MRQ Journal - Marine Rescue Queensland

Transcription

“Gold Coast City
Marina has been there
for Volunteer Marine Rescue
in our times of need over the
years to help with emergency
lifts and many other after
hour services”
- Martin Hood
Volunteer Marine Rescue
2 01
3 –2 0 1 4
MIA
Marina
of the year
M
arin
a B o a ty
ard
WINNE R
EXCLUSIVE TO VMR READERS
ONLY
MARINE RESCUE QUEENSLAND
GPO BOX 1425, BRISBANE QLD 4001
PHONE (07) 3247 8879 FAX (07) 3247 8875
Email: harry.hubner@dcs.qld.gov.au
BLOCK D2, EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPT. KEDRON PARK ROAD, KEDRON PARK
State Executive
PRESIDENT: Keith Williams
VICE PRESIDENT: Ron Matlik
SECRETARY:
Harry Hubner
State Council
0447 389 135
0439 677 457
W: (07) 3635 3879
M: 0418 870 582
F: (07) 3247 8875
FRONT COVER:
GULF OF CARPENTARIA ZONE
Chairman - NORTHERN ZONE
Chairman - CENTRAL ZONE
Chairman -
MORETON BAY ZONE
Chairman -
SOUTHERN ZONE
Chairman -
TORRES STRAIT ZONE
Chairman -
Peter Graham
Paul Poole
0427 697 535
0428 388 839
Don Martindale Rob Murolo
0400 051 211
0418 799 934
Graham Kingston
Josie Meng
0408 841 782
0427 749 250
Wayne Sclater
Ian Ivory
0411 413 469
0419 012 499
Jannie Bloem
Glen Norris
0413 344 951 0408 004 720
Adrian Davidson
0408 744 018
Burdekin VMR
Advertisers are reminded that the Trade Practices Act 1974 provides severe penalties for false and misleading advertising.
It is not possible for the Association or the editor to check the accuracy of claims of quality of services offered by
advertisers, and therefore the responsibility must lie with the person or companies submitting material for publication in their
advertisement. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Association, of its Council, or of the Editor.
This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act,
no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to
the Editor.
Marine Rescue Queensland
Radio Communications
Squadron Call Sign
VHF Repeaters
HF
27MHZ VHF
(2Meg)
VMR ST PAULS
VMR THURSDAY ISLAND
VMR 422
22, 82
YES
YES
YES
VMR WEIPA
VMR 430
YES
YES
YES
VMR AURUKUN
VMR 498
YES
VMR Karumba
VMR 490
80
YES
YES
VMR Burketown
YES
VMR Mornington Island
VMR 457
YesyES
VMR burdekin
VMR 481
80yesyes
YES
VMR bowen
VMR 487
21yesyes
YES
vmr whitsunday
VMR 442
81, 82, 22yesyes
YES
vmr midge point
VMR 458
81, 21
YES
VMR Mackay
VMR 448
80, 21yesyes
YES
VMR Gladstone
VMR 446
82yesyes
YES
vmr round hill
VMR 477
81, 82
YES
YES YES
vmr bundaberg
VMR 488
22, 80, 81
YES
YES
YES
VMR Hervey Bay
VMR 466
22yesyes
YES
VMR Bribie Island
VMR 445
81, 21yes
YES
vmr BRISBANEvMR 401
81yesyes
YES
VMR Raby Bay
VMR 455
81yesyes
YES
VMR North Stradbroke
VMR 449
81yesyes
YES
VMR Victoria Point
VMR 441
81yesyes
YES
VMR JACOBS WELL
VMR 450
82yesyes
YES
VMR Southport
VMR 400
81, 82, 22yesyes
YES
VMR Currumbin
VMR 420
82yesyes
YES
VMR Point Danger
VMR 460
22yesyes
YES
Affiliated SQUADRONS
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE ST PAULS
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE THURSDAY ISLAND
volunteer marine rescue weipa
volunteer marine rescue aurukun
volunteer marine rescue karumba
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Burketown
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Mornington Is
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE burdekin
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Bowen
Volunteer marine rescue Whitsunday
volunteer marine rescue midge pt.
VOLUNTEER MARINE Rescue Mackay
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Gladstone
volunteer marine rescue round hill
volunteer marine rescue bundaberg
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Hervey Bay
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Bribie Island
volunteer marine RESCUE BRISBANE
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Raby Bay
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Stradbroke
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Victoria Point
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE jacobs well
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Southport
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE Currumbin
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE POINT Danger
2 Marine Rescue Queensland
Moa Island
PO Box 1018
PO Box 580
C/- Shire Council
PO Box 163
PO Box 68
PO Box 1854
PO Box 167
PO Box 130
PO Box 298
PO Box 624
PO Box 235
PO Box 797
PO Box 282
PO Box 566
PO Box 120
PO Box 85
PO Box 201
PO Box 87
PO Box 28
PO Box 273
PO Box 279
PO Box 866
PO Box 99
PO Box 634
C/- Thursday Is.
Thursday Is. 4875
Weipa 4874
Aurukun 4871
Karumba 4891
Burketown 4830
Gununa 4871
Ayr 4807
Bowen 4805
Cannonvale 4802
Midge Point 4799
Mackay 4740
Gladstone 4680
Agnes Water 4677
Bundaberg 4670
Urangan 4655
Bribie Island 4507
Sandgate 4017
Cleveland 4163
Dunwich 4183
Cleveland 4163
Beenleigh 4207
Southport 4215
Currumbin 4223
Coolangatta 4225
(07) 4069 4124
0407 757 532
(07) 4069 7535
(07) 4060 6120
(07) 4745 9999
(07) 4745 5101
(07) 4745 7336
(07) 4783 1014
(07) 4786 1950
(07) 4946 7207
(07) 4947 6274
(07) 4955 5448
(07) 4972 3333
(07) 4974 9383
(07) 4159 4349
(07) 4128 9666
(07) 3408 7596
(07) 3269 8888
(07) 3821 2244
(07) 3409 9338
(07) 3207 8717
(07) 5546 1100
(07) 5532 3417
(07) 5534 1000
(07) 5536 9333
STATE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
A
nother three months has gone
by, and if ever such a statement is true, at the moment it’s
pretty much ‘steady as she goes’.
I’m continually amazed at the enthusiasm of our volunteers, the competency they display and the amazing
work they achieve. A minor point in
history should occur later this year
as VMR Bundaberg are shortly to
proceed to contract to commence building a new vessel. This will replace the very last of our pre-2000 nonsurveyed vessels. Despite being old school, this vessel
has served remarkably well and remains quite usable to
this day, a testament to its original design and build.
An EPIRB is an EPIRB correct? Wrong! There are
changes about to be made to the satellite system that
detects EPIRB activation. The very clear piece of good
news here is that all current beacons will continue to work
as they do right now. However as technology progresses,
AMSA have a very clear safety message for us. If an
EPIRB is equipped with a GPS inside, then the location of
an incident can be known immediately or in other words
no waiting for satellites to be in the correct position. With
modern 406Mhz EPIRB’s, the fact that a beacon has been
switched on is always known immediately, but if the EPIRB
is equipped with GPS then the precise location is also
known immediately.
The cost for GPS equipped EPIRB’s used to be much
higher than a non-GPS equipped model, but as with all
technology, that price difference is shrinking rapidly.
Also the first generation of 406MHz EPIRB’s are now five
years old or more and require either battery servicing, or
replacement. AMSA are urging us to check our EPIRB’s
and if the battery is at the end of its life, they are asking
that all boat owners consider replacing their old EPIRB’s
with a new GPS equipped EPIRB.
Sadly, a fact I found surprising, is that even in the
modern era, around 30% of EPIRB’s are unregistered. This
means that if such a beacon is activated, nothing is known
about the owner of the beacon and assistance may be
delayed. More information at http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/
Sadly towards the end of last year, Mr Wayne Sclater
the president of Moreton Bay Zone retired from active
service with VMR in all roles. I wish Wayne the best in his
future endeavours, but of course his resignation left a hole
to be filled. I am pleased to announce that Moreton Bay
Marine Rescue Queensland 3
Vice President Mr Ian Ivory has stepped up to the role of
President in a unanimous appointment. This now leaves
the question of a replacement Zone Vice President a
matter which should be resolved at the next Moreton Bay
Zone Meeting to be held in May.
Occasionally as I move around the state in very
different areas, I have conversations with a remarkably
similar subject and so it was recently with applying
good business sense to constructing rescue vessels. An
examination of the business model of building a rescue
vessel revolves around more than just considering the
purchase or construction cost. The more business minded
in our numbers tend to ask questions based on the
total cost of ownership of a rescue vessel. This means
working out the likely running and maintenance costs
and addressing the spectre of depreciation. You see the
problem is that rescue boats are exactly that, rescue
boats. They are not pleasure boats or fishing boats. This
means that at the end of their life as a VMR vessel, they
are often not easily adapted to another use. The scary
fact here is that in the modern market place a rescue
vessel less than three years old may have already lost
75% of its commercial value. No other business in the
world would be comfortable constructing an asset that
a) is not going to generate income and b) is going to
depreciate so rapidly. Indeed most squadrons struggle
to save money as fast as the vessel depreciates. Many
vessels are made possible only via the goodwill of the
Queensland Community via last minute fundraising efforts.
This is a clear illustration that we exist purely in service to
the community of Queensland. Although we endeavour
to manage our finances in a prudent manner, we are
definitely not a business in the traditional sense of the
word.
