The History of Coastguard Whakatāne

Marine radio communications were started in Whakatāne in 1950 by a private family, Herb and Joyce Brabant, from their residence on Hillcrest – a hillside suburb of Whakatāne using an ex Army ZC1 set operating on frequencies of around 2Mhz as ZLRE. They operated their station for 21 years, running four skeds a day for 365 day a year, until advancing age forced them to relinquish this role in 1972.

The Whakatāne Small Craft Marine Radio Association was then operated from a small shed on the end of the Wharf. A Sea Rescue Association was also established in Whakatāne about this time and in 1975 this amalgamated with the Marine Radio Association to become the Whakatāne Volunteer Coastguard Association Incorporated. The Coastguard continued using the 10′ x 8′ building for a time, then in 1976 moved to the site of the present headquarters overlooking the Whakatāne River entrance and bar.

The change to SSB and VHF for marine communications also came into force around this time. In 1978 a radio mast and aerials were erected on Kohi Point, some 100 metres above the Headquarters site giving excellent coverage to the Eastern Bay of Plenty (the radio mast was upgraded in 2020). In 1979, the Whakatāne Coastguard was the first in New Zealand to run Safe Boating courses and it also helped set up the National Coastguard Federation, now Coastguard New Zealand.

The Headquarters building was erected in 1981 and the IRB shed was built along side in 1985, to house the first Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB), which the Coastguard purchased following fundraising. This IRB was given to the Ohope Surf Life Saving Club when the new Coastguard Rescue Vessel was purchased. The Coastguard and Surf Life Saving Club maintain a close liaison for close inshote rescues.

The Communications and Control Centre headquarters was built in 1991 with voluntary labour and financial assistance from Coastguard New Zealand. The Headquarters building was converted to be more suitable for use as a lecture/training room and an Administration office was added.

Membership of the Whakatāne Coastguard has grown over the years and in 2020 exceeded 1200 members, some of whom are from outside of the Whakatane district and who periodically bring their boats to fish from Whakatāne. In 2002, after local fundraising and support from Coastguard New Zealand, Whakatāne Coastguard purchased and launched the Coastguard Rescue Vessel (CRV) ‘Whakatane Rescue’, which was housed in a purpose built building at the south end of the boat ramp car park. In 2011 the CRV “Coastguard Whakatāne” was replaced by a new vessel “Whakatāne Rescue ll”. For detailed information of this vessel go to “About us” on our web site. The purchase of the CRV “Whakatāne Rescue ll” received major funding from: The Lion Foundation, Pub Charity, Southern Trust and Coastguard New Zealand. In 2022 Jet Rescue was purchased to provide improved capability for in-shore and river rescues.

The CRV crew are on duty 24 hours per day on a pager and text system. An elected Board of 10 members administers Coastguard Whakatāne. A part time Office Administrator is employed to deal with the day to day administration of the organisation. In 2022 four part time radio operators are employed for weekday manning of our radio communication center, while weekend and holiday manning is carried out by volunteer radio operators. The Communications Centre is open each day, 08:00 to 18:00 hours, 7 day a week, 365 day a year. Radios are operated on SSB channel 4417 KHZ for long distance coverage and on VHF channel 18 for the Eastern Bay of Plenty marine area. During a typical year, the Operators log some 30,000 calls.

In 2008 a major investment was made to improve our radio equipment and a new computerised system was installed based on VOIP technology. This new system established by Whakatāne Coastguard made it possible to communicate with vessels from Coromandel to Hawkes Bay including Lake Taupo and the Rotorua Lakes. Whakatāne Coastguard developed this communications centre to cover the whole of Coastguard Eastern Region.

Whakatāne Coastguard has four Duty Officers who take control of any marine Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the area. In major emergencies they work in conjunction with the local Police and the NZ Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington, handling local communications and activities. When necessary, we also work closely with Coastguards in Tauranga, Maketu, Opotiki, Whakatāne Emergency Response Team and Ohope Surf Life Saving.

Educational programmes to improve boating safety and awareness are regularly run for members and the general public and include Boat Masters, Day Skippers and Marine VHF Operator Certificate courses. We also provide intensive training on the water and in the classroom for all of our CRV crews.

The aims of Whakatāne Coastguard is to promote boating safety and awareness through education and the use of proper procedures, to provide radio communications for members and to arrange and co-ordinate rescue services at sea. The immediate area covered by Whakatāne Coastguard extends out beyond White Island and covers a large part of the Eastern Bay of Plenty that includes four sea access areas, Whakatāne River entrance, Ohiwa Harbour, Tarawera river entrance at Matata and the Rangitaiki river entrance at Thornton. Coastguard Whakatāne also attend rescues in the wider Bay of Plenty marine area.