Coastguard – Successful search

All day, every day Coastguard volunteers around the region are on call to assist boaties who need a bit of help. Although weekends and evenings are the busiest times, there are quite often incidents during working hours where we are tasked to respond. Luckily many of us have understanding employers who support the community by freeing us up to head to our vessels and gear up when needed.

Recently Coastguard Hibiscus started out on a Thursday morning at 9am for a three hour training session which turned into a 10 hour day on the water. The crew were tasked to a 50-foot, 1.8 tonne Prestige launch that had engine issues. The launch was located on the Waiheke side of Motuihe Island and wanted to go back to Westhaven marina.

After locating the launch the crew took the vessel under tow but being such a heavy boat were only able to tow the vessel at five knots. The tow took over two hours to reach the marina where they transitioned from towing to tying the vessel alongside in what we call a barge. Our Yamaha engines then provided the power and torque necessary to safely manoeuvre the large vessel into its marina berth stern first.

After taking a quick breather at the marina the crew were then tasked to find a vessel that had engine troubles near the Aha rocks north of Waiheke. The vessel did not have a working GPS nor any communications other than a cellphone with patchy coverage which is a tricky situation to be in.

After searching the given area without success, the crew expanded the search to Maria Island and Rakino Island. They were then sent towards Matiatia on Waiheke Island as the target vessel said they could see ferries in the distance, but as they got closer to Matiatia still didn’t have any luck. They then headed over to the Kennedy Bay area in case the target could see the car ferries.

The Police launch Deodar had by then also been tasked to assist in the search. They headed to the northern coastline of Waiheke Island and while our crew searched further south, Deodar located the target between Owhanake and Oneroa. Upon arrival the crew checked all occupants were ok and proceeded to tow them back to Half Moon Bay boat ramp, before our crew finally headed back to Gulf Harbour to refuel and head home to their families.

Luckily this was a normal breakdown situation in calm weather and not a life-threatening emergency, as due to the vague location it took much longer than normal. To avoid this and to stay safe we recommend all boats have a VHF radio and if possible a GPS plotter.