Last year the Queensland State Government elected to
review the delivery of emergency services in Queensland.
Goodness knows in recent times, the delivery of
emergency services has been well practiced! As a result,
came the widely known Keelty review. In line with that
review, Ambulance was moved to Qld Health, Corrective
Services moved to Justice and the former Department of
Community Safety / Emergency Management Queensland
was split into two areas, the business of the Public
Safety Business Agency and the operation of the new
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. At time of
writing, interviews for the position of Deputy Commissioner
are being conducted. The Deputy Commissioner role
will encompass SES, RFS, VMR and AVCGA. Once an
appointment has been made, I look forward to working
with the new deputy commissioner.
Moves toward a permanent marine rescue service at
Yorke Island are proceeding, if somewhat slowly. The
local crew have displayed enormous enthusiasm, with
two members having already gained their coxswain’s
qualification. Moves are still afoot to gain funding to
construct a rescue vessel for the region. With that respect
Rob and myself will shortly travel to Thursday Island to
hold talks with the regional authority, local government and
AMSA. Furthermore we have held discussions with the
Queensland Police Service with respect to the acquisition
of one of their vessels that has ended its service life, with
the possibility of that vessel being used as a temporary
measure to provide a marine rescue presence. A number
of fatalities have occurred in this region and the case for a
marine rescue presence is clear.
Many members will be aware that since coming into
office, Vice President Ron Matilk and myself have made
a concerted effort to attend all zone meetings as far as
possible. This has improved communication and indeed
it’s great to attend these meetings which mean I get to
talk directly with representatives of every single squadron
on a regular basis. On Friday, February 21, the regular
Northern Zone Meeting was held at VMR Whitsunday.
This meeting was attended for the first time by Jason
Costigan the state member for Whitsunday and Deputy
Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin. I openly thank and
commend these gentlemen for listening patiently to us as
we dumped all of our wants and needs in their lap. They
Please be patient
took a genuine interest
with our paid and
in our current position
volunteer training
and our concerns for the
staff over the
future which the members
coming months.
present found heartening.
On top of their
Sunday, March 2
already impressive
saw the holding of the
workload and
VMR Jacobs Well Open
on top of the
Day. This day was well
transition to the
supported by partner
national system,
agencies such as Qld
there is also now
Water Police and a great
the change to
display by Rocky Point
the new MAR
Rural Fire Service. No
training package.
doubt they will talk further
The news for
about this day in their
candidates going
article, but in particular
through the current
I was encouraged to
President VMRAQ Keith Williams with Jacobs Well President John Ranizowski at
training is good.
hold brief discussions
VMR Jacobs Well Open Day.
Firstly nothing
with Mark Boothman the
is going to get
State Member for Albert,
harder.
Secondly
there
will
be
a
well-established
set of
long standing VMR friend and supporter Michael Crandon
guidelines
to
recognise
all
TDM
training
under
the
new
State Member for Coomera and I also spoke briefly with
MAR
package.
Lastly,
for
VMR
purposes,
even
a
partly
Cr Donna Gates from the Gold Coast City Council. All of
completed task book will still be recognised in order to
these members showed overwhelming support for our
complete a qualification. So in summary, whilst change
activities and I thank them for making the effort to attend.
is in the wind, a lot of work is being done by the team to
In talks with the Fire and Emergency Services I have
make the transition as painless as possible, and in the
stressed the need for a sustained increase in funding in
meantime it’s business as usual.
order to guarantee our future. Towards that end, we will
Keith Williams
be making a carefully considered funding submission
State President
to the Qld government over the next few months. This
will not only address the issue of funding but indeed will
suggest an overhaul of the Service
Agreement itself. Here’s to hoping
for the success of this submission
as the need for a more substantial
level of funding is clearly
understood by our members.
From our Central Zone has
come a request for a VMR
recognition of five years of active
service within VMR. Unlike the
national medal, this badge will
be available for any form of
active service within VMR. This
includes such vital areas as radio
“We are well structured and positioned to deliver the service you need to provide
operators, administration and
accurate and efficient completion of your project irrespective of its size”
fundraising. I extend my thanks
 Civil Construction Surveys
 Land Subdivisions Surveys
 Mining & Infrastructure Projects
 Lease Plans
to John O’Callaghan who has
 Building Construction Control
 Site Detail
largely driven this process on my
 Volumetric Subdivisions
 Feature Surveys
 Community & Strata Title Surveys
 Boundary Identification Surveys
behalf. The first round of badges
Providing Surveying & Planning Expertise
have been ordered and we are
expecting delivery shortly. Cost to
Bundall | Brisbane | Coomera | Ipswich | Sunshine Coast
the squadron is quite low. Send
Email: mail@bennettandbennett.com.au
www.bennettandbennett.com.au
me an email to order some.
jacobs well marine rescue qld
JW1 Repowered
O
ur primary rescue vessel, a 7.8m Noosa Cat was recently repowered with
twin Mercury 250hp 4 stroke motors. Water testing has shown improved
performance in both speed and ability to manoeuvre. We now have Mercury
motors on three of our four rescue vessels. New improved instrumentation and
Electro- Hydraulic steering was also fitted. We look forward to a long and happy
association with Mercury Marine and their agent Brisbane Marine.
Some of our local residents sheltering from the sun during the hot spell in January.
Statistics from December 1, 2013- february 20, 2014
Total Number of Activations 218
Total Number of Activations Hours 321.25
Total Number of Crew Hours 1085.35
Total Litres of fuel used 6080
Breakdown of Activations:Medical Breakdown Fuel Grounding Sinking/sunk Search Drifting Training/Patrol 6 Marine Rescue Queensland
3
61
7
11
1
1
1
133
JACOBS WELL marine rescue qld
What was he thinking?
O
going home, the owner was on the
n a normal
end of a serious dressing down from
Wednesday
the Water Police and also from the
roster (0600Marine Rescue duty crew when he
1800) in December
picked up his vessel. As the story is
I arrived at the base
headed ‘What was he thinking’.
around 0545 to hear
the radio operator
Marine Rescue Jacobs Well held
discussing, with the
a Christmas party at the base. Santa
Water Police, a report
attended (after helping with the
of an abandoned
barbecue) and handed out lollies and
sinking vessel that
presents to the children attending. It
had just come in. The
was also an opportunity for president
vessel was located
John and Vice President Roger to
inside the Jumpinpin
present another 15 year service pin to
Bar on a run out tide.
long serving member Sam Messina.
The fisherman who
Long serving member Dennis Appleby receiving his 15 year
reported the vessel
service pin from state president Keith Williams and Jacobs Well
was asked to secure it
president John Ranizowski.
as best he could and
stand by. The Water
Police and Marine
Rescue Jacobs Well
were immediately
dispatched along with
the police helicopter to
locate the vessel and
search the area. On
the way to the search
area we received
a report from the
person who located
the vessel that it was
now on shore on South
Stradbroke Island and
The Jacobs Well stand at the first Yellowood music festival held
at the Glen Hotel in December.
personal effects were
on board. The Water
Police arrived just
before Marine Rescue so we stood off as the Police
searched the vessel and the helicopter searched
overhead. As we were standing off, the tender from a
nearby larger vessel, approached the Water Police and
had a conversation. After a few minutes the helicopter
landed and we were waved over to the vessel by
Fundraising
the Police. It was reported that the person from the
Marine Rescue Jacobs Well were also involved in a
tender had assisted the owner of the sinking vessel
great fundraising event at the Harrigan’s Hotel recent Red
around 1700 the previous evening (about 13 hours
Hot Summer Tour featuring Suzi Quatro, Shannon Noll and
earlier) and had transported him back to his vehicle
others. The Calypso Bay venue had over 3,500 attendees
at Cabbage Tree Point. The Water Police were able
and our volunteers were responsible directing the parking,
to contact his partner and he was home in bed. They
shaking the buckets, spreading sunscreen and a few first
then made arrangements to tow his vessel to our base
aid needs. Thanks to the volunteers and to everyone for
at Jacobs Well for him to retrieve, later that day. With
that incredible attitude to abandoning a vessel and just
your generous support.
bribie island Marine Rescue qld
I
t has been a busy time over the Christmas period for
all at VMR Bribie. Although we only had 284 boats log
on for the month of January, down by approximately
9% on last year mainly due to poor weather conditions.
Acting Commodore Bob Skinner watches closely as Matthew Reid
lifts our new ‘storage shed’ for repositioning into place at the rear of
our compound.
An early morning callout for the Coxswain John Burdett and
his emergency crew Wednesday morning, January 15 with a big
incoming tide, and a broken mooring had this sailing vessel in big
trouble, stranded across the navigational channel of the Bribie
Bridge.
Energex Bribie One managed to successfully pull the
distressed vessel away from the bridge with no damage
to bridge, vessels or crew. She was successfully tied up
at the public jetty at Bongaree for owner to claim her. This
further highlights the need for resolution of the issue of
permission to board unmanned vessels to be delegated to
either Water Police or VMR squadrons.
The radio room had been trialling new operating hours,
of 0500-1900, compared to our usual 0600-1800 timings.
The trial has appeared to go well with a meeting planned
for 1500hrs on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 to discuss this
change.
VMR Bribie’s
monthly Sunset
Drinks was well
attended with
new members
and old mixing
for an enjoyable
evening. Particular
thanks to one of
our relatively new
members, Matthew
Reid, who has
donated a number
of substantial items
including the door
prizes for the night.
