Sunday February 19 began with an overcast sky but turned out to be a bright sunny day on Brisbane Water. The first phone call for help was received by the volunteers at the Point Clare Base of Central Coast unit around 09:00. A resident reported a ‘stray’ dinghy drifting at Noonans Point. Brisbane Water Lifeboat was despatched and found the 8ft dinghy near a private wharf. It was taken to the Point Clare base and police were notified of the find.

Around 10:15, the lone man aboard an 8.4m Cabin Cruiser off Avoca reported his boat had mechanical failure and sought help to get back to Pittwater. Rescue Vessel Terrigal 30 was tasked to begin the assist, and Marine Rescue Broken Bay agreed to send Broken Bay 30 to meet the tow at Third Point to take the vessel to Pittwater. The Broken Bay crew dropped the cruiser off at Careel Bay Marina.

The next call came at 12:00, a 6.0m ½ Cabin vessel at Saratoga with 5 people on board radioed for help. The vessel’s engine had failed and those on board asked for a tow.  Brisbane Water Lifeboat soon had the vessel back to Lions Park at Woy Woy.

A mobile phone request for help was received at the base at 12:30 from a 4.5m runabout at Murphy’s Bay with three people on board. This vessel also had a mechanical failure. Brisbane Water Lifeboat towed the vessel to Lions Park Ramp.

At 2:00pm, a 4.8m runabout off Noonans Point with three people on board called for help. Their vessel had run out of fuel. Brisbane Water Lifeboat towed this boat to the Gosford Boat Ramp.

At 5:10pm, the boat crew was again despatched on Brisbane Water Lifeboat in response to a mobile phone call from a 4.5m runabout with five people on board in Waterfall Bay with a failed outboard engine. The powerless vessel was towed to the Phegans Bay Ramp.

The volunteers were glad to see the sun set on a busy Sunday and head for home before the threatening thunderstorms.

Marine Rescue Central Coast boat crews were busy on Wednesday afternoon and again on Wednesday night.

A mobile phone call was received around 5:00pm from a man alone aboard his new 5.0m centre-console runabout on its first time use. The boat was off Green Point and he could not restart the boat’s engine. A crew was called in and Skipper Norm Smith with Peter Ashworth as crew took Brisbane Water Lifeboat to the location. The man and his boat were towed to the ramp at Saratoga.

A boat crew were again required when, at 9:30pm, Water Police tasked Marine Rescue Central Coast to assist a 5.0m runabout that had phoned for help as the boat was out of fuel. The vessel, with three men on board, was adjacent to the starboard navigation mark at Lobster Beach.

Skipper Phil Page and his crew, Mark Sheahan and Ian Leafe, on Brisbane Water Lifeboat located the men and the vessel. It was towed to the boat ramp at Lions Park at Woy Woy.

Peter Ashworth trying out the new fire pump

The NRMA Community Grants Program provides funding to support community organisations that are making our communities safer and more sustainable, particularly in the four categories where support is provided:

• Crime prevention
• Road safety
• Emergency readiness and response
• Environment

Marine Rescue Central Coast applied in the Emergency Readiness category for funds to purchase a pump suitable for both fire-fighting and salvage.

On receiving news from the NRMA that the application was successful, Unit Commander Ian Gallard said “Our sincere thanks to the NRMA. The new pump will be available for use on our rescue boats and greatly improve our ability to assist fire-fighting on the water and as importantly to enable flexibility for pump out for vessels sinking or damaged.”

The pump selected is a Davey Firefighter Honda 5155H 5.5 HP Pump. It is a single impeller design providing versatility flow rates with strong pressure. It manufactured from corrosion resistant marine grade aluminium for long life and is self priming.

Specifications are:

Flows to 500 lpm

Maximum total head 72m

Maximum suction Lift 7m

Maximum casing pressure 1000kPa

Minimum suction pipe size 1½”.

Inlet size 1½” BSP(M)

Outlet sizes 2 x 1½” BSP (M

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.

Volunteer Peter Ashworth busy during the new diesel engine install

Sharp eyed observers may be wondering why the Marine Rescue Central Coast rescue boat, Centaco 20, has been running continuous long loops on Brisbane Water Broadwater between Koolewong, Saratoga and Green Point. The question has been raised, “Are the volunteers just out playing boats?”

