5 December 2005
Local Man Coastguard’s Best Skipper
Our local boaties can take a lot of reassurance knowing that Coastguard train their crew to be amongst the best in the
country. Coastguard New Zealand CEO, Kevin Rangi, today named Riverton’s Chris Musgrave as the winner of the 2005 / 2006
Caltex Skipper of the year Award.
Chris began his involvement as a Coastguard volunteer when, as a commercial fisherman he became aware of the invaluable
work the organisation did. Just a year after joining the Unit, Chris was one of the Riverton Coastguard crew that
rescued five of the eight people on board a Cessna that crashed into Foveaux Strait. That incident was the catalyst that
saw him dedicate his time to Coastguard.
Coastguard New Zealand’s, Vice President, local man Ian Coard says of Mr Musgrave ”Chris’s abilities have been well
recognised for some time by the Riverton crew. As Coxswain he has put in a lot of time and lifted the team’s skills in
seamanship and boat-handling to a very high level – he’s always to be found somewhere around here.”
Chris’s win will take him to Canada’s highly esteemed RHIOT (Rigid Hull Inflatable Operator Training) School in Canada.
Professional American and Canadian seamen eagerly contest places on these courses where their boat handling skills are
challenged and developed in the most extreme environments.
Chris is only the second winner of the Caltex sponsored national competition. Caltex Card Marketing Manager Chris
Souness says of Musgrave’s award: “He is a very worthy winner, and we are extremely confident that he will bring back
from Canada some particularly valuable knowledge and experience to pass on to the Southland Coastguard Units.”
Fiercely parochial, the winner himself said jokingly “We may be falling off the edge of the earth down here but we can
foot it with the best of them. It's a great honour to represent Coastguard internationally, and to be recognised for all
the hard work we do as volunteers.”
Those doing any of Coastguard’s Dayskipper, Boatmaster, GPS, Radar, and elementary marine engineering courses in
Riverton might be lucky enough to benefit from Chris’ expertise. He tutors courses regularly at the Riverton
Coastguard’s Headquarters.
ENDS