Val & John Powell
display one of the
door prizes – an
ENGEL 15 LED Torch.
bribie island marine rescue qld
A Guard of Honour was formed by uniformed VMR members, it spread
the whole length of the circular driveway from the chapel to the access
road.
We were all saddened by the sudden death of one of
our stalwarts and Life Members Peter Snell. His funeral
service at Narangba and wake at the VMR Bribie Function
Room was attended by a large number of old and young
VMR members along with his extensive family. He will be
greatly missed around the base. Peter had only recently
retired from being a duty officer at the base. Peter had
Betty Snell, Peter’s widow with most of the Members assembled later
for a photograph. Unfortunately we were not able to ‘round’ up all
uniformed attendees for the photo.
been a coxswain, crew member, radio operator, duty
officer and a committee of management member. Most
recently his biggest responsibility was keeping the biscuit
barrel full!
RIP Peter Snell 1930-2014
bribie island Marine Rescue qld
Four Commercial Coxswains for VMR
F
our members from Volunteer Marine Rescue Bribie
Island have recently attained their Commercial
Coxswain status, they are Annette Mengel, Liz
Radajewski, Nathan Gundry and John Burge. They can
be seen below both displaying and being awarded
their ‘four stripes’.
VMR Bribie’s 3 new Commercial Coxswains, left to right: Liz
Radajewski, Nathan Gundry and Annette Mengel proudly display
their ‘four stripes’.
Acting Commodore Bob Skinner buttons on Nathan Gundry’s
Commercial Coxswain epaulettes.
Left to Right: Arthur Broom one of our foundation members,
Peter Raymont and John Burge another of our proud Commercial
Coxswains.
Nathan Gundry buttons on Liz Radajewski’s Commercial Coxswain
epaulettes.
Acting Commodore Bob Skinner congratulates each of
these members and said it “was a fitting tribute to the hard
work of these valuable leaders in our organisation”.
C r u ise R affle
John Layton of Harvey World Travel Bribie Island working
out the best value cruise for the winner of the VMR Bribie
Island Cruise raffle. The cruise included airfares to Sydney
and eight days in the South Pacific. Kay Morrison, from
Stuarts Point, near Maxwell NSW, was on her first cruise
to New Zealand when notified of her win. Kay and her
husband Bob were house sitting at Bribie Island in July
and bought the tickets at Farm Fest. They have a daughter
Rachael living on Bribie and were visiting for Christmas so
popped in to Harvey World Travel to make the booking and
arrangements for a cruise they chose in May 2014.
bundaberg Marine Rescue qld
Activations
W
e had only nine activations since the last
journal report – largely due to unfavourable
conditions for boating over the Christmas –
New Year holiday period. However several of these
jobs were notable. Two were a 74nm tow and a 143nm
medivac, and the other was location and recovery of a
swamped tinny and crew.
The tow was a Whitley cabin cruiser with engine
breakdown on the Herald Patch near Lady Elliott Island.
With four POB two were transferred onto Bundy Rescue
to allow a better aspect for the long tow back to Burnett
Heads.
The 143nm medivac was east of Fraser
Island and 25nm south of the Break Sea Spit
cardinal. The activation came from QAS with
information that a yacht crewman had been sea
sick for five days, had second degree sunburn
and was experiencing periods of disorientation
due to dehydration. A merchant ship was on
standby in case of rapid deterioration in the
patient’s condition. The rescue chopper was
busy with double duty on Fraser Island. On
arrival at the yacht it was determined the best option for
transfer of the patient to Bundy Rescue would be from a
rubber dinghy trailed behind the underway yacht. Once
the patient was on Bundy Rescue the QAS paramedic
began stabilisation of the patient with a saline drip (it
took two bags for him to start feeling better). The second
degree sunburn, with 40mm diameter blisters on his
ankles, was the result of long exposure in the cockpit
without protection from the sun! The trip home was
uneventful apart from a momentary auto shut down of the
Navnet outside Break Sea and then an engine warning
light for low alternator output. The skipper took this in his
stride and the patient was admitted to Bundaberg Hospital
for overnight observation.
left: Approaching the yacht for medivac.
right: Patient in streamed dinghy – note ship on horizon.
bundaberg
The yacht was on a delivery run from the Whitsunday’s
to Tasmania. The skipper was planning on Brisbane as
his next port of call – the crew was an inexperienced
collection of guys who responded to an internet crewing
site. The serious nature and the duration of the condition
should have indicated a landfall at Yeppoon or Gladstone.
The tinny activation was notable because of
communication issues and getting the dinghy and people
off the beach. The Saturday morning radio operator
advised the duty skipper he had received a 10 second
mobile phone message – “3.8m tinny taking water on
Barubbara Island north of the rock wall”. So where were
they – on the beach north of the rock wall, or inside the
channels? The skipper opted to take Bundy Rum, our
inshore vessel, through the ‘Hole in the Wall’ to search
Skyringville Passage before going out the northern
entrance for the beach search. The vessel was not located
inside the island so Bundy Rescue was dispatched to
look along the beach. Another call to the radio room –
“We can see your yellow boat about a mile out to sea”.
Radio operator – “What’s your phone number so I can get
back to you?” Caller – “I don’t know. It’s not my phone”!
Meanwhile Bundy Rescue could not get close to the shore
because of shallow sandbanks north of the river. Bundy
Rum arrived to find the tinny beached below a 2m sand
cliff, with five people waving hands and V-sheet. This was
going to be interesting, as the shore break meant Bundy
Rum had to stand about 25m out. With lots of hand signals
and shouting it was determined to float a tow line ashore
for recovery of no more than two people each time in the
retrieved tinny. As it turned out only one young chap came
out on the first pass to say that the others were going to
walk back to the Skyringville shacks to other friends who
could return them to Burnett Heads. The dinghy had been
beached, but the spring tide had washed it up against the
sand cliff, where it swamped and partially filled with sand
and the outboard was unserviceable.
Floating to tow line ashore to the grounded tinny.
Marine Rescue qld
The learnings – stay on the line long enough for more
detailed information; a 3.8m tinny is not suited to the open
sea in 15-20kt winds; be aware of the capacity label; VHF
is better than a mobile.
Boating & Marine Safety Expo
Marine Rescue Bundaberg held a Boating & Marine
Safety Expo in February 15. Exhibits were manned by
Water Police, local Police SARMC’s, Fire and Emergency
Services, Customs and Quarantine, ACMA, GBRMPA,
RACQ Rescue Helicopter and Marine Rescue. The
objective of the day was to highlight the components of
the SAR community, while highlighting critical boating
safety issues.
Flare demonstrations were popular as many boaters
were not aware
of the heat
generated during
flare discharge
and how to find
the right flare in
the dark. EPIRB
registration was
emphasised
during a
demonstration of
EPIRB tracking
using a radio
direction finder
for the 121.5 MHz
locating signal.
The registration
message was
timely as we had
a false alarm from
a non-registered
EPIRB a few days
before the Expo.
The fire fighting
demonstration
was a spectacular
example of how
not to put out an
right from top:
UTC John
O’Callaghan
explains EPIRB
registration and
use.
Water is not an
option for fighting
an oil or fat fire.
Be aware of the
heat generated by
a flare.
bundaberg
oil or fat fire with water. Tom
Hudson, wearing his State
Training Officer’s hat, manned
the ACMA stall for us and spoke
on the importance of VHF radio
and the upcoming AWQ for
recreational boaters. We were
also fortunate to have an out
of date life raft for spectacular
deployment.
The other great outcome
was the signing up of 28
new members, 10 of whom
expressed interest in active
membership. We hope at least
50% of these will come aboard.
Marine Rescue qld
above: Heads down for first aid training.
right: Graham McPhail supervises CPR training.
Promotions
Local TV and radio stations provided wonderful support
in the lead up to the Safety Expo and subsequent media
coverage of the event. We have also been offered a
regular spot on radio 4BU every Tuesday morning. This
should be a great opportunity to promote Marine Rescue
generally and to deal with specific safety messages.
Our annual Family Fishing Classic will be held June 27,
28 and 29 this year at a new venue one door down from
the base as the previous Port Authority site will be in use
for redevelopment of the Burnett Heads Marina. Mark the
date – get the bait. We have two boats for lucky draws.
One will be a centre console with a 40hp Suzuki outboard.
Our new boat
This might seem like another episode of ‘The Days
Of Our Lives’. Yes, we will have a new 11.6 m Sailfish
aluminium catamaran later this year. Development of the
contract and survey specifications has been an involved
process to say the least. This is the first rescue vessel
being constructed under the new NSCV specifications and
it is being built in NSW for operation in Queensland. The
area of operation really required 2B survey. Initially that
was not on for outboards – we got around that and then
it was agreed to otherwise build to 2B specs, but survey
only for 2C. Wider operations in 2B territory will be done
under SOLAS provisions – as we do now.
Training
This is the second year for in-house first aid training and
has allowed a major saving in training dollars. We had 22
participants in CPR refresher and full first aid certificates
on February 22. After which active members enjoyed a
Christmas in February barbecue. We had found the prefestive period too congested for a good turnout.
Graham Kingston
Public Relations Officer
Marine Rescue Bundaberg
victoria point Marine Rescue qld
Sirromet Winery.
