On Tuesday 13 June a call was received in the morning from a Marine Assist member in a 4.2m tinnie with one person on board (POB) which was experiencing engine problems near Pumpkin Island.
Yeppoon Rescue One (Skipper – E. Goodsell; Crew – A. Sleeman, M. Hardy, R. Holland) was dispatched.
The owner was able to use his electric thruster to get out of the rocky area and into deep water where it was easy to take him under tow.
The vessel was towed to Rosslyn Bay harbour and when near the pontoon he was once again able to use his electric thruster to place himself on the pontoon.
On Wednesday 14 June a call was received from a Marine Assist member in a 6m Hydrofield which had a flat battery near Karamea Bank with three POB.
Yeppoon Rescue One (YR1) (Skipper – B. Semple; Crew – A. Sleeman, H. Holland, M. Studt) was dispatched and a jump start was attempted with no success.
While taking up the tow a call was received from Coast Guard Keppel Sands that a vessel had a rope around the propeller at Karamea Banks.
While enroute a call was received that they had freed themselves and assistance was no longer needed.
YR1 returned to the original vessel which was then towed back to Rosslyn Bay Harbour.
On Wednesday afternoon a call was received from a 4.3m tinnie with teo POB which had run out of fuel near Corio Bay.
He advised that he had fuel on the shore and needed assistance to retrieve it.
After discussion and due to the low tide and shallow water, Marine Assist Rescue (Skipper – M. Studt; Crew – R. Gibson) was dispatched with 2x5L containers of fuel which was transferred over.
This allowed him to reach the shore and his fuel supply to refuel.
On Sunday 18 June a call was received from a 5m runabout with two adults and three children on board which was experiencing engine problems near Miall Island.
Yeppoon Rescue One (Skipper – B. Semple; Crew – D. Orr, H. Bellett, M. Roth, M. Baldwin, P. McIndoe, P. Thomasson) was dispatched and the vessel was towed to Rosslyn Bay harbour. It was great to see all three children under twelve were safely wearing life jackets.
The owner made a donation to Coast Guard.
Boaters are reminded to use the following VHF Marine Radio channels to contact CoastGuard.
The Shoalwater Bay area is a known radio and phone Blackfoot. In the interests of mariner safety and to avoid unnecessary reporting to authorities, boaters are requested to log off with the CoastGuard station they logged on with, prior to entering a safe anchorage or logging on with a new station.
Weather Reports and Notices to Mariners are broadcast on VHF 21 and 22 each day at 0705, 1205 and 1705 hrs in the Keppel Bay areas.
Please remember that all recreational vessels, whether coastguard, marine Assist members, visitors to the area or not, are encouraged to log on and off each trip on the water.
This is a free service for all, and can be via VHF radio, phone or by scanning the QR codes at local boat ramps.
As well as the benefits of assistance at sea, Marine Assist members have their own log on via computer facility.