That time Lake Burley Griffin boaties made the day for some Canberra kids

Some kids were recently down by Lake Burley Griffin kicking the ball, celebrating the holidays when - oh no - the ball went in the drink and quickly drifted away.

There were tears from the ball owner and ball kicker. All hope seemed lost.

But then "a big cruiser" way offshore started heading their way and the kids started screaming out hoping it would rescue the ball.

A parent phoned Canberra Crusies and Parties, thinking it was the Maid Marion (the revamped pirate party boat), but it was actually the MV Southern Cross and there was no mobile number for it.

Just when it seemed the moment had passed them by, the kids erupted when the boat did a 180-turn and came back around to rescue the ball with a milk crate on the end of a boat hook.

Turns out Clint Rees from Canberra Cruises and Parties had radioed the MV Southern Cross to answer the SOS.

MV Southern Cross skipper Riano and crewman Paldam quickly retrieved the ball and returned it to the delighted kids.

Riano said it was all part of the community service ethos of the Canberra Southern Cross Club which operated the boat.

They've rescued lots of balls, towed the occasional wayward paddle-boat and even retrieved kangaroos who fall in the lake and can't negotiate the walls of the Kingston foreshore.

"We regularly pick up balls that have been kicked in from the side of the lake. We have about a 90 per cent success rate but sometimes the ball gets washed away," he said.

"Occasionally a paddle-boat will start off from Regatta Point and have a great run with the wind behind him, all the way down to the Kings Avenue Bridge and all of a sudden he has to turn around and try to paddle back into the wind and you can just see them, they're going to be there for the next week. So, we sometimes rescue them.

"And all the commercial boat operators at Kingston, we rescue the odd kangaroo we find there in the morning, huddled up in the water. All the walls down there at Kingston are basically vertical and there's no way an animal can get out. So we've rescued them."

Riano said seeing the joy of the kids getting their ball back was priceless.

"It's the normal human thing, done a good deal, feel satisfied with it," he said.

"It's not a lot of trouble for us to do it, where we can, where we're not busy. we can't guarantee it all the time, but where it's possible, we'll always have a go.''

And the fact Canberra Cruises and Parties had a hand in the ball rescue showed the collegial nature among the lake boaties.

"We help each other with work or jobs or whatever," Clint said.