Father and son rescued after their flat bottomed punt overturned on the Clyde River

A father and son have been rescued after their flat bottomed punt overturned in windy conditions on the Clyde River at Batemans Bay on Sunday. A crew from Marine Rescue Batemans Bay, on board rescue vessel Batemans 21, retrieved the pair from the water and righted their boat, which was returned to the Hanging Rock boat ramp. Both were wearing lifejackets.

Image: Marine Rescue NSW - a vessel not suited to being launched at Hanging Rock Boat Ramp Max Castle, spokesperson for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, was heartened to hear that the father and son were wearing life jackets and were rescued so promptly. Max told The Beagle "There have been rising fears of more incidents affecting smaller craft, such as was seen in the Sunday occuring in the area of the Hanging Rock boatramp" "Hanging Rock is a deep water access for deep water boats that are meet higher safety standards. It is exposed to windier conditions an higher waves. Certainly not the place to be launching a small punt" "I have been telling council that this would become a common occurrence since my time on the Batemans Bay Foreshore Committee and on hearing of Council's intent to permanently close and remove the Clyde Street boatramp. "The Old Punt Road boat ramp is now open however it is only really accessible to four wheel drive vehicles due to sand and the way it looks at the moment, under a bridge construction, would be enough to discourage any boater thinking of launching there".

"The options for launching a punt like the one involved in Sunday's mishap are now so limited that we will either see more vessels like this launched at Hanging Rock or less smaller boats on the Clyde as the boatramp at Nelligen is too far from the favoured area that most fishers enjoy around the CBD".