Italy.

This was for both the second time they were travelling down to this amazing event. With almost 500 young windsurfers from 34 countries competing, it was the biggest Techno Worlds ever organised.

To be prepared at their best possibility, they first went to the Netherlands. Veerle and Max had been given the amazing opportunity to train with the Dutch National Team.

These training sessions happened three times a week during a two-week period.

Being able to speak Dutch made things definitely easier, although both had to work out quickly all the windsurfing terminology in Dutch.

Being coached by a new coach in a relatively new group, Max and Veerle met some of the boys last year at the worlds, and sailing on

CLUB NEWS

lakes instead of the salty water of estuary and sea here in NZ, the learning was great and a fantastic preparation for the Worlds.

On top of the training sessions, they competed at two regattas.

One of them was the Grand Prix of Aalsmeer, an endurance race of more than 60km, which is around 3,5 hours of continuous sailing. Typical Dutch autumn weather of wind with rain and a wind chill of eight degrees Celsius turned the regatta in an even more physical challenge. Very unexpected and unfortunate, the wind died off during the race so only half of the competitors were allowed to finish the three full rounds.

Max performed really well by finishing 20th out of 76 and being 3rd of the Techno293 sailors. Veerle had to withdraw in the third round.

The second regatta in Alphen aan den Rijn was hard in another way as there was virtually no wind during two of the three races.

And yes, then it is hard to windsurf.

Despite this, Veerle got a trophy for being the best Techno girl and Max one for ending fourth overall. Then off to Italy. Audrey Per-

Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club

ratt of MBSC joined Max and Veerle being the 3rd NZ representative.

During the first week, they all linked up with the Dutch team again and did every day fantastic training in beautiful conditions.

Strong winds, blue skies, nice temperatures and great coaching.

And when teams of other countries joined in, there was even practise racing with 60 other young windsurfers.

Something the windsurfers from New Zealand can only dream of.

By Pauline ten Have

Young Mariners

Spring Regatta On September 3, the Tauranga Young Mariners travelled to Hamilton to attend the 44th annual Spring Regatta.

St Peter’s Sea Scouts host this event each year at Hamilton’s Lake Rotoroa. From my unit of 20 girls, 11 girls attended, and for a few of them this was their first real experience of competition sailing, rowing and kayaking. The Akarana Young Mariners and Rotorua Young Mariners also represented the Young Mariner organisation and competed against us throughout the day.

We started off with all the Young Mariner and Sea Scout groups assembling at the opening parade and briefing in their uniforms. This gave everyone an idea of who they were competing against. The first events held were the kayaking and rowing for which we were all split into age groups. We were then sent onto the water at separate times to race. For each rowing race, about 12 boats competed and in the kayaking race about 40 kayaks raced against each other. Racing against 40 people the same age as you is an amazing experience.

In the afternoon, when the wind picked up, we started sailing. The boats we sailed in were Sunbursts and Crown Cutters. The sailing events were also split into age groups. At the startline it was always chaotic, as some boats had competitive, experienced crews whereas some other crews were inexperienced and were just there to give it a go.

Although the winds were light, the wind was very shifty meaning we had to be very focused at all times. It was a really good chance to get our new girls out on the water, and we even came out with a first placing in the intermediate sunburst sailing.

To wrap up the day, the parents got a chance to race in the open sailing and rowing races. These are fiercely competitive and the parents are always willing to show off their skills. Our parents would have done better if three of them hadn’t fallen off their seats during the rowing race! But this just added to the fun of the day. However, they redeemed themselves in the Cutter sailing and came out with a first.

The regatta was a great way to start the summer sailing season and dust off the cobwebs from over the winter. Thank you to all of the leaders and parents who helped out on the day. We couldn’t have done this without you.

By Caroline Olds

14 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

CLUB NEWS

Young Mariners

That’s the spirit!

With 20 girls in our unit we were in desperate need of additional boats and the decision was made to resurrect on old damaged Sunburst that had been stripped for parts over time.

The girls got to select the name for the overhauled Sunburst and the consensus was for ‘Spirit’. Trillion Trust donated the money for the purchase of the materials - mast, boom, sails and rigging - while Phil, Richard and friends put in the man-hours to get the physical work done. A couple of rounds of painting and sanding followed by a working bee, which included some of the older girls, to add the finishing touches and set up the rigging, then ‘Spirit’ was on the water, a much-needed addition to our fleet.

Capsized and confident We took over the heated polytech pool on what turned out to be one of the coldest nights in spring to allow the girls to practice righting a capsized boat. We were on the receiving end of some very strange looks as we carried an Optimist, a Sunburst and multiple kayaks through reception. All of the girls had a go with varying degrees of success for the younger girls, but one of the main lessons they all took away from it was that it will happen to them at some point and they just need to remain calm and follow through the steps they have been taught. And with our safety boat and spotters out on the water amongst them, support is never far away. We had a textbook righting when Nadia on the centreboard and Zoe in the water managed to both launch themselves back in the Sunburst as they righted it. Practising putting on a lifejacket, while fully clothed and treading water was a reality check on why wearing a lifejacket while out on the boat is the safest option.

Cardboard Cup The Southern Cross Venturers hosted the Cardboard Cup which had entries from Venturers, Rangers and Young Mariners in the Western Bay of Plenty. The race took place on the beach in front of TYPBC and involved paddling the ‘boats’ from the marina end of the beach to the ferry landing. We had six entries in and managed to take out first and third place as well as best looking boat. We can wrangle sheets of cardboard and packaging tape with the best of them! A great night was had by all, with racing followed by a sausage sizzle and some old school games of tug of war and egg toss.

Sails ahoy

Our 17ft Coronet ‘Whio’ had her new sails, made by Sam of Burton Sails, hoisted and taken on a test run on a recent evening sail.

