I thought our readers may be interested in the history and activities of a volunteer organization in Mackay, that has been keeping watch and saving lives and vessels of the seafarers in the Mackay and Greater Region off our coast since 1965. Volunteer Marine Rescue Mackay (VMR) was originally known as Air Sea Rescue Mackay and was formed in May of 1965 after a boating accident in our area which claimed three lives.
Originally all rescue work and searches were done by members boats, aircraft were hired to locate missing boats as there were no GPS’s and only limited radio communication in those days.
My good friend and neighbour, Bob Ford, who was the president of VMR Mackay from 1980 to 2005 and his wife Lurline recounted many a story to me about barbecues at the Mackay Sailing Club, and dinner dances held at Mackay Golf Club, as fundraisers so as the squad could purchase its first rescue vessel, which was a 23ft Shark Cat. This initial vessel in fact was smashed on the Mackay harbour walls while attempting to save other boats in a wild storm. The squad then went on to purchase another 23ft Shark Cat, which was later upgrade to a 28ft Cougar Cat, pictured below, and a further 10m Cougar Cat.
Initially, radio bases monitored by squad members were formed at Clairview, Sarina, Keswick Island, St Bees Island, Slade Point, Seaforth, Halliday Bay and St Helens Beach. The squad also purchased a van, which was located at the Harbour and later upgraded to a small hut located at the top of the then boat ramp.
There is a picture of the inside of the hut in the 1988 Mackay bicentennial book, a copy of picture below, which is of great personal interest to me, as the person photographed on radio duty is my late cousin, Peter Camilleri.
The current Headquarters of the VMR located at the Mackay Harbour was built in 1998 by professional builders and volunteers.
At the current time the vital statistics of VMR are as follows:-
- Actual members – 1993
- Qualified skippers – 17, 9 undergoing training
- Rescue crew – 68 personnel
- Active members on managing committee, other than rescue skippers and rescue crew – 6 admin personnel
- Radio Monitors – 41
I am told, there are over 22,000 registered recreational vessels in the Mackay and Greater Region, clearly a large portion of this boat owners are non-members of an organisation they may come to rely on one day.
For a number of years now, VMR Mackay has provided a seven day a week, Marine Radio monitoring service, from 8:00am in the morning until 6:00pm at night, 365 days a year.
I know personally if I am boating in the waters off Seaforth, it always gives me a sense of security to know that someone is watching out for you.
I would like to recount what I overheard on the marine radio on a Friday afternoon/Friday night sometime last year, from memory it was about 5:00pm in the afternoon and someone called VMR Mackay to advise that they had been at Brampton Island and one of the people on board had been swimming and had been stung by some unidentified marine creature. Clearly, the person who had been stung was in a lot of pain and in distress, and the skipper of the boat who was on the radio, called VMR by radio, told them they were heading back in and requested that an ambulance be at the Harbour on their arrival.
The person on radio duty, I think, went way beyond what was called for when they did the following:-
- They contacted the ambulance to get some basic advice in relation to first aid and relayed that back to the vessel, and;
- As the vessel was not expected to arrive back into Harbour until after the 6:00pm cut off time, he would stay on duty until the vessel was safely back in the Harbour.
Once the skipper heard that the radio monitor would stay on duty until after they had arrived, you could hear the skipper become a lot calmer having that assurance.
At the present time, VMR’s rescue vessels in Mackay are:
- A 2008 11.2m, Composite Mono Steber Craft, powered by 2x 355hp Cummins Diesel Inboard engines, 2B Survey, 1350L fuel capacity, with a top speed of 27 knots.
- A 2014 8.5m Woody Marine Aluminium Mono RIB, powered by 2x 300hp Suzuki Outboards, 2C Survey, 630L fuel capacity, with a top speed of 47knots
- A 1995 6.5m Swift Craft Aluminium Mono RIB, powered by 2x 90hp Suzuki Outboards, 2C Survey, 200L fuel capacity, with a top speed of 36knots.
VMR also have a John Deere Tractor, which they use to launch their largest trailable vessel, which was donated to them by Vanderfield Tractors and also a Holden Rodeo ute, which they use to launch their smallest rescue vessel and this utility was donated to VMR Mackay, very generously by Keith Callinan of New Pioneer Motors Mackay.
Unlike other land-based rescue and related volunteer organizations, VMR Mackay are not provided with their equipment and uniforms and/or all of their funding from Government. They do receive a very small amount of funding from Government, but this does not even pay their operational costs, let alone the costs of replacing and or repairing rescue vessels. VMR Mackay certainly needs more financial members as its costs of operation is high, and the cost of replacing rescue vessels is currently out of their reach. They also rely upon donations and corporate sponsorships. They make their services available to all of the boating public, not just their members however in the case of a rescue, a VMR member pays less than half of what a non-member pays. As I see it, a yearly membership fee of $85.00 is a very cheap insurance policy.
Anyone interested in joining VMR Mackay can fill out the online form at the VMR Website using this link: https://www.vmrmackay.org.au/join-now.
