Our history began in 1964 when a small group of boaties from Proserpine
They called themselves ‘Whitsunday Air Sea Rescue Squad and they were using their own boats to be on standby, helping out anyone who got into trouble in the coastal area. At the time, Airlie (as it was known then) was nothing but a few beach shacks owned by cane growers and the management of the Proserpine Sugar Mill. It was a small, but auspicious beginning.
The photo above shows locals aboard ReefRaker which was one of the boats used for sea rescue back in the 1960’s.
In the 70’s a rival organization, Airlie Beach Coast Guard Queensland Flotilla QF18 was formed and the two bodies competed for some years until a Queensland Government Emergency Services Minister notified the two units that they would no longer receive individual funding. This forced the formation of a single rescue unit for the Whitsundays. As part of the amalgamation, Coast Guard transferred the repeater station on Hayman Island and their other station, to the new Volunteer Marine Rescue.
Airlie became popular in the late 80’s when an Ansett subsidiary held the land area now occupied by Peninsula, Marina Shores, Mirage and Whitsunday Marine Club. Air Sea Rescue obtained a lease on land that is now between the police station and Whisper Bay and a demountable office was set up as a radio base.
Ansett wanted to develop the land and the battle began to save some of the land for community use and move Shute Harbour Road to its current Airlie Hill location. VMR President and Life Member, the late John Harper, with his cool head and persuasive approach succeeded in preserving the boat ramp and VMR Base area for the community’s benefit.
John was also instrumental in bringing the Air Sea Rescue dreams to reality when he led the ambition for VMR to share a permanent place to operate and in 1993 the late John Harper and Jack Hickmott signed the agreement to form an alliance with Whitsunday Game Fish Club and Whitsunday Power Boat Club to develop the current site.
The Whitsunday Air Sea Rescue Operations Room was opened in June 1994.
In 1995, part of the amalgamation and regeneration was to change the name of Air Sea Rescue to Volunteer Marine Rescue and this name was then adopted by Air Sea Rescue Queensland headquarters and all Queensland squadrons in 1996.
VMR Whitsunday was the first VMR in Queensland and we are proud of the VMR1 call sign, that we have maintained for all of our rescue vessels since.
Our full history is currently being collected as part of a History Project, and the outcome of this project will be launched in 2024….right on time for our 60th anniversary. Watch this space.