The radio room at Marine Rescue Central Coast received a phone call around noon on Saturday 30 July from the skipper of a 6.5m motor cruiser. He indicated his boat was stranded near Orangegrove. Central Coast 21, with Ken Sharp at the helm and crew Norm Smith and Ross Ward, was tasked to assist. They found the boat hard aground on a low tide and advised that it would be best to wait a couple of hours to allow the tide to rise before attempting retrieval. There were five people onboard including three children, one of whom was the skipper’s daughter celebrating her birthday. Central Coast 21 returned about 2:30pm together with Rescue Water Craft CC11 (jet ski) with Mitch Giles in control assisted by Kevin Sullivan. They found only two people onboard, the children had been ferried to shore.

RWC CC11 was able to negotiate the shallow water and take the tow rope from Central Coast 21 to the cruiser. With some effort, the cruiser was towed to navigable water and was able to get back to the Blackwall Ramp and the waiting car and trailer.