SINKING FEELING

A MAN has spoken for the first time about being trapped on his liveaboard boat as it broke up around him during fierce storms off Saunders Beach last week.

Glenn Corbett hid in the corner of his 10m Power Cat in pitch darkness after the anchor winch was ripped off the side of the eight- tonne vessel and it began filling with water.

The floor broke apart and the contents of the boat were sucked into the sea leaving him with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.

“I don’t know if I was scared, I was just in shock,” he said.

“I just watched my fridge, outboard motor, double bed, power tools, phone, all my clothes, everything I had go straight down. I lost absolutely everything.

“It’s heartbreaking, I couldn’t do anything.”

The army veteran was anchored off Saunders Beach when the wild storms struck after travelling from Tin Can Bay to see his daughter Lydia and to meet his four- monthold granddaughter.

He is grateful he escaped the terrifying ordeal with no significant injuries. “I’m alive, there are people a lot worse off than me,” he said.

When the vessel ran aground and the tide subsided, a good Samaritan went to check the boat with a torch and took Mr Corbett in from the wreckage.

Mr Corbett’s daughter Lydia said to hear the news just two days after six fisherman lost their lives in an overturned fishing trawler off the coast of 1770 was a shock.

“That could have been dad,” she said.

New mum Ms Corbett, 23, recalled the moment she found out about the terrifying incident.

“He rocked up at my door and looked at me teary- eyed and said ‘ the boat’s gone, I’ve lost everything’,” she said.

“I feel guilty, he came here to meet my daughter for the first time.

“This was his lifelong dream ( the boat) and this has happened.”

Ms Corbett took to Facebook to ask if anyone in the area could donate clothing, power tools or engine pieces to start the process of getting the boat back on the water. It was there she found posts in community groups calling the boat an eyesore and complaining about the mess, less than 24 hours after the wreck occurred.

“He nearly died, it could have been a lot worse,” Ms Corbett said.

“Why can’t the community be like it was a few years ago when we’d all pitch in to help? “This ( the boat) is his home.” Mr Corbett hopes to access some 4WD forklifts and railway sleepers to lift the boat up and start the repairs while the tide is in his favour.

“If we can get it up, we’ve got just under a week to get it dry and repaired as much as possible,” he said.

The repairs to the ship and replacement of everything on board is expected to cost thousands.

If the boat cannot be repaired, Maritime Safety Queensland may have to remove it at the expense of Mr Corbett.

Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said it was too early to tell what kind of timeline Mr Corbett had to get the boat back in the water.

“The main priority here is about removing it so it’s no longer a safety hazard or an environmental hazard,” Mr Stewart said.