A chance sighting of a small sailing vessel heading out to sea at Narooma has led to the successful rescue of six young people from Sydney.
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The six people found themselves in open seas off the Far South Coast on Monday, August 1, with a strong westerly wind making it impossible to return to safe waters.
An alert member of the public had notified Marine Rescue Narooma's radio base that a 14 foot Hobie Cat appeared to be heading out to sea with no apparent safety equipment.
Concern mounted as Marine Rescue Narooma radio operator David White observed the vessel almost hit the breakwall as it made its way through the dangerous Narooma bar and out into the Tasman Sea.
"They ended up near Montague Island, and with a westerly wind they could not get back," John Lundy, unit commander for Marine Rescue Narooma, said.
"They had no radio so could not tell us if they needed help."
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Marine Rescue Narooma conferred with Marine Area Command in Eden.
"With their imprimatur we despatched Marine Rescue Narooma rescue vessel Narooma 30 to do a welfare check."
By this time the Hobie Cat was being rapidly pushed out to sea by strong westerly winds, so without the pre-emptive action "who knows where they would have ended up," Mr Lundy said.
Given the conditions, Marine Rescue decided to shadow the vessel back to port but the strong head winds made it impossible for the young sailors to make progress.
"Initially they were reluctant to be helped, but eventually they agreed and we towed them back into Narooma where they were met by the police," Mr Lundy said.
The six people were from Sydney.
While there was no legal requirement to act and no formal request for assistance, the vigilance of Marine Rescue Narooma's radio operator and a member of the public, the support of Marine Area Command in Eden, and the actions of the crew, prevented what could have been a tragedy.
NSW Police Marine Area Command said the master of the vessel was issued an infringement notice in relation to marine safety offences for deficient safety equipment.
Second busiest year on record for Marine Rescue NSW
The rescue coincided with news that Marine Rescue NSW had its second busiest year on record, making 3905 rescues between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
Along the coast of the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley shires it undertook 227 rescues, 146 in potentially life-threatening circumstances.
It brought 495 people safely to shore.
Rescues were made along the Far South Coast in:
- Batemans Bay 90
- Narooma 30
- Bermagui 30
- Merimbula 29
- Eden 27
- Tuross Moruya 12
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