Marine Rescue Port Stephens in Nelson Bay, New South Wales | Non-profit organisation

Marine Rescue Port Stephens

Locality: Nelson Bay, New South Wales

Phone: +61 2 4981 3585

Address: Lighthouse Road 2315 Nelson Bay, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.marinerescueportstephens.com.au

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• Non-profit organisation
• Public & government service
• Emergency rescue service

24.01.2022 Vale Barney Pinney who has Crossed the Bar We have been advised that Barney Pinney passed away at his home last night (Wednesday 16/12/2020). Barney has been bravely battling mesothelioma for some time and finally succumbed to this deadly disease. Barney has been a most active member of Marine Rescue Port Stephens for 8 years. He held the ratings of Coxswain and Watch Officer and was the current Boat Manager. Barney had many skills which ranged from being a very competent a...nd trusted Skipper, skilled navigator (and lecturer), engineer and systems expert. He was always willing to share and pass on his knowledge and wide ranging experiences. Most of all Barney was a good friend and shipmate. The world is a better place for Barney being here and without doubt Marine Rescue Port Stephens has delivered on its promise due to the efforts of our friend, Barney Pinney. Our sincerest sympathies are extended to his wife, Merril, and family. R.I.P dear friend.

22.01.2022 Over the past 2 Wednesdays Marine Rescue Port Stephens has out on the water exercised with the RAAF Rescue Helicopter. These exercises are to keep the Helicopter Crews current on their life saving skills. One of the exercises is to simulate safely lifting a patient in a stretcher off a vessel (PS31). In a real situation the patient would be flown to medical assistance on shore (e.g. a hospital). The exercise starts with lowering a crewman, then a dummy (her name is Ruth) and a stretcher to the vessel. This video shows the dummy being lowered to PS31 before the simulated retrieval. Very noisy and good experience for our crew. Consider the skill of the helicopter pilot in positioning the helicopter so low and close and yet so safely. The teamwork on this helicopter is truly sensational.

21.01.2022 Not long after PS31 arrived back from this morning’s job a member of the public spotted a person in the water next to his capsized sail/power canoe. This was just outside the Port Stephens D’Albora Marina in front of the rock wall. Skipper Laurie and Jeff were carrying out some maintenance on PS31. The member of the public ran down to the rescue dock to alert the Marine Rescue crew. In a flash Laurie had PS31 outside the marina and next to the overturned canoe. Jeff brought t...he person and his canoe safely on board. The skipper and his canoe travelled back on PS31 to the safety of the Maritime wharf within D’Albora Marina. Well done Jeff you have earnt your breakfast this morning.

19.01.2022 We have been asked by some residents of Port Stephens what is the MV Offshore Guardian doing in the port. Well we are not the port authority however we have learned that the crew of this impressive vessel are carrying out an oceanographic survey of the seabed between Birubi and Newcastle. - work which hasn't been updated in over 50 years. Again we are not the experts however this information is required to keep navigation charts up to date and relevant for shipping etc. You... can have a look at the ship's website. : http://ggmap.subsea-cloud.com/hipp/ The MV Offshore Guardian is a Catarmaran, 34 metres in length. It can accomodate 28 crew. The vessel is powered by (2) 715HP caterpillar engines. She was launched in NZ in 2015. Another interesting visitor to the Bay.

