The Bar Crossing Safety Evening is inviting people to raise their knowledge on what to do when crossing the bar and others in the region.
It will be held at the Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club at 7pm on October 21. Otago Regional Council deputy harbourmaster Pete Dryden said it would be a good chance for people to inform themselves.
People often thought a helicopter would be able to save them if they flipped their boat, he said.
"But a helicopter is a long way away and they take a while to get there."
Some dangers to be aware of were potential capsize, grounding, damage and injuries.
It was "absolutely" easy to get something wrong when crossing a bar and the Taieri Mouth bar was notoriously dangerous, he said.
"Especially if you just tear off out there. The fatality that was a few years ago, that was exactly what happened. Just didn’t look, didn’t know, didn’t ask, just went for it."
In 2021, a child died after a small boat flipped after trying to cross the bar at Taieri Mouth.
"There’s a few things that are good to know, even things like talking to the lifeguards before they head out so that the lifeguards can clear a pathway for them so they’re not tearing through swimmers, especially in summer months."
Taieri Mouth fisherman Glen "Paddy" Patterson would speak about his experience crossing the bar.
"He’s got all the local knowledge. He’s the man we go to."
The evening had been held since 2021, over 120 people having attended the first one.
Speaking would be representatives of Coastguard Dunedin, Surf Life Saving New Zealand, Dive Otago and Maritime New Zealand.
