REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Wednesday, May 5, 1982

SKIPPER Kerry Hick and his fishing mates clung to the hull of their capsized boat for two hours about 5km off Nobby Beach, fearful they would be taken by sharks.

However, the chance passing of another fishing vessel resulted in a full-scale call-out of the Coast Guard and Air Sea Rescue teams.

Kerry and Jemmel Scholtz were trapped underneath the 4m boat after it did a slow roll in a small swell.

Their mate, Bill Allen, reacted quickly and dived into the sea before the $12,000 fishing boat overturned.

“It all happened so quickly — nobody seemed to know why it went over like it did,” said Mr Hicks from his caravan home at Burleigh Heads.

Mr Hicks, 37, a plasterer, said he had been going out fishing since he was six years old and had never been involved in an accident before.

“I still can’t believe it, all the rescue people said it was a freak accident,” he said.

The three men did not have time to send out a Mayday signal when the boat went over.

The radio, flares, wallets, fishing gear and other items totalling $800 in value were all lost.

Meanwhile, Southport National Party MP Doug Jennings was trying to win favour with the Labor Party and Main Beach voters by attacking the Gold Coast Waterways Authority’s plans for The Spit, according to Keith Williams.

Mr Williams, the authority’s chairman, said this was the root of Mr Jennings’ hostility.

Mr Jennings said he would fight plans to lease sites on The Spit to pay for the creation of the Seawall to stabilise the bar.