19.01.2022 Rescue of a Disabled Vessel within sight of Port Stephens. We thought you would be interested in the procedures taken by Marine Rescue Port Stephens when a call for assistance is received from a vessel off the coast. On Monday, just before 2PM, our radio base received a call from a vessel which was transiting from Newcastle to Port Stephens. On board were 3 adults and 1 child. The vessel was powered by an outboard engine and the skipper reported he was experiencing fuel pro...blems. The engine had stopped and they needed assistance to safely enter the port. The Watch Officer today was David who had delegated the control of this incident to Marine Radio Operator Krystyna (who will soon be assessed as a Watch Officer). On receiving the call Krystyna contacted the Marine Area Command (the MAC) of the Water Police in Sydney and detailed the situation. The MAC tasked PS31 to assist the distressed vessel. Next Krystyna contacted our Duty Callout Officer (Frank) and advised that PS31 was tasked. Frank called 5 crew (Skipper Brian and crew Iain, Stephen, Robert and trainee crew member Riko). PS31 was soon under way and towed the distressed vessel to D’Albora Marina in Nelson Bay. Krystyna maintained communication with the distressed and the rescue vessels and the MAC - following all procedures to ensure a safe outcome occurred and that full records were kept. For the boat crew this is what they train for and they completed their task by safely brining those on board the distressed vessel to the Marina. Well done everyone a good outcome.

19.01.2022 There is a gale warning for Thursday and Friday (Nov 5 and 6) for Hunter Coastal Waters. Stay safe on the water. http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/huntercoast.shtml

18.01.2022 Expired Flare Collection Port Stephens Transport NSW (Roads and Maritime) will be collecting expired flares in November as follows Soldiers Point Ramp . Tuesday 24/11/20 07:30-10:00... Little Beach Ramp . Tuesday 24/11/20. 11:00 - 2PM Also January 2021 Soldiers Point Ramp . 12/1/21 7:30-11:00 Little Beach Ramp . 12/1/21. 11:00 - 2PM NSW State Programme follow this link (including Tea Gradens April 2021) https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au//maritime_expired_flares_collec

18.01.2022 Aurora Australis Retires Australia's icebreaker, Aurora Australis, left Hobart for the last time last weekend. She was launched in Newcastle in 1989 and has completed more than 150 voyages to the Antarctic. We thought you would find this short documentary of interest. Such wonderful history with connections to the Hunter region and Port Stephens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paK05BMrGxg

18.01.2022 Catalina Memorial On the 24th of May 1943 one of the Catalinas stationed at Rathmines, Lake Macquarie crashed off Jimmy's Beach at Port Stephens. Seven of nine crew members under the command of Flight Lieutenant Brian Higgins lost their lives. A nephew of the late commander of the plane Flight Lieutenant Higgins also by the name of Brian Higgins from Wangaratta Vic visited Nelson Bay on the 24 of May. In honour of the air crew a memorial service was held at the Marine Rescue ...Port Stephens Base, Inner Lighthouse, organised by the Tomaree Museum Association. Special guests were RAAF Williamtown Commander Group Captain Anthony Stanton and the Mayor of Port Stephens, Ryan Palmer.

17.01.2022 Around 7am this morning the Radio Base received a report from a vessel on the water that an unmanned kayak was floating between Port Stephens heads and Boondelbah Island. Rescue vessel PS31 jumped into action. It was an opportunity to build up hours at the helm for Anthony whilst skipper Sue supervised operations supported by crew, Mark and Murray. Once on scene, PS31 commenced a search pattern to locate the kayak. Mark was stationed on the flybridge during the search to incr...ease visible distance. Fortunately, he very quickly spotted a vessel near Boondelbah towing a Kayak. It was established that this was the kayak in question and it was subsequently brought back to the dock to await collection by the owner. Once again, with the effective collaboration between crew and radio operators, Riko, Jim and Watch Officer Colin, the operation was a success. Good job Anthony (Leading Crew) his next step is Coxswain.

17.01.2022 Around 5.30am this morning Watchkeeper Dieter received a MAYDAY for an 11-metre mono sail with 2 people on board. The vessel was in Coal Shaft Bay and getting dangerously close to the rocks. Port Stephens rescue vessel PS31 responded quickly with Skipper Laurie and crew Sue, Ian, Robert and Iain making way to the destressed vessel. Dieter broadcasted a MAYDAY relay to all ships. A nearby vessel responded to the MAYDAY call and aided the sailing vessel and managed to get them ...to safer water. PS31 arrived on scene to find the 2 people aboard safe and well, preparing to head back to Port Stephens unassisted. PS31 shadowed the sailing vessel back into the port. Well done to the radio base, crew and the assisting vessel for their quick response.