In mid-December, a new 350HP Diesel engine was installed in the rescue boat. To enable the boat to be ready for rescue operations in all conditions the new engine has to be ‘run-in’. This involves keeping the engine under load but operating at varying rpm during its first 50 running hours.

To achieve the required hours, a programme of time and varying rpm has been devised and the volunteer crews are running the vessel around a long on-water ‘loop’, changing the speed and throttle settings to get the engine ready for ‘real’ action when needed offshore.

Once the 50 hours running time has been achieved, the engine will be serviced and checked and only then will Centaco 20 be declared ‘ready for service’.

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.

The volunteers, Norm Smith and Peter Ashworth, who maintain the rescue boats for Marine Rescue Central Coast, last month gave bad news to Unit Commander Ian Gallard. The main rescue boat’s 315 HP diesel engine had to be replaced. The volunteer unit would need to find at least $50,000.00 to purchase a replacement engine and gearbox as well as refurbish the boat’s jet unit.

The Central Coast unit had little choice but to ‘go ahead’ as a marine rescue unit without a reliable rescue boat was unthinkable, especially with the approach of the busy summer season. Without the rescue boat, lives could be placed ‘in danger’ in the unit’s area of responsibility, Brisbane Water and offshore from Broken Bay to Norah Head.

On Friday December 9 the new engine with its gearbox attached was delivered to the Point Clare base where the rescue boat hull sat waiting on the slipway. A crane was needed to lift the 500Kg 350 HP diesel and lower it gently to the waiting engine mounts. The supplier’s engineers were on hand to begin the installation that will be completed this week.

The volunteer crews at Marine Rescue Central Coast were kept busy over the weekend of 26-27 November once the weather cleared.

Around 2:30pm on Saturday the base at Point Clare was made aware of a 7.0m mastless yacht adrift off Daley’s Point. Jim Robertson and his crew aboard the rescue boat, Gosford 10 located the yacht and towed to an emergency mooring at Point Clare. The yacht has broken away from its own mooring.

The radio base received a call around 4:00pm from the lone sailor aboard a Kafor yacht with a value of $300,000 off Killcare. He advised his hi-tech electric motor was not operating and that he needed help to get across the bar at Little Box Head and thence to Gosford. Ian Morrow and his crew met the yacht at Little Box Head but plans were varied as the owner was concerned that his mast would not pass under the Rip Bridge. The rescue crew took him to the safety of a 24-hour courtesy mooring at Hardy’s Bay.

At 4:30pm on Sunday the radio base received a call for assistance from a Jet Ski (PWC) with two people on board off Pearl Beach. The PWC engine could not be restarted and they needed assistance to get themselves and their PWC back to Lions Park at Woy Woy. Alan Howes and the duty crew on Gosford 10 located the vessel and towed the disabled vessel to the boat ramp.

Each year, during the slow boating time of winter and early spring, the volunteers of Marine Rescue Central Coast are kept busy with the Annual Boat Raffle to raise funds for operations during the busy boating season over spring and summer.

Chris Holstein MP, Member for Gosford, was on hand at Deepwater Shopping Centre at 3.00pm on Sunday 30 October to draw the winning ticket. After a short delay as ‘last minute shoppers’ bought a final chance in the draw, Chris Holstein drew the winning ticket number 04172.

Unit Commander, Ian Gallard, immediately phoned the lucky winner and Chris Holstein advised her of her success. The ecstatic winner is from Umina Beach, and plans to collect the prize early next week.

The volunteers at Marine Rescue Central Coast were called for assistance twice on Sunday afternoon, October 23. Around 1400 hours a 6.5m Southwind runabout in with 5 people on board called the base seeking assistance due to a mechanical failure. The duty boat crew, with Gordon Ellis as coxswain aboard rescue vessel Gosford 10 went to Paddy’s Channel and towed the runabout to Restella Wharf in Davistown.

At 1500 hours the base received another call, also from a 4.8m Quintrex runabout in Paddy’s Channel, this time with a flat battery. Gosford 10 again responded and the crew assisted with a ‘jump start’ to get the boat’s motor started.

On Saturday Oct 22 the volunteers provided a Boating Safety Course and Boat Licence Tests. As the weather warms up those needing a boat licence increases. The next Course will be held on November 26, for booking call the base on 4325 7929.