Thanks to Four Winds Foundation and our local Legacy Trust for contributing towards the purchase of a new mainsail and genoa for ‘Whio’ so we can safely train our new Mariners to sail. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Rotorua regatta

We cruised over to Rotorua on a recent Saturday, loaded up with trailers and boats, to spend the day sailing and kayaking with the Rotorua Young Mariners. It was great to catch up with our sister unit and spend the day racing, sharing skills and having fun. The winds were gusty at times and the girls got plenty of ‘real’ capsize practice.

Mariner mums are WOW

While the girls are out on the water on a Thursday night, another fleet of boats are out there doing their thing every second Thursday with Tauranga Women on Water, and a couple of the mums decided it was time for them to get out on the water and in amongst the racing. Can’t let the girls have all the fun!

Might be a quiet car ride back home though if darling daughter in an Opti calls right of way on mum in a 42 footer...

Community Trust, the girls now get to blow some pretty impressive things up! We often arrive to campsites in the evening and the girls have to set up the tents themselves, with a number of the girls in the eight-10 age group this could lead to a very late night - and short fuses - by the time their tents, beds, gear and cooking facilities are set up.

To ensure the girls are set up in a timely fashion, and well rested for the next day’s adventures, we have opted for a NZ company’s inflatable two-room canvas tents. The tubes, when inflated, are rigid like an inflatable tender/rib rather than a bouncy castle.

The new tents came with a label saying ‘Bag to set-up in 10 minutes’ - ‘Yeah Right’ was the resounding call from the parents assembled for the test set-up.

The parents had a go at the first tent while the girls watched on. The parents were busy pegging out, then pumping up the tent and trying out all the zips and windows before deciding they better show the girls how to put up the second tent.

The only thing was the girls had already done it, while their parents were busy admiring the zips! And yes, the label was right, all done in under 10 minutes. The girls can’t wait to try them out at the upcoming Sea Scouts Lake Rotoma camp.

Family night

Lake Tarawera camp

Fun was had by all at our recent camp at Hot Water Beach. The girls, along the some parents, sailed themselves and their gear over to the campsite where they spent a couple of days honing their sailing skills and just generally having a blast.

Weather permitting, we are hoping to round out the season by having the girls families join us for a barbecue on the waterfront where they can take the opportunity to go for a sail with their daughters, have a paddle in a kayak and experience the cool stuff their kids get to do every week. Roll on Summer.

Blowing things up

Want to keep up to date?

Due to the generous grants from Pub Charity, The Lion Foundation and Dragon

Like our Facebook page for the latest pics: Facebook/TaurangaYoungMariners

WATERLINE 15

DECEMBER 2016

CLUB NEWS

Women on Water

Plenty of wind for the start of the season

What a season. Women on Water has got off to an exciting start.

The wind has been perfect and sailorettes eager to learn more and get on the water.

Basic Skills Night 2016 - learning more about Tauranga Harbour and right of way rules.

Basic Skills night 2016 - learning how to radio in to the tower.

We had a great turnout for the first evening of activities – the basic sailing skills night on October 13. Fellow sailors generously gave their time to teach the WOW ladies more about different parts of a boat and what they do, the Tauranga Harbour, how to tie different knots, how to operate the radio, use a winch and lots of terminology.

The WOW organisers also had a special surprise - one of their generous sponsors, Trudi from Trudi Calder Pilates, came along to show everyone a few moves to ensure we keep our cores activated while we sail. What a treat.

At the time of writing there have been three WOW race nights, all with lots of wind which saw the boats screaming across the beautiful harbour with burnt-red sunsets in the distance over the Kaimai Range.

Race one on October 27 saw strong south westerlies, which gave us the chance to head out to 12 West via the Otumoetai Channel, then home past the entrance

TYPBC Women on Water

and Pilot Bay. Freedom Express was first across the line in the Racing Division, followed by High Point, then Whatever, General Jackson and Truxton. Late Again was first in the Cruising Division, followed by Whistler and Otway III. Race two on November 10 saw a supertight race for the finish line between a Racing Division boat Whatever and Cruising Division boat Otway III. Racing division’s Whatever took it out with about one second in it – if that.

What a great finish.

Race three on November 24 saw another good wind for boats to hoon around the harbour. The kites were flying on the racing boats with crew making delicate adjustments to get catch the very best of the wind. It was a popular night up at the club room for dinner with pretty much all crews enjoying a drink and dinner together and hearing the results of the evening’s race. Whistler cleaned up with prizes this week, with team members winning spot prizes for our generous sponsors and a lucky draw prize for the skipper.

WOW continues with the last sail before Christmas on December 8, and returns in the New Year with race five on January 26.

By Sophie Headley

16 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

Marine Insurance

There can be hooks…. so it makes sense to use a professional INSURANCE BROKER who knows the ropes.

Why not contact our Marine Man, KEIRAN VLIETSTRA, Mobile: 0274 960227 because he knows about boats.

Now part of BrokerWeb Risk Services BR-j8540

at 195 Devonport Road, Tauranga

Phone (07) 577 0007 Insurance Brokers Bay of Plenty

insurebayofplenty@bwrs.co.nz

WATERLINE 17

DECEMBER 2016

AVOCO takes to the water

Photo: Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media.

AVOCO’s commitment to the community continues to break new ground, this time as a proud new partner of the Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard.

AVOCO has teamed up with the Western Bay of Plenty coastguard unit by agreeing to an ongoing partnership, pledging an annual sponsorship contribution of $20,000 for three years. This will go towards coastguard’s yearly operational costs of $110,000 as well as running costs of a new rescue vessel named ‘AVOCO Rescue’.

The recently complete AVOCO Rescue replaces ‘Search Two’.

Launched in 2003 at 5.5m long Search Two has since clocked up more than 1000 hours on the water.

Hitting the water in November the new $197,000 AVOCO Recue vessel, constructed by Alloy Cats Mount Maunganui, is a 5.8m Naiad designed Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat powered by twin 115hp Yamaha outboards.

AVOCO director Alistair Young says teaming up with the coastguard is a natural fit for AVOCO given its unwavering commitment to the community.

