Listening to the increasing concern of news bulletins last Friday as a search and rescue operation was mounted off Mackay for a man missing after the boat he and two others were in capsized, reminded me of similar heart-pounding circumstances friends of mine at Blackall found themselves in, in January.
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Mardi and Hinzie had bought a deep sea fishing boat four years ago, complete with an emergency position indicating radio beacon or EPIRB, never thinking they would have to use it.
"We'd never had a boat big enough to warrant having one before that," Hinzie said. "We thought it was a great idea when it was part of the sale though."
After transferring it to their ownership, the EPIRB was an accepted part of the cargo when their son Riley Hinds, 20, and two mates, Lachlan Rose, 21 and Sterling Green, 19, took the boat out on a fishing trip near Bowen at the start of this year.
"Riley and his brother have always been very good at letting us know what they were planning to do, and when they'd arrived," Mardi said.
"He rang and said, we're going out to the reef in the morning, so Dad said, make sure you've got plenty of fuel, and have the EPIRB with you."
Next thing she knew, at 7.20 the next morning, Mardi was talking to someone called Pete, working for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra, who was telling her the EPIRB had been activated.
They found out later that the boat's motor had failed to restart after the trio had stopped to do some fishing when they were about 25 kilometres from shore.
Skimming over the sheer fear that went through her mind - had the boat been submerged, how would she tell the other boys' parents - Mardi said afterwards, recounting her memories, that she was very proud of her son for realising the seriousness of the situation they were in.
There were no other fishing boats nearby, they were out of mobile phone reception, and nothing they tried was successful in getting the motor restarted.
The EPIRB activation triggered a marine rescue vessel from Bowen and a helicopter from Townsville, who could see the boat's location in real-time, thanks to the EPIRB.
"They'd drifted another 15 or so kilometres in the hour and three-quarters it took for the chopper to find them," Mardi said.
"The chopper crew lowered a two-way to them to communicate, and called a fishing charter over to try and get them going.
"I don't think any of us were aware of how extensive an EPIRB activation would be."
I related pretty well to what Mardi was telling me - although my youngest daughter had never needed to use her EPIRB for the three years she lived in Kunnunurra, it was comforting to know she carried one when she went on her weekend adventures.
If she wasn't hiking down a gorge or scaling a rock cliff, she was exploring a cave or trying out things she didn't mention to her mother.
According to research from the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, an average of 2000 people are rescued from Australia's seas, bushland, mountains, and deserts each year.
In 2022, only 323 of those were rescued using lifesaving technology devices that help rescue authorities respond to an emergency situation efficiently.
I'd encourage anyone heading out bush or on the water to carry an emergency beacon.
- Sally Gall, North Queensland Register senior journalist
Talk of the North is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