T
a recruit will stay. Thus, after much thought and many
discussions with the committee at VMR Victoria Point, it
was decided that there would only be two intakes of new
volunteers per year. Instead of just signing people up and
starting them as freshmen on a given roster, we would do
it all differently. We would start all the new recruits together
One of our infrequent callouts however, was by Water
on the same day and they would do four full days, spread
Police to do a search in Moreton bay in mid February. A jet
over four weekends and four different rosters. They would
ski had been found riderless on a Sunday evening in
do all their basic training modules over these four days
25-35kt winds two to three miles off shore. Later the
and this would enable them to meet all other members at
following day, a rescue helicopter spotted a person in
the base and each other and also teach them how it all
the water. Sadly, the person was
works on roster. This, of course,
deceased.
was a huge task for the UTC as
In January VMR Victoria Point
We would like to
he would be required to give up
patrolled the area while the Gill Surf
four weekends in a row to oversee
thank Sirromet for the
to City yacht race was held. We
all of this. On reflection, this has
opportunity to do this,
received some very positive feedback
a s t h e d a y p r o v i d e d s o m e proved to be a very professional
from the Queensland Cruising Yacht
way to start new recruits. On
valuable funds from
Club, who appreciated our efforts. A
completion of the four days, we
fun day was had by all.
grateful concert goers
held a barbecue to welcome
VMR Victoria Point was asked by
them all into our unit. Our 13 new
Sirromet Wineries to organise the
people are a very enthusiastic
car parking for one of their concerts in February. This we
bunch. They seem to enjoy the great camaraderie that is
did and a long day it was for all who participated. We
peculiar to VMR Victoria Point and are a great asset to our
would like to thank Sirromet for the opportunity to do this,
unit. We did, of course, feel sorry for them when they had
as the day provided some valuable funds from grateful
to do their survival at sea course and enter the chilly water
concert goers. These funds will be put towards our next
in the winter! Our UTC however, didn’t flinch when he did
project. This project is to have our very own pontoon built.
this with them. Well done Gary!
We are the only VMR base in the bay without one. On
Boaties Markets
extremely low tides it is impossible for us to launch our
big rescue vessel on the public pontoon and a pontoon of
We have three Boaties Markets a year now and over the
our own would enable us to have our vessels moored on
years these have provided us with much needed funds.
Their popularity certainly hasn’t waned over time and it is
weekends. This means of course that we would be able
probably the only time you will see men lined up at 5.30 in
to attend any situation we were called out to in a much
the morning waiting to shop! Although the weather hasn’t
speedier fashion. Here’s hoping folks!
been kind to us over the past two years, this month’s
Volunteering
market enjoyed a beautiful day. We are very lucky to have
A few months ago, our UTC began some research
our local school support the venue. They run a sausage
into volunteering. He found that the first 24 hours, after
sizzle stall and tea and coffee on the day and this is very
a volunteer joins a group, determines whether or not
popular.
he weather has not been kind to boaties over the
last few months with strong winds prevailing on
many occasions. This means of course, less callouts for the crews on roster and more training for our
new recruits
round hill Marine Rescue qld
Another year down and another year older, VMR Round Hill turns 39 on April 12.
e had a busy Christmas season with people enjoying the great weather (well the first half of the school holidays were great) and saw the cruise vessels Lady Musgrave and Spirit of 1770 out every day till mid January,
with the recreational boaties enjoying the weather while they could. During the first 10days of January we had
eight activations mostly mechanical breakdowns returning nine persons to safety and liaised with a vessel aground in
Round Hill Creek with 7 POB with a 2.2m draft!
We are still experiencing many boaties not logging on and/or using their mobile phones first instead of an option if
required, but at least they are trying.
We have moved with the wishes of State and purchased
the new active members T-shirts.
Our Volunteer Ahoy and social media efforts have been
helpful with a few new members and training commencing
for the new crew and radio operators.
Remember ...
Volunteers are not paid
not because they are
worthless but because
they are priceless ...
W
Safe Boating – Josie Meng
VMR Round Hill
southport Marine Rescue qld
The December / January holiday period
saw Southport perform in excess of 100
activations for broken down vessels, out of
fuel vessels, grounded vessels and a number
of Queensland Ambulance medivacs.
T
he festive season has been and gone and everyone at VMR Southport has been kept on their toes
with one of the busiest on water Christmas / New
Year periods in a number of years.
Southport’s three vessels performed
admirably over the period, with no downtime,
using close on 8000 litres of fuel for
approximately 300 hours of use.
In the early morning of January 31, VMR
Southport were activated by Gold Coast
Water Police to provide support to Emergency Services
with a large and ferocious fire that had taken told of a
number of vessels in the Versace Marina at Main Beach.
Having recently been equipped with our cache of Qld
Fire apparatus we were quickly able to respond. The crew
assisted in supplying foam for the fire fighters as well as
running extra hoses to allow the maximum amount of water
to be available to fight the fire.
As a result of the fire three large pleasure cruisers were
destroyed, eventually sinking, and a fourth cruiser suffered
major scorching and smoke damage. VMR Southport were
further tasked by Maritime Safety Qld and the salvage
company to tow one of the vessels, once raised from
underwater, to the Gold Coast City Marina.
Tuesday night training has re-commenced after the
holiday break with good attendances and plenty of
enthusiasm. Nine members recently undertook their
‘Elements of Shipboard Safety ‘practical exam, with all
enjoying the experience.
Steve Phillips and Jason Horn have recently attained
their coxswains ranking. Terry Hunt, Southport’s midweek
callout skipper extraordinaire, recently achieved an
‘offshore skipper’ endorsement and two other members
are currently being examined for their coxswain and
offshore skipper rankings. Good luck to them.
New Active membership enquiries have certainly shown
an improvement over the past couple of months. 2013 was
very slow in recruitment. Crew numbers are looking quite
healthy at present.
VMR is still hamstrung in trying to renew the rescue
base property lease, due to the ‘Spit Cruise Ship Terminal’.
This is further delaying our urgent requirement to replace
our condemned radio aerial tower and despite pleas to
relevant politicians and government departments, an
answer is no closer. Sooner or later this tower will fall down
rather than be pulled down.
A new rescue vessel is currently in production for VMR
Southport. This is a Noosa Cat 2400 series Walkabout
with a contract delivery date of June 30. We are looking
forward to that. The plan is for this to be a replacement for
our rapidly ageing 6m NAIAD, Marine Rescue 3.
All else is good at Southport, our customers are very
appreciative, our equipment is performing well and morale
amongst members is high.
Until next time, safe boating
VMR Southport
NOTABLE JOBS
A crew was recently activated, called in from home, late
into the evening, to assist a vessel which had run aground
at Labrador. After being advised by the skipper of the
grounded vessel that his boat was on the edge of deeper
water and just needing a nudge, the crew arrived to find
the vessel completely high and dry and at least 10m onto
the sandbank. The skipper was politely told to wait till the
tide came in.
VMR assistance was urgently requested recently
when a small vessel trying to tow a much larger vessel
encountered a raging outgoing tide at the Seaway. VMR
was quickly on the scene to find both vessels going 2m
forward for every five metres backward. A tow rope was
attached and both vessels were guided through the
turbulence to safer water.
The Queensland Ambulance Service recently requested
transport from VMR Southport for paramedics to attend to
a lady who had suffered a nasty fall on South Stradbroke
Island. In appreciation of VMR’s assistance with the
incident, the lady’s son kindly made a very substantial
purchase of raffle tickets in the ‘Boat Replacement Raffle’
then being conducted. Unfortunately, he didn’t win a prize,
however, his gesture was greatly appreciated.
On the recent Australia Day weekend a crew was
activated to assist a group of boaties whose tender had
broken down leaving them unable to get to shore. After
transporting a couple of people to shore with the tender in
tow, the VMR vessel then returned to Wavebreak Island to
assist another vessel whose tender had overturned during
the night. In the process, a floating kayak was recovered,
a yacht owner was given advice on his grounded yacht
and a boatie advised that his cruiser was taking on water.
All of this was before breakfast on what was a very busy
day for VMR Southport.
It was a case of VMR rescuing VMR recently. Whilst
conducting bar crossing training for upcoming skippers,
both Marine Rescue 1 and Marine Rescue 2 were taking
turns to depart and enter the Seaway. On a return trip
through the Seaway, mysteriously, Marine Rescue 2 lost all
engine control, leaving it to flounder in a moderate swell.
Marine Rescue 1 was quickly on the scene and a towrope
attached. Marine Rescue 2 was returned to base where a
faulty engine relay was diagnosed and replaced. Another
potentially dangerous situation averted.
weipa Marine Rescue qld
W
eipa is, at the time of writing, well and truly
into the wet season. One hundred and thirty
centimetres over two days followed by 30cm
over the next seven. So I guess that means the wet
is now underway for the next 10 or 12 weeks. Our
average rainfall for the 12 weeks that it does rain
is around 2m. Our one and only road out has now
disappeared until the road crew can get back in to
begin repairs. It should be open again by April, if not
May for sure.
Down at our new 2/3rds finished base progress has
come to a stop. The dreaded paperwork has overcome
the project and it now seems some months before work
can begin agroan ... sorry again. Our battle with the
Rescue 1 Safety Management System has finally been
won thanks to some great efforts from Jacinta, Faysee,
Chris and Krys. It was quite a marathon.
With the rain arriving in never ending buckets needless
to say the waterfront has been a very lonely place to be.
Having said that two intrepid fishermen set off during a
break in the weather to fish offshore last week. At around
0800hrs with a 1-11/2m swell running they arrived at the
chosen secret spot and immediately began trolling in
25m of water. Before very long a barracuda took the bait
and they stopped to retrieve the fish. In the following
two minutes several events took place all in very quick
succession.
