19/11/2025
🛥COASTGUARD BAR CROSSING SEMINAR TONIGHT! ( Thurs 20th Nov)🛥
Where: Wanganui Manawatu Sea Fishing Clubrooms, 1A Wharf St, Whanganui.
When: 7pm
What You’ll Learn:
• Understanding local bar features and hazards.
• Interpreting weather and sea conditions for bar crossings.
• Preparing and handling your boat for bar crossings.
• How to make a bar crossing report.
• Essential emergency procedures
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Coastguard’s Bar Awareness Roadshow - 20 November
In partnership with the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, Coastguard NZ is delivering over 30 free seminars to help boaties build the skills, local knowledge, and confidence needed to make safe decisions when crossing a bar. The seminars have met with a great response so far.
The seminar for Whanganui (covering both the Whanganui and Patea Bar) is on Thursday, 20 November, from 7pm to 9pm at Wanganui-Manawatu Sea Fishing Club, 1A Wharf Street, Castlecliff.
Harbour and river bars can be treacherous. This year’s tragic incidents on the Waikato Bar this month, Pātea earlier this year (where two lives were lost) and last year’s at Riverton (where three people died) are stark reminders of the risks. Sadly, the statistics show we’re still losing too many lives.
While preventable drownings fell to 72 in 2024 (down from 90 in 2023), fatalities involving powered craft rose to 18 - 25% of all cases – many in tidal waters or during bar crossings. Over half occurred close to shore, including five bar capsize incidents.
What You’ll Learn:
• Understanding local bar features and hazards.
• Interpreting weather and sea conditions for bar crossings.
• Preparing and handling your boat for bar crossings.
• How to make a bar crossing report.
• Essential emergency procedures.
Jamie Newell, Manager, Marine Services Whanganui and a keen boater and diver, says he got through the Patea Bar but a boat following rolled and he had to call a May Day alarm. Fortunately, those on board the boat were able to swim to safety.
He explains, “Any bar is very tidal and our proximity to Cook Strait, which acts as a funnel for tidal changes from the East Coast, helps to make crossing the bar on the Taranaki Bite more difficult. Whanganui is more sheltered than Patea which is also more shallow making the waves great for surfing but not for westerly swells.
To ensure his safety, Jamie will check the bar camera on the Horizon phone pictures as well as the online camera shots operated by the Whanganui-Manawatu Sea Fishing Club (and in Patea as well) which are accessible for members.
The tidal impact on the Whanganui River goes up as far as Hipango Park and when it goes out, there are huge volumes of water rushing out. It can be worse when the river is pushing out and there is a wave action, thanks to the wind pushing in.
As the Coastguard NZ describes it – “Our mission is to equip boaters with the essential knowledge and skills they need before they cross a bar. We are tapping into the expertise of local legends, experienced Coastguard volunteers, and supportive community groups.”
Photo: Coastguard rescue vessel crossing the Foxton Bar.
