100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

'Saved a big catastrophe': Coast Guard and lifesavers come to aid of fishing trawler

Do you have a news tip? Click here to send to our news team.

Man charged with sexual assaults on footpaths

A 20-year-old man has been charged with sexual offences after reports multiple women had been inappropriately touched while exercising on footpaths in Buderim, Mountain More

Photo of the day: blissful birds

Lesley Evans snapped these birds at Happy Valley. If you have a photo of the day offering, email photo@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. Photos must be horizontal/landscape and may More

ATO offered $150,000 for almost $1 million restaurant debt

The company behind two well-known Sunshine Coast restaurants has offered 15 cents in the dollar to settle a debt of almost $1 million with More

‘Last original Mooloolaba beach shack’ set for auction

An old home dubbed the 'last original Mooloolaba beach shack' is poised to go under the hammer. No.35 Smith Street is set to change hands More

View with a chew: helicopter tour offers picnic on a peak

A Sunshine Coast helicopter company has launched a unique new tour that showcases the region's landscape and food and drink offerings. Oceanview Helicopters has started More

Dog beach sand project scores major industry accolade

A sand nourishment project at a dog off-leash beach has been recognised with a prestigious engineering award. The Noosa Spit Doggy Beach sand nourishment project, More

Holiday beachgoers were surprised to see a 20m fishing trawler stuck in the shallows at Mooloolaba Beach on Saturday.

Coast Guard and lifesavers got to the boat just in time and pulled it back out to sea.

Coast Guard Mooloolaba crew skipper Bill Asher said they were first notified about the vessel by the crew of a nearby charter boat.

“They said the trawler was drifting towards to the beach,” he said.

“We tried to call the vessel but we couldn’t raise them and we saw on our cameras that they were only 150m off the beach.”

Like stories that inform, connect and celebrate the Sunshine Coast? So do we. Join an independent local news revolution by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed at the bottom of this article.

Coast Guard “raced” to the site and when they got there the vessel was essentially trapped in the shallows.

“The bows were sitting on the beach, so they were stuck,” Mr Asher said.

The trawler at Mooloolaba Beach. where a lifesaving carnival was being held. Picture: Brian Walsh.

“We backed up to the trawler and some lifesavers ran our tow line to it. We applied 100hp for about 10 minutes and slowly pulled the boat off the beach.

“The boat was within five minutes of being beached on a falling tide, so it would have been high and dry.

“It (the efforts of Coast Guard and lifesavers) saved a big catastrophe. If that boat washed up on to the beach, it would have been a major effort to get it off.

“They would have needed a two-ton tugboat to come up from Brisbane.”

Mr Asher suspected the vessel, which had crew aboard, had experienced anchor cable issues.

“I think it failed. For some reason the anchor was dragging,” he said.

He said the vessel also required a hydraulic mechanic, who was taken to it once it was dragged into deeper water about a mile off the coast.

Mr Asher said there were challenging conditions.

“We were three hours into an ebb tide, when the sea stands up more, so there were 2-3m swells and there was a thunderstorm about,” he said.

He said it would have been quite a sight for the thousands of beachgoers.

“There were a lot of people looking at it, and there was a big surf carnival so.”

Mr Asher said they were called into action for a similar incident at Mudjimba recently.

“There was a boat (essentially) on the beach and its engine had conked out,” he said.

Coast Guard towed the vessel to deep water. Picture: Brian Walsh.

“It was in the surf life and the lifesavers ran a tow line to it and we pulled them into deep water. We work well with the lifesavers.”

Mr Asher said very few boats were on the water during the rough weather on Saturday.

“With the storms around (and bigger swells), there was only about half a dozen boats, so boaties do pay attention to the weather, which we are grateful for, because the weather is a big factor out there.”

Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.

Subscribe to SCN’s free daily news email

Hidden
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
[scn_go_back_button] Return Home
Share