Cotton rope and cattle: lots has changed as surf club turns 90

While the idea of forming a surf club was first discussed in 1909, it was not formally created until 1932 under the presidency of local postmaster A.H. Weir.

Beach patrols started that summer on Sunday mornings, with the first carnival a year later.

At that stage, no members had official surf qualifications.

In the 90 years since those early days, Moruya Surf Life Saving Club has ridden the highs and lows - surviving WWII, celebrating the opening of three different clubhouses, fighting to protect one club house from being washed away in a big storm surge, the arrival of Inflatable Rescue Boats in 1973 and the creation of a nippers program in 1980. In 2012, the club introduced the Special Nippers disability inclusion program.

However, most notably, the club has never lost a life at the beach during patrol hours. It's a record they wear proudly.

Moruya born and raised Bert Hunt was 15 when he joined the surf club in 1963.

As the longest serving currently active member, he has been competing, training and coaching surfboats ever since.

"The club is a really important part of my life," he said.

When he began, rescues were performed by swimming out carrying a line of eight millimetre thick cotton rope with a belt attached on the end. The drowning swimmer would be attached to the belt and reeled in by lifesavers on the shore.

There were no powerboats, no fiberglass boards and no surf skis. At best, one might be armed with a timber surfboard for a rescue.

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Life saving has changed dramatically in the almost 60 years he has been involved.

Now, motorised rescue boats zip around beyond the breakers, jet skis can be launched anywhere on the beach from a four wheel drive at a moment's notice and drones hover quickly locating people in crisis.

"The basic need for training and fitness and courage has never changed," Mr Hunt said.

"It's a highly important part of what we do."

When he began, the surf life club was considered the main rescue organisation for any water-based incidents around the town.

He recalls one rescue where a herd of dairy cattle were stuck on the wrong side of the Deua river as waters rose in a freak flooding incident. If the cattle weren't milked regularly, they could go dry, so Mr Hunt said the farmer was desperate for assistance.

"We spent hours swimming 50 head of cattle across the river to be milked," he said.

"It wasn't your regular lifesaving job, but it was important."

For Mr Hunt, there is a satisfaction in a job well done which keeps him coming back for more.

"It's a nice thing to know you saved someone," he said.

"If you hadn't been there, they might not have made it home."

Mr Hunt said there was never an easy rescue, and therefore the majority of the work of the surf club nowadays was preventative work, such as marking the safest place to swim with the flags.

Moruya Surf Life Saving Club celebrated their 90^th birthday at the clubhouse in Moruya Heads on September 3.