Boating traffic out along the Illawarra and Far South Coasts was reported to be at levels more commonly seen at the peak of the Christmas holidays over the past weekend.
As the dusk settled at 5pm on Saturday (July 11), 107 boats were still Logged On with Marine Rescue NSW units, the majority south of Sydney. Almost 400 boats were Logged On by 9am on Sunday.
With tuna and other big fish running along the south coast, boaters are clearly making the most of today’s good conditions before the weather deteriorates over the coming week.
It seems many boaters also have grabbed the chance to head for the water for these school holidays, unlike the previous break, when COVID-19 restrictions led people to stay home.
A crew from Marine Rescue Shoalhaven arrived back at base at 12.45am on Monday (July 13) after a four-hour operation to return four people on board a 32 foot cruiser that was stranded 6nm off Shoalhaven Heads to safety. The cruiser (above) was experiencing fuel problems.
Rescue vessel Shoalhaven 30 towed the boat to Greenwell Point.
Earlier on Sunday, two disabled vessels about 20nm offshore from Jervis Bay were rescued and returned safely to shore. A crew from MR Jervis Bay returned three people on board a 6-7m runabout stranded with mechanical problems about 20nm south-east of the bay to Murrays Beach inside the bay.
A crew from MR Shoalhaven retrieved a runabout with another three people on board out of fuel 21nm offshore and returned it to Currarong.
On Saturday, six boaters were rescued in three separate missions.
A crew from MR Port Kembla returned a 5.2m fibreglass runabout to Bellambi Harbour after it broke down offshore.
Meanwhile, a team from MR Cottage Point rescued a boat with three people on board (below) that was adrift 15nm east of Barrenjoey Head. The boat was returned to Homeport Marina at Church Point in a five-hour operation.
A 7m cruiser that broke down with two people on board 20nm east of Jervis Bay was rescued in a joint mission between MR Jervis Bay and MR Ulladulla.
A crew from MR Hawkesbury assisted six kayakers suffering from fatigue on a paddle down the Hawkesbury River on Saturday afternoon.
The group had set off from Berowra at 8.30am. Rescue vessel Hawkesbury 21 located them on an isolated stretch of the river at Spenser.
They were conveyed to the Gentlemans Halt camping ground in the Marramarra National Park, where they had friends who had already set up camp.
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