Safety first

We have a keen focus on keeping our people safe while they're out on the water and fishing.

For every competition we run, we have in place some rules governing safety.

We organise training to help keep our members safe - Examples of some training we have organised include Day Skipper courses (through Coastguard), hands on fire safety training, use of flares or practical water safety exercises.

We try to address safety issues at each club night and have a designated safety officer on the committee to help us keep up to date with issues around water safety.

Safety equipment
We help our members to keep their safety equipment up to date. We've been successful in several Pub Charity grant applications to help members keep things like flare packs, life jackets, EPIRBS and first aid kits in good working order.

Annual Boat Safety Check
In 2015 the Club began using the Coastguard Boating Safety Guide as part of an Annual Boat Safety Check. We found the Coastguard's guide was a handy “Warrant of Fitness” style checklist to ensure key areas of boat safety are met. We've now modified this form to try and make it a practical checklist you can use to physically run some checks on your boat and safety equipment.

We encourage all members to do this at least once a year and to send us your completed checklist. You may be asked to complete your checks prior to a trip - esp if we're going further afield than Canterbury.

Resources

Maritime NZ - Check your gear
Including some useful information about fitting life jackets, care and maintenance of life jackets and other safety gear.

406 MHz distress beacon care & Beacon registration
Includes info about running self-tests & checking your beacon's batteries. You need to update your registration details if key information changes.

Coastguard — Safe boating
Lots of information designed to keep you safe at sea.

AdventureSmart

For lots of great information about keeping safe for all types of fishing - from a boat or the shore, snorkelling or diving.

Remember your 2-minute form
To compete in any of our competitions you must complete a two-minute form and hand it to the nominated safety co-ordinator before you head out.

We recommend filling out a "2-minute form" every time you head out on a fishing trip.