Knowing how to stay safe on and in the water is a key consideration for the Otago Regional Council’s harbourmaster team.
Deputy harbourmaster Pete Dryden said the recent wild weather was a reminder of how vital it was to check conditions.
During a stormy afternoon last Thursday, monitoring by Port Otago recorded winds of up to 93 knots (170kmh).
The harbour conditions were the worst Mr Dryden had seen in decades.
"I've been here all my life and I've never seen a harbour like it ever," he said.
From the shore by the Otago Yacht Club, it was not possible to see houses on the other side of the harbour, he said.
"You wouldn't have seen those, just with the spray getting ripped off the water. It was horrendous."
The key message was to be prepared before heading out.
"Anyone, hopefully in their right mind, would have looked at the weather and gone, ‘oh, there's a wind warning out, maybe I won't go fishing today’."
Older-style lifejackets, filled with kapok, were no longer fit for purpose because the material absorbed water and could weigh people down.
Coastguard Tautiaki Moana will once again run its Old4New campaign in December, providing an opportunity to upgrade lifejackets, which are available in many sizes, from baby and child to various adult options.
"It is like going and buying a pair of trousers. You don't go and get a set of extra large trousers and put them on and expect to get down the street without them falling off."
The lifejackets needed to be worn correctly, including the use of crotch straps so they did not ride up in the water.
If a lifejacket was an inflatable type with a gas canister, check the canister was showing green to indicate it was ready to use.
"We recommend getting them looked at or checking them annually," he said.
Another key check was to manually inflate lifejackets and leave them for 24 hours to see if they deflated.
"We want everyone to have fun, but we want them to do it safely and we want them to come home at night."
— Visit coastguard.nz for details about the Old4New lifejacket replacement initiative.
