Acting Waihī Beach Coastguard radio facilitator Denis Henderson.
Acting Waihī Beach Coastguard radio facilitator Denis Henderson.
The Waihī Beach Coastguard are on the lookout for locals to get on their radio waves.
President Sam Dunlop would like to appeal to the people of Katikati (he’s based there himself) to get involved with something that really helps people and can in fact, save lives.
“It’s such anecessary role. We depend on our radio operators. It’s a big responsibility and so rewarding,” he says. Having said that, it’s also a relaxing role in a great facility as you can bring in a book - operators are just listening out for the radio.
Local people with local knowledge of the area are really good to have, Sam says.
Five of their skippers (masters) live in Katikati and radio operators are required for four-hour shifts once a week. They have just eight operators at the moment, which is “a little light”, and currently, some operators are doubling up on shifts. Ideally, they need 14 operators.
The role involves training on the VHF radio (Waihī Beach Coastguard is marine channel seven). They encourage all boaties to put in a trip report prior to their trip and close the report at the end of their trip.
Summer has been a quiet one, Sam says, due to the wild weather.
“Because of the weather and violent storms, it was very quiet through January and February. We had a lot less callouts but [what] we could also put that down to is that the safety messages are getting across to people.”
The coastguard is a voluntary, marine search and rescue organisation at Bowentown.
The unit was formed by a group of locals in 1990 after a fisherman lost his life on the Bowentown bar a year earlier.
The group realised that boating in the area was becoming increasingly popular but that the gateway to the open sea was a dangerous, ever changing, channel of water.
The unit owns and operates three rescue vessels - Gallagher Rescue, AVOCO Rescue and Mike Hall Rescue.
The Waihī Beach Coastguard assists and rescues vessels along the coastline from Whangamatā to Tauranga and eastwards past Mayor Island, an area of approximately 2500 square kilometres.
