Whangarei Volunteer Coastguard and Whangarei Radio
Back in the early 1960's, local radio ham Noel Lloyd began a service for mariners. They could call him to give their voyage plans, so he knew of their whereabouts and could ring family to advise "all ok". Today these calls are T/R's or Trip Reports. For 30 years he provided this free service, of his own volition & expense, keeping up with the changes in technology. Moving from Ham to DSB to SSB & CB to VHF.
In 1983, local businessmen Henry Wagner and Brian Keene financed and started up the VHF repeater channel 64 we use today. Garnet Keene Ltd gave Noel a $650.00 Base set VHF Radio on 5th December 1983, in recognition of his great service.
One fisherman gave the following account: "While fishing 100 nautical miles off the Fiordland coast in 1989, our regular evening ‘sched' with Noel gave the advice to batten the hatches, steam straight for Milford Sound and forget the fishing. We entered the sound in four-metre seas & 60-knot winds. By the next morning there were ten-metre seas & 100-knot plus winds from a huge southerly storm system. Another fishing boat foundered and was lost with all hands, as we surely would have been without Noel's advice." Many Mariners tell similar stories of Noel who was well known for being a step ahead of the Met Service in reading that days weather fax.
By 1996 it was decided to incorporate Whangarei Radio as a Society; allowing mariners to subscribe for $20.00 pa, to help with costs and by 1998 it had 156 members.
With the formation of Whangarei Volunteer Coastguard Incorporated in 1999, Whangarei Radio Association decided to dissolve, gifting its cash balance of $16,000 to local maritime organisations; $2,000 to Coastguard; $7,000 to Shackelton Sea Scouts; $3,000 to Onerahi Sea Scouts; $2,000 to Young Mariners and $2,000 to Diomede Sea Cadets.
The VHF 64 Radio Channel assets were gifted to Coastguard, in June 2000, under the condition that Whangarei Coastguard maintains the contact with all of Whangarei harbour and it's surrounding areas, continuing its service to mariners. By 2003, having affiliated with Coastguard New Zealand and receiving from it a new 6.8-metre Rescue Vessel, Whangarei Coastguard continued to grow with membership rising to 428, at $30.00 pa.
Belonging to Whangarei Volunteer Coastguard provided a boat description and contact details, so they knew what to look for if a boat got into trouble, or did not sign off on their trip report. For Whangarei mariners this is a 40-year-old tradition that is still maintained today by Whangarei Volunteer Coastguard Inc.
