(Dec 27th, 2016) A sea rescue involving two helicopters and four boats occurred early this morning when the weather took a turn for the worse and capsized a boat with three men.
The men, who were in their 70’s and 50’s were sailing a six-meter boat near the James Service reef to pull craypots. Once out at sea, the weather took a turn for the worse, flipped their boat, and left all three men stranded in the sea.
The Westpac Lifesaving Helicopter assisted an overturned boat 7km off Mandurah. pic.twitter.com/4tcEJxiDJU
— Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) December 27, 2016
The men managed to swim back to the boat and hang out while one man grab the phone to dial their emergency numbers.
“About 8 o’clock this morning we got a call for a boat which had capsized about five miles off Manurah so we’ve gone out and we’ve found three people clinging to the bottom of the boat,” Senior Sergeant Troy Pillage said.
The rescue team dispatched two helicopters and were able to put a swimmer in the water just 45 minutes after the men capsized. The rescue swimmer noted that one man was having a hard time staying afloat while the other two seemed to be fine.
Sergeant Pillage again spoke saying, “The conditions at the moment are almost at the point of being where we would say the rescue boat is not going to go out that far.”
These experienced sailors made a few wrong moves, but thanks to the effectiveness of the water police, everyone has remained healthy. They are recovering in a hospital but are expected to make a full recovery!
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