Over the weekend, sunny weather, light winds and slight seas brought out boaters in their thousands from their winter hibernation.
With the surge in boaters on the water, came a range of incidents to keep our volunteer crews and radio operators busy, with a total of 70 rescues undertaken across the state.
Among the rescues Marine Rescue Tuggerah Lakes assisted a small sailboat that had dismasted, with rescue vessel Tuggerah 20 towing it to the North Entrance boat ramp.
Just up the coast, Marine Rescue Newcastle pulled a grounded centre console with four adults and four children aboard off a sandbank, after it became stuck at low tide near Stockton.
Another grounding, this time a 10 metre sloop with two people on board, occured on Paddys Channel near Gosford, with Marine Rescue Central Coast rescue vessel Central Coast 21 successfully pulling them off; while on Sydney Harbour, Marine Rescue Port Jackson picked up a kayaker who had overturned and could not right his vessel, safely returning him to a local marina.
In the west of the state, the flood support by Marine Rescue NSW continued over the weekend.
For volunteers from Marine Rescue Ulladulla, their response duties led to a most unusual task for rescue vessel Ulladulla 10, as it ferried hay to livestock stranded by floods in the Moama area, a significant departure from their usual types of rescues on local lakes and the blue waters of the Tasman Sea.
Over the weekend other Marine Rescue NSW volunteers were also active, in the Moama/Deniliquin area in the Riverina, as well as in the north of the state at Walgett, Collarenebri and Bourke.
In addition to ferrying hay to stranded livestock, crews transported local residents and supplies and undertook reconnaissance and other duties to support local NSW SES units and flood affected communities.
It is expected that support by Marine Rescue volunteers to the flooding will continue for several weeks to come.
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