Life jackets sold like hot cakes

NEW FOR OLD: Old life jackets all in a row at Pukenui on Saturday, while Coastguard sells new ones in their place.

Coastguard's 'Old4New' life jacket campaign did a roaring trade at Pukenui on Saturday, close to 150 jackets that had had their day, some by a considerable margin, being exchange for discounted brand new state of the art models.

The campaign arrived in the Far North last week after achieving similar success in the Auckland region, Coromandel and Waikato, the display being set up at Pukenui, Mill Bay, Whangaroa and Paihia.

Houhora Coastguard president Robin Gemmell said a lot of the jackets that he saw handed in simply would not have worked had they ever been needed. And there had been no shortage of takers for the chance to get a discount off a new one to replace those that had passed their use-by dates.

"People were queuing here at seven o'clock this morning when we got started," he said, adding that some of the obsolete jackets might have looked OK but would not have saved lives.

"There are some real veterans," he said, "and it's good to know that there are almost 150 brand new ones out there now, jackets that will do the job if they are ever put to the test."

The Old4New initiative, with the tagline 'Wear a lifejacket - It never ruined a day on the water,' was launched in November, the hundreds of jackets that have been handed in including some that had racked up half a century, from classic sailing and cork models to others that children had grown out of or had been sitting unused in the front of the boat for years.

Meanwhile Mr Gemmell said the newly-formed Coastguard unit at Houhora would be taking delivery of a 5.5-metre Coastguard rescue boat. It would be of a size that would be particularly valuable for work in harbours and inshore waters, but long-term the unit would be looking at acquiring a larger vessel, of 10 or 11 metres.

It would also be raising funds for a Coastguard building at Pukenui's Monkey Point, in the vicinity of the Houhora Big Game and Sports Fishing Club premises and the country's northernmost St John station.

"Things are going well," he added.

"We're getting more volunteer crew members all the time, although there will always be room for more."

The unit would provide a valuable emergency service in the Far North, he said, although education would also be an important part of its role.