Coastguard New Zealand celebrated the organisation’s heroes over the weekend by announcing the recipients of its national awards.

Coastguard New Zealand CEO Bruce Reid said the Annual Conference which ran from the 12th to 14th of September, was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the organisation and the bravery of its personnel.

Click image to read article.

Mana Coastguard would like to personally thank the local boaties for their support during the search for the missing diver in the weekend (8 December). Special thanks go to Steve Voullaire of Mark Time and the boys from Florin who dropped what they were doing and provided their vessels to ferry out the Police Dive Squad and a relief Mana Coastguard crew to the search area.

Coastguard Mana helped coordinate the recent major search for a missing female diver who failed to surface near Boom Rock, a couple of miles north of Makara, Saturday 8 December.

The private dive trip of four friends ended in tragedy when the body of Ms Jacqueline Michelle Ngapera, 37, a mother of three, was found 24 hours after she went missing.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4098543a10.html

As Tulo Tuala clung to the side of an inflatable boat bailing in darkness, his thoughts turned to his brother who was lost at sea and never returned.

 

Believing he would suffer the same fate, he said, it was like seeing God when rescuers plucked him and his friend from their 2.5 metre boat about 9am yesterday.

(Budget reaction)
Friday, 18 May 2007, 1:24 pm

Press Release from Coastguard New Zealand: Government not interested in keeping Coastguard Afloat

Source: www.labour.org.nz

Here is a copy of the speech by Winnie Laban, MP for Mana and Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, for the official launch of CRV Pelorus on Sunday 25 March 2007.

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Ginger Gibbs, well known Auckland mariner, was a man who didn't appear to learn from hardship. After swearing he'd never do it again after achieving the record last year for the run between the Sydney and Auckland harbour bridges, he and his crew had planned another bone crunching challenge.

Fate struck Ginger a final blow on the morning of January 17th, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. His crew though, have determined to continue the challenge in Ginger's honour.

04 December 2006

By Lane Nichols (Dominion Post www.stuff.co.nz)

A "gutted" Papakowhai boatie is heartbroken after his $300,000 launch ran aground and sank during a fishing trip southwest of Pukerua Bay, Wellington.