“We are proud to be backing Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard and the amazing efforts they contribute to keep the community safe, usually

through countless hours of voluntary service, on and off the water.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of this community and every dollar counts when it comes to helping support these fantastic efforts.”

Alistair says each and every one of the AVOCO members can take pride in these naming rights, with many already expressing a keen interest in seeing it on the water this summer.

Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard spokesperson Jim Pooley says the new rescue boat is already enhancing coastguard’s overall capabilities in keeping a community – which swells from 2700 permanent residents to an estimated 25,000-30,000 during summer – safe on the water.

“It is very exciting for us. The addition of AVOCO Rescue means we have the capability to cover two completely different areas with Gallagher Rescue overseeing the Bowentown Bar, one of the most notorious in New Zealand, and AVOCO Rescue the channels and shallow areas of the Northern Tauranga Harbour.”

In the last three years coastguard responded to 83 calls for assistance and returned 201 people to land.

While in 2015 alone, they provided 7800 volunteer hours and logged 10,792 radio calls with boaties.

Here they assisted Police on search and rescue missions, worked with the volunteer fire brigade on shoreline

scrub fires and assisted the harbour master on locating and towing floating trees and other significant hazards back to shore.

Jim believes with these figures increasing annually this partnership will usher in a new era for the volunteer organisation, with AVOCO Rescue providing essential resources previously unattainable with Search Two. “In comparison to Search Two, this vessel is a walk-through design enabling two extra crew onboard and can accommodate the transportation of medical and search and rescue equipment and a stretchered patient.

“It will also have radar capabilities which will aid in safety at night and limited visibility and performing search and rescue missions for a missing person or vessel.”

Another positive community spinoff from the partnership is room for the Trust Waikato Waihi Beach Surf Lifeguard Club to permanently store an Inflatable Rescue Boat at the headquarters with a new boatshed to be built to accommodate AVOCO Rescue.

“It’s a real burden during the patrol season for the lifeguards to transport an IRB and ute down here everyday along with patrolling the 10km stretch of beach.

“This will just help ease this pressure on both resources and staff.”

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016

WATERLINE 19

New Evinrude dealership at The Boat Place Teh Boat Place owners Nolan and Kat Stovold are adding to their established reputation for boat repair and maintenance during the last 11 years by announcing they are the new Tauranga Evinrude dealers.

What impresses Nolan about the Evinrude range is the G2 range of engines, which is an outstanding engineering achievement.

They are two-stroke motors, but they are a long way from people’s view of two-strokes being noisy and smelly. Idling at 400rpm you can hardly hear it.

“It’s the cleanest outboard in the world,” says Nolan.

It’s been compared against the four-stroke competition and it’s beat them. The combustion of an Evinrude E-TEC G2 is showing 75 per cent fewer regulated emissions than comparable four-strokes. It also has best in class fuel efficiency, and 20 per cent more torque.

Evinrude’s condfidence in their outboard is matched with the maintenance and warranty, says Nolan. Dealer-scheduled maintenance is every five years or 500 hours.

There’s a five-year engine and five-year nondeclining corrosion warranty.

Non-declining means everything is covered the same - no matter what year of the war-

Bridget Cooper, Evinrude NZ distributor Kevin Sharp, Kat Stovold, Chris Wrightwebb.

At front is Damon Holmes, Nolan Stovold with pooch ‘Fletch’. Photo: Chris Callinan.

Instead of the engine colour being a given, ranty the engine is in. There is fully electronic the cowlings come in a range of colours so the trim and dynamic power steering engine can match the boat. which is quiet and gives fingertip control at The Evinrude G2 has five swappable colours the wheel. for the side panels, five top and front panel In addition to the long list of technical colours to choose from and 14 accent colours. achievements the range has a unique feature So come to The Boat Place today to check that’s creating more discussion among buyers out the Envinrude range. By Andrew Campbell and potential customers.

DECEMBER 2016

20 WATERLINE

Is your hull clean?

Don’t let marine pests spoil your summer. They’re bad for business, fun and fishing.

• Keep your boat bottom clean no more than light hull slime, all the time • Check your hull, keel, nooks and crannies before you cruise • Haul out to clean heavy hull fouling

ur

Stop the spread of marine pests: Pe st infe sted hull

Please report any marine pests or heavily fouled boats you see in Bay of Plenty waters.

Call Bay of Plenty Regional Council, phone 0800 STOP PESTS (0800 786 773) or email STOP.PESTS@boprc.govt.nz

Find out more, visit www.boprc.govt.nz/marinepests

bo ar H a ng ura a T lifted from

WATERLINE 21

DECEMBER 2016

Salty sea dog back for more Noel Haszard has just clocked up his 21st year with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Compare that to his 70 years’ boating experience though, and it doesn’t seem that long at all.

Nineteen years were spent as a volunteer safer boating advisor, educating boaties from Omokoroa to Waihi Beach on how to be safe on the water.

It’s quite the volunteering legacy and for the council, tasked with keeping the waterways from Waihi Beach in the west to Lottin Point in the east safe for everyone to enjoy; one it’s extremely grateful for.

When asked what’s changed over the years, the man who calls a spade a spade reflects that attitude is what stands out to him.

“The change is for the better. We used to be looked upon as the enemy, but now people are pleased to see us on the water doing our job.

“What it boils down to is education. All the signs, channel markers and communications the council has organised to help educate folk about how to be safe on the water appears to be sinking in. There has been a remarkable turnaround.”

Noel Haszard has 70 years’ boating experience.

When Noel first started helping out it was from his own vessel and using his own petrol.

“Back then we used to wave a harbour master flag when we were patrolling. These days we are paired up with others, work from dedicated patrol vessels and are really well trained and equipped. We do a much better job as a result.”

Noel is also quick to point out while he was on patrol last season there was 100 per cent compliance in his patch for boaties carrying lifejackets.

“I didn’t ever think we would win that battle but we are. There is an increasing number wearing them too.”

