with Nikki Latham
Hibiscus Coastguard
Christmas is our peak time for callouts. Over the holiday period Coastguard Hibiscus will be spending additional hours on the water patrolling the Whangaparaoa area (the unit is on callout 24/7, 365 days a year). In the excitement to take to the water over the festive season, don’t forget the following:
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Check the Marine Weather forecast and tell someone what your plans are.
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Ensure there is a lifejacket/PFD of the correct size for each person on board the boat. This is the skipper’s responsibility and a legal requirement.
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Check there is a waterproof torch (and spare battery for it) on board even if you are not planning to be out after dark. A torch can be used to signal for help – Morse code signal for an SOS is three short, three long, three short flashes. If you need to shine it in the direction of another boat, such as a Coastguard vessel searching for you, never point the torch straight at the boat as this will destroy the driver’s night vision. Instead point it down at the water where the vessel will be able to see the light.
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Take extra warm clothing and extra food and soft drinks. However hot it may be when you depart, the weather can change rapidly and if you are out after dark or get wet unexpectedly, end up on the end of a slow tow or aground having to await the high tide to refloat, you’ll be pleased you thought of these things.
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Always take relevant paper chart/s and a handheld compass, even if you have a chartplotter on board. If you lose power, a chartplotter won’t help you and you should always have a secondary means of fixing your position. Make sure you always know where you are with reference to a point of land or navigation light. We have had to locate boats broken down and lost “between a small island and a big island”. Unsurprisingly, these boats take much longer to assist than someone who can tell us exactly where they are.
For Coastguard assistance, call on VHF radio channel 80 or 82 for non-urgent, channel 16 for a distress call, or on cellphone 09 303 1303 or *500. It’s more effective to call on VHF radio as other boaties (including Coastguard crew) in your vicinity listening to the same channel can hear you and may be the fastest source of help initially; whereas on a cellphone you are only talking to one person and help may be slower to reach you. Cellphones are good secondary communication tool, but low batteries and patchy coverage areas are pitfalls. Always take more than one form of communication.
Safe Boating and Merry Christmas from the crew of Coastguard Hibiscus.
