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MVSRG Rottnest Boat Convoy
The Fremantle, Cockburn and Whitfords Sea Rescue Groups (Metropolitan Volunteer Sea Recue Group) are planning to conduct a safety boat convoy to Rottnest in October. For many years the three groups have been contemplating a one day safety convoy with a family theme, where participants can return on the same day or early the next morning. We have many new and exciting ideas for a varied format.
One emphasis will be on the involvement of children including use of radios and steering a rescue boat and learning about the equipment on board.
Who better to teach boaters the correct way to and around the island than members of the sea rescue groups. There is over 100 years experience between the three groups and Fremantle has had a rescue vessel permanently moored at the island for over 10 years. There will be a barbeque at the end to revise the events of the day and to get feedback from participants and gauge interest in other planned events including a night convoy. The planned date is for October 4th. As the MVSRG is not running the event as a profit making venture we have kept the costs down to $60.00 per boat plus landing fees if applicable.
As this will be the first day convoy conducted totally by the sea rescue volunteers we are wanting to keep numbers down in order to customise future events with the help of the inaugural participants. If , as we anticipate, the event is oversubscribed then we will organise extra convoys to cater for numbers.
Click here to book online.
Vigilant looking after Rottnest Waters
With memories still fresh in our minds of the horrific weather we encountered at the launch of R100 we breathed a sigh of relief when Dec 9th arrived to clear, sunny skies. Our latest rescue vessel ‘Vigilant’ was officially launched at the Royal Perth Yacht Club Annex.
Vigilant will be permanently penned at Rottnest, replacing Reliant which will be moved to the River. Whilst Reliant had serviced the waters around Rottnest well for over 8 years it was time to upgrade to cater for the increased boating traffic and the larger vessels operating around Rottnest.
The vessel was blessed by Father Dennis Claughton. It was christened by Penny Grainger, who heads the Grainger Foundation which was founded after Adrian Grainger sadly lost his life at sea.
After the ceremony guests enjoyed a quiet trip around the harbour. Thank you to all who attended.
Vigilant is a 9m Leisurecat powered by two 250 hp Steyr diesels, chosen to achieve maximum torque for towing and assisting larger vessels. We found Leisurecat to be very supportive of our group’s unique needs and were happy to modified the mould in order to increase the tunnel height of the vessel, imperative for rescue work. Vigilant is also equipped with the very latest in spotlight technology, GPS plotter and VHF Radio Direction Finder (also capable of tracking EPIRB’s). The vessel is capable of carrying 5 crew in comfort.
Should you every be at Rottnest or down at Fremantle we welcome our members coming down and taking a look at not only our new addition but any of our rescue vessels.
 
New Partnerships FSC and Swan YC
We are extremely pleased to announce that both the Swan Yacht Club and the Fremantle Sailing Club have entered into a formal relationship with Fremantle Sea Rescue.
Thanks to the efforts of Colin Lockley, Fremantle Sailing Club and Mike Williams at the Swan Yacht Club ,members of both these clubs are now also members of Fremantle Sea Rescue.
This initiative will bring extended benefits to members of both clubs such as member only Rottnest Convoys, flare and fire demonstrations, safety talks and many more. Details will be forwarded to each member.
We applaud this initiative as a recognition of the valuable service we supply. We thank both these organisations and hope that other yacht clubs will also recognise the valuable service that we provide and look to provide the same
coverage for their members.
Member Benefits Pay Off
The Australia day long weekend proved to be a recorded breaker for our boats. Over 25 calls for assistance were received. Whilst some required immediate assistance the vast majority were simple breakdowns. A large percentage of these simple breakdowns were vessels stuck in Thomson Bay or on a mooring. Fremantle Sea Rescues only obligation to vessels is to ensure they are in a safe port, which Thomson Bay is considered to be. We are not required to bring them back.
However, we take our obligations to our members much further. As a member with Fremantle Sea Rescue you will be brought back to your home port and you will receive service before non-members (non emergency).
We were recently contacted by a boat owner (non member) who was towed back from Rottnest by a commercial breakdown service as he was unaware of the service Fremantle Sea Rescue offered. The commercial operator charged $400 to do so.
We also responded to a call were the boat owner was a member of a commercial towing service, but because he had broken down outside the limits of the service we were dispatched to rescue him. Our annual fees are $35 as opposed to $135, we have no limits as to how far we can go to assist you, we responded to all emergencies and have over 35 years experience.
We also supply many extra benefits: discounts on all training courses, membership to Shop Rite, discount on your Club Marine boat insurance.
How Safe Are You?
We are about to embark on what we hope is a wonderful boating season, it certainly seems a long time coming. With the obvious good times that we all want from our boating there also comes the responsibility of making sure you and your passengers are as safe possible. Not something we always give a lot of time to. An interesting comment was made to us by a committee member at a large yacht club who stated that they received double the amount of people for a wine tasting night than they did for a boating safety talk. Why? Do we know it all, have 20 years experience, never happen to me or could it be that some over estimate their ability.
Do You:
- Check you safety gear each time you set out?
- Get an up to date weather forecast and have a contingency plan should the weather turn bad.
- Give a safety briefing to your passengers regarding life jackets etc.
- LOG ON– Let your local sea rescue group know where you are going and when you will return, let your family or friends know and inform them what you want them to do should you fail to return on time. Ph: 93351332 Fremantle Sea Rescue
- Be confident that your boat is in the best condition possible.
- Be confident enough to cancel the trip or come home early should you think the conditions are deteriorating.
When right can be wrong
The introduction of the compulsory Recreational Skippers Ticket has created a lot of debate as to its effect on boating tragedies and breakdowns. Is it working? Possibly too soon to tell. However one problem has arisen from the introduction of the course. Many instructors not familiar with the large volume of radio traffic in the metro area are teaching selectively ‘by the book” radio procedures. Correct procedure list VHF16 and 27.88 as emergency and calling channels and therefore RST participants are being instructed to call in to sea rescue groups on channels 16 and 88 and then wait to be switched to a working channel (73 / 90). If all log on calls were conducted in this way the radio network in the metropolitan area would become bottlenecked and perhaps even endanger lives. The “radio operators manual” also recommends that if you are aware of the limited coast station’s working channel then you should make contact on that channel rather than the emergency and calling channel. Using VHF16 or 27.88 as calling channels, is designed for vessels working in areas where they are unfamiliar with the working channel of the station they are calling. However in the metro area the sea rescue groups operate on VHF73 and 27.90 so good practise suggests that you only use the emergency channels for emergencies and the working channels for all other communications.
We ask that all log in and non distress calls are made on either VHF 73 or 27.90 Mhz as the traffic in the metro area is the busiest in Australia and this will assist us to better look after you.
Welcome to Saville Australia and Nudrill Mining as a major sponsors of Fremantle Sea Rescue. We thank them for their support and look forward to a beneficial partnership.
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