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Yacht missing around Gisbourne


JK

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Check mt law no person can board a vessel without the captains consent they have to explain there intent and get his consent , if they say have you under size fish on board and you say no I have not , and they board with out your consent and find no undersized fish then you can take it further

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It does seem a shame that our coastguard seems to be following in the yank coastguard steps.

In that being cops and detaining people is becoming more important than helping. And they wonder why people arent joining up?

 

not even close,

 

the USCG is a legislation based government agency, with government authority and obligations.  

NZ Coastguard is a volunteer rescue and training organisation with no regulatory powers,

 

nothing complicated there, all of that info is readily available on line

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Check mt law no person can board a vessel without the captains consent they have to explain there intent and get his consent , if they say have you under size fish on board and you say no I have not , and they board with out your consent and find no undersized fish then you can take it further

maybe not the best example, fisheries officers probably have the most wide sweeping powers of any enforcement in NZ, boarding a vessel to check for fish is no problem for them

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No your right Nzgrant - you're not deluded - at all - in assuming from the herald reports, that the Coastguard went out and detained this guy - my apologies. You're also not deluded - at all - in assuming that Coastguard, a voluntary organisation, staffed mainly with, well volunteers, would rather detain someone, given they have no power to do so, than help them - again, my apologies.

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If a policeman went out on the CG boat, that is really the only way the CG could have enforced any "follow us" kind of requirements. But the South African lad probably didn't know that. If that even happened of course. In reality, even if MNZ told CG to go get him, there is nothing that CG could actually legally enforce. It would be no different to a Cop telling me to go stop that speeding motorist. The SA lad could easily and legally tell the CG to "go fish"
.

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I overheard a rescue attempt by the coastguard on the VHF late one night, the coastguard were unsuccessfully trying to take a yacht in tow near Karewa Island off Tauranga, over VHF 16 the police as a proxy for maritime nz ordered the skipper to abandon the vessel, he told them to take a hike, stayed on board and eventually got into the harbour. Don't know what happened to him but what can they do?

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Just playing Devils advocate here a little bit.

 

If he had of ended up on the Rocks somewhere or upside down and a rescue had of been needed, what would the reaction on here have been ?

 

Something along the lines of:

 

WTF was a relatively inexperienced sailor doing attempting that Journey single handed, at this time of year. Him and his vessel were not properly prepared, as evidenced by the failure of his communications equipment and his failure to stick to his pre arranged passage plan?

 

I certainly don't agree with MNZ / Coastguard / Police dragging him in but it seems to me that we would be quick to condemn the Yachtie if things had gone tits up.

 

I also wonder why he did not put into Gisbourne to fix his battery problems

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Classic, he anchored his boat, swam ashore, met some locals and went shooting with them. Went into Opotiki for a meal etc, then went back out to his boat.

Meanwhile, he hadn't phoned Coastguard who wee busy being busy bodies, so, while he was off having a great time Maritime NZ ordered him into Whakatane, only the bar was "unworkable"............

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Classic nanny state !Provided you don't ask for help it's an individual's right to fall off mountains,jump out of airplanes with parachutes that don't open go to sea and come to grief and so on.This control is all part of a masterplan for a compliant obedient non thinking population.It's working !The bureaucracy knows best. Even the pollies have handed over to them. Licensing is next probably using examples like this guy as one of the reasons. In Oz you MUST report leaving harbour and report back in harbour. If you don't you can be prosecuted. Boat rego around $300 for 30' plus you MUST have done THE Course and got a license cost around $260 .No exceptions regardless of previous experience. PC nonsense is alive and well in the South Pacific.

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"Whakatane Coastguard helped the novice sailor into the Harbour yesterday, over the notorious bar."

 

​After Maritime NZ instructed him to come in over the closed bar. FFFaarrrrrkkkiiiinngg iiiidddiiiooottsss

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Wow talk about entrapment. Tell him he has to go into Port and then the slam the gate shut on him.
 

 

 

WTF was a relatively inexperienced sailor doing attempting that Journey single handed, at this time of year. Him and his vessel were not properly prepared, as evidenced by the failure of his communications equipment and his failure to stick to his pre arranged passage plan?

I guess it's a case of how do you measure experience. We all know of experienced sailors having it all go wrong. So experience from years is not perhaps the best measure. I think confidence and ability to solve problems and find solutions is more important than experience. He did everything right. He sought shelter when he needed to and that's the most important point when rounding East Cape. Because when you round such a large area like that, chances are Weather is going to get you at some point in the rounding.
Also re the weather and timing, actually Winter can be a great time to Sail, as long as you can stay warm, because you can get some real good weather windows in between the nastier stuff. Where as other times of the year can be very changible.

