V-Sheet December 2018 | Page 3

President’s Report Volunteer Marine Rescue PRESIDENT: Martin Walsh SOUTHPORT - SURFERS PARADISE 2018 - 2019 Assoc. Inc. PO Box 866 Southport Qld 4215 Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.vmrsouthport.com.au MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 2018 - 2019 PRESIDENT Martin Walsh VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY Helen Stanfield Diana Gibson TREASURER John Kaus OPERATIONS Peter Barker SEARCH & RESCUE Merv Handley COMMUNICATIONS John MacDonald RADIO OPERATORS Beverley Weldon COMMITTEE Annie Erichsen COMMITTEE Craig Maloney Vsheet Editor: Glenn Norris H ow many times do you call Emergency services for help? Hopefully never, yet you expect the phone to be answered and assistance provided when you do. What about breakdown assistance on the motorway for your car? We all pay for the peace of mind that membership provides, knowing that 'one day' something may happen, but we hope that the 'one day' never does. VMR Southport offers membership for $77 per annum for breakdown assistance on the water. We are also an emergency response service. This means that we will respond to all distress calls, even if you are not a member. We assist the Police, Ambulance and Fire Services in their roles also. Your $77 membership fee not only keeps you and your vessel covered, it also keeps the waterways safe. We currently have 4 Rescue vessels in our fleet, each with unique capabilities that can be utilised from tasks as simple as providing battery jump start assistance, right up to towing yachts offshore, or carrying Emergency Paramedics with a patient on a stretcher. Active Crew Members make up 6 crews, each of which have about 12 members who are spread across various levels of expertise. We maintain at least 72 crew members with a minimum of 12 Offshore Skippers, 8 Coxswains and a further 12 Inshore qualified Skippers, in order to ensure that all our vessels can be appropriately operated. We are also a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), which means the rigorous training we provide is Industry acknowledged, in the case of our volunteers ever transferring to another region, or becoming professional Skippers in external employment. We also have another 40 plus volunteers who provide a marine radio watch service at both our Rescue Base and at the Gold Coast Seaway Tower. Radio Operators provide a visual and listening watch on marine radios, and are often the first people to become aware of marine emergencies. They then alert all other relevant Emergency services. [email protected] Contributor: Kevan Wolfe Graphics: Mike Oram [email protected] [email protected] Advertising: Glenn Norris [email protected] Gold Coast Seaway Tower May I wish a safe holiday season to all our volunteers, members and readers. Remember if you are not a member yet, it only takes 5 minutes to join online at vmrsouthport.com.au Safe boating Martin Walsh President 2018 - 2019 Hours: Mon - Sun: 0500 - 1800 Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] FRONT COVER: A severe summer storm about to batter the Broadwater. DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed by the authors and contributors of articles in the Vsheet are not necessarily those of Volunteer Marine Rescue Southport - Surfers Paradise Assoc. Inc. (VMR) nor does VMR guarantee the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers or accept any responsibility for any product or service statement made herein. PROUD SUPPORTERS OF VMR SOUTHPORT Vsheet - DECEMBER 2018 3