15.01.2022 Congratulations to the members at Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie. Nice facility.

15.01.2022 Water Police from Port Stephens involvement.

14.01.2022 Well done to Port Stephens Water Police - another professional rescue.

13.01.2022 Boating this weekend? Before you go out on the water (inshore or offshore) consider logging on with Marine Rescue. By doing that we will monitor your journey and return time. Our Radio Base is staffed 24/7. Should you require assistance call us for help - if you are logged on the process is so much more efficient.... If you fail to return on time we will endeavour to make contact with you to check on your welfare. If we can't make contact we will alert the appropriate authorities to assist with locating you. Your safety is our focus - a no blame process. We are here to help always. First time log-on? Call us and our friendly Radio Operators will help you through the simple process (it helps if you have your boat registration available). Radio or try the Marine Rescue NSW APP to logon your journey. Weather forecast - follow this link. Updated at least twice per day. http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/huntercoast.shtml

13.01.2022 Around 7am this morning the Radio Base received a request for assistance from a 6m cabin runabout experiencing engine issues at Esmeralda Cove at Broughton Island. The Radio Base took charge and gave PS 31 the location of the distressed vessel. The 2 people on board were in a safe location at Esmeralda Cove. In no time the crew had PS31 ready for her voyage, under the command of skipper Sue. Once on scene, PS31 threw a heaving line which is attached to a heavier towing line. ...The people on board the distressed vessel attached the tow line and PS31 headed towards Little Beach boat ramp. The sea conditions made the trip back an easy one. Soon after PS31 arrived at Little Beach boat ramp to the delight of the crew of the distressed vessel. The crew of PS31 cleared the back deck and headed back to its berth at Nelson Bay Marina. Great work between crew and radio operator Geoff and Watch Officer Dieter. These are our bread-and-butter jobs. It may seem routine, but it is the regular training that keeps all our rescue volunteers both crew and in the radio base on their toes.

11.01.2022 Marine Rescue Port Stephens tow in many sick boats. Where do we take them - to the Doc of course!

10.01.2022 Saturday Morning Rescue At 4 am Saturday morning (when most of us were sleeping) our nightshift Watch Officer (Ross) received a distress call from a yacht in Coal Shaft Bay, Broughton Island. The Skipper advised there were 2 people on board and that during the night the strong southerly wind which had reached the island was making their location difficult. When trying to move the vessel to a safer anchorage they had grounded and were being blown towards rocks. The Watch Of...ficer advised the Water Police Marine Area Command immediately of the situation. PS31 was tasked and a crew was urgently assembled. On arrival at Coal Shaft Bay our skipper (Laurie) and Crew (Michael, Iain, Anthony and Ian) took the vessel under tow and pulled it free of the rocks. The yacht was towed out of Coal Shaft Bay and after about 400 metres the tow was dropped and the Yacht returned to Port Stephens using its own engine. The Skipper however reported that they were slowly taking on water. PS31 shadowed the distressed vessel back to the port to ensure the safe return of the 2 crew on the yacht. Our crew arranged with the Boat Yard at Nelson Bay to be prepared for the arrival of the damaged vessel and it was lifted out of the water as soon as it arrived. A good outcome for the visiting crew to the Port Stephens area. Well done to our Radio Base and Boat Crews.

