Yacht aground at Half Tide Rocks on 3 January 2012

On Tuesday January 3 around 2:30pm, the volunteers on duty at Marine Rescue Central Coast received a phone call from a local resident at Ettalong. A yacht was firmly stuck on a sandbank near Half Tide Rocks. The 45’ yacht with four people on board was reported as just to the south of the port channel marker on the northern side of Half Tide Rocks.

Duty skipper Hunter Leeder and his crewman Andrew Mackellar immediately took Brisbane Water Lifeboat (Centaco 011) to the location. The rescue boat was able to move the yacht to navigable water and so allow its crew to enjoy the rest of their holiday.

At 3:20pm Centaco 011 was sent to Lobster Beach to assist a 24’ ½ cabin launch with six people on board. The boat had reported an electrical failure. The rescue boat towed the vessel to its berth at Blackwall.

Another call was received at 5:00pm from the owner aboard a 4.3m runabout at Orangegrove that had a mechanical failure. The four people on board asked for assistance to get the vessel back to Lions Park at Woy Woy. This task was not quite completed when the volunteer crew and Centaco 011 were assigned another task to be undertaken once the tow was complete.

A 4.3m runabout with two people on board had a mechanical problem and was aground near an oyster lease in Paddy’s Channel. This tow was picked up at about 5:35pm and taken to Lintern Channel at Davistown.

The weary crew were glad to get back to the base by 6:10pm to commence the paperwork necessary to get their ‘jobs’ completed. The base closed finally at 8:30pm and the duty crew signed off. Marine Rescue Central Coast volunteers operate the radio base 7 days a week.