For those who like being on the water, Noel highly recommends volunteering as a safer bBoating advisor or working as a harbour warden. If you’re a qualified skipper or experienced boatie and want more information on what a harbour warden or safer boating Advisor does and how to become one, contact Daniel Rapson at BOPRC on 0800 884 880.

22 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

The short-lived reign of the Q class fleet PAR T T WO

Local pioneers

Once the Z class Cornwall cup was won for the second consecutive time by a Tauranga crew, there wasn’t much left to prove by local sailors. This was essentially the main youth provincial sailing trophy in the country.

Our entire fleet of Z class yachts was purchased by the various Wellington clubs, and the glamour 12-footers were introduced locally by Wayne Eaton, Malcom Dawson and Tim Bartlett. A dozen other local sailors were quick to recognise the thrills of this class, and a small number of like-minded, individuals, some of whom were new to sailing were taken on as forward-hands.

Wayne recognised the body strength and dexterity of his bushman mate Ben Bax, who had just tried sailing for the first time in a Finn class yacht.

And this coupling set the standard for local boat-handling in what was becoming acknowledged as probably one of the most difficult yachts to sail, in Australasia.

The sight of a Q class broad-reaching down the Tauranga Harbour with a 500 square foot spinnaker and 190 square foot of working sail was not like anything any of us had ever seen before. A cult following was born, and high calibre sailors couldn’t step around the challenge that the Q class provided.

Local crews acquired various nicknames.

Locally we had: Animal, Tubby, Black Box, Hat, Sprog, Beach-Buggy, Willie, JL, L Deans, Lowiss, Malcy, The Kerr, Roakey (Greg), Sowerbelly and so on. Other local pioneers included Simon Ellis, Derek Adams, Richard Roake, Craig Otway and Bruce Collins. These sailors ranged in age from 17 through to 27.

Mastering the beast

After any other class of yacht, this was, and is to this day: “Next level sailing”. A 12-knot breeze required both crew to be trapezing for the entire race. The skipper helmed with one hand, and trimmed the massive mainsail with his other hand, using his teeth to hold the mainsheet between grabs. The crew-person handled the jib-sheet and spinnaker sheet and spinnaker pole.

Upwind was quite straight-forward, although any crash-tacks required good deal of co-ordination. Rounding the top mark and downwind required previously unheard of skills. These finely-balanced boats demanded a massive dumping of the mainsheet and boom vang in order to execute a bear-away.

If still upright at that stage, the crew assembled the three-piece aluminium kite pole as he fed it out.

At 17ft long, it was stowed in the bottom of the boat until needed. Each section had polystyrene foam pushed inside to encourage flotation, as the sections were regularly lost over the side.

The kite pole had, usually wooden, jaws, which picked up the topping lift/downhaul combo as it was assembled and pushed out.

Once the pole was in place, the skipper hoisted the 500 square foot kite while steering with the tiller between his knees. All this time the boat needed to be running flat-off, as any other angle downwind would result in immediate capsize.

The skipper would set the brace into a cleat, and both crew would clip on and begin trapezing with the skipper trimming the mainsail and the crew trimming both spinnaker and jib. Gybing was basically death or glory as can be imagined. Towards the bottom mark, the skipper needed to get the boat back into flatoff mode so that the crew could move inboard to douse the kite.

It wasn’t uncommon for the spinnaker pole to smash through the aft buoyancy tank upon retrieval and render the boat vulnerable to sinking stern-first if it were to capsize later on during the race. Of note, lifejackets weren’t worn as they impeded the trapeze harnesses, but generally 12-footer sailors wore wetsuits which did provide some buoyancy. It was common to capsize with the huge spinnakers up, and considerable effort was required to right the boat.

I can’t recall a drowning in decades of 12ft skiff sailing, but most sailors will relate tales about treading water as their boats disappeared underwater for periods of time with punctured tanks and swirling currents.

Ben Bax got his trapeze hook stuck under the gunwale during one particularly untidy wipeout, and he tore the woodwork entirely off the side of the boat in order to get back to the surface.

Greg Roake sunk ‘RIP’ off Orakei with only the bow to cling onto. Ben and Ian Kerr demolished their brand new Farr Q against Orakei wharf on an outgoing tide, and the

list of calamities goes on. Of particular note, a small number of top skippers wore glasses and this makes their achievements even more notable. With no hands free to wipe the constant spray from their glasses this handful of sailors mastered these exceedingly tricky yachts sailing half-blinded.

Local antics

In about 1970 the Tauranga Yacht Club applied to have the reclamation built at the Eastern end of Kulim Park in order to accommodate a rigging-up area, and a storage clubhouse.

The local residents protested in the local media that yachties were “a rowdy, drunken lot”. In hindsight I would say their observation wasn’t really all that skewed. However, times were different back then, and there were enough yachties on the local bodies to ensure the reclamation and building came to fruition.

An early issue with the local Q class fleet was seaworthiness. As much as there was sufficient buoyancy to right these boats, constant damage to hulls and buoyancy tanks often rendered boats crippled. It wasn’t uncommon to spend a lot of time swimming, and nursing disabled boats back to Kulim Park.

Racing was all about fast spinnaker runs while twin trapezing.

This was a very fine balancing act, and it wasn’t unusual for a Q class crew to sail hundreds of metres past the bottom mark, whooping and laughing just for the thrill these yachts gave downwind before turning and rejoining the race.

It was common to have to build a new hull each season, as the brittle plywood hulls tended to self-destruct.

Rigs were normally recycled. Race-damaged hulls were perfect fuel for bonfire parties, or ‘viking funerals’. Enough said.

By Geoff Collins

WATERLINE 23

DECEMBER 2016

The ultimate hunting and fishing jet barge Here’s the ultimate shallow water, high speed machine for all you huntin’ and fishin’ fanatics out there.

Nigel Hanmore of Whitianga built the beast, a six metre V6 jet-powered monster of a duck boat, to get him and his mates and all their gear to his remote location maimai in the Firth of Thames.

Now the maimai is up for sale, and so is the monster duck barge.