10.01.2022 A few reminders in this sad story.

08.01.2022 2019-2020 Bushfires It will be a long time before the people of NSW will forget about the horrendous bushfires of the summer of 2019-220 (if ever we will forget). The Premier of NSW has awarded a Bushfire Emergency Citation to recognise the outstanding effort of volunteer and service agency personnel who played a significant role in the emergency response to combat those fires.... Marine Rescue Port Stephens has a special relationship with the RFS Units in the Lower Hunter and Hunter Valley districts. Our Watch Officers take over the communications role for those areas out of hours and as such are fully trained in their communications procedures and protocols. During the height of the fires we were asked to supply Radio Operators to help at the Fire Control Centre at RFS East Maitland. 20 Radio Marine Rescue Operators volunteered their time and were working at East Maitland 37 of the 44 days of the emergency. They volunteered in excess of 500 hours to assist the RFS and so many other agencies (including Fire and Rescue, Police, SES etc. and American and Canadian Volunteers). Our volunteers were proud to receive the Premier’s Citation which were presented at an Award Ceremony on Friday Dec. 11 by Bert Pipan who is Acting Co-ordinator for Lower Hunter RFS (East Maitland Centre). Also present was Jim Wright who is a Board Member of Marine Rescue NSW and our Regional Operations Manager, Steve Raymond. Marine Rescue Port Stephens is so pleased and proud that we were able to support our friends at RFS during this state emergency. Earlier in the year we posted how impressed we were with the fantastic effort by all working at East Maitland during those times and how humbled were were by the bravery and dedication shown by those in the field.

08.01.2022 Due to ideal boating conditions, today was a busy day for the radio base with over 60 vessels logging their voyages this was the highest number of vessels logged on by any base in in NSW today. Watch Officer Ross and radio operators Angela and Jim, kept the traffic flowing across the airwaves. Saturday and Tuesdays are Marine Rescue training days for crew. Under the watchful eye of the three skippers Robert, Laurie and Iain, they simulated the rescue of a distressed vessel. Simulations include towing techniques and safe berthing alongside a jetty or on a mooring. Like all boating communities after a day on the water the crew undertake routine tasks to maintain the vessels so that performance is optimum when it really counts.

08.01.2022 A memory from 5 years ago. A very proud time for Marine Rescue Port Stephens.

07.01.2022 Latest copy of MRTV. Happy Volunteers week to all community volunteers wherever they serve..... https://youtu.be/CG9oowu8lJc

06.01.2022 Boat Crew Training can take place in different situations. Ray, who recently transferred from Marine Rescue Bermagui has introduced a quick dock/white board talk by a selected crew member on each training day. COLREGS or the regulations dealing with the prevention of collision at sea, is the current focus. Training can also take place on the boat but at the dock - berthing, rope work etc. Over the coming weeks a number of the crew will be assessed for competencies such as Coxswain, Leading Crew and Marine Rescue Crew. Good luck everybody.

06.01.2022 Around 7am this morning the Radio Base received a request for assistance from an 8m cabin runabout experiencing battery issues at Coal Shaft Bay. The Radio Base received all the relative information from the 2 people on board who advised they were anchored and safe. Rescue vessel PS31 leaped into action with crewman Jeff at the helm under the watchful eye of skipper Sue and supported by crew, Ian and skipper Mick. Ian was on navigation position for this operation. This is an... important role in directing PS31 to the location of the distress vessel while always keeping the boat and crew in safe waters. Ian is currently completing his Senior Crew rating. Once on scene, PS31 provided a battery starter pack which successfully started the distressed vessel’s engines. The vessel decided to remain at Coal Shaft Bay. PS31 headed safely back to its berth. Once again, with the effective collaboration between crew and radio operators, Krystyna, Howard and Watch Officer Maureen, the operation was a success

