Over the 2020-21 season Ngārunui Beach, Raglan had the busiest season of all beaches patrolled by Surf Life Saving Northern Region, which covers from Raglan throughout Auckland to the Far North.
The Raglan weekday service started the first week of December and will be ending this Friday the 26th of February. During this time the lifeguards handled an impressive 15 rescues, 10 assists, 41 first aids and 5 searches. The team also carried out over 1800 preventative actions involving over 5000 beach goers.
For their efforts, the team at Raglan received an award for the best patrolled beach in the region.
One of the most memorable rescues occurred just after 9:30am on Friday 22nd of January. The lifeguards were enjoying breakfast when they were called out to a kayaker that had capsized one kilometre offshore.
“We were preparing for a big day due to crowds from the SoundSplash festival. Conditions were clean with an eight to ten foot (2.5 – 3 metre) groundswell,” says Tom Herbert, one of the lifeguards who responded.
Herbert and fellow lifeguard Hayley Rewi launched an IRB and located the kayaker, navigating their way through big waves, with help from colleagues who were watching from up the hill in the surf club.
The kayaker was successfully picked up and brought back to shore for medical assessment.
After assessing the kayaker was in good health, Herbert and another lifeguard Chris Malone were immediately tasked to another incident.
“Two surfers were stuck in an extremely strong rip pulling from Manu bay to the outer bar,” says Herbert.
“After an hour of action on the water, all patients were returned to shore safely”.
Raglan Weekday Patrol Captain Sam Cron says they’ve had a great season.
We would like to thank the public for all their cooperation this summer. Weekend patrols will continue until Easter weekend and we ask that you continue to swim between the flags.
If you see someone in trouble in the water on a weekday or after hours, call 111 and ask Police for the surf lifeguards – Raglan has an emergency callout squad available 24/7 to respond to in-water or on-beach emergencies
SLSNZ
