September 2017

Tuesday 5th September

Callout to tow 5.5m fishing vessel from GPS coordinates.
Crew, Bill Harrison, Jim Dunn, Dave Burge. Left Abell Pt 1500hrs, Northerly winds 10/15kn, calm seas. Travelled to an area N/E of Hazelwood Island. Called The vessel on Ch16 to confirm GPS coordinates & found that the position we had entered was wrong by 1 digit (approx 25nm).
Reset GPS coordinates & continued. The vessel called us again, saying they could see us. We turned back towards Edward Island, where we found the vessel anchored. Took vessel in tow & towed to Port of Airlie ramp. Towed at 2300/2400rpm, at 15/17knots.
Arrived at ramp & dropped tow 1830hrs. Back to Abell Pt, refuelled, back to berth 1900hrs.m  We need to double check vessel coordinates to save time/fuel.
Towing into Port of Airlie at 1800Hrs we also had Cruise Whitsunday Ferries returning(3 off).

Geoff Fitzsimmons  (VMR Skipper)
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Wednesday 6th September

Task  – Assist / tow a VMR member with a 42’ sailboat with a non-functioning motor moored in Tongue Bay. 2 POB.
Crew  – Tom Manning, Ron Roberts, Jim Dunn.

Bill (our 24/7 Phone Holder) rang at 1010 looking for a crew.
We left APM at 1045 on a perfect Whitsunday day.- No wonder we live here.

We arrived at the vessel at 12 noon and rafted alongside to ascertain what was wrong and do the necessary paper work. He advised he was a member of ‘VMR Gold Coast’. So I informed him that he is not covered by VMRW – so would need to pay for his assistance at $325.00 per hour like any non-member. (Outside of Brisbane/GoldCoast, our Northern Zone is the only group that has a reciprocal arrangement – Midge Pt, Whitsunday, Bowen and Burdekin)
He was not happy – but there was no wind for him to sail to Airlie – so finally he asked that we tow him back to APM.

We started the tow at 1230 – and towed him back at 8.5 knots at 1500 RPM – getting him back to a mooring at Airlie by 1500 hrs.

Then our dramas began – because as we were approaching the fuel dock to refuel, we realised we had no reverse gear on our Port side motor. This new vessel’s manoeuvring below 4 knots relies almost entirely on having two motors – so almost impossible on only one motor. We abandoned the idea of refuelling and proceeded to attempt to put it in our Berth.

We managed to berth it with some superb team work from a very competent crew. We then contacted the local agents to try to remedy the situation.  In the meantime VMR Bowen had asked us to cover their area for them for a while , as their vessel was needing urgent repairs – highlighting the vital need and reliance on Marine Rescue Organisations (Voluntary) in our area.

Total time on job   = 4 ¾ hrs

Fin Forbes  (VMR Skipper)
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Tuesday 12th September

Task – Medivac for QAS from a vessel at Black Island – back injury.
Crew – Michel del Aguila, Lance Robins.

Bill (24/7 Phone Holder) was busy getting a crew to assist QAS with one of two medical situations that were occurring in our beautiful area.

We were first tasked to collect a patient from the hill above Hill Inlet – this subsequently was handled by helicopter. We were then asked to provide the vessel for a Medivac from a vessel at Black Island – the patient there suffering from a back injury.

We left APM with 2 paramedics ( Virginia and Kristelle) and all their equipment at 1225 hrs. Not far out from the entrance to APM we observed our first whale.
We tied up to a public mooring (at 1315 hrs.) close to the vessel with the patient at Black Island and they came and rafted up alongside APM VMR1. The paramedics transferred to the other boat to do their assessment, and then the patient was carefully transferred onto APM VMR1.

We left the mooring at 1330 and returned directly back to APM. The paramedics and patient were ashore , and we were refuelled and back at our berth by 1440 hrs. Bill and Hay Point VTS were (as usual) informed of the successful completion of the job and of our safe return.

Time on job   =  2 hrs. 15 minutes

Fin Forbes  (VMR Skipper)

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Thursday 14th September

Task: 4m runabout broken down near Pioneer Rocks.
Crew: Fin Forbes, Geoff Smith.
Fin and I were arriving at the old boat to meet the new owner to explain the boat to him when we got the call from Bill at 9.55.  A new member had broken down near Pioneer Rocks and was drifting. His radio was also on the blink.
The member agreed to wait for us to get the briefing over and then we would go and get him. The new owner had not turned up at his boat by 10.35 so we left and boarded Abell Point Marina VMR1.
Departing APM amongst Cruise ship boats dropping passengers and charter boats returning from their trips made life interesting. Fin contacted Bill for an update and found out our chap was now west of Mandalay!!!
We found the runabout easily and using Toms hook returned to APM. The wind was westerly so there was a bit of a chop outside. We decided to get them alongside in the marina. The marina was still busy so a few boats had to dodge us as we were messing about in the pond.
We had them alongside the end of the ramp finger easily but it was hard for the owner to manoeuvre his boat down the finger as 2 selfish ratbags had tied their tenders to the inside face.
After dodging a few more Cruise Ship tenders we were alongside our berth.
It’s a shame the New Member had to blow his free tow on such a short activation. 11.00 to 12.00

Geoff Smith (VMR Skipper)

Sunday 17th September

Task  – Police Activation to provide assistance to 2 people in a sinking vessel NE of Gloucester Island.
Crew  – Geoff Smith, Jim Dunn.

It was action stations when Bill rang looking for a crew just before 3 pm.
We left APM at 1525 hrs. with various bits of information regarding this activation. We knew that the Water Police were travelling to the scene and a helicopter was also activated.
At 1550 hrs the Water Police advised us that the 2 people were safe and were aboard the Water Police boat. They asked if we could rendezvous with them near Gloucester Island and transfer the two people to Abell Point Marina VMR1 and transport them back to APM.
We were alongside their vessel at 1640 hrs and the two people were transferred to VMR1 using the Water Police’s accompanying tender.
The two people were cold (they had spent over a half an hour in the water clinging to their overturned 4.8m tinny) – so we gave them a blanket and they stayed in our comfortable cabin on the return to APM.
An acquaintance of the pair met them at the dock when we arrived, and we the proceeded to our berth (after the usual notification to Hay Point VTS and our base advising our safe return at 1825).

Time on Job    =   3 hrs.

Fin Forbes  (VMR Skipper)
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We were at the Cruise Ship at 7.10 am. Passengers were disembarking onto tenders for day sightseeing, but the Ship rapidly reorganised the tourists to accommodate us. It took a while to manoeuvre to the ship’s Starboard pontoon, as we had a problem with one of our motors.

We collected the deceased person and proceeded back to APM, where we unloaded the person and the funeral directors at the Public pontoon, and then went back to our Berth.  Thanks again to a great competent crew.

Fin  Forbes  (VMR Skipper)

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After getting out into deeper water we were getting set for the tow when the Water Police came close to say hello. They thought it was a perfect opportunity for a run round the Islands as well.
We departed Whitehaven at 11.30 bound for Shute. Conditions were still perfect so we had the first coffee on an activation – thanks to Tom and Mr Woolies. The machine worked as it should.