Two men missing, serious injuries as boats collide on Broadwater at Southport

Police are investigating whether drugs and alcohol were involved after an out of control tinnie smashed into another vessel on the Gold Coast sparking a massive search for missing men.

Police are investigating if alcohol or drugs led to a bizarre boating accident on the Gold Coast which left two men in hospital, one badly injured, in a drama that sparked a massive search for two others feared missing.

The drama happened about 4.45am on Friday when a tinnie struck a channel marker in the Southport Broadwater before spinning out of control and hitting other vessels as its driver lay “crumpled” on the floor, seriously hurt.

One of the men was thrown overboard and swam almost a kilometre to shore to raise the alarm, while the other was rescued by another boatie whose catamaran was struck by the tinnie.

Police launched a massive sea, air and land search and called in divers after one of the pair told them that two other men were on the 5m vessel.

Gold Coast water police officer-in-charge Peter Venz said both injured men, who were not believed to be wearing life jackets or carrying fishing gear, had set out from the mainland about 3am.

Senior-Sergeant Venz said the boat later hit the channel marker off South Stradbroke Island “flush”, throwing at least one man into the water and leaving another crushed between the transom and the seat.

“That boat has then lost control and was spinning out of control in the Broadwater before it has struck a 12m catamaran,” he said.

A police officer secures a boat involved in the Broadwater incident. Picture: Nigel Hallett

The catamaran’s skipper, David Crossley, said he and his wife were sleeping on board when they were woken by the tinnie banging into their vessel.

Mr Crossley said the fully-lit tinnie was travelling in circles with its engine “revving like mad” and he feared it would hit his boat again.

“It banged into the boat and I ran up on deck and this thing’s going round and round in circles,” he said.

“It didn’t come back, it glanced the boat behind us. Then all of a sudden everything went quiet.”

Mr Crossley said he thought the boat was unmanned but later discovered the badly injured man on board.

“We could hear this “help me, help me”, but it was a long way away,” he said.

“I lowered the dinghy and started heading out to where I thought the noise was coming from. I thought the fella must have been in the water.

“I went out there yelling out but I couldn’t hear his faint voice over the noise of the outboard.”

A damaged tinnie is towed to shore by police after an incident on the Gold Coast Broadwater on Friday morning. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Mr Crossley said the tinnie was plunged into “pitch black” darkness after its battery disconnected but was still idling, and he managed to reach in and turn off the engine.

He said the man was in “a lot of pain” with significant injuries when he reached him.

“He’s hit something really, really hard on the front of that boat and he’s obviously gone into the steering wheel,” he said.

Mr Crossley towed the stricken tinny to shore on South Stradbroke Island about 50m away as dawn broke, as he and another boatie alerted authorities.

“He told us that his arm was definitely broken and I’m pretty sure his leg was broken too,” Mr Crossley said.

“He was semi-conscious and badly concussed, repeating himself over and over again. He was in and out of delirium, more or less.

“He said “where are the others?” He said there were another three people on board.

“I was worried if I left him and he stopped breathing, he wouldn’t be there when I got back.”

Police later confirmed only two men, aged 34 and 36, were on the boat.

Catamaran skipper David Crossley helped a man badly injured in a crash on the Gold Coast Broadwater. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Both were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with multiple injuries. The 34-year-old was critical and was placed in an induced coma.

Despite suffering leg and arm injuries and hypothermia, the 36-year-old swam about a kilometre to Paradise Point where he knocked on a resident’s door for help.

Mr Crossley fought back tears as he dismissed suggestions he was a hero.

“You do things for another seafarer in trouble,” he said.

“In not a hero - that’s crap. You do what is decent.”

Damage to the front of the tinnie after the incident in the Broadwater on Friday morning. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“He’s hit something really, really hard on the front of that boat and he’s obviously gone into the steering wheel,” he said.

Mr Crossley towed the stricken tinnie to shore on South Stradbroke Island about 50m away as dawn broke, as he and another boatie alerted authorities.

“He told us that his arm was definitely broken and I’m pretty sure his leg was broken too,” he said.

 Mr Crossley fought back tears as he dismissed suggestions he was a hero.

“You do things for another seafarer in trouble,” he said.

“I’m not a hero – that’s crap. You do what is decent.”