A boat captain has drowned in heavy seas off Queensland's Sunshine Coast

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The skipper of a boat has drowned off Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when his vessel was swamped by heavy seas and capsized. The fishing charter group had been heading out to open ocean when a large wave hit, sparking a frantic rescue effort.

Transcript

00:00Well, it was just after 5.30 a.m. this morning, the sun hadn't even risen yet when the crew

00:07was heading out on what was meant to be a nine-hour trip to the ocean to do some fishing.

00:12They were crossing the Mooloolaba when it's believed a large wave has struck the vessel.

00:17Now, there was five people on board, including the skipper, 52-year-old Robert Smith, an experienced skipper

00:22who's well-known in these parts. It's understood three of those passengers managed to swim

00:27to shore, but a fourth had to be rescued. Now, coincidentally, Mooloolaba lifeguards were

00:32already on the beach at that time of morning. They train here quite regularly, so they were

00:36able to assist almost immediately along with other emergency crews. Initially, they feared

00:42that the skipper was still on board the boat as it sort of washed ashore, and they managed

00:47to commandeer some machinery to try and crack into the hull to try and rescue him. Firefighters

00:53are on the scene. It was a massive emergency services effort. Here's a little of what they

00:57had to say. We realised that the skipper wasn't on board

01:01still. The main concern was then was looking for him out in the water. The lifesavers on

01:06their jet ski did a fantastic job in finding him, but unfortunately he was deceased.

01:11There were fears that the captain was entrapped in the upturned boat, and police made every effort

01:20they possibly could to get in there and make a determination one way or the other. As it

01:24turns out, he wasn't entrapped in the boat at that point.

01:27The passengers managed to escape without any major injuries, but obviously very shaken up

01:32by this incident. The skipper was found down the beach, and he has sadly died at the scene.

01:37Now, he is a 52-year-old man, as I mentioned before, Robert Smith, a well-known skipper around

01:42here, a game fisher, and just an all-round family bloke, and top bloke is what his friends were

01:47remembering him as today. Here's a little of what his friend had to say.

01:51The best way to label Smithy is legend, and that's what he is. He's a legend. He's always

01:57the first person to put himself first. He's always the first person to help you out and

02:03tell you where the fish are, what's biting, what time of the year, who's been fishing,

02:08who hasn't been fishing. He was the encyclopedia of the ocean, Smithy.

02:13They say he's crossed this bar thousands of times. He's a very good skipper, and something

02:18has simply just gone wrong here. It will be investigated, the matter thoroughly, by police,

02:22and also Maritime Safety Queensland. This bar itself has been in the spotlight in recent

02:27years for its safety. A lot of people saying that it's being progressively unsafe, and they've

02:33been calling for action for quite some time now to try and improve safety on that bar.

02:37So this may also be something that will be triggered as a result of this incident, which remains

02:42to be seen, but for now everyone is just reeling from this very traumatic event.

02:46Sike Red.

02:55Sike Red.

02:57Sike Red.

02:59Sike Red.

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