Media Release November 28th 2012

Local Coastguard Volunteers Recognised for Their Service

Coastguard Kawau received the Coastguard Northern Region Rescue of the Year (Hauraki Operational Area) award last night at their training evening. The award acknowledges their commitment to a rescue on January 7th, 2012.

Miles Glover, Thelma Wilson, Don Scandrett, James Sanders, Vincent Lochmann and Ian Suckling responded to a call out that was successfully completed in testing conditions. With a 2-3 metre swell and between 30-40 knot winds, Kawau Rescue and its crew faced adverse conditions for seven hours in the pursuit of saving lives at sea.

In recognition of their efforts and professionalism, they were presented with a certificate by Coastguard Northern Region’s Unit Support and Operations Manager, Ray Burge.

Mr Burge says, “Coastguard Northern Region is extremely grateful to all those who donate their time and this rescue is an outstanding example of the dedicated passion our volunteers have to the organisation and our mission of saving lives at sea.

“The entire community benefits from the work of our volunteers and we’re so pleased to be able to extend our recognition to volunteers from units like Coastguard Kawau.”

The award forms part of Coastguard’s ‘People First Strategy’, an ongoing commitment by the organisation to recognise the many New Zealanders who donate their time and energy to keeping people safe on the water.

Miles Glover, Skipper on Kawau Rescue for this incident, says that they were thrilled to be the recipients of the 2012 award and look forward to continuing their work with Coastguard.

“It was a humbling experience to receive the award when surrounded by other dedicated volunteers in our unit who are just as much deserving as us”, says Mr Glover.

Coastguard Northern Region is the charity saving lives at sea. It has over 1,000 volunteers and in the last year has brought 4,615 people home to safety.

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About Coastguard Northern Region:

Coastguard is the charity that provides New Zealand’s primary maritime search and rescue service. The organisation operates from a network of four regions and 71 affiliated units that are located around the coastline and major lakes of New Zealand.

Coastguard Northern Region operates the area from Thames across to the Mokau River and everywhere north. They are based at the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre (AMRC) in Mechanics Bay. Each year the operations room at the AMRC receives over 100,000 VHF marine radio calls.

However, Coastguard Northern Region does more than rescues at sea. Generations of dedicated people have established an organisation that provides a wealth of services to every person using our harbours and beaches.

We provide a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service.

Install and maintain VHF radio repeaters throughout the Northern Region to enable mariners to communicate with each other over long distances.

Provide a 24 hour continuous weather forecast on marine radio VHF channels 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Accept trip reports from any vessel able to make radio contact.

Provide a range of boating education courses to ensure that boaties have a sound knowledge of their boats and the rules of the road at sea.

Coastguard’s Northern Region Maritime School gives boaties the skills they need for a safe and enjoyable time on the water. They have a range of theory-based and practical (RYA) courses available. These are aimed at encouraging people to get to know the boating rules and regulation whilst gaining the skills and experience to keep safe.

About Coastguard Kawau:

The Kawau Volunteer Coastguard was established in 1998. Based at Sandspit, approximately one hour north of Auckland, the unit has an operational area of Kawau Bay, Kawau Island, Mahurangi Harbour and extending to Te Arai Point out to Little Barrier Island. As the Northern most unit in the Hauraki Gulf, they could be expected to extend to Bream Tail if necessary.

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