12m Ivan Talley Rescue

We don’t do this to be rewarded

The Coastguard West Coast volunteer crew are well trained in search and rescue operations.

In the twelve months to 30 June 2010 the 19 professional volunteers of Coastguard West Coast

• gave 7,248 hours of service, 50% up on last year
• spent 16 hours in search & rescue operations and 1,492 in training activities
• answered 13 calls for assistance from the public
• responded to 14 Police initiated search & rescue operations, a 180% increase over last year
• rescued 12 people

Since July 2010

Our Volunteers have

• given 519 hours of service
• spent 325 hours  in training activities and 3 hours in search and rescue operations
• Responded to 3 Police initiated search and rescue operaitons

Keeping our Community Promise – Saving lives at sea

The latest Search & Rescue operations involving Coastguard West Coast are

Red Flare Sighting in Tasman Sea

Coastguard West Coast volunteers were put on standby on Saturday 26th June when a red flare was sighted over the Tasman Sea offshore from Barry Town near Greymouth, at 8.35pm.    A possible vessel sighting was subsequently reported and a helcopter with night vision was dispatched but could not locate anything.  The Ivan Talley Rescue and its volunteer crew was stood down by Police at 10pm.

Woman’s Body Recovered from Lake Mahinapua

Volunteers from Coastguard Lake Brunner and Coastguard West Coast were called out on Sunday 13th June at 3.30pm to search for a missing woman who’s car had been found in the car park of Lake Mahinapua, south of Hokitika.  Police who held concerns for her safety, called out the two Coastguard  units to search the Lake.  Three Coastguard vessels were used in the search including MoA Rescue, which was provided by Coastguard for the local Coastguard Lake Brunner unit on 1st May.  This is the first time the vessel has been used in a local search and rescue operation.  Coastguard West Coast used their IRB vessels.

The search was called off on Sunday night due to poor visibility at 6pm and resumed at 9.30am Monday morning when the Police Dive Squad were assisted by Coastguard Lake Brunner volunteers in the search for and recovery of the woman’s body.

Fishing Vessel Lost All Power

5th January at 5pm Police tasked Coastguard West Coast to assist the fishing vessel Lalinka  which had lost all power 18 nautical miles west of Hokitika.  Coastguard volunteer crew members sourced an electrician and batteries and took them out to the fishing vessel in Ivan Talley Rescue.  Once the repairs had been completed and power was confirmed restored to the Lalinka they returned to Greymouth at 8.30pm.

Flare Sighting

19 January at 2215 hours Police tasked Ivan Talley Rescue and her volunteer crew to a flare sighting reported by a member of the public which was estimated to be 4 nautical miles west of Paroa, Greymouth.  Also dispatched was the local rescue helicopter.  A search of the area over 4 hours located only a fishing boat which had not seen any other vessels and was not in distress.  The Police stood down the search at 2am the next morning.

EPIRB Activation

16 January at 6am the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre tasked Coastguard West Coast volunteers to an EPIRB activation off the West Coast.  The fishing boat had not been able to be raised by VHF radio.  At 6.30am they were stood down as the fishing boat crew noticed the EPIRB activation and advised it had been set off by accident.

Man lost in Grey River evading police

20 September  Greymouth Police requested the assistance of Coastguard in locating a man who they believed had tried to swim the Grey River to evade Police after being involved in a motor accident at approximately 3.30am.   Coastguard West Coast professional volunteers were involved in an extensive search of the river and coast along with Land SAR, Police, the rescue helicopter and Surf Lifesaving.  After a 6.5 hour search no sign of the man was found and the search was scaled down.

Fishing vessel drifting?

31 August a fishing vessel was seen from shore apparently drifting and reported to Police.  Ivan Talley Rescue was tasked to investigate and headed out trying to make radio contact with the vessel.   After an hour the Coastguard volunteer crew managed to make contact with the vessel, which was not maintaining a radio watch, and ascertained that they were not in any difficulty and the operation was stood down.

Difficulty Crossing Bar

1^st January 2009 Police activated Coastguard West Coast to assist a canoeist who was in difficulty crossing the Grey River bar.

Volunteer with Coastguard West Coast

Saving lives creates a special camaraderie that is unique to those who have experienced it. But in typical Kiwi fashion, our crew’s prefer to remain humble about it. If you are prepared to put in the time and effort to be a Coastguard Professional Volunteer contact us by email.

We don’t do this alone

Coastguard West Coast could not operate without the continued, generous support of New Zealanders. To make a donation and join our team in saving lives at sea please use the ‘Donate Now’ button above to access our donations page and indicate Coastguard West Coast in the message section. Thank you for your support.

We acknowledge the special support of Talley’s

Where we come from

Coastguard West Coast was started in 1987.