As the fish was landed the lucky fisherman received
a treble thrown from the fish which had now embedded
deep into the back of his hand. Around seven seconds
later both men realised their 5.2m vessel was filling with
water at a rate no pump or bucket was going to handle.
Already there are only seconds left to locate the life
jackets and find that EPRIB. As the vessel slowly begins to
slip beneath the waves the lucky fisherman has a decision
to make. The treble is still embedded into his hand with the
other end of his tangled up fishing line inside the vessel
heading 25m down to the ocean floor.
There is no time to perform surgery in his present
predicament. He has only seconds before he will be on his
way down to Davie Jones Locker attached to a 5.2m hull
split down the middle somewhere. He rips the treble out as
the water swirls in around his shoulders. Life jackets are
on and the beacon is activated. They have survived the
sinking.
As the noise and confusion settle down to the rhythmic
rise and fall of the swell, one could not ignore the sight of
blood in the water flowing from the treble wound.
Their position was 45kms to sea off Weipa. The sharks
took just two minutes to arrive on the scene. No other
vessels out there and too far outside the shipping lane
from Weipa Port to the Shipping channel through the
Torres Strait. They know they are alone and would be for
some time.
Spending around three hours treading water and looking
at the sharks swimming through the swell just in front of
your face is certainly a conversation stopper at anytime.
They stayed floating together clutching that 406 EPRIB.
At this stage this was the one lifeline that could be the
difference between going home or not.
Captain Crazy and crewman Steve Eyles, after being
alerted by water police Thursday Island, set off in Rescue
1. On arrival at the co ordinates transmitted by the beacon
no trace of a vessel could be found. Rescue 1 began a
search pattern and shortly located and retrieved both
exhausted and terrified men from the water at 1100hrs.
Crewman Steve Eyles gave both a check over and were
found to be suffering mild shock. No surprise there I
guess, all considered. When hauled onboard they just
lay side by side on the aft deck were they fell for quite
some time recovering their strength and composure. Once
again. A good result. EPIRB two ... Cruel Sea nil.
On the subject of rescues
and assists it has occurred
to me over the years that
we should have a manual
EFTPOS machine on board
for some of the jobs we do. I
wish I had a dollar for all the
ever so thankful boaties that
on the way back to land and
safety made the statement
”I am definately going to
make sure you guys get a big
donation for all of this”. There
is somewhere, a disconnect
button that brings on some
form of amnesia in survivors
the moment they step off your
vessel. I have in the past
watched the survivors standing
safely on the dock holding their
loved ones as they are looking
down at Rescue 1. They see
her top hatches stoved in,
bow rails bent to pretzels.
$10,000 damage to onboard
computers, radars, radios
etc from water ingress. A
shambles across the aft deck.
To then just wonder off down the wharf. Their problem has
been solved. Sound familiar to anyone ... I guess in many
cases it is the assumption that we are fully funded by the
state. It is understandable from the survivors point of view
as everyone else out there at that hour of the day or night
is fully funded except us. Anyway, don’t get me started on
that one. That’s a whole edition just there.
With the wet shaping up to be a very big one Weipa
can expect to see a large fleet of Gulf trawlers arriving
for the prawn season as soon as the rain stops. Along
with the fleet will come the usual call outs for deck hands
that manage to do impossible things with a variety of sea
creatures. It is one thing being called out at 2am to a job,
but it is so much better when it comes with 20kg of prawns
for the crew to share. Crazy’s Crustacean Calender
predicts a bumper year for prawns if the rain continues as
it has to date.
While in America looking for a suitable drone for marine
rescue operations I ran into some interesting folks working
on ‘Drone Other Bits’. They are researching a new system
for when or if the GPS system fails for whatever reason.
Think about that for a minute or two. GPS signal suddenly
no more. No warning. Nothing. Hope I’m not on a flight
that day. So, working on that possibility they have come
up with a tiny chip that picks up signals from any source
around. TV, radio, cell phones, satellites, aircraft anything
that emits. From all of that it gets to locate itself on the
earth’s surface. Pretty cool. It should work I would think
even when under cover as the signals would still travels
from horizontal sources. Just something to keep an eye
out for in the future maybe.
On the subject of new technologies the deployment of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones for search tasks is
still a hot topic around here. It seems the biggest obstacle
preventing them from joining commercial airspace
has been their inability to avoid objects such as other
aircraft autonomously. It has once again been Australian
researchers that have led the world in solving the issue
last week. This will now bring the use of commercial units
much closer to gaining certificates to operate in our field of
operations. Although the initial cost is high, maintenance
records of drones operating in war zones over the past 10
years show units a decade old have had only propellers
and batteries replaced in most cases. We will still need our
vessels but how good would it be to despatch the drone to
locate the vessel or person and send back real time video
of the scene. No more ploughing up and down the ocean
trying to locate something from the height of 2m and
leaving crews in harms way for hours on end. Maybe our
rebranding from Air Sea Rescue was a tad premature.
As Weipa VMR moves into 2014 and we look back at
last year and how we have managed to keep the ship
afloat for another year it comes down to the Weipa Bowls
Club. This club has supported our unit for the past decade
with donations and allowing crews to run weekly raffles at
the club on a Friday night. It is a club that is made up of a
lot of boaties and looking around the bar we have pulled
a number of them in over the years. As most would be
well aware the annual pittance from the state government
does not provide sufficient funds to operate a vessel and
base in this day and age. Our unit is indebted to this club
for its continuing support of the town’s marine rescue
capabilities. If you’re visiting Weipa call in and support us
by supporting the club.
Training
On the training side of things there is a renewed push
from the great unwashed masses of VMR Weipa for more
training. I sigh, and like all long suffering trainers prepare
for yet another round of this goes here and that goes
there. The correct and timely training of crews is a vital
cog in our rescue machine and our training officers are
the backbone of the organisation. Without them we cannot
meet our commitments to provide a professional marine
search and rescue operation. These creatures are not an
easy commodity to find and even harder to keep. They are
on a constantly changing merry go round of whatever it is
this week the government thinks we should be up to speed
on. It is a welcomed day when a trainer from elsewhere
arrives and delivers or observes how we do things in our
unit. I am of the opinion that swapping trainers even for a
day can be a very rewarding experience for both crew and
trainer. As a trainer of a decade or two I am still finding
moments that make my eyebrows shoot up as I see a
session delivered in a new or different way.
While speaking of backbones Weipa VMR has received
some sad news this week. Our treasurer Jon Dahl is ready
to pass on the baton as our bean counter. After only 20
years service and the only person to have been awarded
life membership of the Weipa unit he now reckons he has
earned a rest. Treasurers, like trainers are hard to find, let
alone a really good one and Jon has certainly been an
excellent long serving member. Jon does not turn up to
meetings, does not go anywhere near a boat and has never
owned a uniform but decade after decade is always there
in the background. I suspect his real reason for staying on
so long has been to keep me away from screwing up the
books. Good luck with your retirement mate.
Apart from all the usual experiences with tows, break downs
etc. that’s about it from 12° S. I guess experience is what you
get when you don’t get what you want.
Peter (Crazy) Graham
nth stradbroke is Marine Rescue qld
A
t the time I was deciding what was to be said
in this edition, little did I know what events
were about to unfold. As most of you are now
aware, we had an incident with our 26’ Kevlacat, Blue
Diamond, on Saturday, February 22. Our president,
Richard Dunn, has included an article on his take on
events so I will not steal his thunder on relating much
more. However, as the skipper of North Stradbroke 1
and tasked with retrieving Blue Diamond, I would like to
thank a number of people who helped on that difficult
and eventful day. The skippers and crews of both VMR
Raby Bay’s boats, CG 23, CG 22 (both Coastguard
vessels) whose help was considerable especially
in righting Blue Diamond and getting her in to the
ramp at One Mile so she could be retrieved from the
water. My crew of Gordon McInnes, Andrea Rusbatch,
Michael Porrett and Garry Goodey who were fantastic,
especially Garry who went into the water several times
to attach ropes to other boats and Blue Diamond. I
might mention that Garry is qualified in Swift Water
Rescue and could not have been a more ideal man for
the job. As mentioned, I shall leave it to Richard’s article
to complete the order of events.
The holiday period from December 12, 2013 until
January 1, 2014 was probably the busiest it has ever been
for our unit. During this time we conducted 59 medivacs,
a number of ‘RACQ’ jobs, transport of personnel during
the bushfires on the island as well as helping a couple
of our members and their families to be evacuated from
approaching fire.
In a 24hr period alone on New Year’s Eve and New
Year’s Day, we conducted no less than nine medivacs. Our
president Richard Dunn crewed on six straight of these
and was talking left-handed at the time we sent him home.
We were fortunate to have Gary Radford volunteer to
cover us for some shifts. “I’m bored” he told me after two
days and one night of no action when I rang him at 5pm
one particular evening. When I rang him back the next
morning, it transpired that he got zero sleep that night
having to do three medivacs and a rescue. Way to go
Gary!
As we are a small unit, this busy time required a great
deal of time, effort, and lack of sleep from a relatively few
people and I remain grateful that everyone stepped up to
the plate to the extent that they did.
During this time, refurbishments to our base were all but
completed and we could not be happier with what has
been achieved to date. The base is now a work space that
is functional and attractive, a pleasure to attend duty at.
