Workers and surfers rescue leaking boat from surf at North Narrabeen
Quick thinking surfers and Northern Beaches Council contractors rushed to the aid of a boatie battling the surf after a 5.2m motorboat sprang a leak off North Narrabeen Beach.
Manly
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Quick thinking Northern Beaches Council contractors and surfers rushed to the aid of a boatie battling the surf after a motorboat sprang a leak off North Narrabeen Beach.
The boat, a 5.2m fibreglass Yamaha Southwind, was on its way from Newport to Balmain when it got into strife.
A worker from a marina based in Sydney Harbour was piloting the boat south from Pittwater, where it just had its new engine serviced, when the hull was holed at the stern.
Lewis Slarke, from Cromer, was up on the Narrabeen Head Lookout when he saw the boat wallowing in the surf break on Wednesday morning.
“I saw a guy get out of the boat and get himself to the beach,” Mr Slarke said.
“He was okay, but the boat was stuck and being knocked around.
“He was trying to beach the boat because it had taken on so much water.”
Local surfer, Drew, who was surfing The Alley break with about 20 others, saw the boat heading towards the beach.
“The guy on the helm was waving his arms at us, trying to get us out of his way,” Drew said.
“He was shouting that the boat was sinking. When it got closer to the beach he went to the front of the boat, but the waves spun it round and he was thrown out.”
Drew and another surfer held the nose of the boat, which was quickly filling up with water, to try and steady it.
Council contractors using heavy excavators at the mouth of Narrabeen Lagoon, hooked a rope around the bow of the fibreglass boat and pulled it from the surf.
They later helped lift the boat onto a trailer for a road trip back to Balmain.