A Hawaiian tourist has spent one night sitting on his boat after it capsized about 40 kilometres south of Mackay in central Queensland, and rescuers say the emergency beacon the man activated could well have saved his life.
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RACQ CQ Rescue winched the 29-year-old man from his overturned catamaran about 7.45am on Thursday after being tasked by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority when American Levi Verwoest activated his emergency beacon.
Rescue crewman Arno Schoonwinkel, who was winched down into the water to save Mr Verwoest, said activating the emergency beacon had probably saved his life.
“Without an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) or PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” he said.
“Once it was activated, we were able to quickly hone in on the signal and he was winched up and was back here at the base within 40 minutes of us being tasked.
“Without that emergency beacon, the poor bloke faced a much longer and more dangerous wait in the water for either a passing boat to see him or to be reported missing.”
An RACQ CQ Rescue spokesperson said Mr Verwoest was sailing his 23-foot catamaran named Isis on Wednesday afternoon when he noticed the boat slowing and taking on water, somewhere between Cape Palmerston and Knight Island.
"Within minutes, the vessel capsized and the sailor was forced to spent a very long, cold and lonely night sitting on the hull of his overturned vessel as it drifted on the tide," they said.
"At first light, he was finally able to activate his Personal Locator Beacon, which meant RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked to the search and was able to quickly hone in on the distress signal and find the vessel just 12 minutes after take-off."
Mr Verwoest had been travelling the Queensland coastline and Great Barrier Reef for about three years.
A RACQ CQ Rescue spokesperson said he was uninjured and "surprising, incredibly calm" after his ordeal.
Mr Verwoest was flown back to the RACQ CQ Rescue base at Mackay Airport where he was thoroughly examined by a doctor and paramedic.
The sailor told 7 News he noticed the boat was slowing down and checked the deck to find a hatch cover missing from the boat, allowing water to flow in.
“By the time I was able to get out of the cabin and even attempt to do anything, the hole was already full of water and the boat capsized,” he said.
Mr Verwoest said he felt the boat had been flooded in less than one minute but having been a sailor for years, he was not scared of the situation, just “irritated”.
“I waited on calling in support because I was hoping I could make an attempt to right the boat but that was just a waste of my time," he said.
“I was trying to secure things to the boat so I didn’t lose everything and then I tried to take the mast off.
“I guess my thought was to protect it, get it on deck and tie everything down [but] it was too much pain [of a] in the butt so I sat in the dingy for the rest of the night.”
Mr Verwoest said the response was instantaneous by rescuers and he was glad the rescue team could help swap his wetsuit, the only remaining item he had, for clean, dry clothes.
Despite losing all his belongings on his boat, he said this experience would not deter him from sailing so long as he had his EPIRB.
“I’ve been sailing my whole life ... I still love sailing, [and] wanna go back if I can retrieve the boat. I would love to, otherwise I don’t know, work a bit and get a new one," he said.
