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.

If you are an active member of Coastguard Mana and you didn't receive an email inviting you to register an account, please email Mark on admin@coastguardmana.org.nz.