Nelson Colyer boarded the tug and secured the salvage pump.  The two crew members were exhausted and feeling the effects of the swell and noxious fumes from the flooded engine room.  They handed over control of the tug to Nelson.  Nelson singlehandedly pumped the sea water from the tug, working both above and below deck.  He was able to control the ingress of water and maintain a level that would allow the tug to make way under its own steam back to Lyttelton.

This was a long trip (over 4 hours at 5 knots).  As the crew were exhausted, Nelson elected to remain on board and piloted the tug back to port.  He also had to deal with a crew member who became ill, as well as respond to engine difficulties.  Nelson also had to stop repeatedly to prime the pump and clear water from the tug.

The NZSAR Certificates of Achievement are awarded for an important contribution to search and rescue in the New Zealand Search and Rescue Region.  The certificate recognises Nelson’s commitment and the skills he demonstrated to bring the tug Rakanui and its crew to safety.

Christchurch residents got an insight into the city’s water rescue operations held at Naval Point in Lyttelton. Events included boat rides, tours of the coastguard’s lifeboats and a flyover from a coastguard air patrol plane.

Training each volunteer costs about $34 a week. The coastguard southern region has 301 volunteers, including 85 in Canterbury. Donations from the appeal will be used to support its volunteer programme.

Donations to the Mayday appeal can be made at Mitre 10 or by pressing the ‘donate now’ button above.

(courtesy of “Stuff.co.nz”)

Pic – Coastguard Skipper Dean Verlander with Burgundy Brown and Sky Carson

Paul says he’s never had a new car before.  ”Our old car is worth around $500″ he said, “and I’ve been building a jet boat for a few years, but I’ll give that away now”.   The family has done some boating on Lake Benmore previously and is looking forward to getting their new boat after Easter when its built.  Janette is not too keen on the idea of boating at sea, but Paul thinks his mates will be up for it.

Paul is a keen purchaser of Coastguard Lottery tickets.  ”I stopped buying the Lotto tickets and bought Coastguard tickets, and its paid off” he says.  Paul got an invitation to purchase tickets for the next lottery this week and is hoping to get lucky again.  

Jim Scott, Coastguard South Canterbury presented the keys to the new car to the family, along with Coastguard Southern Region Manager, Cheryl Moffat.  ”Such a lovely family” says Cheryl, “they haven’t told anyone of their good fortune yet, so it was lovely that the Timaru Herald came down to take a picture for tomorrow’s paper.  What a surprise for their family and friends”.

We wish him and the new First Lady of Canterbury, Vicky, the very best of luck!

Pic – new CEO, Patrick Holmes, meets new Coastguard Canterbury President Greg Skene

It’s thanks to Ferguson he was home yesterday with wife Te Aue, mum Ann, children and grandchildren. “This is what I stayed alive for,” he said as family members sat out in the garden enjoying the warm early autumn Invercargill evening. One thing he wanted to do was meet the young man whose sharp senses ensured he would get out of the water alive after his incredible feat of endurance. “I will never forget him, that face on the back of the boat.” And then Ferguson came through the gate in the back fence. The two men with a love of the sea and of their families embraced. 

“Hey man, thanks so much bro’,” Reedy said.

“I’m just glad you’re here,” replied Ferguson.

“I don’t know how you saw me.”

“I didn’t see you.”

The two men then talked through the rescue and the harsh events of the previous few days, as well as agreeing they needed to get together again when things were calmer. There were also hugs from Te Aue Reedy: “Thank you for bringing my husband home,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.

Earlier in the day, 28-year-old Ferguson told how he heard a yell from the rolling waves of Foveaux Strait as the coastguard boat headed for the area where an oil slick had been sighted.

“I looked around and could see probably 100 metres to the port of us and probably behind us, I could just see a red bobbing petrol tin.

“I yelled to the skipper that we had a target so we turned around and as we got closer I noticed it was Dallas holding on to the petrol tin.”

For Ferguson, spotting Reedy was “like a sigh of relief – we were just hoping we would have found more”. Now the community of Bluff and their extended families are mourning the loss of more of their people to the treacherous waters of the strait. (stuff.co.uk 18.03.2012)

This morning our volunteers rejoined the search off the north of Stewart Island and the photo shows the search tracks for ‘NZAS Rescue’ from Bluff, and ‘Russell John Chisholm Rescue’ from Riverton.  Andy Johnson, President of Coastguard Bluff says ‘the conditions in the Strait are much better today and are making it easier for our guys to search.  We have 6 volunteers on NZAS Rescue and they are taking spelling each other between searching and managing the vessel”.   Its good practice to rest your eyes as looking out across the sea for too long reduces your effectiveness.

Patrick joins Coastguard with considerable experience in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors with his more recent role being that of the Chief Executive Officer of Amnesty International New Zealand.

He brings to the role a strong sense of leadership, a depth of knowledge around fundraising and the ability to develop and maintain close working relationships with the wide variety of sectors that Coastguard crosses… We look forward to working together to continue the positive change to Coastguard as we bring the vision of ‘One Coastguard’ into reality.”

Pics:  Coastguard Kaikoura; new tractor for ‘Kaikoura Rescue’.

The Police Dive Squad arrived at 11.30am and the body of the 32-year old male from Wainoni was located at 12.30pm near the last known location.

Over 130 special Canterbury earthquake awards were handed out at yesterday’s one-year anniversary memorial service held in Hagley Park, Christchurch.  Of these 5 awards were presented to Coastguard units. The awards acknowledge people who undertook acts of kindness, service and heroism during the earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011. Volunteers from Sumner Lifeboat Institution, Coastguard Canterbury, Coastguard Waimakariri-Ashley Lifeboat, Coastguard Kaikoura and Coastguard Canterbury Air Patrol, assisted in the days, weeks and months that followed performing a range of tasks in support of emergency response.

City Mayor Bob Parker said the awards recognised people who stepped up during extraordinary times to support their community. ”The people and organisations receiving awards next week are just the tip of the iceberg of the heroes in our community who put their personal lives aside to aid strangers around them during the earthquakes” The Press 22/02/012

The activities of the units were wide and varied following the aftermath of the quake… volunteers from Sumner ran ‘Incident Management’ for Sumner Fire Brigade; all volunteers assisted in welfare centres across Christchurch and many assisted Civil Defence when cordons where reduced within the city, helping residents and business owners to go back to their homes and businesses in the red zone to secure properties and remove valuables.

Lt Col Stefan Michie, 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment who was facilitator of cooperation between a number of agencies had this to say about our volunteers “I cannot say how relieved I was to be able to rely on a group of people who were devoted to their duties, well disciplined in performing them, highly organised themselves and good at organising others; and to top it all off, equipped with and trained in the operation of their own radio net. The Coastguard should be very proud of the fine service rendered by the volunteers who worked around Christchurch in those days and weeks.”