Every crew member aboard our Rescue Vessels and on our Air Patrols is a volunteer. A well trained seaman or pilot with professional qualifications, but always a volunteer.
Without these 2500 volunteers around the country New Zealand would have no Coastguard service.
These people provide around 240,000 hours of their time every year to make sure that our local boaties can enjoy the magnificent waterways that we have, secure in the knowledge that should anything go wrong Coastguard will be there to help.
Click here for more about becoming a Coastguard Volunteer
Click here to join Coastguard as a Supporter Member and demonstrate your support of our Heroes of the Sea
Darien Fenton gets an afternoon out with Coastguard
Taking time out of a hectic schedule to view first hand the work undertaken by Coastguard Professional Volunteers, made for a most enjoyable afternoon for Labour Party MP Darien Fenton.
As a member of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee Darien has been a strong advocate for the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill. With the Bill now passed, Coastguard and other Search and Rescue Organisations will see some of the fuel excise tax taken from leisure boaties reinvested back into education and search and rescue services.
This was a topic of discussion as Coastguard Winstone Rescue Vessel made it’s way out to the Kapara bar. Skippered by Roy Constable and crewed by Iain Gulliford and Adam Butler the 2 hour round trip was on relatively calm waters but demonstrated the challenges faced with the large harbour and surrounding coastline.
Coastguard Units provide an outstanding voluntary service, saving and assisting thousands of New Zealander’s each year.
The Kaipara Unit are keen to see saving lives at sea starting on land and have instigated a a youth programme called Junior Coastguard for children from the age of 8 up. For the younger members the emphasis is on teaching boat and water safety, while the 15 year olds and up go through the same training process as the regular Search and Rescue crew.
Next year they are hoping to raise funds for a smaller Rescue Vessel for training and inner harbour rescue work. Though there is a level of funding coming from Government, Coastguard could not operate without the continued, generous support of New Zealanders.
To support Coastguard or more information on Coastguard Kaipara contact Adam Butler Email: abutler@radioworks.co.nz
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