05.01.2022 Sunday Busy Sunday Sunday was a busy day for Marine Rescue Port Stephens. Our Radio Base crews logged on a little under 40 boats and managed 2 distress calls from vessels requiring assistance. The 1st was Sunday morning and the 2nd was mid-afternoon. We will write about the 1st separately as that task was a little more straight forward but had an interesting human story. About 3 PM the Radio Base took a call from an 8-metre vessel with 4 people on-board. They were fishing... and had experienced hydraulic problems therefore no steering. Their location was 7 nautical miles east-north-east of Broughton Island (that is 16+ nautical miles or 30 kms from the port entry). The Marine Area Command of the NSW Water Police was contacted and advised of the situation. PS31 was tasked to bring the vessel back to the Port (Soldiers Point ramp). A crew was called and PS31 proceeded to the position. Marine Rescue Port Stephens attaches to the towline a section of line which has a slightly reduced tensile strength than the main towline. This is a sacrificial section which will break (rare occurrence) before the working and critically important working line. At 4:50 pm the sacrificial line did its job and broke however the main towline was protected. Our Skipper (Laurie) and crew (Michael, Anthony and Ray) quickly re-established the tow and proceeded to Soldiers Point. The disabled vessel was safely delivered to the ramp at 7:20 pm with our crew logging off after 7:30 pm (a long afternoon for them). Busy in the Radio Base Sunday afternoon was Watch Officer Richard, Radio Operator Lisa and Trainee David. With such a busy afternoon, what great training for David. On the job training is the best.

04.01.2022 We mentioned in an earlier post that on Sunday morning PS30 was tasked to assist a vessel on inside waters of Port Stephens. Due to the long offshore rescue on Sunday afternoon we held over this report until today. Sunday morning PS30 was tasked to assist a vessel with 4 people on board. The Skipper reported fuel problems which had stopped the engine. They were off the Anchorage and needed towing to Soldiers Point ramp. Leading Crew Iain took control of this tasking. On S...aturday morning Iain was due to conduct his assessment for the rating of Coxswain. Due to the serious rescue at Broughton Island early that morning, the assessment was postponed and the external Assessor from Lake Macquarie was stood down. If Iain had completed the planned assessment (and we expected that he would have been successful) he would have been wearing epaulette slides with 3 stripes, not 2. Iain was very pragmatic to this situation (saving lives is our mission) and looks forward to the next opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a Coxswain. Good fortune Iain.

04.01.2022 National Medal Presentation to Eileen Kelly At the general presentation ceremony at Marine Rescue Port Stephens on Friday Dec. 11 Eileen Kelly was presented the National Medal which was authorised by the Governor General. The National Medal recognises long and diligent service by members of recognised government and voluntary organisations that risk their lives or safety to protect or assist the community in enforcement of the law or in times of emergency or natural disaster.... This includes government organisations such as ambulance, correctional, emergency, fire and police forces, and voluntary organisations such as Marine Rescue. Eileen first joined the RVCP and continued on with Marine Rescue. She served for many years as a Marine Radio Operator before taking on the demanding role of Unit Training Officer. At that time many new systems and courses we being introduced which required a huge effort to introduce and settle down. After many years Eileen stood down from the training role due to work and travel pressures outside Marine Rescue. She still supports us through fund raising activities including the essential gift shop. Congratulations Eileen. Photo: Medal being presented by Marine Rescue NSW Board Member, Jim Wright.

02.01.2022 Around 1.30pm yesterday afternoon the Radio Base received a request for assistance from a 15m mono sailboat experiencing engine issues 10nm north of Broughton Island. The Radio Base acted swiftly and received all the relevant information from the 2 people on board who advised they were ok and in a safe location. Rescue crew Steve, Ian, Jeff, Skipper Iain and Skipper Sue quickly assembled down at the dock to prepare PS31 for a long journey past Broughton Island. Favorable sea ...conditions aided in the quick arrival of PS31 who was able to maintain an average speed of 20kts. Once on scene, PS31 provided assistance and had the sailing vessel under tow heading back to the safe waters of Nelson Bay. With long hours at sea the crew rotate their positions on board PS31. This is to make sure the crew stay alert and share the workload. At 6.45pm PS31 arrived in Nelson Bay and placed the distressed vessel on a mooring outside D’Albora Marina. The two people on board thanked the team of Marine Rescue Port Stephens. The crew stowed all lines and PS31 headed back to its berth for a well-earned rest. Great work between crew and radio operator Jenny and Watch Officer Neil. It is the regular training for both the radio base and boat crew that makes these jobs a great success.