Famous for its surfing, fishing, kite boarding and other water sports, fast-growing Raglan is a popular weekend and holiday destination with more than 3,000 permanent residents, writes John Eichelsheim.
The harbour covers around 33km2 at high tide (9km2 at low tide) and experiences a 2–4m tidal range. With a narrow opening to the turbulent Tasman Sea, strong tidal flows and sandbars at its entrance, boats leaving or entering the harbour must cross Raglan’s infamous bar, which often throws up challenging conditions.
Raglan Volunteer Coastguard members know the harbour and its bar intimately, as well as the great sweep of coastline to either side of it. The volunteer search and rescue organisation’s operational area stretches north to Port Waikato and south all the way to Mokau.
Each year Raglan Volunteer Coastguard members donate 6,000 man-hours of effort. Last year the organisation was tasked with around 50 rescues and returned 86 people to safety.
Its main rescue vessel is Gallagher Rescue, an 11m Scott Robson-designed aluminium powercat with twin 505hp Yanmar diesels and Hamilton waterjet propulsion. This is a very capable vessel that’s able to work Raglan’s bar in most conditions.
Coastguard normally operates within 12 nautical miles of the coast, but can be tasked with search and rescue operations as far as 60 miles offshore. With a range of 200nm at 30 knots, Gallagher Rescue is capable of undertaking search and rescue duties well offshore.
Yamaha Waverunners
Only rarely is the bar unworkable for the main rescue vessel, says the Coastguard nit’s president, Wally Hawken, but due to her size Gallagher Rescue is unsuitable for some of the work the organisation is tasked with. That’s where the unit’s pair of Yamaha Waverunner VX PWCs come in.
“There’s pretty much no sea state they can’t operate in and they are very quick to deploy,” says Hawken.
These Waverunner VXs were commissioned in February 2020 and have already proven invaluable with their ability to operate among the breakers of the surf zone and close to rocky shorelines, places it’s impossible to take Gallagher Rescue.
The 1.8-litre Waverunners are very agile and quick, making them ideal for rapid response duties. Their usual area of operation is within two nautical miles of shore with scene assessment and primary treatment among their core functions. They are also used for on-the-water search operations and can operate close to rocky shorelines and surf beaches. They often work in tandem to make 450m wide search pattern passes.
Named Rylock Waikato Rescue 1 and Rylock Waikato Resue 2, the PWCs usually work closely with Gallagher Rescue, keeping in touch via VHF radio. Operated by a crew of two, each PWC tows a rescue sled used to pluck patients from the water and ferry them to the safety of the shore or the deck of Gallagher Rescue.
Gallagher Rescue provides stability during patient transfer and transit and acts as an observers’ platform during search operations. The vessel also provides on-scene coordination and is suitable for towing large vessels when required – the PWCs don’t undertake towing operations.
“With their manoeuvrability and quick response in the breaker zone and during patient transfers, the Waverunners have greatly augmented our search and rescue capabilities,” explains Hawken.
The sleds are similar to those used by surf lifesavers for jet-ski rescues or by surfers to tow board riders out to the big waves. Coastguard personnel are trained to pluck victims from the water and deposit them on the sleds so they can be towed to safety.
Bar Day
When Boating NZ visited the Waverunners were put being put through their paces, along with Gallagher Rescue, during one of Raglan Volunteer Coastguard’s ‘Bar Days’. Bar Days happen two or three times a year, offering boaties the opportunity to learn about crossing Raglan bar safely.
The initiative has been running for close to 20 years and shows no sign of losing momentum. On the contrary: during our visit, Coastguard was conducting education sessions for 75 members of the public who had registered, and the popularity is growing.
“With boating becoming more and more popular, there is always demand for bar safety education,” says Hawken. The education days attract newbies to boating in the Raglan area, as well as experienced boaters wanting a refresher on bar safety.
The sessions are organised for groups of 10-15 at a time, starting with indoor instruction at Raglan Coastguard headquarters beside the wharf and culminating in practical demonstrations of bar safety aboard Gallagher Rescue, including negotiating the bar in both directions. Five sessions were scheduled for the day of our visit, with the two Waverunners escorting Gallagher Rescue for each of them.
“Raglan bar is unique. Sandbars to either side of the harbour entrance funnel the water seawards for a considerable distance, but the actual bar is a lot further out than many people think and that’s one of its dangers,” says Hawken.
The sea on top of the sandbars to either side of the marked channel can become very rough, even on a nice day. The water in the main channel also cuts up with the wind and tide, causing what locals call the ‘joggle’.
The biggest mistake people make on the Raglan bar, says Hawken, is leaving the channel too early, before they have crossed the bar proper. This can expose them to dangerous ‘rogue’ waves either side of the channel, which are also a danger for boats launching at Manu Bay and traversing the harbour mouth on their way to fishing grounds south of Raglan.
“Steering a direct route will take boats right through the danger zone inside the bar. It’s far safer to take a wide berth,” says Hawken.
Fortunately, Raglan bar doesn’t shift very much compared with some other west coast harbour bars, so the markers and sector lights are reliable guides to bar crossings in both directions. On Bar Days, Raglan Coastguard spends time teaching how to line up the sector lights for a safe bar crossing, but also teaches rules unique to this bar.
Raglan is very popular with surfers and, more recently, kite surfers, who relish the broken water and big waves at the harbour entrance. The standard rule of the sea – that power gives way to sail – does not apply at the Raglan bar. Powered vessels are restricted to a narrow strip of safe water inside the channel and often have a very small window of opportunity between swells to actually cross the bar.
Giving way to sail, including kite-surfers, or deviating off course could be disastrous for powered vessels, so on Raglan bar sail must stay clear.
“As far as I know,” says Hawken, “that rule’s unique to Raglan.”
