Jared Clarke who is now going to make it to his engagement party, along with his future brother-in-law and grooms-man John Totty, and his best man Adam Faulks were retruning from a three day hunting and water-skiing camp at Stoney Creek, near Mt Burke, about 9.30pm when their borrowed 5.8m Crestacraft boat developed engine problems and became inundated by rolling white-capped waves.

The Coastguard launched two boats and seven volunteers at 11.10pm that night, and found the trio at 12.30am.  They returned them to shore by 1.30am.  

Coastguard Wanaka Lakes president Jim Talboys said the rescue was a major achievement.  Volunteer Graeme Vallance described conditions as ‘terrible’ while Mr Faulk’s stepfather, Trevory Campbell, said the lake was ‘like and ocean’.

“We are really grateful to the Coastguard for coming and picking us up in the middle of the night,” Mr Clarke said.  ”Were planning an appropriate thank you for them”.

The men, who were wearing life jackets and had cellphones, personal locator beacons and torches with them, removed heavier clothing and got ready to swim, feeling confident they could make the 50-100m distance to shore.  But they decided if they left the boat, they would have no control over where it went.  ”We got organised for all the bad things.  We had plans A, B and C,” Mr Clarke said.

The attempted to anchor and checked the points, oil and fuel again, but drifted several kilometres back towards Mou Waho Island, narrowly avoiding a reef to the east of it.  With intermittent cellphone coverage, it took some time to contact Mr Campbell, who alerted the Coastguard at 10.30pm.

(Otago Daily Times – thanks for the great article)

Coastguard Lake Brunner provided a safety patrol and report that one of the positives for them was a new volunteer signed up to join.

The Journeyman is believed to have sunk last week on 23rd of November and the body of local fisherman Peter Hunter was recovered the next day by the Coastguard crew.  Coastguard Southern Region Operations Manager and volunteers from Coastguard Canterbury who are based in Christchurch traveled to Timaru to assist the local unit and Police in the management of this operation.

Coastguard South Canterbury is a small Coastguard unit of seven active volunteers.  The Unit has been operating since 1994 and been involved in a number of search and rescue operations during that time.  In the twelve months to 30 June 2011 they gave 555 hours of service to their community, including 22 hours in search and rescue operations and 436 hours on training activities.

Two days later on the 21st November the Grey River was in flood and Police were concerned that residents in Totara Flat would be cut off.  Volunteers from Coastguard West Coast were put on stanby for 7 hours in case the home owners needed evacuating.  Fortunately the flood wates receeded and we were not needed.

Coastguard West Coast gets called to a variety of emergencies, 24% of the search and rescue operations since June 2008 have been due to flare sighings which have resulted in nothing being located and possibly due to atmospheric condtions.  The other main cause is due to boats capsizing or sinking.

The extraordinary efforts of Coastguard volunteers going above and beyond to keep Kiwis safe on the water over the past 12 months, was been recognised at the 2011 National Coastguard Awards on Saturday26th November in Nelson.

Five awards were presented to individual volunteers and Coastguard units in recognition of their outstanding service to the organisation. A special award was also presented to the Coastguard Canterbury, Sumner Lifeboat, Waimakariri Ashley, Coastguard Air Patrol and Kaikoura units for their valuable and heroic work with the earthquake recovery.

This year’s recipients worthy of commendation included Coastguard Waiheke Island helping to bring a crew home safely whose vessel had struck rocks in extremely rough seas and a volunteer’s 14-year tenure with Coastguard seeing him play an instrumental role in the impressive uptake in new recruits and reigniting the Unit’s passion for what they do.

Another winner’s commitment and desire to upskilling fellow crew members was worthy of honourable mention as was another going beyond the call of duty in the rescue of a two men aboard a sinking tug. Another volunteer was recognised for their hard work in driving the updating of the Communication’s Hub for his Unit which will soon be trialled throughout the Eastern Region.

