Busy time for VMR in Shark Bay
Over the last 3 weeks we have had 7 tow in for various reasons.
the first was a rescue off Nanga involving towing Rescue 3 down, launching and retrieving the broken down vessel taking 6 1/2 hours in total.
Next one being an almost new 8 metre vessel that blew a hydraulic fitting on the steering gear and had to be towed back from Steep Point, same day there was an outboard catch fire to make life interesting for those involved.
2 days later I got the call of a boat over heating at the back of Faure Island, so drag Rescue3 over to Monkey Mia and launch there, tried to raise them on radio and phone with no result so head off down the west side and got us bogged in the shallows on the bottom of the island resulting in a 300 metre walk with the boat till we got to a deeper channel and work our way up the east side. We finally made phone contact and got a position, they were now on the NW corner of the island by travelling till the overheat alarm comes on, shut it down to cool then motor on and so on. Find they only have 27meg and no one covers it!!
Last Saturday we got a call from water police of an epirb going off up towards Turtle Bay, nice sloppy ride up there in 20-25 knot SE winds and an even worse ride home against it, took 6 hours but all back safely.
Yesterday heard Randall doing radio relay from Steep Point on a vessel broken down and needing to be towed back to Shelter Bay and I got the one at 1800 last evening to tow another one in with fuel problems from 10nm out, probably the easiest of all.
Have seen another 4-5 boats towed in by private vessels over this period of time so am at a loss to put a finger on what all the causes are
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
I'd say poor management more than bad luck.
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
Krusty
Posts: 714
Date Joined: 27/11/15
If there is a sudden
If there is a sudden increase in engine problems and there is one case where fuel was an issue is it possible the local fuel stock has contaminants ?
My fishing spots are so secret........... even the fish don't know where they are !!
carnarvonite
Posts: 8672
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Question
Question has been asked but when there has been around 40 boats refuelling each day why are there not more so you can discount it coming from either of the two outlets in town.
Both owners are extremely anal about the quality of fuel they sell
Krusty
Posts: 714
Date Joined: 27/11/15
Fair enough, and with that
Fair enough, and with that amount of fuel being sold you could almost guarantee the fuel would be good.
Not all boats would have water seperators however if water was a contributor I am sure the news would get back fairly quickly there was a water problem.
Maybe there is a lot of people on their "Annual trip" who haven't used their boats since their last "Annual trip"
My fishing spots are so secret........... even the fish don't know where they are !!
stephenm
Posts: 152
Date Joined: 03/04/13
Doing a great job and a lot
Doing a great job and a lot of times for not much in the way of thankyous. Awesome job
Willlo
Posts: 1490
Date Joined: 07/10/11
Has it been dewy in the
Has it been dewy in the morning. reason I ask is i had drama up there 1 year and found a really high rate of condensation fuel filter was full of water every morning.
Call Sign - BZ785
Haynes Hunter Prowler CC
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Well done.
Well done to all involved in the rescues Carnarvonite.
I have a VHF in the tinnie so i will be requesting a radio check next weekend from Shelter Bay, i hope it will be the only time i use it unless required in a radio relay.
Maybe if others are up there, we could listen out for each other.
Ocean Reef 636, if ya hear me say G'day....
Cheers & Stay safe
carnarvonite
Posts: 8672
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Ranger
The Steep Point ranger monitors channel 16 VHF most of the time so do not be afraid to notify her if something comes up
Have had a heavy dew yesterday and today plus one day last week, possible cause of the water in boat tanks through condensation but wouldn't think it would be enough to worry about
carnarvonite
Posts: 8672
Date Joined: 24/07/07
And still more
Got a call from Water Police informing us of an epirb going off across from Nanga station, while truck was tasked to head down towing Rescue 3, I got to go as the observer in a small charter plane to try to locate it
Couple of hour searching around all the bays and islands south of Useless Loop and a run down the west side we were contacted by police to let us know that the persons involved had been having trouble with their epirb and there was no emergency and to return to base. Ah well, it was a nice day for a flight over ground I have never been into before and I think we found a couple of fishing spots where the channels looked good.
Never a quiet moment to sit back and relax lately.
collin g wood
Posts: 313
Date Joined: 18/04/11
.
G'day carnarvonite, towed a broken down boat in from 5ks out of point person Rocko the other week, is there a procedure for reporting? Or just drop them at the jetty and forget?
ElDub
Posts: 54
Date Joined: 02/04/17
I was told when I needed to
I was told when I needed to be towed in, if I come across someone that needs a tow, if possible let sea rescue handle it because they have proper insurance.
Muppet
Posts: 408
Date Joined: 23/11/09
rules of the sea
if someone is in need of assistance you help. By what means will depend on the circumstances at the time.
VMR is not a tow truck. A tow is not a 'Rescue'.
too many people are quick to jump onto vmr to get them back to shore when they should be looking at other vessels already out there.
VMR only have the 'proper' insurance if a rescue job is logged with and managed by the police. And a tow job for a vessel that is not in distress is not a rescue.
As said, it depends on the circumstances at the time, but if you are in good weather, not in distress but in need of a tow, you should first be looking at others to assist that are on the water and neardby. If you have someone on shore or in the burbs with a boat, guess what, give them a call and get them to put their boat in and come and get you, rather than relying on Vmr that are 60kms away, whilst you sit anchored, waiting for them with a beer in one hand and a bait in the water. VMR members that respond are giving up their own time, often during work hours.
If they dont have the proper safety equipment on board, then DoT should be looking at these things better.
Thanks for you help on saturday carnarvonite, at least i got you a plane ride out of that job !
vent over.
Kev.
.
Rob H
Posts: 5806
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Makes interesting reading,
Makes interesting reading, the reasons a tow is needed.
There is probably the call to put together a list of "get home" tricks for people with less mechanical experience?
There are always things that you just cant fix or get around but many certainly are depending on pride or desperation.
My old man told us boys that if our cars broke down we could ring him but if he reckoned he could get it home he'd leave us there!
Of the above list of breakdowns, generally speaking a "steering failure" shouldnt be one to give up on without a go.
There are many tricks for this depending on the system such as
Sounds silly/PIA-but life or death if your getting washed into the breakers or there just isnt anyone.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
avatinni
Posts: 141
Date Joined: 06/06/10
Great job Carnarvonite you
Great job Carnarvonite you guys at vmr do an awesome job keeping people safe on the water
uncle
Posts: 9486
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Yep always good to know you
Guys are there
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs