Arne Pallentin is a Search and Rescue Officer for Maritime New Zealand, as well as volunteer President of Coastguard Wellington. He visited the Club on 10 May to speak to us.
Brenda Lazelle reports.
Arne began his career as a navy navigator before he became a marine geologist at NIWA. Last year he changed careers to work for Maritime New Zealand and for those of us that have PLBs (personal locator beacons), it is likely Arne will answer our call for assistance.
The Wellington Coastguard Unit was established by volunteers in 1969 as a direct result of the Wahine disaster. In recent times, Coastguard New Zealand has changed its structure to centralise some of the routine administration, using paid employees so volunteers can focus on rescue efforts. It is important to note that Coastguard New Zealand are not police, nor fisheries officers. Their raison d'etre is to assist boaties who get into trouble and support
them to get home safely.
Coastguard New Zealand is funded through government grants, membership fees, raffles, Lotteries and donations. The Wellington Branch has 75 volunteers and during the 21/22 year brought 93 people home, who, without support, could have become a statistic. Many volunteer hours are spent undertaking training as the skill needed to be out in bad weather is high and it takes several years to train to the required level.
The organisation partners with for example, the Westpac helicopter doing winch exercises on the harbour and the Police to undertake joint search and rescue exercises. They provide support for events on the Harbour helping to keep the area safe. The upside for volunteers is they get great views from out there!
The Coastguard boat Spirit of Wellington is 25 years old – over a decade passed its replacement ideal. Arne hopes to replace this vessel in the next couple of years, with the new boat likely to have a $1.5-2million price tag, so fundraising is an ongoing commitment.
So, how can we help? The Coastguard always wants volunteers and Arne is building more land crew capacity. Of course, donations are welcome and maybe we could look to support their street appeal next year.