Coastguard New Zealand President, Colin Small says, “Without the tireless dedication of our valuable volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to continue the work we do to keep New Zealander’s safe on our waters and bring them home when they’re in strife.

“We are pleased to be able to honour those exceptional individuals who make it all possible with these awards and recognise the commitment they show to Coastguard day after day without asking for anything in return.”

Coastguard is New Zealand’s primary provider of marine search and rescue services. It is made up of highly-trained volunteers who put themselves in harm’s way on a regular basis to ensure the safety of people at sea. This year 2,224 brave volunteers brought 6,996 Kiwis safely back to land and devoted a significant 348,346 hours to keeping New Zealander’s safe on the water.

“This year’s award winners have all shown outstanding service to Coastguard and their local boating communities, and our sincere thanks goes out to those volunteers for their commitment to saving lives at sea,” says Small.

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.”

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.”

Regional Volunteer of the Year – Doug Griffin

Doug Griffin is modest about his contribution to Coastguard but the 14 year veteran of Coastguard West Coast has been the driving force behind the unit’s growth as he held it together during a period with only four active members to today’s 21 volunteers.  Doug, the only currently qualified Skipper, turns out for every rescue, on water training activity and search and rescue exercise.

His contributions to Coastguard West Coast include holding the positions of Safety Officer, Training Officer, he managed the project to obtain a new vessel in 2009, and is currently working on the new jetty and lifter project, putting in many hours to liaise with builders and others.

Doug has also been a Coastguard Southern Region Board member since 2007 and was appointed Vice Chairman of this Board in 2011.

Coastguard Southern Region Manager, Cheryl Moffat, says “Coastguard is lucky to have volunteers of Doug’s calibre available to communities like the Coast, as along with his Coastguard commitments Doug is also involved with Civil Defence, the NZ Army Territorials, Greymouth District Council, and the Kennel Club to name a few”.

Rescue Volunteer of the Year – Nelson Coyler

Nelson Colyer isn’t into awards.  It took some doing to get him along to accept his award.  Nelson was recognised for his bravery in boarding the tug ‘Rakanui’ on 23^rd April 2011 when it was sinking off the Canterbury coast.  Coastguard was called out at 0100hrs when the Rakanui issued a ‘Pan Pan’ call and the Maritime NZ Rescue Coordination Centre tasked Coastguard with going to their aid.  When Nelson arrived on board Coastguard Canterbury’s vessel ‘Pub Charity Canterbury Rescue’ the two Rakanui crew were extremely exhausted and feeling the effects of a 2metre swell and noxious fumes from the flooded engine room.  Nelson boarded with the Coastguard salvage pump which he secured to the tug and proceeded to pump out the seawater working both above and below deck.  Coastguard vessels Pub Charity Canterbury Rescue and Blue Arrow Rescue remained on scene monitoring the state of the vessel and at the ready should Nelson and the tug crew have to abandon ship.

Nelson’s actions were most effective and he was able to control the ingress of water and maintain a level of water that would allow the tug to make its way under its own steam back to Lyttelton.  This would be a long, arduous trip over 4 hours at only 5 knots.  With both tug crew members exhausted, Nelson elected to stay on board and helm the Rakanui back to Lyttelton.  During the passage he had to frequently stop and prime the pump and clear water from the tug.

A Senior Crew member of Coastguard Canterbury, Nelson as one of the oldest members continues to show great determination, attitude, stamina and grit says Mark Appleton, President Coastguard Canterbury.  “Nothing is too much trouble for Nelson; he sets a good example for everyone with his great sense of humour.  We’re especially lucky to have his wealth of engineering experience.”  Mark says that they are very proud of Nelson’s heroic achievement in this rescue.

