FOUR MACKAY BOATIES WINCHED FROM SINKING VESSEL AT SEA
April 10, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOUR MACKAY BOATIES WINCHED FROM SINKING VESSEL AT SEA
A group of exhausted Mackay boaties were rescued at sea by RACQ CQ Rescue early this morning after spending a harrowing few hours bailing water out of their sinking $100,000 boat.
The three men and one woman were woken about 3am when they noticed the engine bay of the six-metre, half canopy fibreglass vessel filling with water and slowly starting to sink.
They activated their registered EPIRB and spent the next few hours using buckets to bail out the water while they waited for help to arrive on scene at first light this morning.
RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (ASMA) that a registered EPIRB had been activated near Parker Reef, about 88km north-east of Mackay.
After take-off from the Mackay in base, the rescue helicopter crew quickly honed in on the emergency signal at dawn and flew direct to the scene within 25 minutes. The crew were able to identify there was four people on board who fortunately had the good sense to signal the helicopter using flares from the front of the vessel, RACQ CQ Rescue rescue crewman Arno Schoonwinkel said.
The helicopter flew a few orbits of the area to plan the retrieval of those on board, before winching down the Rescue Crewman into the water about 20 metres away from the sinking vessel.
Each person on board the boat was wearing a lifejacket and took turns to jump into the water when directed and swim a short way to be secured into the rescue strop by the crewman. Each person, starting with the woman on board, was then winched up into the aircraft. The entire winching process took about 25 minutes. The couple and their two friends were then flown back to the CQ Rescue base at Mackay Airport arriving about 7am.
Mr Schoonwinkel said the four boaties were absolutely exhausted by their ordeal and in shock, but were fortunately unhurt and incredibly grateful to their rescuers. He praised their preparations in having a registered EPIRB on board, activating it when they ran into trouble, for wearing lifejackets and setting off a flare to alert the helicopter crew of their exact location.
“Being so prepared and their actions when they encountered trouble saved us time and money as rescuers, as well as potentially saving their lives and a long time spent lost at sea,” he said.
[ENDS]
RACQ CQ Rescue has winched four boaties off a sinking vessel near Parker Reef, 88km north-east of Mackay, this morning.
Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182