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As the summer boating season gets underway, Kawau Volunteer Coastguard (KVC) has advice for boat owners that could save them a ruined day on the water – and help to reduce the coastguard’s workload, freeing them up to focus on more serious emergencies.
Over the past 15 months, KVC crew have responded to 109 callouts and rescued or brought home safely some 278 men, women and children.
The volunteers have put in around 4800 hours of their time, equating to about 200 hours per crew member per year.
The jobs range from deadly serious – such as the rescue of five fishermen whose boat overturned off Kawau island in the summer of 2022 – to the mundane, including callouts to boats whose owners cannot start the outboard.
To help reduce the number of the latter type of callouts, KVC offers the following tips for boaties:
• Make sure your battery terminals are clean and tight. Batteries with dirty or loose terminals are less likely to charge and will slowly run flat.
• Top up batteries regularly over winter. Salt water and moisture can coat the top of the battery in a damp film that can cause a trickle discharge, leading to a flat when you venture out in the spring.
• Leaving petrol in a can over winter can lead to condensation and water in the fuel, which can then stop your engine. Volatiles may also have evaporated and the petrol won’t work as efficiently. Put in new fuel at the start of your boating year.
• Similarly, diesel can be affected by “diesel bug” microbes that can cause poor engine performance. Repco and similar suppliers sell treatments for this.
• Always take enough fuel and two-stroke oil, if needed.
• Service your engine, check and change filters, plugs and oil.
• Check electronics and electrics, which salt water can damage. In bigger boats with cabins, using a dehumidifier over winter could help save you time for fault finding and money for repairs.
• Check your lifejackets: Even if they are solid, check that the stitching is good. You don’t want them falling apart if you land in the water wearing one.
• Do you have an EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) and if so, is the battery good?
• If your engine doesn’t start, remember a few basics. Is there fuel and oil? Is the engine in neutral? If your engine is turning over but not starting, leave it for five minutes in case you’ve flooded it.
Next, raise the engine so that the prop is nearly out of the water. This reduces back pressure on the exhaust and often helps the engine to start. This may seem obvious but, KVC says, “you would not believe how many times we go to a boat, put the engine in neutral, and it starts straight away”.
Finally, KVC encourages boaties to consider becoming members of coastguard. Annual membership is $130 a year, and members get coastguard services at no charge, whatever boat they are on. By comparison, coastguard services cost $350 an hour for non-members (although in an emergency or life-threatening situation, there is no charge).
If newcomers to membership specify the Kawau unit as being the recipient, KVC will benefit directly from the joining fee.
For more information, see: https://www.coastguard.nz/membership/welcome-to-coastguard-membership/ or call 0800 BOATIE (262 843).
KVCG also has a Givealittle page, for one-off or regular donations: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/kawau-volunteer-coastguard
