Omanu surf Petrol Captain, Mike Swan (in Hat) and Liam Brown. The club deserately needs new equipment including IRBs this summer.
The surf patrol season starts in a week but local surf lifesavers at the largest club warn they desperately need more equipment. Dawn Picken reports.
Bay of Plenty's largest surf lifesaving club is "dangerously low" on essential equipment just a week out from the official start of the summer season.
Omanu club director Dennis Mundy said the club had plenty of people supporting it but desperately needed equipment such as four-wheel drive vehicles and boats. "We have great membership, but they're not here to pay for gear. We're dangerously low on transport," he told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
The club's wish list includes two four-wheel drive vehicles, as well as inflatable rescue boats (IRBs).
It is hoping to get sponsorship for capital items and is working with the Tauranga City Council for a new vehicle-access ramp, due for completion before patrols start.
Warm weather has effectively started the season early but volunteer patrols start at Labour Weekend. Paid regional guards from Eastern Bay of Plenty Surf Life Saving work from mid-December until the first week of February.
Omanu has about 800 members including 30 level-one lifeguards, nearly all of whom are volunteers.
New this year is a mobile patrol station at Tay St where regional guards will patrol during the week, and volunteers from Omanu (with help from the Mount Surf Life Saving Club) will cover weekends from December 27 to January 11.
Mr Mundy said the artificial reef at Tay St, which posed risks for swimmers, had already been partially removed, but it would take time for the sea to return to its natural state.
"I wouldn't anticipate positive change for the next 18 months. The rips are always going to be there. How fast they are gonna be, how far they stretch out is the question," he said.
Omanu turns over $100,000 per year in operations and capital expenditure. The national organisation funds general operations, but most of the local club's budget comes from sponsorship and community grants. "We always have our cap in hand," he said. "Everyone does it for love."
Also doing it for love are members of the Papamoa Surf Life Saving and Mount Maunganui clubs.
Mount general manager Glenn Bradley, who has been involved heavily in the search for rogue-wave victim Jack Dixon, says lifeguards are "in catch-up mode".
Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club captain Shaun Smith said up to 150 of his volunteers patrolled 14km of beach. He urged beachgoers to talk to lifeguards before swimming to learn about conditions and rips.
"Our biggest job is preventive. We don't want to do any rescues. We want to be out in public talking to them and keeping them safe," he said. The Papamoa club had about 700 members and a wish list of $200,000 in equipment - two four-wheel drive vehicles, plus maintenance and replacement of IRBs.
"Most are 10 to 12 years old, which is pretty old."
Mr Mundy and other club leaders warn they would be stretched this year. "Pyschologically, lifeguards have already figured the season has started. No-one anticipated Jack but what gets me is board riders made the choice to be out there [during the October 1st king tide, in large swells]. Jack didn't make that choice."
Mr Smith said it was important to assess conditions before entering the water. "I was searching for Jack and I and another lifeguard rescued three or four board riders. They were probably new to it. Waves were perfect for surfing but massive for anyone who hasn't spent time in the water."
Mr Mundy agreed, saying the clubs were well supported by local board riders but "any gumby can get in a rip and it'll take you out.
"The face of the waves was five to eight metres on average last Wednesday. One guy they found his board with him on the bottom of it. You've got 11 seconds to get your s*** together and get out."