Kawau Coastguard – Information day invitation

On Saturday September 19, Coastguard Kawau is holding an open afternoon for anyone interested in learning more about the Coastguard service and possibly volunteering. Come down to Sandspit Yacht Club Marina for a chat and a look around our rescue vessel.

Where: Sandspit Yacht Club Marina jetty to the right of the boat ramp.

When: Saturday September 19, from 12.30 to 3pm.

Based at Sandspit, we provide rescue services to boaties from the Mahurangi Harbour up to Leigh/Goat Island and out to Little Barrier Island and beyond. This includes the popular Omaha boat ramp and fishing grounds around Kawau Island.

The majority of Kawau Rescue’s callouts are between Labour Weekend and Easter, but we still get a steady trickle of jobs during the winter months. While we may get three or four callouts per week during the summer, this may drop to one or none a week during the winter.

Looking back at mid-June to mid-August this year, we had a reasonable level of callouts that mirrored the weather and the Matariki long weekend.

We saw:
• Five mechanical issues, that ranged from a broken gearbox to a broken throttle cable.
• One jet ski that sprang a leak (possible seal failure) and needed recovering, with rider, to the shore.
• One drifting kayak in the Mahurangi River with no sign of an owner.
• One out-of-fuel boat that was returning from a fishing expedition.
• One false alarm of a swimmer in trouble off Omaha. (It is always better to raise the alarm than not report it, only to find out later that there really was a problem.)

Overall, these incidents were all over our area from the Mahurangi River to Great Barrier and Omaha Bay. And the crews spent anywhere from one to eight hours in the boat responding to the issues.

I did some calculations once and the average callout time on the boat for the crew is around five hours. As an average that means that often we are on for longer, or if lucky, shorter times. Many volunteers contribute between 15 to 200 hours a year.

If you’re interested in volunteering, but can’t come then, or just want more information before you come, check out our website, www.coastguardkawau.org.nz/join-the-crew .

If you can’t come but would like more information, you are also welcome to send an email to president@coastguardkawau.org.nz