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Coastguard Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay Volunteer Coastguard provides marine search and rescue services for the Hawke's Bay regi

A Special Visit to Coastguard Hawke’s BayYesterday, Coastguard Hawke’s Bay had the pleasure of welcoming Minister James ...
06/10/2026

A Special Visit to Coastguard Hawke’s Bay

Yesterday, Coastguard Hawke’s Bay had the pleasure of welcoming Minister James Meager and Katie Nimon from the National Pary to our unit.

The visit provided a great opportunity to sit down face-to-face and share an insight into how our unit operates, the area we cover, the types of Search and Rescue operations we undertake, and how we work alongside our fellow SAR partners to support the Hawke’s Bay community.

We were also able to discuss the realities of operating a volunteer Coastguard unit, including where our funding comes from, how that funding is used, and some of the areas where continued investment and support are important to maintaining and developing our capability.

As part of the visit, we showed James and Katie through our Coastguard building and aboard our rescue vessel, Celia Knowles (CK Rescue). This gave us the opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities both our facility and vessel provide to the wider Search and Rescue sector in Hawke’s Bay, and the important role they play in supporting our volunteers and our community.

Most importantly, it was an opportunity to share what Coastguard Hawke’s Bay has achieved over the years, the commitment of the volunteers who make it possible, and what we are continuing to work towards for the future.

On behalf of Coastguard Hawke’s Bay, we would like to thank Minister James Meager and Katie Nimon for taking the time to visit us, listen to our experiences, and learn more about who we are, what we do, and the capability we provide to the Hawke’s Bay community.

We greatly appreciated the opportunity to host you both and share the work of our unit.
Thanks
Matt Harvey ( President )

05/10/2026

Kia ora folks
Yesterday we had our annual sarex, (search and rescue exercise0 with our sar partners Surf and Police. We were fortunate enough to have one of New Zealand Surf Lifesaving's rescue manikins. With the addition of weights and floats the manikin is able to replicate various body sizes and so added a more realistic tone to our search.

A key part of the exercise is how our incident management team is able to bring together the different agencies into a cohesive team. The exercise took part off Westhore and our Base was used at the main planning base. The highly changeable weather bought its own challenges.

A valuable exercise with the summer season almost upon us.

Stay safe.

Henry
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

18/09/2026

Kia ora folks

A quick update from our Harbourmaster regarding the arrival of the barge Coronus tomorrow, Saturday.

Barge arriving in the Inner Harbour this Saturday ⚓

If you’re heading out on the water this Saturday, there are some temporary restrictions you need to know about.

The 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑠 barge is arriving in Napier’s Inner Harbour to begin work removing the Nelson Quay Wave Wall and Discharge Wharf – the next major step in our work to make the Inner Harbour safer.

The Harbourmaster has issued a direction to keep everyone safe while the tug and barge make their way into the Iron Pot.

On Saturday 19 September:

⛵The Inner Harbour channel will be closed to all other vessel traffic from 11am to 11.45am while the tug and barge are manoeuvring.

⛵All vessels must stay at least 100 metres clear of the tug and barge and must not impede their passage.

⛵No vessel can use the channel without permission from the Pilot on VHF Channel 12.

⛵Once the 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑠 is in position, a 5-metre exclusion zone will be in place around the barge while it is working.

The barge’s movements are dependent on tides and weather, so timings may change. If you’re using the Inner Harbour this weekend, please plan ahead, follow the Harbourmaster’s directions and take extra care around the work area.

🙏Thank you to our harbour users for your patience and support while we get this important work underway.

For full harbour master directions, see herehttp://www.hbrc.govt.nz/.../Harbourmaster.../HMD-04-2026.pdf

Stay safe.

Henry, Coastguard Hawke's Bay

Kia ora boaties, we have a few important safety messages from the Harbourmaster.Napier PortFrom the 12th of September th...
15/09/2026

Kia ora boaties, we have a few important safety messages from the Harbourmaster.

Napier Port
From the 12th of September the Port of Napier Limited will be conducting dredging operations in the main commercial channel. This will be conducted by the dredge New Era, and supported by the Survey vessel Mātai Awa. Both vessels will be Restricted in Ability to Manoeuvre (RAM) all vessels must not impede their passage. Both vessels will have equipment in the water hampering their ability to manoeuvre.
There is a moving prohibited zone around New Era 100m either side and 500m ahead, there is a 50m prohibited zone around the Mātai Awa. Both vessels will be listening on VHF12.

Inner Harbour
Tomorrow, Wednesday 16 Sept), there will be divers operating in the Iron Pot, please keep an eye out for their support vessel, she will be flying a dive (Alpha) flag. The dive supervisor can be contacted on vhf channel 16.

Wave Wall Removal
We are expecting, Cronus, a large (20m x 70m) barge on Sunday 20 Sept, this is very much weather dependant, so that date may change. Due to her size Cronus will enter the channel around the high tide, on Sunday this is 1222. The channel is closed while the barge is manoeuvring in the channel. This maybe as short as 40 minutes or as long as 2 hours.
Cronus will then will be moored in the Iron Pot where she will remove the Nelson Quay Wave Wall and the Discharge Wharf. Site establishment and land-side works will run alongside this. The work is targeted for completion ahead of Christmas.
What does this mean on the water
During manoeuvring the tug and barge are Restricted in Ability to Manoeuvre (RAM) all vessels must not impede its passage and keep 100m clear. No vessel is allowed to use the channel without permission from the Pilot on VHF 12. A 5m exclusion zone will exist while the vessel is working. For the Wave Wall removal, a safety spotter (in red) will be in place to ensure vessels using the Nelson Quay ramp can safely enter and exit.