On an amusing note to finish, one of duty skippers
received a call from a lady wanting to know if we were
Marine Rescue. The skipper replied that we were and how
could we be of assistance. She explained that she had
several turtles that were trapped in her dam and needed
to be freed. “Where was she?” was the response. When
the skipper told her that we really couldn’t bring a boat to
Toowoomba to save the turtles, she became most irrate
as we were a marine rescue organisation and turtles
were a marine organism. The skipper suggested she ring
Toowoomba City Council bit she was less than impressed
that we would not help.
Easter holidays are almost upon us and it will no doubt
be another busy period for all. I hope that all units have a
safe time.
Doug Fraser
“Mate, You have a
boat upside down”
Saturday, February 15, Nth Stradbroke Island I am on my
way to Sydney with my wife to attend a Trade Fair. I stop in at the Base to chat with the duty crew before
catching the water taxi to Brisbane. The weather forecast
was for strong northerly winds increasing to 25+kts in the
afternoon. I joked with the crew that they would have a
quiet weekend duty on the water and requested certain
maintenance tasks to be completed. In Sydney at the Trade Fair when my mobile phone rings- I
look at the screen and see that it’s Keith Williams. RD. “Hi Keith what can I do for you?” KW.”Fill me in mate.” RD,”On what?” KW.”Mate you have a boat upside down in the bay. RD.” xxxxxxxxx” I hang up, I am shocked. My wife Debra, concerned at my
appearance, asks “What’s happened?”. I reply that I have a
capsized rescue boat. At this stage I have no idea what has happened or if my
crew is safe. Stupidly I call the duty masters’ phone but it is
on the bottom of Moreton Bay. I finally get on to one of the duty crew at the base and
he was able to give me a brief outline of events. Blue
Diamond was dispatched with a crew of three to assist a
large grounded sailing vessel with in excess of 15 people
on board. The vessel was successfully refloated and then
inexplicably moved off capsizing our vessel. I was informed
that the crew was all safe and accounted for. Then followed many phone calls from my team informing
me of the ensuring recovery of Blue Diamond, (there is a
large number of photos uploaded on to the VMR Portal of
this very successful operation). nth stradbroke is Marine Rescue qld
As President it was very hard to cope with the
helplessness of being so far away and not being on scene
and helping my crew. Eventually I had contact with Robert
Brock from VMRAQ who was at the scene and reassured me
that everything was under control • Colin Haigh (Base Admin. Officer) who tried to keep me
informed though the afternoon A vey restless Saturday night, not much sleep as I mulled
over the day’s events. My main concern was our crew and
their wellbeing. Fortunately I was able to speak to each crew
member ensuring that they were being looked after and that
all the supporting mechanisms were in place. • Our brothers and sisters at VMR Raby Bay and Coast
Guard Brisbane and Redland Bay
At the time of writing this in Sydney I have scant
knowledge of the incident. I await the findings of the official
investigations and our own internal debriefing. With hindsight
and the results of the investigations, the positives and
negative of the day’s events and any recommendations
useful to all units will be published. • Acting Sergeant Michael Porrett, Dunwich Police. Michael
as a VMR 449 member was part of Doug Fraser’s recovery
crew and was able to also dispatch the local Police Land
Cruise to help winch Blue Diamond back on to the trailer I would like to thank the following
for their assistance: • Keith Williams and Robert Brock (VMRAQ) for their help in
keeping me calm whilst in Sydney • Doug Fraser (Squadron Ops. Officer) and the recovery
crew he was able to muster to retrieve Blue Diamond.
(photos on Portal) • Vice President Rob Brain who ‘stepped up’ and managed
the situation from the base. Rob continues to manage the
situation with our vessel. • The duty crew who acted with calmness and bravery
throughout their ordeal. Richard Dunn
President VMR449
Nth Stradbroke Island
brisbane Marine Rescue qld
Crews News
ow it is hard to believe just how fast this year is
going. The mid-week crew is as active as ever
with numerous jobs being completed around
the grounds as well as the regular checking, cleaning
and maintenance of our fleet. Four members of our
mid-week crew had to down tools to pick up a call.
Coast Guard Manly had taken a call from the owner of a
vessel taking water to be towed to Doboy Creek, Manly
were unable to help at the time due to servicing of their
two bigger boats. A call then went to the water police
who in turn called us.
Skippered by Ian McCartney, Energex Sandgate 1 and
crew Noel Luxton, Ray Henery and Greg Henderson set off
in a medium sea to locate a wooden 43ft yacht anchored
near Manly Harbour. The vessel had taken on a lot of
water, flooded the engine and all navigational equipment
including radios. Once we located the yacht and saw the
condition of it there was some doubt as to whether it was
seaworthy enough to make the journey, the timbers had
rot, patchy paint work, all manner of plastic containers
draped around it and two tenders, one on board the other
tied off the yacht. After assessment of the vessel we set
the tow and got underway, by this time the wind was up
and the swell was building, we were making about 5.5kts.
W
Foxtrot tow from Shark Spit.
Midweek tow from Manly.
By the time we had turned and were on course for the
Coffee Pots the wind was over 20kts and the seas were
now about 1.5m. Once at the Coffee Pots we turned into
the river, it was made a little easier now with a following
sea and the further up the river we got the more sheltered
it became. We shortened up the tow once we reached
Doboy Creek, took the boat up the creek about 400m
then swung her around and brought her on to her anchor
position. We released the tow and headed for Cabbage
Tree Creek. By this time the winds had got stronger and
the seas bigger. It was a rough, slow trip back.
The Christmas New Year holiday period provided
rather pleasing boating weather if not just a little too hot
at times. Over this holiday time our crew members are
asked to give even more of their family time when they put
their hands up to provide full crews at our base to attend
callouts for assistance from boaties in need. We are very
proud to advise Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s
Day, Australia Day and the allocated public holidays
were all fully crewed. These particular days are not set
in our crew roster; we rely completely on our members to
volunteer additional time. We acknowledge this is a very
special, spiritual and family time for many and to give
of that time is certainly recognised. Your commitment to
Saving Lives at Sea is commendable.
First Foxtrot crew
day of 2014 coincided
with SCYC, Surf to City
Race. Some of our own
Sandgate Yacht Club
members took part in
the race on January
18. Sandgate Cruising
Yacht Club hosted the
event in association
with Southport Yacht
Club. This race is
unique in that it is the
Kerry is a keen sailor and it was her experience in
crewing on an entry in the 2007/08 Round the World
Clipper race that saw her application to crew on the British
68 footer CV10 accepted. She had joined the Clipper
Race then in Fremantle and sailed to Qingdao in the north
of China.
For the first time, the Sydney-Hobart was included as
part of the current Round the World Clipper race so 12
70-footers sailed with the regular fleet with Kerry’s CV10
and an identical boat, CV5. As Chairman of Clipper
Ventures and founder of the Clipper Round the World
Race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was setting up a new
training and events base in Sydney. (Sir Robin was
the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop
circumnavigation of the globe in 1968.) The 74-year-old
even joined Kerry’s crew as navigator.
There were 18 crew on each of the 68-footers: CV10’s
included Jim Dobie as skipper, a mate, their famous
navigator and Roger McMillan, a journalist from Australian
Sailing magazine, as well as six women.
Black Jack.
Training for the 2013 Rolex Sydney-Hobart, the 69th
Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, started in earnest 10 days
only Australian race that includes an offshore fleet and
an inshore fleet that start and end at the same points.
The 2014 race attracted 85 yachts from the famous
Black Jack to 7m trailer sailers. After completing morning
training navigation and vessel exercises on both Energex
Sandgate 1 and Sandgate Rescue 2, we set out to seek
and identify some of the yachts coming across the bay on
the shorter course of the race. Black Jack the maxi Sydney
to Hobart contender, competing in the long course, had
rounded Cape Moreton and was headed down to the
finish line just outside the One Mile Marker aka Fisheries
Beacon it was easy to spot her. Aboard Energex Sandgate
1 with Duty Master, Thomas Grice at the helm we were
able side up to get a good look. Wow, what a thrill for us,
a sleek vessel and a slick crew. Cruising at just over 20kts
was ‘smooth sailing’ for her compared to the ‘Big Race’.
VMRB were able to assist by providing race ‘skeds’ via
VHF radio, GPS logging of yachts and radio monitoring.
VMRB have provided this assistance for many years as
some recognition of the Sandgate Yacht Club, part of
the original club formed at our base site. This year Glenn
Philip did the job with the assistance of Col Nielson and
others. It is a very long day, into the night and through
until early hours of the morning, so thank you Glenn and
everyone who assisted.
For more information go to: http://www.surf2city.com.au
And what did you do over Christmas 2013?
Kerry Kyle-Little of VMRB’s Papa crew can say
something few of us can top: she crewed in the 2013
Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.
above left: Training with Kerry in front on CV10.
above centre: CV10 crew.
above right: Sir Robin Knox-Johnson and Kerry.
before the race start so Kerry drove to Sydney with all
her racing paraphernalia. It was an exciting beginning
because the boat started with a completely new wardrobe
of sails which needed their numbers affixed: GBR9359T.
This was quite an event in a nearby park, as the sails were
so huge there was no area big enough to spread them out
completely to make sure they were stuck on straight (and
in the right order and on both sides!) (During the race,
it was exhilarating to use those unusual asymmetrical
spinnakers – not uncommon now but different for the
Clipper 68’s so they had to have a bow sprit added to
accommodate them.)