It’s built strong and durable from marine ply and fibreglass and has just enough vee for the jet unit to perform to its optimum.

With a central helm station, the duck boat is roomy and seaworthy, able to carry big payloads of hunters and their gear at a good clip.

The boat does 25 knots max and is equally at home in the shallows and mangroves as in more exposed waters.

It features full camo cover for duckshooters and rides on a dual axle galvanised boat trailer.

At around six metres in length and two metres wide, the jet barge is professionally built of 12mm and 15mm ply and marine glue, stainless fastenings, LVL frames and fibreglassed over the top.

Driving the Hamilton Jet 2 stage T3 is a Holden VN V6 with heat exchange, Rolco marine manifolds and an upgraded chip for top performance.

It carries 90 litres of fuel in two alloy tanks. It’s fitted with a 10 inch GPS plotter.

The trailer is a tandem axle with duratorque suspension, new galvanised wheels and new tyres. Not with a current WOF or registration.

Complete with a spare motor, the rig is for sale for $32,500. Phone Nigel for more information, on 07 866 0498.

By Brian Rogers

3a Landscape Road 3a Landscape Road Tauranga Tauranga

Tel: 07 576 3009 Tel:027 07 627 576 5448 3009 Mobile: Mobile: 027 627 5448

24 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

Sofloat marine applications

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FOR BOOKINGS PLEASE CONTACT TAURANGA MARINA ON

Phone 07 578 8747

manager@taurangamarina.co.nz 35 TON TRAVELIFT QUIET & TIDY FACILITY CATAMARAN HAULOUT SECURITY FOUR SECURE MAINTENANCE SHEDS TRAVELIFT OPERATING 7 DAYS COMPETITIVE RATES

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Discounts for children!

Papamoa floating bean bag developer Sofloat is offering floating marine furniture for the boatie who has everything.

While some of the standard range may require a substantial amount of deck area on board, they all float.

Two of the smaller standards are the Waiheke, which looks like a standard bean bag, and the Maui drift pillow, which at 155x110cm is small enough and large enough for multiple uses on board and afloat.

Then there is the Bali refresher, marketed as the perfect bean bag drink caddy, it consists of four built in cup holders and a built in ice bucket, which is also suitable for a bowl of chips, and may hold a couple of scallops or paua.

SoFloat floating furniture consists of a mesh bag to hold the polystyrene beads and a Sunbrella outer covering, triple stitched with ultra violet resistant nylon, they are made with the boating world in mind.

“They are made for the Kiwi lifestyle really,” says Sofloat marketing manager Shaina Low. “You can have a product that can be used on boat and also tied up and float in the water nice and easily.”

Sunbrella acrylic marine canvas is the ideal product for continuous outdoor use in New Zealand conditions. And is familiar to boaties through its use in sail covers and biminis and dodgers.

It resists and inhibits mildew, mold and rot - you don’t have to worry about mould development in damp conditions, and it’s easy to care for and maintain - can be spot cleaned or machine-washed on a gentle cycle.

The polystyrene beads are in a mesh lining inside the sofloat outside cover. There is also a mesh lining in the bottom of the cover for easy draining. Eyelets are stainless steel. They all come in three different colour options Sofloat is the idea of Papamoa resident Dave Roberts, who while enjoying a holiday in the south of France five years ago, tossed a bean bag into the pool where he was staying.

WATERLINE 25

DECEMBER 2016

Pink flouro for hubby?

Okay, so I said in my last article that this version wouldn’t be written, I’m a safety kind of first guy, and as we all know there aren’t any chunky female divers. And if there are, there aren’t.

So after offending the majority of the larger male pie eaters of the local diving world, I’ve been copping a fair bit of abuse in the shop.

Look guys, the whole point of the article was to draw attention to the horrifying statistics on male ‘she’ll be right mate’ divers, so I did it in a fun kind of article.

Apparently not everyone’s idea of funny though, but you can’t please everyone. And the thanks I got was: ‘Why don’t you write about fat female divers in the same position mate?’.

Or: “Look you short sorry excuse for a rowing cox, I couldn’t get near the bloody scallop bed last weekend for floating chunky women bobbing around on the surface like a herd of beached Belugas”.

Name suppression has been provided for that guy, so don’t come into the shop asking for his address ladies.

Frankly, I think he’s braver than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and probably about as nervous. I’d never say anything as brave as that, still got the baldpatch from passing comment on Mrs B’s new girdle, even though she got an extra one free from

that Suzanne Paul lady. But, I guess fair is fair. I’m not caving in to peer pressure or anything, although the two gentlemen who came in to see me last week with the Italian accent and mumbling something about horse heads were specific in that I need to tell both sides of the story. They had been staking out the shop in an unmarked Ford parked across the road. To be fair though, it’s not uncommon to see Fords parked on the road. Too far?

Anywho, they are not Men In Black, more like chunky dudes in beige. One of them has a set of binoculars and a camera, keeps taking photos of the dive

shop...hence my growing paranoia. Pretty sure they are from the CIA (Chunkies Investigating Abuse).

So, ladies. In the event that you find you want to replace some of your gear with something more fashionable, which is fair enough I say, come in and see us. ‘ We will, of course, check that the rest of it is good to go and remove a few weights as you would have lost weight during winter, unlike your male counterparts.

And why should you use your own money too?

Here’s how you do it. Select a range of new gear from our new fluoro line, especially the pink. Then wrap it up and gift it to hubby. You don’t need a special date like a birthday or anything like that. Just tell him it’s because you don’t want him to become a statistic and leave you destitute.

He will, of course, be enthusiastic at first. But you may notice his new gear isn’t used, at all. Just bring it back and swap if for gear your size, he will never know.

And even be okay with your decision.

Mrs B has used this system for years; she thinks that I don’t know, but I know.

BATTERY WAREHOUSE

26 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

Boaties seizing opportunity to participate Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard is confident the popularity of its bar crossing courses will lead to heightened respect for water safety and a reduction in bar-related incidents this summer.

