Kids watched on as men found dead off Brisbane coast
Two elderly men have died after a fishing boat capsized in waters of Brisbane, with a coast guard volunteer saying the vessel was underpowered for the conditions.
Southeast
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A Brisbane Coast Guard rescue volunteer says the boat that capsized near Green Island today, killing two men, was underpowered for the conditions.
“It turned out to be a 4.3m fibreglass tinnie with a 30hp outboard,” the coast guard spokesman said.
“Not really suitable for the rough conditions on the bay at that time.”
Police confirmed a 70-year-old Alexandra Hills man was pulled from the water by people on board a passing boat, who attempted to resuscitate the man before emergency services arrived.
He could not be revived and died on scene a short time later.
The second man, a 75-year-old from Tinana, died after being airlifted to Princess Alexandra Hospital.
It is believed the men were out fishing when their 4.5m dinghy capsized in strong winds.
One of the men was clinging to the capsized boat when he pulled from the water by the crew of tourist tall ship South Passage, which had schoolchildren on board
That boat alerted authorities, Acting Inspector David Candale said.
The South Passage offers school excursions on the water to teach kids how to sail.
The students are thought to have been on day two of a three-day voyage when the incident happened.
A mother of a school student on board the South Passage said the children “witnessed everything”.
“I know the school is already in the process of getting them all some type of counselling from what I was told all the kids witnessed everything,” she said on Facebook.
“Not something any kid will find easy to forget ever … for most of them it was their first time sailing too.”
The children were from multiple schools and formed part of a broader Flexible Learning Centre.
The coast guard spokesman said a rescue crew was dispatched at 1pm with three paramedics.
“We raced out to the schooner South Passage, which was in the middle of Moreton Bay near the Hope Beacon,” he said.
“It was windy, and the water was rough. We arrived at the same time as the police barge from Redland Bay, and the Rescue 500 helicopter.
“The ambos on our boat climbed on to the schooner South Passage, which had a party of schoolkids aboard, and assessed the fisherman, who was unconscious …
“We arrived to find just the bow of this boat sticking out of the water.
“We hooked a tow line to the towing ring on the bow of this vessel, and used a coast guard technique to pull it to the surface, right side up.”
Insp Candale said emergency services were continuing to search the area but believed it was only the two men on board.
Moreton Bay fishing expert Spero Kartanos, who goes out almost every day in the area where today’s incident occurred, said it was too windy to even think about fishing.
“It was about 35 knots out there, which is way too windy, especially for a small boat,” he said.
“When it’s about 25 knots out there it’s too windy.
“The hard thing is sometime the forecast is wrong, and you can’t see the choppy waves from the harbour so people just go out.”
Mr Kartanos said the death of two fishermen was devastating, but said it happened all too frequently.
“It makes your gut churn, hearing this news,” he said.
“All fishermen are mates basically, we all say g’day when we pass each other, so days like this are devastating.
“Unfortunately we all have had days like this and I just feel for the family and friends of those found.”
The recovered boat has been taken by the Brisbane Coast Guard into the Brisbane Water Police base at White Island.
The South Passage sailboat is a is a 30.5 metre, gaff-rigged schooner that was launched in Brisbane in 1993.
The South Passage – Adventure Under Sail’ program was designed for 14 to 17-year-olds and has taken more than 50,000 students sailing since its inception.
Everything on the boat is done manually, including the sails being raised and lowered by hand, with all passengers expected to pitch in to work together as team.