Rushcutters Bay was the base for training and involved
all the usual things, such as lifeboat drills, swimming
fully clothed with addition of ‘foulies’, and survival at sea,
endless tacking and gybing practice, man overboard drills
(under white sails and under kite), with life-sized dummy
and which include sending a crew member into the
water on a halyard for the retrievals, yacht maintenance,
victualling for 18 people for seven days and the dreaded
deep clean. (Kerry noted that the dummy is actually
labelled ‘Ruth Lee’ but “we always call our MOB’s ‘Bob’ –
even when
they are only
fenders – as
they bob
around while
we attempt
to retrieve
them.”) They
were joined
in training
by four
additional reporters and photographers who were
preparing to do the race on some of the ‘70’s’ and were
required to do training in order to participate.
It was exciting seeing so many well-known boats
together. Kerry had sailed on some, delivering them back
to their home ports, but it was still an eye-catching time.
Getting to know everyone also meant developing a team
spirit and it took quite a while for everyone to automatically
go where they were needed at any particular time. There
were few people who were assigned just one role so
almost everyone was able to adapt to the many needs.
Fortunately it all came together on Boxing Day and CV10
got away brilliantly in the hectic start, beating all the other
Clippers out.
The crew was split
into two watches, with
each watch on deck
for four hours at a time,
but at times ‘all hands’
being required even if
‘off watch’. The routine
was eight people on
watch for four hours.
Bob the dummy.
Keeping the crew fed was one of the needs, and
two people were rostered on to prepare each meal.
It happened that sometimes people had to be taken
off watch, were catching up on much-needed sleep
or suffering seasickness, so one person would be
left to conjure up something from the stocks of pasta
and rice, tinned and other dried food. Although there
was a tiny fridge on board, it was only used to store
cheese, butter and long-life milk after opening –
mainly to stop them being thrown around and spilt.
There wasn’t much room for anything else!
For the first two days the going was fairly smooth
and it wasn’t until the third day that CV10 struck 40kt
winds, followed by a ‘lull before the storm’ as they
entered Bass Strait. The easy ride across the strait
was short-lived as the predicted (cold++) westerly
front arrived and wind speeds in the 50+kt range were
seen which, together with the large waves, made the
going interesting.
Once entering Bass Strait, Kerry found it is a deceptively
long way down the Tasmanian Coast. By the time they
were almost becalmed in the Derwent River, there was a
great wish they could turn on the engine and hurry up the
process! In fact CV10 did very well and was the second
Clipper into Constitution Dock, arriving at 9.15am on
December 30 so taking three days, 20 hours, 15 minutes
and 15 seconds to be the 37th boat across the line. CV5
came in 53rd over the line. CV10 came first on handicap
in the Clipper class so the crew members were rightly
pleased with themselves. Eighty four boats finished the
race with 10 yachts, including one Clipper, retiring from
the event.
CV10 at the finish.
There was a real buzz as boats came in and crews
dispersed. Some left for home immediately while others
prepared for the return trip home, the ‘delivery’. Two of the
Round the World Clippers had to be lifted out and undergo
repairs and CV5 had occasioned rig damage. In the end,
CV10 basically escorted CV5 home. The day before they
left, slightly-built Kerry had trouble holding on around the
dock. No wonder: wind gusts of 115kts were recorded!
Actually the trip back to Sydney was a lot rougher than the
voyage south, with winds up to 60kts on one day. This was
the only night it was decided to forego dinner as it was so
rough but Kerry managed to produce basic noodles to
sustain everyone.
The two 68-footers arrived back in Sydney around 4am
on Tuesday, January 7. The crews still had to tidy up the
vessel and while Kerry was securing the sail cover around
the boom, she broke her left arm and ended up in hospital
not much later. However, the break hasn’t dimmed Kerry’s
enthusiasm for the event, one which she had secretly
thought she’d love to do but never have the chance. It just
shows Christmas presents come in all different guises!
See also http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/
gallery/58/841
Thank You Kerry for this interview by Deidre Windham.
How’s The Weather?
After an extremely hot day, it became a balmy twilight,
when the Channel 7 crew went to air with Paul Burt
presenting the weather forecast from our Shorncliffe
base. The Ch7 technical crew had spent time setting up
in the afternoon, looking at camera angles, setting up the
satellite dish, adjusting lighting and microphones while
Paul researched weather patterns and temperatures of the
day throughout South East Queensland.
With forecasts and script prepared he took to our
pontoon to inspect Energex Sandgate 1. Paul was very
impressed with the pride of our fleet.
Paul Burt has great knowledge, with over 30 years’
experience he is regarded as the ‘go to man’ for fishing in
the South East. Better known as ‘Mr Boating and Fishing’,
Paul’s extensive knowledge of fishing, boating and the
outdoor lifestyle has seen his life passion turned into a full
time media career.
We were excited when Channel 7 called and asked to
present the weather from our base and of course, we said
yes. This was wonderful exposure for us and Paul
included our role as a Volunteer Marine Rescue
Squadron encouraging boaties to ‘log on and log
off’. ‘Logging on and logging off’ is something we
are always asking boaties to do.
The Ch7 crew then went to work recording a
short introduction to the weather from our ramp
that was aired in the lead up to the news. Paul
Burt and his crew put the weather report to air
live from our pontoon, with Energex Sandgate
1 sharing the spotlight. Paul emphasised our
above left: Paul Burt with Senior Vice President
Thomas Grice.
above right: Paul Burt introducing the weather
report.
right: Paul Burt – weather report.
‘log on log off’ message throughout the weather report.
Afterwards another short ‘weather update’ was recorded
and went to air during the evening.
Thank You Paul Burt and Channel 7.
Training VMRB
Training is fully underway with an emphasis on moving
many of our first stripers through to their second stripe.
In fact there is a real commitment from crew members at
all levels to raise their competencies overall. It is always
a good thing when active members want to develop and
build depth in our squadron.
New members are coming in
and some completing their ESS
while on rotational crew duty.
Sourcing good quality recruits
seems difficult to target, we have
new members applying from all
walks of life and a broad range of
motivations to join. It seems the
best we can do is to keep getting
the word out there about what
we do. Active crew members
are up to date with First Aid and
CPR course in action.
CPR certificates after completing
training sessions over two
weekends. Duty masters are always taking time to drill crews
with navigation, man over board, rough weather vessel
handling, ship to ship transfers and local knowledge. By
way of honing in on crew skills, we are ready to provide
assistance needed by boaties and jet skiers on the bay
and the Brisbane and Pine Rivers.
raby bay Marine Rescue qld
Events
New Years Eve fireworks.
E
nergex Medivac was 455’s contribution to
assisting Brisbane Water Police with control of the
river safety on New Year’s Eve. Although on the
night we were only required to assist one boatie with a
flat battery issue, it was amusing to see Marine Rescue
Queensland’s very own president, Keith Williams
hopping into the tinny and handling the business-end
of the jumper-leads!
As Energex Medivac was already in the water we made
it to the mark within 15 minutes. The search area was
alongside the western edge of North Stradbroke bounded
by mangroves on a falling, and very low, tide. On arrival
we saw no spilled fuel, no detritus and no upturned hull.
We began a slow search north with the drift-line along
the mangroves but found absolutely no evidence of the
incident even when using binoculars. We turned south and
repeated the exercise with the same results. Still nothing.
We turned north again and made a third pass, still nothing.
We lengthened the search area to account for inaccuracy
and drift and began a fourth sweep. At the bottom of
the sweep we still had nothing. The skipper shut off the
engines and sounded the horn and we drifted north using
the outgoing tide while shouting into the mangroves – and
lo, heard a distant voice! We steered toward the voice but
still couldn’t see the casualty until he deployed his V-sheet.
Even then it was remarkably hard to see, as he was very
deep into the mangroves.
Long story short, we rescued mum, dad, a toddler and
a small dog. Apparently he had driven his 4.5m tinny
up a shallow narrow channel behind the mangroves for
crabbing purposes and was under the impression that at a
Although the general populace were very well behaved,
we did encounter a few boaties who pushed the
boundaries of stupid to the limit. An overloaded and unlit
RIB kept whizzing between the City-Cats, and two standup paddle board jockeys were not only unlit, but also
unencumbered by either lifejackets or common-sense. In
both cases a quiet word-to-the wise and discreet escorting
was all that was required to assist them with surviving the
event.
The big banger.
Notable incidents.
Mangrove rescue – Using your senses:
While assisting a gentleman with a cold-move for his
yacht, we were activated by Brisbane water police. They
provided us with coordinates and a short description:
sunken tinny, four in water. Make best speed.
tragic. Not only did this incident highlight the dangers
of towing in a crowded anchorage, it also served to
demonstrate the excellent response capabilities of the
rescue units.
Late in the afternoon of February 15 Energex
Medivac assisted in the recovery of the capsized Blue
Diamond (VMR Stradbroke). In what was a good end to
a bad day, the combined efforts of North Stradbroke I,
CG 22 and CG 23 and Energex Medivac successfully
righted Blue Diamond and by late evening she was
returned to her base on her trailer, looking battered but
not destroyed. What was inspiring to observe was the
spirit of cooperation between the VMR units and those
of AVCG in the recovery.
On-scene at Peel Island.
previous stop for a swim, his youngster may have removed
the bung!
In the post-rescue wash-up, the man told me that he
hadn’t seen or heard us until the horn was sounded. I
know it’s a standard technique, but please, don’t forget to
use your ears.
Mid-February we were called out to a collision between
a tube towed by a PWC and the tender of a yacht at
Horseshoe Bay. The nature of the call demanded a
response from all available emergency resource units. RB
IV was first on the scene, followed closely by the water
police, then North Stradbroke l brought North Stradbroke
Island’s resident paramedic across. Rescue 500 hovered
overhead with a doctor and, just for good measure, RB II
brought two more paramedics to the scene.
