Four crew attain Coastguard senior & operational levels
Training for success! Four volunteer crew have recently achieved Coastguard senior and operational levels, the well-deserved outcome of two years of training and a lot of hard work. Baptiste Marconnet and Bjorn Stankowitz have become Coastguard Senior Operational crew, moving up from Operational status. Patrice de Beer and Paul Mutton have become Operational crew, progressing […]
Bob C’Ailceta receives a 2019 Coastguard volunteer award
Sumner Lifeboat’s radio operator Bob C’Ailceta has received a Coastguard Southern Region award: he is the Communications & Incident Management Volunteer of the Year 2019. Bob joined Sumner Lifeboat as a volunteer in 2001. He is part of a team of Radio Operators providing communications with the unit’s rescue vessels and other search and rescue […]
Paul Lawson, ex Coxswain & President passes away
Very sad news – former Sumner Lifeboat Coxswain and President Paul Lawson passed away on Tuesday 17 September 2019 with his family beside him. A lifeboat legend, his contributions over 21 years with Sumner Lifeboat Institution and Coastguard New Zealand were huge and he will be missed by us all. He was always focused on […]
Assistance to yacht south of Motunau
Sat 20 July 2019 5:04pm – Another night-time mission: Blue Arrow Rescue was launched to search and attend to a yacht with engine troubles south of Motunau. The 35ft yacht with three persons on board had lost all power in difficult conditions. It became a ten hour night trip involving two rescue vessels. North Canterbury […]
New jet ski and tractor
Sumner Lifeboat’s wish for a new jet ski and tractor has been granted – huge thanks to funding from the JI Urquhart Trust and The Southern Trust. We are now equipped with a 1500c Kawasaki Ultra LX jet ski towed by a Kubota KB BX2380 tractor. This is a significant upgrade and sets us up […]
Rescue of jet ski off Godley Head
Friday 31/05/19 12:34pm – Sumner Lifeboat was tasked by the Police to assist a jet ski that had no power and was drifting just a few metres off Godley Head. The jet ski driver had been retrieving a crayfish pot but had sucked the pot line into the jet ski’s pump, effectively disabling it. Sumner […]
New Rescue Magazine
We have just produced a new edition of Rescue Magazine, our flagship publication on happenings at Sumner Lifeboat Institution. This edition features reports from President Paul Lawson and Coxswain Blair Quaine on key events over the last 18 months at Sumner Lifeboat, lots of details and stats on call-outs, plus articles on new recruits, training, […]
Call-out for report of vessel on fire
Friday 17/05/2019 11:44am – Sumner Lifeboat was called out by the Police due to reports of a vessel on fire 2 nautical miles off the Estuary mouth. The crew responded with two vessels – Hamilton Jet Rescue and Blue Arrow Rescue. After an initial search and further details from the Police, Blue Arrow Rescue was […]
Supporting the Westpac Rescue Helicopter
On 3 May Sumner Lifeboat acted as safety boat for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter doing winch training with the fishing vessel Frontier. We got to see close up the awesome skills required by both helicopter and Frontier crews to safely transfer persons between chopper and vessel. When doing close manouevring the vessel must maintain a […]
ANZAC 2019
Sumner Lifeboat Institution continued its tradition of joining the ANZAC Day Parade in Sumner. This year eleven crew, from trainees to veterans with over forty years lifeboat service, took part in the parade – proudly representing both SLBI and the community. After the service, the crew were hosted by the RSA at the Sumner Fire […]
