CAPE RESCUE survives baptism of fire
The sea off Cape Egmont has some of the roughest coastal water in New Zealand. The coast is wide open to the Tasman Sea, with its ocean swells and changing moods and the average wave height is 1.8m, compared to 1m in New Plymouth, about 50km to the northeast by road around the Taranaki coast.
19 miles away know exactly where they are. The coast has a rocky, shelving shoreline with huge
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seaweed and kelp forests that sustain a wide variety of sea life, including valuable crayfish. It also has offshore energy oil and gas platforms, with helicopters flying crews to and from the rigs. Locals at Cape Egmont and Oponaki were launching bigger boats able to travel over the horizon, further increasing the need for a capable sea rescue service.
The lighthouse is the base for Cape Egmont Sea Rescue, which used to operate an 8.9m Naiad powered by waterjets. They would have had no problems anywhere else, but the
10 NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2012
uring the day, the 20.4m high lighthouse at Cape Egmont marks the westernmost point of the coast. By night, it flashes a white light once every eight seconds to let mariners up to
The command station has a complete suite of electronics
seaweed posed a constant threat of blocking the intakes and drive impellers and ultimately compromising safety. Even the boat ramp, which looks like a 300m concrete cattle race leading out through the rocks for all-tide access, is set among some of the healthiest seaweed forests in New Zealand. If the Naiad had struck problems, the sea conditions were often too rough to attempt a rescue using private craft.
So Cape Egmont Sea Rescue returned the vessel to Coastguard and resolved to build a suitable replacement, even if it did not meet the Coastguard mould. She needed to be in the 10m range and able to carry 20 passengers with