Stay safe.

Henry
Coastguard Hawkes Bay

13/09/2026

Kia ora folks

This morning during our regular training session we spotted and recovered a large log about 700m off the Inner Harbour entrance. With more boats getting out and about with the improving weather we want to remind everyone to keep an eye out for debris in the water.

Some logs can be hard to spot especially with the sun low in the sky.

Stay safe.

Henry
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

Kia ora folks,During the agm we reviewed what had been a very busy year. Our annual average has traditionally been arou...
22/08/2026

Kia ora folks,

During the agm we reviewed what had been a very busy year. Our annual average has traditionally been around 29 Coastguard assists and approximately 10 Police jobs.
During 2025/26 we carried out:
• 55 Coastguard assists
• 14 Police jobs
• 1 FENZ job
• 1 RCCNZ job
• 1 medical job
We also recognised the efforts of our crew.
Life Membership was awarded to John Flett and Trevor Mitchell. John and Trevor have contributed a huge amount to our Unit over many years and this is a fitting recognition of that support.
Long service awards:
3 years – Jack Hayward
5 years – George Meredith
Two of our trainees were awarded their Deckhand certificates, well done Carol Chen and Wayne Russell.
Awards:
The 2026 Steve McManaway Trainee of the Year Award went to Steve Gorst.
The Steve McManaway Trainee of the Year award is given out each year in memory of Steve who was not only an enthusiastic volunteer, giving many hours as the unit training officer, but was also a mentor and friend to the new trainees joining our group.
The award recognises the time and effort that individuals put into their training to become professional volunteers; it not only recognises their dedication but also their attitude as part of a critical team.

The 2026 Radio Operator of the Year went to Graeme Calder.
The Radio Operator of the Year Award is an award especially for the radio operations section of our organisation.
Our Coastguard radio provides an essential maritime safety service, whether it is a regular radio watch providing trip reporting, navigational information and weather updates to a critical communications role in times of life-threatening emergencies.

The 2026 Bruce McLeod Rescue Vessel Volunteer of the Year went to Sam Walsh.
The Rescue Vessel Crew Volunteer of the Year Award is an award for Rescue Vessel crew members and is named in memory of Bruce who was one of our early skippers and trainers. The award recognises outstanding work, commitment and teamwork contribution in the maintaining and operation our Celia Knowles Rescue vessel either in normal day to day operations or extraordinary events.
The 2026 Mike Carroll Award for Volunteer of the Year went to Neil Faulkner.
The Mike Carroll Award for volunteer of the year recognizes the efforts of a volunteer from anywhere in our unit, wet, radio, or support. The award recognizes the time and effort that individuals put into providing this service, their dedication and their commitment as part of a critical lifesaving team.

Stay safe.

Henry,
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

11/08/2026

Kia ora Coastguard Hawke's Bay members, nothing exciting just some more notice for upcoming agm.

Stay safe.

Henry, Coastguard Hawke's Bay Regional Council

Agenda
Hawke’s Bay Volunteer Coastguard AGM, 19 August 2026
Time: 1900
Venue: HBVCG Building, 704 Meeanee Quay, Westshore, Napier
AGENDA
Welcome
Apologies
Obituaries
Minute of previous meeting
President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Election of Officers
Subscriptions, discussion over the memberhip subscription rate for the 2026/27 year
Awards
General Business
There is a proposal to update the Unit constitution clause 13 (b) so that it aligns with clause 23.4. Clause 13 (b) has a 21-day notice period for nominations while 23.4 has 14 days. This proposal will standardise the notice period to be fourteen (14) calendar days.

Current
13 ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The Elected Committee Members shall be nominated and elected to office as follows:
nominations for the position of Elected Committee Members must be made in writing and signed by the nominee, the proposer and the seconder (“Nomination”);
b the Nomination must be given to the Secretary at least twenty one (21) calendar days prior to the AGM at which the election is to take place;

Proposed
b the Nomination must be given to the Committee at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the AGM at which the election is to take place;

A second proposal is to delete clause 20, Transition. This clause was related to the total re-write of the Constitution last year, this was driven by changes to legislation and is no longer required.

Kia ora boatiesWe have received a report of more logs, these are about a nautical mile east of the Esk River, in about 1...
30/07/2026

Kia ora boaties

We have received a report of more logs, these are about a nautical mile east of the Esk River, in about 15m of water. Some of these logs are big and they represent a real risk to vessels in the area especially at night or in poor conditions. Some pics attached.

Logs represent an ongoing risk here in Hawke Bay so please keep a good lookout.

Stay safe.

Henry
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

18/07/2026

Kia ora folks, this afternoon we received a call for assistance from a small vessel on Pania Reef. With great conditions it was a straightforward assist, and we soon had them back into Napier.

Enjoying the swell coming into the Inner Harbour Channel were a few surfers and waka paddlers.

Stay safe.

Henry
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

Kia ora local boaties, while we were undertaking a vessel assist this afternoon we noted quite a field of logs and debri...
18/07/2026

Kia ora local boaties, while we were undertaking a vessel assist this afternoon we noted quite a field of logs and debris just west of Pania Reef, pic attached. Some of the logs were quite big.

Please take care in the area.

Henry
Coastguard Hawke's Bay

Address

704 Meeanee Quay
Napier
4110

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 1pm
Wednesday 9am - 1pm
Friday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+6468341345

Website

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