The history of Coastguard North Shore dates all the way April, 1990. Just as interest in the Coast Guard Area Boat Group had diminished, Maurice Smith who was then the director of the Community Services Committee of the North Harbour Rotary Club, wrote to the Browns Bay Boating Club stating that Rotary had identified the need for a high speed all-weather rescue craft located on the North Shore to service the outer harbour and inner gulf areas.

Interest was sought from the members of the Browns Bay Boating Club (BBBC) to see if they would be interested in managing a rescue vessel by rostering crews, organising local operations, using the boating club tractor to launch and retrieve and take care of the maintenance of the boat.

By July, a protocol had been signed giving the BBBC responsibility for physical aspects of the operation, maintenance and crewing a 6.7 metre Naiad semi-inflatable to be provided and funded by the North Harbour Rotary Club.

Later in July, a meeting was set up to form a parent body to establish “North Harbour Sea Rescue”. By October Coast Guard had endorsed the project, sponsors had been approached, documents for Incorporation prepared, job descriptions prepared and a volunteer list compiled.

March, 1992,  saw our first rescue vessel “Waste Management Rescue” launched and it officialy entered service around Summer 1992 .

And the unit was fully integrated with Auckland Volunteer Coastguard in July 1994

Later the vessel was replaced by a 9 meter Rayglass Protector

In late 2007 the unit managed to secure with funds and with the help of Coastguard New Zealand and NZCT, North Shore Rescue was launched. North Shore Rescue is a purpose built 9.5m alloy RIB rescue vessel – the first of her kind, built by AMF in Tauranga and now used by other units as far away as Canterbury, Tutukaka and Hokianga.

In 2011 she was refurbished and refitted from bow to stern by BlueWater Boats in Henderson, giving her a new lease of life with a fresh paint job and new equipment such as a state of the art Simrad electronics package. This allowed her to serve many more years of faithful service.

Now in 2017, our new vessel North Shore Rescue is stepping into the shoes of her predecessor, which has since moved onto another Coastguard Unit and boating community in the Far North. Having faithfully served our unit, the local North Shore Community and the wider Auckland Region she leaves a formidable legacy as one of the single busiest Coastguard rescue assets in the country.