About 1pm on Friday 26 December 2008 “The Pilot Station” at Crookhaven Heads received a call from a vessel with two men aboard broken down off the lighthouse at Crookhaven Heads. Before the rescue boat could be responded the broken down vessel was washed onto the rocks and swamped. The two crew recevied minor injuries in the accident and were able to reach dry land with their vessel upside down on the rocks. Shoalhaven Marine Rescue’s vessel “SA-24″ attended as did water Police from Nowra however the conditions were very rough and the vessel was in such a position that recovering it was too dangerous. Ambulance personnel attended to treat the injured crew members of the upturned vessel.

Around 1900hrs on Saturday 13 December 2008 Shoalhaven Marine Rescue was responded to a vessel aground at the Comerong Island Punt, SA-24, crewed by Bill Carter, Reno Magro and John Allerton got underway and pulled the large fibreglass vessel with around a dozen people aboard off the sandbank it was firmly stuck on. SA-24 was then tasked by Police from VKG Warilla to attend to a 30 ton yacht which had broken its moorings at Greenwell Point and was adrift in the moorings and at risk of colliding with other moored vessels. After some difficult maneuvering in the strong westerly winds which had gusted up to 50 knots during the day and the strong incoming tide the drew of SA-24 was able to raft up alongside the yacht and steer it to safety and place it on a temporary mooring. The evenings work was completed at 2200hrs and SA-24’s crew stood down.

On Saturday 6 December 2008 Shoalhaven Marine Rescue (Shoalhaven VRA) held its annual Christmas party as a thank you to the volunteers and their families who make up the manpower, heart and soul of the organisation. The party, commencing at 1200hrs and running for several hours was held at the Greenwell Point Bowling Club. The club is a strong supporter of Shoalhaven Marine Rescue in both assistance to the volunteers for events and in cash donations which have varied up to $5,000.00 per annum.

On hand for the party was Member for the State Seat of South Coast, Shelley Hancock who handed out awards to radio operators for their many thousands of hours radio duty in support of the organisation and the boating community Recognised for their efforts were Terry Watson, Les Cranney, Pat Welch, Fred Hawkes, John Elthrington, David Wolff and Robert Daly. Of special note was the award of the National Medal and First Clasp to Michael Ball who has been a member of Shoalhaven Marine Rescue Association for twenty years. This is the first National Medal awarded to a member of Shoalhaven Marine Rescue Association as a result of their service to the community. The National Medal is awarded for 15 years dedicated service and the First Clasp to the Medal is awarded for 25 years service. Michael Ball’s combined service in the Royal Australian Navy and Shoalhaven Marine Rescue earnt him the National Medal and First Clasp.

About 11.30am on Monday 17 November Shoalhaven Marine Rescue received a call from the yacht “Coota-Tar” which was taking on water and in danger of foundering 2 nautical miles east of Beecroft Peninsula. The two man crew of the timber yacht were able to raise the alarm before the water submerged the engine and battery of the vessel. Shoalhaven’s fast response rescue vessel SA-24, crewed by Paul Klausen, Vince Ravesi and VRA Marine Training Coordinator John Murray was quickly underway and once at sea was able to maintain 20 knots in favourable sea conditions and cover the distance of about 9.5 nautical miles in a short space of time. On reaching the stricken vessel, with it’s dinghy now deployed ready for the crew to abandon ship, SA-24’s crew were able to get a high capacity electric bilge pump aboard and pump out the water and save the yacht and it’s crew. “Coota-Tar” was taken under tow and and towed north to the safety of the Crookhaven River with only one stop being made during the tow to pump more water out of the yacht. The rescue was completed at 3.30pm with “Coota-Tar” safely moored at Greenwell Point.

On Sunday 16 November 2008 Shoalhaven Marine Rescue Association once again hosted our annual Emergency Services Open Day at Greenwell Point Park on the banks of the Crookhaven River. The event brought together paid and unpaid professional emergency service organisations from around the Shoalhaven with displays by the Rural Fire Service, N.S.W. Ambulance Service & Ambulance Rescue Squad, N.S.W. Police from the Nowra Highway Patrol, the State Emergency Service, NSW Maritime Authority, Shoalhaven Marine Rescue and the N.S.W. Fire Brigade as well as numerous community groups from Greenwell Point.

The Royal Australian Navy provided a display in the shape of historic Iriquois helicopter in RAN colours which drew much attention from many of the hundreds of people who attended the day. The high point of the day, apart from boat rides on our two rescue boats was the sight of the Navy Helicopter leaving and doing a slow graceful fly-past of the waterfront. The open day commenced at 10am and concluded around 2pm with very good attendance despite the overcast skies which threatened rain most of the day. Shoalhaven Marine Rescue Association would like to thank all of those volunteers and groups who came together to make the day such a great success.