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Boat rescue off Botany


mrsswordfisherman

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I got back to the ramp today to a bit of mayhem. The SES guys had rolled their boat not far from the ramp at Bonna Point and were being helped out by maritime rescue who towed it to the ramp. That Noreaster played havoc. After waiting about an hour to use the ramp, I went up to get my car which was surrounded by police. When I got in, they said "well that isn't the vehicle then" and proceeded to another car. They later told me they were looking for the car and trailer belonging to the guys that hit the rocks. After seeing the boat on the news, I am pretty sure it launched just before me.

We were all just heading out for a days fishing.

J

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Simple common sense would have stopped this from happening. Life Jackets is only the first point which should be enforced in certain weather conditions in my opinion.

On Saturday the swell outside Botany was predicted at over 2.5m, no boat that size should have been outside the open water mark in that, let alone without life jackets on. Weather checks and common sense should have avoided this accident.

Its an eye opener for us all. No matter what the situation, always check the most recent weather forecast before you launch a boat.

Sad times!

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Apart from what has been mentioned here, the other thing that really scares me is the lack of maintenance some people are comfortable with on their boats.

I often see people launch boats from the ramp and then often struggling to get the motor started. They fiddle for a while, take the cowl off, flood it etc. Once the motor finally sputters to life you see them head straight out past the heads....

I will NOT take my boat out into ANY open water regardless of swell or other conditions if im not 100% confident that the motor will at least start and run first go under normal operating conditions (not withstanding extenuating circumstances), i guess some people just employ the "she'el be right" attitude. I can imagine scenarios where people fish close to the cliffs and the motor conks out.. good luck getting away from the rocks at that point.... an all too sad tale.

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Apart from what has been mentioned here, the other thing that really scares me is the lack of maintenance some people are comfortable with on their boats.

I often see people launch boats from the ramp and then often struggling to get the motor started. They fiddle for a while, take the cowl off, flood it etc. Once the motor finally sputters to life you see them head straight out past the heads....

I will NOT take my boat out into ANY open water regardless of swell or other conditions if im not 100% confident that the motor will at least start and run first go under normal operating conditions (not withstanding extenuating circumstances), i guess some people just employ the "she'el be right" attitude. I can imagine scenarios where people fish close to the cliffs and the motor conks out.. good luck getting away from the rocks at that point.... an all too sad tale.

+1 well said mate

I too see a lot of half-assing... just not the right attitude for boating...

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I have an auxillary - it's got me back a few times. They are a bit old school/ out of favour

these days but it's good to be able to get yourself out of trouble.

The accident happened on a Sunday. The dangerous seas warning had been lifted from

the previous day but the seas were still up. I didn't think about going out in my 5.4m glass

boat on Sunday due to the conditions.

As I have said before a 4.2m tinnie (it looked about that size), is not an outside boat and

you are asking for trouble to use it in this way.

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