UPDATE, February 6: Crews from Marine Rescue Trial Bay and Port Macquarie have been stood down from the search for a missing spear fisherman at South West Rocks this afternoon.
Rescue vessel Port Macquarie 30 today scoured the coastline north to Hat Head, with the crew of Trial Bay 30 searching south before the two vessels rendezvoused in the centre of the search area.
No sign of the missing 53-year-old has been found over the three-day multi-agency operation.
The crew of PM 30 was Neil Fletcher, David Withers, skipper Rob Breskal, Ben Leonard and Rob Thorpe. Ian Creswick, Alan Neader, Rick Turvey, Peter Holyfield and Ron Young were on board TB 30.
February 5: A search is resuming for a missing spear fisherman at Laggers Point near Trial Bay Gaol at South West Rocks, with a crew from Marine Rescue Port Macquarie bolstering the large-scale operation.
Volunteers from Marine Rescue Trial Bay headed out again on rescue vessel Trial Bay 30 and two Rescue Water Craft, TB 11 and TB 12.
A 53-year-old man and his son were spear fishing near Laggers Point when a large wave pushed them on to the rocks about 1pm yesterday. The older man was swept back into the water a short time later and has not been since since.
This morning’s crew members on board Trial Bay 30 were Ian Turner, Jon Cragg, Geoff Greenwood, Rob Hose and Luke Dunshea. RWC Operators on TB 11 and TB 12 were Ron Rider and Ian Creswick.
The crew on board Port Macquarie 30 was Ray Angel, David Proud, Chris Densmore, William Richardson, David Frewin and Adrian Bucci.
MR Trial Bay Unit Commander Phil Hartley and Kiyomi Sora have provided comms support from the Trial Bay and Port Macquarie radio bases, respectively.
February 4: Volunteers from Marine Rescue Trial Bay have now been stood down for the night from the multi-agency search for a missing spear fisherman near Trial Bay Gaol at South West Rocks.
NSW Police have been told a 53-year-old man and his son were spear fishing near Laggers Point when a large wave pushed them on to the rocks about 1pm today.
The older man was swept back into the water a short time later and has not been since since.MR Trial Bay volunteers Peter Holyfield, Ian Turner, Ron Rider and Dylan Cameron joined the search on board rescue vessel Trial Bay 30 and two Rescue Water Craft.
Communications support was provided by radio operator Jane Shearim in the unit’s radio base. Crews contended with difficult search conditions as large swells smashed against rock ledges, producing white foaming waters that reduced visibility.
As the crew of the rescue vessel conducted ‘set and drift’ tests to calculate movements in the currents in the bay and north of the Macleay River bar, the RWC operators scoured the rocky shoreline close to the gaol as the falling tide allowed for better observations.
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