A recreational boatie has been left stunned by a freak weather event.
Aroona’s Brett Golding received a phone call from Caloundra Coast Guard, informing him that his 36-foot flybridge cruiser had capsized in the Pumicestone Passage late on Sunday.
“It’s totally devastating, that’s for sure,” he said in an interview with Sunshine Coast News.
“The boat was something I had worked on all year (to restore) and then all of a sudden there was a mini tornado.”
It could have been the same mini tornado that swept through nearby Nirimba.
The freak event provides an important reminder to all boat users that with the arrival of summer, we can often expect unpredictable stormy weather.
65-year-old Mr Golding was told exactly what happened by the owner of a large vessel nearby, when he visited the scene opposite Bells Creek on Monday morning.
“He (the other boatie) measured 60 knot winds on his gauge when my boat went over,” Mr Golding said.
“He said the winds were coming from all directions and it just blew the boat on its side, snapped its anchor and it sunk.”
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor including your name and suburb via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au.
Mr Golding had spent plenty of time refitting the boat after buying it, while enjoying recreational trips in the passage. It was uninsured.
“We bought it as a bit of a project, to do it up and make it comfortable around the passage and to go over to a sandy bank,” he said.
But his hard work was essentially undone in one foul weather event.
The owner of the nearby vessel helped right Mr Golding’s boat, which at one stage was upside down.
They balanced it with tractor tyre tubes and towed it towards land.
It was hoped that Coast Guard could help bring it closer to the shoreline when the wind died down at high tide. It could be stopped on the bank at low tide, when pumps could be used to expel the water out of it, so it could float again.
“It’s totally usable,” Mr Golding said.
“There is no damage at all to the structure of the boat.
“It’s just on top where the canopies were, and the rails have been damaged.”
Mr Golding revealed he has sold it for $5000.
“I just want out of it,” he said. “I spent so much money on it and I’m sort of retired now and can’t afford to spend another cent on it.”
The sale of the boat attracted more than 23,000 views on Facebook Marketplace.
Mr Golding also received more than 100 messages from people wanting a closer inspection, along with interest from salvage crews that offered to get the boat from the water for free.
It’s the second time in the past 12 months a capsize has occurred off Caloundra.
A $78,000 houseboat flipped over and stayed underwater for almost a month before it was destroyed and taken to the rubbish tip.
SUBSCRIBE here now for our FREE news feed, direct to your inbox daily!
