Boatie searches for cat washed away on yacht after floodwaters tore it from its moorings

A distressed owner has put out a desperate plea for help to find his missing cat that was aboard a yacht when it was dragged off its mooring and down the Brisbane River during fierce floods.

The distressed owner of a cat that was aboard a yacht when it was dragged off its mooring and down the Brisbane River Saturday says his pet is still missing.

Matthew “Bush” George, 34, said his live-aboard yacht was anchored at Kangaroo Point but disappeared about 11pm Saturday with his five-year-old moggy, named Captain Morgan, still on board as the river flooded.

He said he has spent the past three days looking for his pet and his 10.6m boat, but neither have been seen since.

“If anyone sees my yacht can you please let me know, I couldn’t get much off before I evacuated to land,” Mr George wrote on Facebook.

“My cat is also on-board and I am worried about her. Rego is WG968Q.”

Matthew "Bush" George says his 5-year-old cat was on-board his yacht when the rising Brisbane river dragged his boat from its anchor and down the river late Saturday night. Neither have been seen since. Picture: Supplied

Queensland Water Police officers evacuated Mr George, his friend Sam Steele and others from their boats to land Saturday afternoon as the river started to rise and the current became stronger following the rain deluge received over the previous days.

“I was picked up by Water Police when the conditions got too dangerous to be on the water, but thought I would be able to jump back on board Saturday night so I left everything except my phone and laptop,” Mr George said.

“My boat was anchored down but then got dragged under the Story Bridge…Water Police dropped me off at the closest pontoon at about 2pm.

“I’m just devastated – everything I owned was on there.”

Early Wednesday, Mr George, a department manager at a supermarket, said his search had so far been fruitless.

“No news, have searched up and down the river for (three) days with no luck,” he wrote.

“The boat has either sunk or gone out into the bay.”

Matthew "Bush" George has been searching for his cat and his yacht since they both disappeared late Saturday night. Picture: Facebook

Mr George said he only bought the yacht, named Eleanor, about a year ago and was still paying off the loan.

“I don’t even have insurance,” he said.

Mr Steele, 37, of Kangaroo Point, said a second boat owned by Mr George and named Stargazer was believed to have sunk in the river alongside a CityCat ferry.

“We haven’t seen that boat since Sunday night,” he said.
“There was a white sailboat wedged against the city cat at the Hawthorne terminal.
“The city cat sunk so we assume it sunk too.”

The CityCat, named Beenung-Urrung sunk in about eight metres of water off Addison Quays in Bulimba Monday night.Mr Steele said Eleanor was a larger boat so he and Mr George were hopeful they would find it, and Captain Morgan, possibly in the bay.The engineer has started a GoFundMe account, titled Help Bush repair his home to try to help out his mate.“Let’s get together and help him – all funds donated will go to Bush, to either repair the boat (should it be found), or to assist him to buy another one,” Mr Steele wrote on the fundraising page.

About $1615 of a $20,000 goal had been raised in the day since the online fundraiser was created.

The Brisbane floods started after a “rain bomb” dumped more than one metre of rain – or about 80 per cent of the city’s annual average rainfall – on the area in a matter of days.

Throughout southeast Queensland, at least 33 areas recorded more than one metre of rain between February 23-28, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

In Brisbane alone, 792.8mm fell during that week, above the previous six-day record of 655.8mm set in January 1974.

About 200mm of that figure fell during three consecutive days of rain over the city.

About 15,000 properties sustained damage in the flooding and nine people lost their lives, according to Queensland officials.

Originally published as Boatie searches for cat washed away on yacht after floodwaters tore it from its moorings