A constant stream of interested members of the public took advantage of Open Day at the new $3.35M Marine Rescue Brisbane Water base at Point Clare on Sunday, May 25.
The base, built and paid for by the NSW Government, took about six months to build and was officially opened by Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch two weeks ago.
An estimated 200 people were given guided tours of the new base by the volunteers who were rostered on for the weekend.
Most were impressed with the state-of-the-art communication centre, including the spacious training and function rooms, with several saying they were “gobsmacked”, according to Unit Commander Ian Morrow.
“A lot of people said they didn’t appreciate the value of the efforts undertaken by the volunteer teams at Marine Rescue Brisbane Water to keep members of the local boating community safe,” Morrow said.
Questions were asked about the cost of running a voluntary organisation like Marine Rescue and surprise was registered after hearing the annual operating cost of the Point Clare base would “hit the $200,000 mark this new financial year”.
Costs that are the responsibility of the 140-plus volunteers at the local Marine Rescue base include: all fuel used in the two rescue vessels and two rescue watercraft (jet skis); regular routine maintenance for the local fleet; mandatory first aid and sea survival training; and the maintenance and upkeep of the new building.
This has placed further importance on the fundraising efforts of the Brisbane Water centre, which relies on public support at Bunnings sausage sizzles, Friday night meat tray raffles at The Ettalong, the major Christmas raffle between August and November, and the generous support of major businesses on the Central Coast with their financial partnerships, including the Boat Warehouse and The Grange Hotel at Wyoming.
The base is also keen to reintroduce lunch and dinner educational events for Central Coast service clubs and other organisations.
