Coastguard

Busy as ever

Even with the dreadful weather over the last few weeks our vessels have spent well over 200 hours on the water during what is our busiest period – between December and February. With most trips consisting of at least 4-5 volunteers this equates to almost 1000 volunteer crew hours during this time and over 50 vessels and their families bought home safely.

The longest day was most definitely New Years Eve, where the crew spent over 19 hours on the water. Their day started with an urgent page out at 7am to Fisherman’s Cove and finished with a mayday around the Bean Rock area at midnight. This incredible team of volunteers didn’t make it back to Gulf Harbour until 5am on 1 January. Don’t let this put you off volunteering for us though, as most crew days on weekends are normally five to six hours.

With the weather events in January and February we were asked by Civil Defence if we would be able to respond if required inland with Hibiscus Rescue Two our 7.7m ‘Sealegs™’ and the full range of medical equipment carried on board. Thankfully we weren’t required but our hearts are with everyone who sustained loss during this time.

In January you may have seen our crew members out and about selling tickets for the Coastguard Summer Lottery at events such as the Orewa Lions Big Dig. For each ticket sold by our crew the unit receives 70% of the ticket price, which goes towards keeping our boats on the water, our crew trained and with the correct equipment to respond whenever necessary.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their support and also to thank the team at New World Orewa who support Coastguard Hibiscus year after year having our crew and the prize boat on display under their roof. We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to connect with our community while keeping our crew safe, dry and warm.

3 Brian Smith Drive,

0932 Phone: 09 688 2068