Men stuck in drink as boat goes down

A LEISURELY day throwing a line in the ocean turned into a nightmare for four mates yesterday afternoon.

More than 18 nautical miles out to sea, the four men were left desperately treading water after their boat sank at about 2pm yesterday.

Although the conditions on the ocean were ideal, the 7.6m half cabin boat started filling with water.

The passengers sent out a distress signal by radio and activated an Epirb locator beacon, which was picked up by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra. Just over 30 minutes after the distress signal was sent, PolAir arrived and dropped a life raft to the men, who by then were floating in the open.

Gold Coast Water Police senior search and rescue officer Mick Banyari said two helicopters were dispatched to rescue the men.

“Gold Coast Seaway received a distress call that a boat was taking on water approximately 18 nautical miles east north east of the Gold Coast seaway,” Senior Constable Banyari said.

“Two (distress) beacons were activated, which were picked up by the joint rescue co-ordination centre in Canberra.

“Pol Air, Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the water police vessel was immediately dispatched.

“Pol Air arrived on scene and deployed a life raft which the gentlemen recovered themselves in until water police arrived.”

Snr Const Banyari said one of the men presented with mild hypothermia, but otherwise had no injuries.

“Unfortunately the boat was lost but apart from that, they’re in good spirits,” Snr Const Banyari said.

Despite the boat now being on the floor of the ocean, police are investigating exactly why it started taking on water.

“We’re still conducting inquiries to find out why the vessel started taking on water, we don’t know if it was a mechanical failure or structural damage,” Senior Constable Banyari said.

Had the boat not been equipped with emergency gear, it could have been a different story.

“They did have all the safety gear on the boats, life jackets, Epirb and flares, which is a credit to them,” Snr Const Banyari said.

“They set off a flare as the helicopters arrived which was the correct thing to do.”

THEY DID HAVE ALL THE SAFETY GEAR ON THE BOATS, LIFE JACKETS, EPIRB AND FLARES, WHICH IS A CREDIT TO THEM.

SEE VIDEO OF THE RESCUE AT GOLDCOASTBULLETIN.COM.AU

PolAir sped to the rescue, dropping the stricken quartet a life raft. They were subsequently rescued and brought back to dry land suffering only mild hypothermia.