Clean4Shore worked along the Ettalong foreshore last week to remove derelict vessels and clean up submerged rubbish from around the public jetty.
The team located an abandoned yacht and an unregistered fibreglass speed boat which ended up on the beach and in danger of breaking apart on exposed rocks.
Clean4shore’s diving team scampered over the side of their barge to secure a line to the speed boat, flipping it over and then towed to a safer more accessible location for removal.
A Clean4Shore spokesperson said this craft appeared in reasonable condition but when the barge stopped in deeper channel water the craft immediately sank from a large hole later found in her hull.
It was dragged along the foreshore and secured adjacent to Andersons Boatshed, with the falling tide allowing 4WD access for it to be pulled from the sand and loaded on to a trailer and taken to Woy Woy Tip.
The yacht was too big for Clean4shore to handle and will require a marine contractor to remove.
In another clean-up exercise last week around Ettalong public jetty, divers removed a debris from the seabed which was a public risk to swimmers, fishermen and the environment.
They retrieved a large volume of rubbish such as bikes, trolleys, scooters, plastic poly pipe, entangled rope, fibreglass marine pieces, a wheelchair and masses of soft plastics.
The plan is to complete one dive per month from the Clean4shore barge, focussing on public access jetties with the next field trip planned for Friday, January 13.
Contact Lyndi on 0420 380 055 to join the team.
Clean4Shore is an educational group removing litter and rubbish from the foreshores and mangroves around the Central Coast.
They conduct many programs involving school children but also involve community groups and businesses in their hands-on excursions to improve the marine environment by ridding waterways of damaging rubbish.
Sue Murray