The tuna season has helped create a new record for the Batemans Bay Marine Rescue NSW Unit.
July saw the crew perform 15 rescues the most for that month and fifth busiest in the state.
Unit Commander Rod Ingamells says it was not what they were expecting.
“We were the fifth busiest of all areas through from Tweed Heads down to Eden, so we’ve been quite busy and the water mainly due to the tuna season that came up and there was like two or three weeks there where the car park was full and we got busy,” Commander Ingamells said.
“They could probably be a little bit more proactive in the sense of getting their vessel ready and make sure that they’ve got all the right gear. They carry spare fuel,” he said.
“I noticed that some of them did have spare fuel. The problem was they would go out too far and they’d probably get stuff out of the bottom of their tanks and they’ve got fuel filter problems.
“I would say that probably 50% were through people not being prepared. In the winter season and you’ve got spring coming up so it’s a good time to actually get out there and prepare yourself on the water. Get your motors and your boat clean, life jackets and make sure that you got all ready with the VHF radios and and log in with the Marine Rescue app.”
A total of 24 search and rescue missions including 17 emergency responses with 48 people safely returned to shore across all 8 Monaro units – Batemans Bay, Tuross Moruya, Narooma, Bermagui, Merimbula, Eden, Alpine Lakes & Moama.
Apart from Batemans Bay, Eden had three, Tuross Moruya two and Narooma two.
