3 minute read
Commissioner’s report
Commissioner
Stacey Tannos ESM
From the Commissioner
Spike in boating traffic drives record rescue workload.
Looking back to this time last year, we were in the first, uncharted weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a sense of foreboding but little real insight into the long-lasting implications of a mysterious new virus that was cutting a swathe through our community and our operations.
A year on, we have just finished a summer boating season directly shaped and driven by COVID.
Our volunteers - our rescue vessel crew members, radio operators and support teams - maintained a relentlessly challenging tempo from the booming start to the season on the October long weekend through to the end of February.
I am particularly mindful of the determination of our volunteers from MR Jervis Bay, whose colleague John Gallimore passed away while he was on radio duty in February. The members’ commitment to the safety of our boating community was such that despite their loss, they refused all offers to stand down in the wake of John’s death and maintained their duties. On behalf of us all, I extend my condolences and pay tribute to their stoicism and dedication.
As forecast, record numbers of boaters took to the water along our coastline over the past three months. This was not only driven by overseas and even interstate COVID travel restrictions but also by the accelerating popularity of boating throughout the pandemic last year, with NSW Maritime reporting increases in new boat registrations, registration transfers for secondhand boats and new boat licences.
But while many keen newcomers were out enjoying the water, COVID also managed to dampen people’s summer activities. The traditional drawcard events on Sydney Harbour were scrapped or scaled back due to a COVID cluster and subsequent lockdown on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and as a precautionary measure to prevent large crowds assembling along the shoreline.
Units in the Greater Sydney, Illawarra and Hunter/Central Coast regions returned to restricted operations and our traditional
summer rosters for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, New Year’s Eve and Australia Day were redrawn.
The increased traffic along the length of the coastline, however, led to substantial upturn in our units’ workloads, with boaters and others, including kayakers, jet ski riders and rock fishers, caught in emergencies at all hours, seven days a week and sometimes despite warnings of hazardous conditions.
We recorded a 67 per cent increase over last summer in our operational response. While the 2019-2020 season was, of course, impacted by the Black Summer bushfires, storms and floods, this year’s demand was still 27 per cent higher than the five-year peak over the summer of 2016-2017.
The majority of our rescue
The Commissioner presents MR Shellharbour’s Steve Thompson with his five-year Long Service pin, with Deputy Commissioner Alex Barrell. missions - 61 per cent - were in response to largely preventable problems: flat batteries, engine problems and issues with fuel, including more than a few instances of boaters simply running out of fuel a considerable distance offshore.
Many operations, however, were conducted in traumatic circumstances, with crews from MR Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga, Trial Bay, Port Macquarie, Forster-Tuncurry, Tuggerah Lakes, Lake Macquarie, Port Kembla, Shellharbour and Batemans Bay all joining coordinated searches for people who were missing or charged with the grim responsibility of returning those who were deceased to their loved ones.
I remind all our members who were engaged in these - or any other - activities that if they feel in need of any support, our confidential Critical Incident Support Service is freely available 24/7.
Call 1800 049 933.
This edition of Soundings records our volunteers’ tremendous efforts over the summer months, ensuring their hard work is acknowledged. Again, I thank each of our members for their commitment and contribution, whatever their role.
As always, there were warmhearted and uplifting moments among the tragedies and the long, sweaty days, when we congratulated people for new ratings or lengthy service; when our members celebrated our ethos of respect and diversity at the Sydney Mardi Gras; when we applauded our female members and yes, when we helped rescue injured wildlife.
It’s important to remember that happiness, too, is part of our story.
Stacey Tannos ESM
Commissioner