It is well-documented that entering the northern end of Tauranga Harbour across the Bowentown Bar can be dangerous, with it being labelled one of the most notorious bars in New Zealand.

The courses are an hour-long onthe-water orientation session giving participants the chance to soak up experienced local knowledge and advice from coastguard members, as well as see first-hand how to safely exit and re-enter the harbour.

Sessions are held on-board Gallagher Rescue, Coastguard’s 9.5m Naiad rescue vessel every second Saturday and you must book in to secure a place.

“The public can’t wait to seize the opportunity to upskill themselves and gain some handy boating knowledge, which is fan-

tastic to see,” says Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard spokesperson Jim Pooley.

Some key messages include: always wear a lifejacket, call coastguard to log a bar crossing report on VHF channel 85, check the tides – flood is better than ebb, check the swell height and direction and stop and assess the bar before committing yourself to a crossing.

A donation to the Waihi Beach Coastguard is appreciated to help offset the costs involved to the volunteer unit.

To book a place on one of the trips, phone 07 863 4477.

Dead rat sparks response

WATERLINE 27

DECEMBER 2016

The Great Mercury Island’s black petrel numbers are increasing with the absence of rats. Photo: The Department of Conservation.

A full incursion response was sparked by the discovery of a discovery of a dead rat on Great Mercury Island in late October which resulted in Department of Conservation staff checking the island with dog teams and doubling the numbers of rat traps from 300 to 600.

The rat was found in a trap in Titree bay at the south east end of the island, and it almost certainly swam there from a passing boat. Rats are known to be able to swim 1.5km, and they can tread water for three days in warm water.

The invader was discovered just over two years after Great Mercury was declared pest free following a $1.5 million operation to rid the island of cats, rats, mice and plant pests.

Immediate response

The discovery sparked an immediate incursion response to establish it was the only individual rat that has made it ashore.

Dog teams scoured the island and they will continue the higher profile alert for a month, says DOC ranger Nick Kelly at Whitianga. “It’s timely in that we can start ramping up our presence at boat ramps as well,” says Nick.

Boats only need to be nearby the island for a stowaway rat to threaten the whole

island, says one of the island owners, Sir Michael Fay. The distance from the mainland to Great Mercury Island is too far away for rats to swim. Intensive checks will continue throughout November as a part of the incursion response. Stopping pests getting onto boats is by far the best way of protecting islands.

The rat on Great Mercury Island highlights the importance of boat users remaining vigilant with what is on their boats, as the protection of the islands is everyone’s responsibility. “The public are a huge asset for Great Mercury” says Sir Michael. “The island relies entirely on the visiting public to remain pest-free.”

The eradication of rats and cats from 1872ha of Great Mercury Island took four years to complete; two years of planning and two operational years. It was the last of the islands in the Mercury group to be made pest free, and the only one accessible to the public. The recovery of wildlife on the island has been faster than expected, with species like the black petrel number increasing noticeably. The chicks were prey to rats.

Clearing rabbits and rats from Great Mercury came nearly a generation after Stanley, Red Mercury and Cuvier islands, were also cleared of pests in the 1990s.

Removing the predators will enhance the presence of lizards and seabirds and also assist in the conservation of threatened and at

risk plants on the island. One of the reasons Ahuahu Great Mercury Island needed to become pest-free was to prevent the island becoming a landing stage for reinvasion of the other islands. Rats can swim the distance from Ahuahu Great Mercury to Stanley, Red Mercury and Cuvier islands.

Greatest challenge

“The greatest challenge will be getting everyone to play their part in making sure the island remains pest-free,” says Sir Michael. “Ahuahu Great Mercury has been freely accessible by boat for the public since we took over ownership in the late-1970s and it will be a significant future risk that rats, for instance, could reinvade from privately owned boats.”

The other six Mercury Islands are incredibly sensitive nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries with tens of thousands of seabirds and home to the impressive Mercury Islands tusked weta, which was perilously close to extinction before being released on further pest-free islands.

Most islands on the Eastern Coromandel are pest-free including Cuvier Island, the Ohinau Islands, Castle Island and the Aldermen Islands.

If you see anything suspicious on or around islands, please contact the Department of Conservation hotline: 0800 DOCHOT.

By Andrew Campbell

28 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016

In Brief Yakityyak Kayak Club Sunday 11 December - Waihi Beach Explore the coastline of the Orokawa Scenic Reserve. Contact Estelle 022 0918 605/ bopyakityyakkayakclub@ gmail.com Surf Life Saving NZ Saturday 17 December - The Mount Monster presented by Dexion A 5km Beach Run, A Rock Jump & 1.5km swim, A 12km Ski paddles & finishes with a 6Km board paddle. Held at Mount Main Beach 7am start. https://www.facebook. com/TheMountMonster/ Monday 2 January Whangamata Surf Boat Spectacular 10am. Long course with run finish.

Saturday 21 January - Papamoa

Junior Surf Carnival At Papamoa SLSC, 561 Papamoa Beach Rd 8am. info@papamoalifeguards.co.nz Sunday 5 February New Zealand Representative Surf Boat Challenge. Waihi Beach 8am – 12pm.

Thursday 2 March Under 14 NZ Surf Life Saving Championships (Ocean’s 17) at Mount Main Beach March 2-5.

Mount Maunganui Yacht Club Saturday 28 January - Whangamata Race & Coastal Series 3 Starts at Whangamata this year.

To list your water sports event please email: julie@thesun.co.nz with Water Sports in the subject heading.

CLASSIFIEDS For Sale VOLVO MTR 200 HP x1 $11,500. 130 HP $8500 or to be run in. May trade.

Ph 07 843 4392 or 027 620 9712 12ft ALUMINIUM DINGY PLUS TRAILER. Trailor needs some repairs. $1,200.

Phone 07 576 6443.

