The perilous Swansea bar claimed another victim in the early morning darkness on May 19, when a disabled trawler ran aground and sank as it tried to make its way off the coastline to safety.
The skipper, travelling north to Newcastle, reported just after midnight that the 16m timber boat was having electrical issues and taking on water near Moon Island, off Swansea Heads and that he would divert into the channel.
Radio Operator Paul Webb, on duty in the MR Lake Macquarie radio base overlooking the coast and channel, helped guide the skipper over the bar, which he had never crossed before.
As Paul watched, he saw the trawler stop dead in the water. The skipper confirmed the boat had run aground and the motors had cut out.
The unit’s night crew was activated on board Lake Macquarie 30, arriving on scene just before 2am to find the boat had sunk, with water over its gunwales. The crew took the skipper on board and returned to their Pelican boat base, where they gave him dry clothes and a bunk for the rest of the night.
Later in the morning, the crew of LM 20 took the skipper back out to assess the damage to his boat and help retrieve gear and debris.
Crew member Jim Wright said he had done many rescues over the years but never to save a two-seater lounge.
He said the crew had been alerted to an unidentified object, possibly a fuel tank, from the boat so headed to the coordinates given, 5nm offshore from the base.
“When we got there we found the two-seater lounge floating. The owner of the boat was with us and confirmed it was off his boat. We pulled it on board which was a bugger of a job as the cushions were water logged, and brought it back to our base.”
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