Towing an engineless yacht into Tauranga harbour is just one of the few on-water actions taken by the Tauranga volunteer coastguard so far this summer.

The yacht was taken under tow this week, but it was pre-arranged says Tauranga volunteer coastguard operations manager Simon Barker.

Bridge marina staff tow the red steel-hulled ketch in.

'He's just come up from Wellington to have some work done on the boat,” says Simon.

'He has a broken gear box and he knew he wasn't going to be able to get through the entrance, so we picked him up and brought him in.

'We knew he was on his way last Thursday.”

The 22-year-old red, steel-hulled ketch is 10.9m (36ft) long, weighs 15 tonnes, and will be towed across from the bridge marina to Hutcheson's when they are ready for it.

On Sunday morning the coastguard towed in a yacht that broke its drive shaft near the harbour entrance. They also towed a yacht off a sandbar at Matakana Island, and delivered fuel.

'It's pretty quiet compared to normal,” adds Simon.