CATAMARAN 30ft Great Barrier Express. Fast and exciting boat to sail. With Mooring at Tanners Point. $30,000. Ph 027 207 3808 MOORING in Town Basin for sale or rent. $4,000. Ph 027 207 3808 FREE construction frames for a 28ft trailer sailor. Call David Blackley 07 542 0077

For Rent 16M MARINA BERTH – for rent at Bridge Marina $600 per month. Ph 027 492 4988 MOORING TO RENT – Whangamata. Good spot, close to Marina channel. $25 p/w Ph 022 132 3671 MOORING TO RENT – Bridge Marina Tauranga, close to shore $25 week.

Call Nigel Taylor 022 132 3671 MOORING FOR RENT Town Reach Highly sought after area due to the shelter from prevailing W & SW winds. Private car park & boat ramp for mooring owners only. Just serviced to new heavier Specs. Suitable for boats up to 12m. $32 per week. Mooring also available Tairua/Pauanui $25 per week. Call Scott - 021 511 151

Wanted WANTED Volvo 200HP or 230HP and Perkins Phone 07 843 4392 or 027 620 9712.

WANTED Farr 6000 in good condition, phone Don 0212501100

Trades and Services BATTERIES Battery Direct Nz www.batterydirect.co.nz sales@batterydirect.co.nz 0800 267 468 BOAT MAINTENANCE Matamata Motor Trimmers & Upholstery Boat clear, canvas work, upholstery Ph: 07 571 4421 CNR Mirrielees & Cross Roads, Tauranga FINANCE AFB Accept Finance Brokers Ph: 07 574 0002 or 027 4435524 7 Days

Weeding spot checks this summer Spot checks of boat hulls are going to be taking place this summer as Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff and contractors carry out spot checks to prevent the spread of marine pests.

“There’s a real risk of marine pests being introduced to Tauranga Harbour by recreational boats that travel here from pest infested waters such as Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf,” says BOPRC biosecurity officer Hamish Lass.

“If we find any pest-infested hulls, the boat owners will be asked to haul out and have their hull cleaned.”

Local boaties can help protect the harbours they love by keeping their moored boat hulls clean and anti-fouled.

“A harbour full of clean hulls will slow the spread of pests if they do manage to hitch a ride on a visiting boat. “‘No more than light slime, all the time’ is the golden rule so marine pest spores can’t latch on and grow unseen in the fouling fuzz. It also pays to double-check your hull and inspect any underwater nooks and crannies on your boat before you head off to somewhere new.”

Reaching the difficult targets Mike Brown is after the people who don’t usually attend boating courses and who are often over-represented in boating fatalities.

“We know that Maori, Pasifika and new arrivals traditionally have a very low uptake of courses such as Day Skipper or Boatmaster,” says Coastguard Boating Education’s new general manager.

“We have to change that if we want to reduce the number of people getting into trouble on our waters.”

Mike has an extensive background in both outdoor activities and education, is determined to accelerate CBE’s move into offering courses online.

“Education is changing rapidly and it is great to see Coastguard Boating Education embracing new ways of delivering courses,” says Mike.

“People learn in a variety of different ways and it is important that we offer learning methods that are both enjoyable and which cater to everyone.”

Boating funding boost A substantial funding boost is behind a raft of boating safety initiatives this summer.

Maritime NZ’s Safer Boating Week funding package was increased from $124,000 in 2015 to $470,000, with $62,000 of that allocated to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

It means there will be people at boat ramps handing out information packages and offering workshops on how to service inflatable life jackets.

BOPRC staff will also be madding presentations to clubs, groups, colleges, and ramping up on water enforcement.

About 20 workshops are being lined up for the summer.

The funding comes from the road tax boaties are paying on fuel for their boats.

The increased funding means thousands more boaties will now be reached through face-to-face training courses, school programmes, smartphone apps, subsidised ‘Old 4 New’ lifejacket upgrades, and many more initiatives.

“Our aim is to support community programmes that help boaties be safer,” says Safer Boating Forum chair and Maritime NZ deputy director Lindsay Sturt.

“We are helping groups and regional councils to do more to interact directly with boaties.”

WATERLINE 29

DECEMBER 2016

Bay of Plenty of fish...

Here It comes, Summer! For a lot of people and boaties, thoughts turn to getting out on the water with family and friends and enjoying what this magnificent area has to offer.

There are boundless opportunities for everyone get out and get amongst some of the best fishing and boating the country has to offer.

Much maligned as ‘The Bay of Empty’ by some, this could simply not be further from the truth. From the harbour shallows to the blue water, the Bay is full of fish and with some thought and planning for intended trips there should be very few reasons to return to the ramp empty-handed. The warm water is on its way, those of you that follow the SST Sea Surface Temperature charts will be well aware of the movements of the water that bring the game fish into our waters.

The outer reefs are producing some excellent Kingfish and from the land and boat our harbour has already produce some fantastic Kingfish from both lures and live baits. The snapper and trevally are already moving in to the usual areas and the inshore fishery has been fantastic throughout the year with snapper in abundance all winter.

Try and stay away from fishing in the middle of the day; while this will works for some species it’s generally a harder time to fish. You will see experienced fishers leaving very early in the morning and often returning home by 9am with the bin full; or alternatively later in the day to take advantage of the evening change of light. This is also probably a good time to have a think about some etiquette to make the fishing experience enjoyable for all.

First let’s consider the boat ramp environment. For some a bit daunting; for others and run of the mill activity. When arriving at

the ramp, as most do, prepare the boat away from the main launching area. All the local ramps have plenty of room to park, remove tiedowns, load the boat and get ready, doing this on the launching ramp causes congestion for all and some frustration for the more experienced. A good idea we have is the bung goes in before the trailer is connected to the car, a good habit to get into. The success of a lot of good fishing trips has a lot to do with being able to get into an area free of boat traffic. With this in mind, there is a couple of things to consider. We understand it’s not always possible to completely avoid these but if you think about it you will might make your own experience more successful. So, particularly in shallow water, if you see a boat with its bow facing away from the direction the wind is blowing, they will probably be drift fishing and looking at approaching fish in front of them. In this situation it’s a good idea to try to pass behind the boat instead of driving across the drift line, which will more than likely have an influence on the fish these anglers are targeting. Conversely, if you’re approaching a boat that has it’s bow into the wind, there is a good chance they are on anchor and straying out the back of

the boat, have most likely spent some time setting a berley trail to bring fish in behind them. In this situation try to pass in front of that boat so as not to spook the fish they will have worked so very had to get lined up behind them.

