A STRICKEN yacht off the coast of Port MacDonnell has re-ignited the push for a marine emergency rescue service amid fears the incident could have led to a tragedy.
Grant District Mayor Richard Sage says the need for a dedicated rescue service must be made a priority following another scare at sea.
An Adelaide couple – who are sailing around Australia in a 38-foot steel ketch yacht – were left stranded precariously off the South East coastline after their engine failed.
While the keen recreational sailors were rescued by a commercial rock lobster boat crew, the couple said they were dumbfounded the district did not have a dedicated marine rescue service.
“It could had gone horribly wrong,” Michael Lohmeyer and Cynthia Matthews exclusively told The Border Watch.
Mr Sage said the incident – which unfolded last week – again highlighted the need for a dedicated rescue service following a number of deaths and major rescues at sea.
While the issue had been left floundering on the backburner, he said there was now an opportunity to take the matter to the new Liberal State Government.
“We need to look at where we can go from here … as a community we need to do more,” Mr Sage told The Border Watch.
Given the size of the commercial rock lobster fleet and high number of recreational boats, he said an emergency marine service was desperately needed.
He warned using large rock lobster boats to rescue people was potentially dangerous given they often had to reverse to pick up people from stricken boats.
“If a wave comes when they are reversing, they could potentially put people they are rescuing in danger,” Mr Sage said.
Speaking at Port MacDonnell after recovering from their ordeal, the couple thanked the town’s police officer Brevet Sergeant John Carroll and the commercial fishers who helped them.
“We had been sailing for 40 hours and we were both absolutely exhausted. If the wind had sprung up, we could have been in a lot of trouble,” warned Ms Matthews, who is a former Mount Gambier resident.
“We were just before Carpenter Rocks when the engine started surging and ended up stopping.
“We spoke to the radio operator at Kingston and we kept sailing – a commercial fisherman told us that if we needed to he would come and get us.”
Attempting to sail into the Port MacDonnell harbour in darkness about 9.30pm, she said the “wind dropped out”.
While the weather was calm, she warned they could had been potentially in dangerous territory if the conditions were rough.
“Because we did not know Port MacDonnell, we did not want to anchor and leave us vulnerable to what was underneath. We knew there were lots of rocks around,” Ms Matthews said.
“We felt really vulnerable. We spoke to Brevet Sergeant Carroll and he organised a couple of fishermen to come.
“They came out, threw a rope across and towed us in. It really highlighted for us the need for this area to have a rescue service.
“The police officer kept calling us to see if we were alright and the Port MacDonnell community has been brilliant. We are very grateful.”
Ms Matthews is the mother of well-known Mount Gambier chef Kirby Shearing.
