Coastguard Welcomes Two New Units

Coastguard is proud to announce that more Kiwis will be safer on the water thanks to the addition of two new Units to its Southern Region in Mackenzie Lakes and Wanaka Lakes.

With these additions, the total number of Coastguard Units in the country has grown to 71, with the Southern Region now home to 17 of them.

Dene Madden, President of Coastguard Mackenzie Lakes, has been providing informal rescue support in the area for eight years, approaching Coastguard about becoming a formal unit in March last year.

"The area has received fantastic informal rescue help over the years thanks to the support of some truly dedicated locals including police and the local powerboating club. However, after helping out countless boaties in need and with another busy summer season around the corner, we really began to feel the need for some extra support.

"We want to make sure that our 26 local volunteers do the best job possible in keeping people safe on our popular local waterways like Lake Benmore, Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. Becoming a formal Coastguard Unit, located centrally in Twizel but drawing on support from the local towns, will help us to do just this as we're able to pull on the resources and guidance available from the organisation."

Jim Talboys, President of Coastguard Wanaka Lakes, previously worked as a skipper and controller for Coastguard in Auckland for 35 years.

He noticed that there was a rapidly growing number of people moving to the area and with recreational boating becoming an increasingly popular pastime, there was a clear need for more search and rescue support.

"The education, training and operational processes Coastguard provides will be of huge benefit to the Wanaka Lakes Unit.

"With 15 volunteers and more young people in the region enquiring about opportunities to join, formalising our position with Coastguard will help to ensure we maintain a high standard when it comes to operations on our local waterways," he says.

Regional Manager for Coastguard Southern Region, Cheryl Moffat, says that after looking at community support, population figures, search and rescue statistics and volunteer hours in both areas, they didn't hesitate to get the processes underway to formalise the units and welcome them into the Coastguard family.

"We could see that Mackenzie Lakes and Wanaka Lakes Units could benefit hugely from becoming an official part of the organisation and we're pleased that we can help ensure safe boating remains a priority in these communities.

"We are now working with both of these Units to provide them with the correct training and assistance to bring them up to a point where they will be fully operational."

To provide assistance on the water, the units are currently using vessels of opportunity borrowed from local volunteers. Coastguard will evaluate what type of vessel best suits the location relative to how search and rescue activity is tracking in these areas before making any decisions around new vessels.

For more information about Coastguard and the units in your area, please visit http://www.coastguard.co.nz

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