Probably the last one we hear about is the people that will drive up to anchored boats to ask how the fishing is going, not a good idea particularly if the fisher has gone to some effort to put their boat in to a place to get away from the traffic. There are just so many places to get information of where the fish might be now that everyone has access to upto-date data so this should last one should not be necessary. With the equinox winds coming in a bit later this year and with them being from the westerly quarter consider areas in the lee of the wind like the front of Matakana and the Papamoa coast; all will be sheltered and will produce some excellent fishing for the next few month. Get in close 3m-7m out of the wind, set a berley trail and be patient.

They will come, it might not happen in 10 minutes but if you’re prepared to wait and have considered when you are there, it’s a very abundant fishery. Tight Lines.

By Phil Phishy

Foreign interference on VHF A complaint by a northern harbour fisherman about foreign sounding operators using the new Waihi Beach Coastguard channel 7 as a chat channel have unveiled an almost forgotten radio phenomenon.

They sounded like Asian and South African fishermen, and they could have been talking 1000km offshore, unaware they were blocking Tauranga fishers contact with Waihi Beach Coastguard.

Operation support at NZ Coastguard Eastern Region Murray Whitehead says it’s called skip over, and it appears in hot weather.

“It’s happening today because this weather’s so good. You will get interference from offshore. It happens every year about this time in the summertime. They could be miles offshore. It just bounces off the atmosphere it travels for miles.”

Skip-over or skywave is also known as tropospheric ducting. VHF transmissions which are normally limited to line of sight or about 100kms, bounce off the ionosphere, which does not normally reflect VHF transmission waves.

Skip-over tends to happen during periods of stable, anticyclonic weather. When the VHF transmission encounters a rise in temperature

in the atmosphere it refracts or bends the signal. Signals can be sent 1300km.

It doesn’t work so well in mountains or where there’s undulating terrain between the transmitter and receiver. Sea paths also tend to produce superior results.

Wikipedia says in in Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, tropospheric ducting conditions can become established for many months of the year to the extent that viewers regularly receive quality reception of signals over distances of 1600 km. Such conditions are normally optimum during very hot settled summer weather.

Tropospheric ducting over water, particularly between California and Hawaii, Brazil and Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia, Strait of Florida, and Bahrain and Pakistan, has produced VHF/UHF reception ranging from 1600 – 4800 km. A US listening post was built in Ethiopia to exploit a common ducting of signals from southern Russia.

Tropospheric signals exhibit a slow cycle of fading and will occasionally produce signals sufficiently strong for noise-free stereo.

DECEMBER 2016

30 WATERLINE

A piece of New Zealand game fishing history

Tuatea was built by Lane Motor Boat Company at Panmure Auckland in 1954 of kauri carvel construction.

Originally powered by a petrol engine this vessel was purchased by a Tauranga boatbuilder and skipper Ron Elliott in the 1960s and was put into survey repowered with a diesel and used for charter fishing in the Mayor Island waters.

Being a bit of an entrepreneur, Ron was the first to have a fly bridge on the Mayor Island

waters, and the cris-cross trellis outriggers were also a first for Ron. He later survived the Wahine storm at Mayor Island in 1968.

Tuatea changed hands and was purchased by another well-known skipper Maurice Mitchell, from Whitianga, who later moved to the Bay of Islands.

Tuatea became a well-known charter vessel in the Bay of Islands with many record fish hauled aboard.

Tuatea is now on the market in need of some TLC to bring her back to her former glory.

Now out of survey, 12 metres in length, powered by a 135hp Ford diesel, Tuatea cruises at eight knots.

There are two stations, a toilet, shower, fridge/freezer, gas stove/oven and she sleeps six.

Electronics consist of VHF, GPS/Chart plotter, fishfinder auto pilot. Priced to sell at $35,000.

A piece of New Zealand game fishing history in need of restoration.

Contact Brian Worthington, Gulf Group Tauranga.

Changes to VHF channels New Zealand moved early on an international requirement to change over some maritime VHF repeater channels to make space for newlyallocated international services for ship tracking and data services.

Affected New Zealand services are Coastguard VHF repeater services, and all NowCasting weather services which were changed over on October 1, 2016.

The existing maritime Channel 16 used for safety, distress and calling purposes has not changed.

Current VHF radios will be able to access all the available channels after the changes take place, but some boaties may have to change to a new channel number to continue

accessing local repeaters, or listen to the weather forecast.

The biggest change is the new four digit maritime channels for the Coastguard and NowCasting weather service. These four-digit channel numbers are allocated internationally to new maritime channels. New Zealand will be using some of the new four-digit maritime channels for the Coastguard and privately provided NowCasting weather services.

Boaties will still be able to listen to weather channels on the current VHF set by dropping the first two digits and using the last two digits of the fourdigit channel number. For example, in the Waitemata Harbour where the new weather channel number is 2019,

you only need to use channel 19.

In the Bay of Plenty the weather channel changes from 22-79.

Coastguard channels on the Coromandel and in the Bay of Plenty also changed on October 1, 2016.

Whitianga

VHF 86 – 63

Tairua/Pauanui

VHF 86 – 63

Whangamata

VHF 84 – 04

Waihi Beach

VHF 85 – 07

Tauranga/Maketu

VHF 83 – 01

Whakatane/Opotiki VHF 80 – 18 Waihau Bay

VHF 63 – 65

Rotorua Lakes

VHF 81 – 02

DECEMBER 2016

WATERLINE 31

32 WATERLINE

DECEMBER 2016