Central Coast 22 with 15.5m Ketch in tow

About 2:00pm on Saturday 15 October Marine Rescue Central Coast Skipper, Al Howes and the duty boat crew, Ray Lewis, Bruce Lorking and Matthew were heading south towards Half-Tide Rocks aboard rescue vessel Central Coast 22. They were flagged down by the four people onboard a 15.5m ketch. The skipper of the yacht indicated that his vessel was struggling to make progress against the combination of a fierce outgoing tide and the gusty wind. He asked for assistance to return to his mooring at Booker Bay. Central Coast 22 undertook the tow, and with assistance of a second rescue vessel, Central Coast 21 the large yacht was placed back on its mooring.

On Sunday 16 October, the duty crew in the radio room at the Point Clare Base received a call from the skipper of an 8.5m Mustang Cruiser. He said the boat, with two people onboard, was near Wagstaffe Point and had lost all electrical power. Marine Rescue Skipper Al Howes and the Sunday duty crew, Bruce Lorking, Duncan Coles and Peter Fischer on Central Coast 21 were tasked to assist. Using the rescue boat’s portable battery supply, the vessel was able to start its engines and was then escorted most of the way to its berth in Woy Woy Bay.