Although the activation for this incident required
urgency, thankfully, it transpired that the injuries to
the occupants of the tube, an adult and a child, were
assessed as minor. They could so easily have been
We all need a little help sometimes.
Redcliffe 1.
SAR Redcliffe
Two days later, Energex Medivac and RB II were
called in on the second day of a search organised by
Brisbane Water Police. Arriving on-scene at Redcliffe,
we joined the Brett T Handran and multiple VMR and
Coast Guard units in a parallel line search. Sadly, just
after we completed our second leg, the body of the jet
skier was located by helicopter.
Base Infrastructure
The new, and rather spiffy, multi-functional projector
funded by the RSL was put to the test at the members
meeting in February. George Brenk demonstrated his
formidable skill and its spectacular functionality during
his spellbinding presentation on ‘Procedures’. In the
future, not only will our own members benefit from this
generous gift, so will Surf Lifesavers, other VMR units
and all of the other training organisations who use our
seminar room.
A big thanks to Redlands RSL, this instrument will
assist in the training of many people.
A grant from Redland City Council, thanks to Deputy
Mayor Alan Beard and Cr Paul Gleeson, assisted in the
replacement of the fallen roller door. The new door has
been fitted and we have been assured that this one will
defy gravity. Replacement of the other large roller door
is imminent.
The 21st century has almost
arrived in Raby Bay…
The IT refit is well under way. The new server rack,
switch and wireless access point – donated by Jason
Young Consulting – are now installed and ready for the
server and telephone system hardware to be mounted.
The category 6 cabling and installation, also donated FOC
by Jason, is currently underway and is expected to be
completed by the end of February.
For the technically minded …
The new server will use the latest Virtual Machine
technology to run four Virtual Servers.
The software is Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
and Standard as well as Exchange 2013. This will enable
the unit to use private cloud-based technologies and
allow the crews access to the system remotely from
devices like smart phones and tablets. The existing PC’s
will be updated to the latest operating systems and run
Office 2013. All data will be kept, and backed up from,
the server. The Microsoft software has been donated
by Microsoft at basically no cost and was organised via
Connecting-Up (Connectingup.org) as part of the ‘not for
profit’ agreement. The server is currently already running
and waiting for final configuration once final specifications
are agreed between the consultant, the web designers
and the management committee.
Rollout: On completion of the cabling, the server will be
installed into the rack and the existing hardware and data
will be migrated to the new network. It is expected that the
project should be completed and commissioned by early
March.
On behalf of 455, a very big thanks go to Jason Young,
not only for his hardware donations and his efforts in
obtaining a great licencing deal, but his patience in
turning our wish-list into a rock-solid solution.
(Jason Young Consulting 0418 889 332)
On the web-front:
Our northern-aspect ramp and car-park web-camera
and one for the new car-park are both installed and the
third and final one will soon be in place. This camera is a
remote pan, zoom and tilt model, which will be installed
on the Cleveland Sailing Club roof. It will be programmed
to scan the southern and eastern quadrant of the bay and
will be operated wirelessly from our base.
However, until the camera project is finished, we will
have to wait to finalise the website upgrade to incorporate
the three live feeds.
It is anticipated that the live images from these cameras
will become a focal point and useful resource for the
local boating community. This generous donation from
the Gambling Community Benefit Fund will allow users
to preview the sea conditions, the traffic on the bay as
well as on the ramp and will even allow them to view the
availability of spaces in the car
park – all from the comfort of
home.
Fund Raising
As you may gather, our
current base upgrades require
significant funding. As we recently lost two of our regular
fund sources, we have restructured our fund-raising
team strategy to step up our presence at Suncorp for
the Brisbane Roar’s home games and are also actively
promoting the associate membership on-water assistance
package which may help mitigate these recent losses.
We must take the moment to thank Jocelyn (Crew 3)
who quietly, behind the scenes, puts in great effort and
energy into finding and securing substantial grant funding
opportunities.
Membership and Training
The training committee have had a well-deserved break
over Christmas and are now back in full swing. The nine
new members who joined during the festive season have
already had their live flare and in-water drills. We also
have a first aid course and CPR renewal night in the diary
and will start back into the twice-monthly modular training
workshops at the end of February. We are also finalising
dates for an in-house SAR exercise.
In conjunction with the new IT infrastructure and website,
our crews will be able to have access to all of our SOP’s,
copies of the vessel SMS manuals and all in-house training
programme resources at all times.
Along with all VMR trainers, we are anticipating that
the biggest challenge looming on the horizon will be the
changeover from the current MSQ Coxswains qualification
to the new AMSA program and having to remember all of
the new subject codes!
Third Quarter Statistics
Activation for Medivacs Breakdowns Insufficient Fuel Grounding Sinking/ Sunk Vessel Search Drifting Vessels Flares EPIRB Activation Training Total Persons returned to safety
(And one dog)
Amount of fuel used (litres)
01 November 1,
– January 31, 2014
32
39
0
3
3
11
1
0
0
59
148
123
9897
16th Bribie Island
Classic Boat Regatta
Saturday 17, Sunday 18, May 2014
For Steam, Sail, Motor & Row Boats (Built to Traditional Designs)
This is a wonderful opportunity for you to see classic style boats, bay cruisers, sailing dinghies and timber boats. They
present a rare spectacle on Bribie’s waterways. Entry is open to all old and new classic and timber boat owners. Come
along for a great day, ‘Just messing about in boats’.
Classic Cars and Trucks will also be on display at Sylvan Beach near VMR on Sunday.
Friday’s Activities – May 16
6- 9pm: Meet and greet at the Bribie Island Hotel. Marina berths will be available for participants (Fri-Sun).
Saturday’s Activities – May 17
Boats will depart Spinnaker Sound Marina, Sandstone Point at 10am for a cruise to Toorbul and Donnybrook. Lunch will be
on the beach at Toorbul. Sausage Sizzle and Fire Brigade Exhibit available at Toorbul. Boats will depart at 2pm and travel to
Pacific Harbour Marina. Boats will be on display to the public from 3.30pm till 5.30pm at Pacific Harbour Marina. Afternoon
tea and overnight moorings will be provided for all participants.
Sunday’s Activities – May 18
Boats will depart Spinnaker Sound about 10am and will then cruise into the Pumicestone Passage and Pacific Harbor, Bribie
Island. At about 11.30am the vessels will be nosed onto Sylvan Beach for public inspection from 11.30am. There will be
public inspections of boats and a series of events and sailing races off Sylvan Beach. Vintage and Classic Car clubs will
also have displays at Sylvan Beach. The day will finish with a grand parade at 2pm off Sylvan Beach.
Best viewing times for the public are:
> 9am-10.am Saturday at the boat ramp at Spinnaker Sound Marina.
> 12am-2pm Saturday Toorbul boat ramp
> 3.30pm-5.30pm Saturday at Pacific Harbour Marina
> 11am-2pm Sunday on Sylvan Beach for boats and cars.
Brought to you by the Bribie Island Yacht Club Inc
PO Box 860 Bribie Island, Qld 4507
Contact Daryl Phillips or Paul Bird (07) 3408 7888
www.bribieislandyachtclub.org.au
Queensland home to more
than a quarter of a million boats
Queensland has firmly cemented itself as the nation’s boating capital with
over a quarter of a million vessels now registered across the state.
S
tate boating
industry
association, Marine
Queensland reports
that January registration
figures released by
Queensland Transport
reveal that there are
now 250,475 registered
vessels in the state – an
all-time peak.
“It is encouraging to see
this growth in our local
recreational boating fleet,”
said Marine Queensland
CEO Don Jones.
“To reach the milestone
of having over a quarter
of a million boats in
Queensland is a fantastic
achievement for our
state – we have one boat
for every 19 people in
Queensland”.
New vessel and
personal watercraft (PWC)
registrations in the state
have also been on the rise
with an 8% increase in
new vessel registrations
for the 2013 calendar year
against 2012 results. This is in contrast to other states
across Australia who continue to experience a decline in
new boat registrations, with New South Wales reporting a
9% decrease in registrations for the 2013 calendar year.
“To see new vessel registrations increasing clearly
demonstrates boaters’ dedication to the lifestyle despite
economic conditions,” said Jones.
“These figures are
a positive sign for
Queensland boat
manufacturers and
retailers that the local
market is buying and
they are choosing to buy
new.”
December 2013 saw
the highest number
of new vessel and
PWC registrations in
Queensland since 2007.
“The popularity of
PWCs in Queensland
has significantly
increased in recent
times,” said Jones, “The
final quarter of 2013
saw PWC registrations
representing up to
30% of all new vessel
registrations for the
period.”
A 12% increase in the
total number of PWC
licences issued in 2013
further confirms the
growing popularity of
these vessels amongst
Queenslanders with
more than 121,000
licences now issued across the state.
General Recreational Marine Licences (boat only)
increased 3.5% in 2013 taking the total number of boat
licence holders in Queensland to 776,693.
“With more than 6,000kms of coastline to explore,
Queensland gives boaties plenty of reasons to get out on
the water with family and friends” said Jones.
all this
technology
now
included
also now with
For Government and
Rescue operations.
suzukimarine.com.au
TALK TO YOUR SUZUKI MARINE
TECHSPERT TODAY.

MRQ Journal - Marine Rescue Queensland

Transcription

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