My Account
Kawau Coastguard will hold an open day at the Sandspit Yacht Club marina on Saturday, June 26, from 10am to 2pm, and everyone is welcome.
The public will be invited to board Kawau Coastguard’s Naiad rescue boat, take a look at the engines and learn how a rescue operation is performed.
Crew members will share stories of local rescues and will be available to answer questions.
There will also be model cardboard rescue boats for children to take home.
The Kawau crew is looking to sign up 12 new volunteers to help share the load across crew members and make the vital service an easier job for everyone. Last year, the crew helped 239 people get home safe after 107 callouts.
Crewman Paul Steinkamp says the majority of callouts are from October to April, so now is a great time to join and get trained before summer.
He says joining Coastguard is a way to learn new skills and help people – sometimes saving them from a life and death situation.
“You don’t need a lot of boating experience. We will train you in basic boat handling and first aid, all the way up to more technical stuff like radio operation, navigation and search patterns,” Paul says.
New volunteer crew members are teamed up with senior members as well as a certified skipper when attending callouts.
Last month, crews assisted a yacht that had had an electrical failure in the dark at 7pm. Once on the water, the crew found that the forecasted 20-knot north-westerly wind was in fact a 35-knot gale.
Bouncing through the north channel with waves washing over the roof, they located the vessel one nautical mile from Te Arai after noticing the flashing of a hand-held torch.
On board, a frightened father and daughter were struggling for their lives as their boat threatened to wreck on the point. Crews took several attempts to toss a towline as the vessels pitched side to side.
Once it was tied, Kawau Coastguard slowly towed the yacht around Cape Rodney.
“There was a huge sigh of relief as the vessel was placed safely in the calmer waters of Leigh Harbour to sort out in the following days. They were very grateful to be alive,” Paul says.
In addition to volunteers to crew the rescue boat, Kawau Coastguard also needs “dry crew” volunteers for a variety of tasks. This can include performing mechanical maintenance, driving a tractor or selling lottery tickets.
Info: Email Paul Steinkamp at paulandpat@xtra.co.nz.
The property is for sale by negotiation.
Lighthouse donation to Coastguard NZ
Coastguard New Zealand will receive a $50,000 donation from the proceeds of the sale of a 25-hectare property on the headland at Cape Rodney, which has an operational lighthouse.
The lifestyle block at 100 Omaha Block Access Road has been listed by Bayleys Matakana agent Kellie Bissett. It has a capital value of $6.4 million.
Ms Bissett says the philanthropic-minded vendor has pledged to make the donation from the proceeds once the sale has been made.
The working lighthouse, at the tip of the headland, has been flashing since 1967. Today it is solar powered and fully automated. It has an LED light that projects 10 nautical miles into the Hauraki Gulf.
Coastguard chief executive Callum Gillespie says the lighthouse has been keeping mariners safe for decades and the donation will help continue the tradition of saving lives at sea.
The property also has a four bedroom 1980s cedar house and a shearing shed. It borders Goat Island Marine Reserve and has views to Little Barrier Island.