Operational Volunteer of the Year – Greg Skene

Greg is a newer recruit to Coastguard Canterbury joining the unit in 2009. He has been nominated for this award in recognition of his incredible determination and positive can-do attitude. Greg really came into his own following the earthquake on September 4^th 2011 when the lives of all Cantabrians changed forever. Greg initiated and was the driving force behind the Coastguard response to assist Civil Defence. With very little sleep or rest he tirelessly arranged rosters for the running and staffing of Welfare Centres around the city. He made up shortfalls in staff himself, once working 36 hours straight. Multiple units across the region relied on Greg to organise them into an effective responsive team. With Greg’s ability to build effective relationships across organisations and his guidance Coastguard volunteers were able to excel in every position that they were placed in. Following the February earthquake Greg worked closely with Civil Defence and secured Coastguard as the ‘go-to’ people to run a Welfare Centre encompassing multiple agencies. At all times he was ‘flying the flag’ for Coastguard – literally and figuratively. As time went on Greg was joined by Dean Verlander (another Coastguard Canterbury member) and between them they organised the red, yellow and green stickering of buildings around the CBD Red Zone, this led to Coastguard being asked by the Army to facilitate the opening of cordons around the city. By this time Greg was on first name terms with everyone at the Emergency Operations Centre including the Mayor Bob Parker. Greg gave a monumental effort, putting the people of Christchurch first, he didn’t leave his post until the job was done.

Lieutenant Colonel Stefan Michie has written Coastguard volunteer’s contribution to the earthquake response, he made special mention of Greg and Dean and I quote “Both Greg and Dean provided the vital ‘glue’ which held may plans together and allowed them to be effectively executed on the ground. They gave selflessly of their time and displayed little regard for their own personal comfort, showing great concern for those many thousands of Cantabrians who had been affected by the quake.”

Rescue of the year

The regional awards also acknowledge four Coastguard units Canterbury, Canterbury Air Patrol, Kaikoura, Sumner Lifeboat and Waimakariri Ashley for the contribution the units members made to their communities during the recent Canterbury earthquakes.

At 0435 hours on September 4^th, 2010 a 7.1 earthquake centred at Darfield caused widespread damage resulting in a Civil Defence response. On September 5^th Coastguard Canterbury contacted Civil Defence to ask if they could be of assistance. Initially 3 members were called upon to take on key logistical roles at the Linwood Welfare Centre. The response and efforts of Coastguard volunteers saw Civil Defence continuing to request support in all key roles. CIMS training, Coastguard IMT structure and the attitude of Coastguard personnel proved invaluable in the efficient and professional running of the Welfare Centre over 25 days, with 18 of our people involved per day – close on 5,000 hours of support. At the subsequent multi agency debrief comment was made that “should another event occur Coastguard should be called because of the contribution they have made.”

When the February earthquake struck Coastguard was called by Civil Defence and asked to report to Hagley Park. Coastguard volunteers were involved in assisting at the Burnside High School Welfare Centre under the guidance of Civil Defence, the next day they were retasked to Cowles Stadium. At the same time Sumner was effectively cut off from the rest of the city, Sumner Lifeboat members ran incident management for the Fire Brigade at Sumner allowing fire fighters to assist locals. Subsequently Coastguard was asked to assist and run a new Welfare Centre at Windsor School, for a week Coastguard volunteers ran the centre and all key taskings until it was closed. Coastguard volunteers from many units gave over 3,000 hours service during this period. After the closure of the Welfare Centres our volunteers were retasked to help the Police and Army with coordinating the opening of zones around the CBD, this task was completed over 6 weeks and involved 1,000 hours of support. In that time Coastguard helped business owners retrieve gear from badly damaged buildings so they could get up and running again, most memorable was the retrieval of essential business equipment from the 7^th and 8^th stories of the BNZ building in Cathedral Square saving 96 jobs. And then of course they were out again running the Cowles Stadium Welfare Centre after the June quakes.

During these difficult times Coastguard people have been selfless in their response. Members from many units worked together tirelessly and their professional attitude has led to commendations from many agencies