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He ain't a novice anymore, he has handled a variety of conditions that many may never experience, sailed in a way that was normal not so many years ago. The major problem is "peoples"expectation of being able to contact anyone at anytime. It is part of the current culture. No contact, a person on shore thinks the worst, call for "help", "Help" feels obliged to do something, hence the present situation. In the scheme of things the young guy coped admirably, the only dangers he was exposed to were caused by the authorities.

A similar scenario happened a year or two back when 2 guys were sailing an H28 up the coast, similarly considered inexperienced, land based caller panicked, coast guard boat goes out of Tutukaka to find them and promptly crashes at speed into rocks injuring several of the crew and writing off the boat. Meanwhile totally oblivious to the drama being caused around them the H28 was at anchor awaiting a change in the weather. Once again communication and peoples expectation of it was the problem. there are lots of spots that do not have cell phone coverage, VHF is limited to line of sight, strength of signal etc etc. Perhaps the old mantra of NO news is good news should be revived.

We now have a safety industry promoting "safety" to sell stuff. We have a coast guard staffed, mainly by volunteers, who are involved in assisting members and when called upon to carry out rescue situations, some of whom are going to be gung ho heroes. (in their own minds) Then we have the MNZ, that if Professional sailor is to believed have lost the plot and are bent on control, legislation and punishment. (Exception being if you drive a large yacht and run over the odd classic yacht.)

Do we stand a chance as individuals to do what we have always seen as our right, to sail when and where we choose, to look after our own safety, to accept the risks that are inherent in what we do? As things stand at the moment, probably not.

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He ain't a novice anymore, he has handled a variety of conditions that many may never experience, sailed in a way that was normal not so many years ago. The major problem is "peoples"expectation of being able to contact anyone at anytime. It is part of the current culture. No contact, a person on shore thinks the worst, call for "help", "Help" feels obliged to do something, hence the present situation. In the scheme of things the young guy coped admirably, the only dangers he was exposed to were caused by the authorities.

A similar scenario happened a year or two back when 2 guys were sailing an H28 up the coast, similarly considered inexperienced, land based caller panicked, coast guard boat goes out of Tutukaka to find them and promptly crashes at speed into rocks injuring several of the crew and writing off the boat. Meanwhile totally oblivious to the drama being caused around them the H28 was at anchor awaiting a change in the weather. Once again communication and peoples expectation of it was the problem. there are lots of spots that do not have cell phone coverage, VHF is limited to line of sight, strength of signal etc etc. Perhaps the old mantra of NO news is good news should be revived.

We now have a safety industry promoting "safety" to sell stuff. We have a coast guard staffed, mainly by volunteers, who are involved in assisting members and when called upon to carry out rescue situations, some of whom are going to be gung ho heroes. (in their own minds) Then we have the MNZ, that if Professional sailor is to believed have lost the plot and are bent on control, legislation and punishment. (Exception being if you drive a large yacht and run over the odd classic yacht.)

Do we stand a chance as individuals to do what we have always seen as our right, to sail when and where we choose, to look after our own safety, to accept the risks that are inherent in what we do? As things stand at the moment, probably not.

Spot on Steve - well said - I was not going to post again but your comments sum it up perfectly. Interesting to see the number of posts in such a short time. This topic has struck a raw nerve. How do we get the likes of MNZ, Govt and councils to take notice, see sense and maybe read some of what is written here - a forlorn hope I feel. The lifejacket legislation/ local body rules is another bugbear of mine along with the fanworm thing, all costly and irrational imposts on the average boatie. As mentioned earlier we haven't yet sunk to the level of over the top as in Australia but give it time I guess. You would have to wonder if that young guy has any idea of his rights. Apparently they are insisting he buys a whole lot of safety gear - EPIRBs, radios, flares etc. I wasn't aware there was any such regulation for coastal sailing apart from provision of lifejackets ?? PS myself I do in fact have all that stuff as it is probably not a bad idea but in the end the best way is self reliance and commonsense and not  calling for help at the slightest excuse. 

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I think a big issue is where does the line end up getting drawn. What is deemed as Coastal? As soon as someone leaves a Harbour Limit? What for instance about say Tnga. Does this mean you can not sail outside the Entrance if you are inexperienced? Or if you can, how far can you go before MNZ says no too far, get back across the line. And there are many areas in NZ like Tnga. Till now, we all assumed Cat 3 was the requirement for Coastal if you were Race registered. No racing Boats did not need any such category. But in this instance of the SA lad, MNZ have basically said, every Boat must be Cat3 even if you are not racing. This all not only smudges the line somewhat, but puts many curves and twists into it as well.

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