Catamaran under tow heading south from The Rip Bridge to its moorining at Ettalong

As the rain pelted down and the southerly swept up Brisbane Water on Monday morning 12 Dec a family of four onboard their 44’ catamaran phoned Marine Rescue Central Coast around 7:00 am for assistance.

Overnight the vessel’s anchor had dragged when the weather changed and they were stranded aground in Paddy’s Channel. The volunteers in the radio room contacted the call out crew, Al Morris and Dennis Byrne and the rescue vessel, Gosford 10 was quickly at the scene.

It was determined that one rudder was damaged, making steering difficult, so once the vessel was freed and back in deep water, the rescue boat was asked to escort the catamaran back to it’s Ettalong mooring. While enroute one engine failed and progress against the wind and tide became impossible.

A  tow line was again passed to the catamaran and the vessel was taken safely to the Ettalong mooring. The rescue boat crew were back at the base to dry out by 10:20am when the catamaran’s skipper rang to say thanks to the crew for their assistance.