Napier surf life saving club celebrates Christmas, missing key gifts

Pacific Surf Life Saving patrol captain Elsie Laugersen at the beach on Saturday, without the fast-response packs, e-scooter and radios stolen from the clubrooms off Marine Parade. Photo / Paul Taylor

Napier's Pacific Surf Life Saving Club has held its annual Christmas party with plenty of goodwill but without what would have been the greatest present.

The club is still missing the five marine VHF radios (Uniden and Digitech), Segway Ninebot ES4 E-scooter and two fast-response life-packs that were stolen in a midweek burglary at its Marine Parade clubhouse.

The burglary was discovered last Tuesday morning and had happened overnight.

Supporters of the club immediately offered some help, including donating two radios so that the club could carry out its patrols and Saturday and Sunday, and launch into the week-day lifeguard patrol which starts Monday and runs to the end of January.

The club had also been given some money, and a replacement e-scooter, which is needed to extend its watch over the beaches outside its patrol zone while riding the pathways from Ahuriri to Te Awa.

At the Christmas party on Sunday, club chairman Harry Machiela said: "Obviously we'd like the fast-response packs back."

But five days after the thefts he wasn't confident, saying: "We still hope, but (we're) not so hopeful."

The Pacific Surf Life Saving Club has been patrolling the beaches of Napier for 70 years, and each day at the weekend has four fully-trained lifeguards and one "rookie" on the beach from mid-morning to early-evening.

It was a busy time for the club midweek off the beach, taking part in discussions with the Napier City Council and Police about safety-awareness on the beaches of Napier, made treacherous by unpredictable waves, undertows and loose-footing.

A five-year-old boy died in an incident at the water's edge about 2km from the clubhouse on the Friday afternoon of December 10.