Was up at Brisbane Waters near gosford on the long weekend and noticed on the monday a yacht had broken its mooring and was stuck in the mud at low tide layed over with water lapping at the top of the side. Thought i should do the right thing and called the local vmr they responded with maritime is dealing with it. So i thought no more of it. Went back past where the boat was 4.5 hours later and to my surprise the yacht was still there but tide was up and was floating again but close to the rocks. So i decided to ring gosford police station and make a report the officer i reported it to said they were going to pass it onto water police and asked me if they could pass my number for directions which i said yes too. So thinking it was delt with carried on with my plans. Tuesday morning i went back past where the yacht was and couldnt believe it was still there only thing that saved it was its keel stuck in the mud. At around ten maritime pulled it out. Due to there delay the boat could have easily been lost but luckily it was a good outcome.

It seems as though the owner cares the VERY least. Do we really expect "the government" to look after privately owned property.
The VMR I should imagine are strapped for cash as it is without having to look after neglected property. I trust that the police can recover their costs involved with this salvage as I really don't see why Joe taxpayer should.
With my boat I don't allow random members of the public to use it. therefore I don't expect them to pay for it.

I read in cruising helmsman magazine a couple of issues ago and it was made clear in the recent Brisbane floods that VMR are forbidden from boarding any boat that is unattended regardless of circumstance and that the instruction came about because some time ago VMR boarded one boat not once but twice ... made it secure both times but the weather was such that it broke free again and was damaged... the owner of the boat then took it upon himself to file a damages suit against that VMR branch and so the directive came down from their executive that they are not allowed to board or touch unattended boats till the results of this suit are known... It was also made clear that VMR would love to help secure unattended boats that come adrift and it also saddens them that they are not allowed to help.

At the moment VMR are not indemnified from claim and government needs to legislate to change that.

So yep I guess we are on our own... also remember the VMR charter is to rescue people ... not property .... yes they may be able to help at times but thats not the primary aim of VMR groups. For now until the indemnity situation is sorted out I guess their hands are tied in red tape not of their making ...

Also, there is some really weird laws of salvage

Recently there was a 40 odd foot motor cruiser here in the Myall River at Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens that sank during some heavy rain and strong winds. Just the cabin top was visible, it was still attached to the mooring but sitting on the bottom. The mooring was right on the edge of the channel, and despite numerous people calling Waterways and Coast Guard etc, the boat sat there for 5 days before a private salvage company refloated it and towed it to the slipway. Seems to me Waterways should be onto this kind of thing, especially when this poses quite a danger to other vessels using the channel - anyone could have easily hit it and then you've got two problems.