HIBISCUS ADDS THIRD BOAT TO COASTGUARD TEAM
BY SANDRA GORTER, IMAGES COURTESY OF RICHARD BAILEY
F
irst it was Auckland, then Maraetai in the south, and now Coastguard's Hibiscus operation is to receive a brand new Naiad. With the crew operating out of Gulf Harbour, Coastguard
Northern Area now have a large portion of the Hauraki Gulf covered by new boats that are furnished with features specifically designed for all conditions the crews are likely to encounter in the Hauraki Gulf.
The advantage to Coastguard of having three interchangeable boats is one of redundancy and backup support. Plus skipper and crew training can now be done on any one of the three 9.5m boats, and the skills learned are easily transferable to their own home craft.
Hibiscus Rescue One is the second boat of the same name to be operated by Coastguard Hibiscus. Their first boat by that name, a 8.5m Rayglass Protector ex-Team New Zealand weather boat from 2003 had had a very hard life. By 2009 she was basically worn out and had reached the end of her economical service life for the unit.
After two and a half years of hard graft and generous support from a huge raft of sponsors, $450,000 was raised for the new craft. Blue Water Boats were asked to take the best features of Coastguard's other two models and incorporate them in the new Hibiscus Rescue One.
The extra metre added in overall length enabled an associated increase in workspace and beam, which gives a
18 Professional Skipper May/June 2012
much greater stability to the platform the crews are working from. Improved features include touch screen electronic navigation, a much larger work space with the glassed cockpit giving greater shelter to the work area, making it warmer and dryer. The view from the cockpit is a huge improvement on the old HRO. Added to this, the increased power the twin 250hp Yamaha four-stroke engines gives, the crew have a far more powerful, controlled, ride, compared to the old pair of 150s. Both onboard comfort and safety has been improved by the addition of four high back crew stations where the base seats can be dropped to leg bracing with kidney and back support, in rough weather. In addition to Hibiscus Rescue One, Coastguard Hibiscus also operate the 6.9m Sealegs, the only vessel of its kind in use in the Coastguard Federation. It has retractable wheels powered by a 150hp Evinrude outboard when at sea, and an inboard four- stroke Honda motor when on land, allowing it to drive out of the water and directly into the unit's boatshed next to the boating club, making it ideal for transferring equipment and possibly injured people directly onto land.
Coastguard Hibiscus has gone through a number of transformations since its inception in 1979 under the name Hibiscus Sea Rescue. Today the unit has a volunteer crew list of 43, with seven duty skippers to man the two boats. The crew, all live within 20 minutes of the Gulf Harbour marina, and provide response to emergencies 24/7, 365 days a year. The boats are taken
