Waihi Beach Coastguard is a voluntary, marine search and rescue organisation (‘unit’) operating from its headquarters at Bowentown, Waihi Beach. The unit was formed by a committed group of locals in 1990 after a fisherman lost his life on the Bowentown Bar a year earlier. The group realised that boating in the area was becoming increasingly popular but that the gateway to the open sea was a dangerous, ever changing, channel of water. 
 
The growth of Waihi Beach Coastguard as an organisation has been underpinned by its fundraising efforts over the last 30 years, efforts which carry on to this day. Currently, the unit owns and operates three, distinctly different rescue vessels – Gallagher Rescue, AVOCO Rescue and Mike Hall Rescue – which are crewed by trained volunteers, on call 24/7.
 
Our headquarters at 511 Seaforth Road is manned daily, between 8am and 4pm, by radio operators whose prime task is to log Trip Reports from local boaties on marine VHF channel 07.
 
Waihi Beach Coastguard assists and rescues vessels along the coastline from Whangamata in the north to Tauranga in the south, and eastwards past Mayor Island, an area of approximately 2,500 square kilometres.
 
Coastguard units do not receive government funding. To meet both operating and capital needs, Waihi Beach Coastguard is reliant on the generous support of corporate sponsors (Gallagher Group and AVOCO), financial members (600 at last count), regional council, community trusts and voluntary donations.

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History

​Waihi Beach Volunteer Coastguard was incorporated in May 1990. At that time, it offered a radio service operating from the basement of the Bowentown Boating Club, and had acquired its first vessel, a six metre Shark Cat called Waipaopao.

In September 1993, work began on the construction of our headquarters building, in Seaforth Road, Bowentown.

​Built in stages, the building was officially opened by Lillian Valder in November 1996. The building is truly multi-purpose, housing all our vessels and equipment, providing a dedicated radio room for the operators and meeting and training spaces, together with the usual basic amenities.

In January 1999, Waipaopao had come to the end of its useful life and was replaced by Search One, an 8.5 metre Rayglass Protector rigid hull inflatable.

​A second, jet-powered vessel called Search Two hit the water in July 2003 for use in the shallower waters of the northern end of Tauranga Harbour.

​In 2012, Search One was replaced by a 9.5 metre Naiad powered by twin 250hp Yamaha four-stroke outboards. Named Gallagher Rescue in recognition of one of our corporate sponsors, the new boat has seen a huge improvement in both operational capability and crew comfort. The build process of this boat can be viewed at the bottom of the page.

A seventy square metre extension was added to our building in 2016 in preparation for the arrival of the vessel set to replace the aging Search Two.

​AVOCO Rescue was officially launched in 2017 and is named after our second corporate sponsor. The boat is a 5.8 metre rigid hull inflatable, powered by twin 115hp Yamaha outboards.  The boat is quick and able to access places that are inaccessible to other craft. The build process of this boat can be viewed at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to an extremely generous donation from the late Bob and Judy Hall in 2019, we purchased a jet ski for use as a fast response vessel. In memory of their son, the jet ski is named Mike Hall Rescue.

Gallagher Rescue, AVOCO Rescue and Mike Hall Rescue in front of our building in 2020.

Gallagher Rescue Build - click "Play" on photo to start slideshow.

AVOCO Rescue Build - click "Play" on photo to start slideshow.