Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard

The Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard was formed in 1969 and became a founding member and full affiliate of the Royal NZ Coastguard Federation in 1976.

The Unit was established to provide assistance to the NZ Police in marine rescue operations, to provide a VHF radio safety net for those who choose to boat on the Manukau Harbour and West Coast, and to assist in the education of all recreational boat users within our operational region.

The Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard has always considered education as the key to incident prevention. However should that mechanism fail, the Units services are available 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.

The Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard operates on the Manukau Harbour, Manukau Bar and West Coast bounded by Raglan to the south and the Kaipara Harbour to the north. The operational area from the Manukau Heads is approximately 50 nautical miles North and 50 nautical miles South to 12 nautical miles off the coast. This gives an operational area of some 1300 square miles, including the 100 square miles of the Manukau Harbour. The Manukau Harbour is the second largest harbour in New Zealand after the Kaipara, and the eighth largest in the world. It boasts the highest rise and fall of tide of any harbour in New Zealand, and has the largest in-fall and out-fall of water of any harbour in the world. The Manukau Bar is reputedly one of the most treacherous in New Zealand and has accounted for the loss of many lives over the years. It is also the site of New Zealand’s worst shipwreck disaster, when in 1863, HMS Orpheus came to grief with the loss of 189 lives. Today it features in a high proportion of rescue incidents, largely because of the unpredictable sea conditions, progressive movement of the sandbanks and the relative inexperience of many that venture across it.

The Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard CRV's operate on VHF channel '81' whilst on the water, they also monitor the emergency channel '16' at all times. Channel '81' is also monitored by Coastguard Northern Region Marine Rescue Centre 24hours a day, 365 days a year.

The “standard” patrol area includes Onehunga to Whatipu, the Papakura Channel and the water surrounding the Auckland International Airport. The Titirangi Volunteer Coastguard is tasked to an average of 20 incidents every year, and assists well over 120 persons every year. The Manukau Unit is the busiest on the West Coast.