The Coastguard is calling for boaties to exercise greater caution following two tragedies involving bars in the South Island this month.
Four people died when two boats capsized in separate incidents in Riverton and Jack’s Bay.
On Thursday, 1News was onboard the Lensesonline – the Coastguard’s fastest rescue boat – for a crash course on crossing the Manukau Heads bar. The bar has claimed eight lives since 2014.
In Kaipara, eight men onboard a fishing charter died after a single devastating incident in 2016.
The Coastguard’s Simon Marshall has been to a fair few tragedies, and said the memories stick with volunteers.
“It’s seeing the family when you come home or if you’re not able to find the person, that really eats at you, not being able to bring someone home,” he told 1News.
Marshall is hoping that the Coastguard’s 26 workshops raising national bar awareness up and down the country will make a difference to the way people approach what is a dynamic and unpredictable environment.
He advised boaties to check the weather and take the time to assess the bar once they get close.
“We really want to make sure that the bar is nice and calm, there’s areas of clear water,” he explained. “We don’t want to cross breaking waves.
“If there’s anything like that, or if your boat’s being tossed around, rocking around when you’re assessing, maybe that’s not the day to cross the bar.”
Marshall continued: “It’s a really hard decision if you’ve travelled all that way to the bar to say, ‘No, it’s not for me’ but there are actually still lots of fish in the harbour.”
Tickets to the Coastguard’s Bar Awareness Roadshow seminars can be found here.