Dene Madden, President of Coastguard MacKenzie Lakes reports “We went to help as safety boats for the Timaru Yacht and Power Boat Club ‘Aviemore Classic’ yacht race. We had 2 boats at Aviemore on Saturday and Sunday helping, with the crew rotating through each boat on both day”. As well as this a further 6 volunteer crew were on standby in Twizel in case of any problems on the other local lakes. Coastguard South Canterbury was managing the Coastguard safety boats for the yacht races and had crew participating. As a very new Coastguard unit Coastguard Mackenzie Lakes does not yet have a dedicated rescue vessel and members are currently using their own vessels. Coastguard towed a yacht both to the race and then home from the race on Sunday as the auxiliary motor would not start.

On Monday the same 2 boats were out on Lake Benmore available to assist, and unfortunately came across 4 boats where the Skipper had not ensured the occupants were wearing life jackets and offered some friendly advice. A broken down boat with fuel problems was towed back to the harbour on Lake Benmore.

Dene says “It was great fun and very good training for us working in with another unit, with a large number of boats in very close proximity to each other, to see and work with a club that has a very good safety policy in place for the race. Coastguard South Canterbury gave us a very good briefing when we turned up on the Saturday morning and this was most appreciated.”

A new Wakatipu water safety public awareness campaign has been launched, urging people who see danger on the water to call 111.

The “See Something? Do Something!”campaign, which begins today, was created by Coastguard Queenstown in association with long-standing sponsor Queenstown Airport Corporation.

Coastguard Queenstown president Carl Porteguys said everyone should know exactly what to do if they feared for people’s safety on the water.

“We want to get a clear message out there that saving lives on our lakes and rivers depends on immediate action.

“The first thing people should do if they witness reckless boating behaviour or see something that endangers life is call the police on 111.

“No ifs, no buts.”

He said if police were not advised of these situations straight away, they could not take timely and appropriate action that might involve requesting assistance from Coastguard Queenstown.

“There have been occasions when lives have been saved by the public calling 111 when they saw people heading out under-prepared.”

Coastguard New Zealand, Water Safety New Zealand, local police, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and water-based tourism operators have pledged to help spread the word.

Posters and fliers will be distributed around highly visible sites around the region.

Advertising will be supported by special training events and school visits by members of Coastguard Queenstown’s volunteer crew.

Mr Porteguys said the campaign was targeted specifically at the needs of the Southern Lakes, with a target of zero search and rescue call-outs for Coastguard Queenstown.

“Most people know to wear a life jacket, but many visitors don’t know how quickly weather can deteriorate in our alpine environment.

“It’s our responsibility, as locals, to protect these visitors and each other by reporting any boating activity that could potentially cause harm.”