Support your local VHF Radio Station
When looking the VHF Radio Channels table you will notice that there are several local community based channels.
Examples include:
Great Barrier, Whangarei, Tologa, Wairarapa, Taranaki, D'Urville, Fox, Puysegur, Kaikoura, Waitaki, Cape Reinga, Plenty, Napier, Farewell, Picton, Akaroa, Greymouth, Bluff, Wanganui, Kaitaia, Auckland, Runaway, Wellington, Westport, Fiordland, Chalmers, Cape Egmont, Stewart Island and Chatham Islands Maritime Radio.
One of our favourites is Great Barrier Maritime Radio (that could be because we love that place!).
They cover from the Aldermans to Tutakaka and nearly 100mls out the back of Great Barrier Island and maintain a listening watch on Channel 16 and Channel 71 from 7.00am to 10.00pm daily as well as monitoring Channel 01 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
They do an awesome job and provide additional info like trip reports, help out with local knowledge such as phone numbers, where fuel, water, dive tank and LPG fills can be obtained and planes and ferry timetables, taxis etc.
The station rebroadcasts the Marine Weather Bulletins each day at approximately 07.35 and 17.35.
They're a non-profit organisation, their only source of funding is the revenue gained from membership subscription which is $50.00 pa. So if you fish in the area you can support them with a membership here.