This is my last column as the Commander of QF6. Ian Hunt will resume the position on the 1st of July after a two
year “holiday”. Thanks to my Deputy, Steve Bellamy, who will also be standing down at the end of June, and to all
the Flotilla Officers and members who have supported us over the last two and a bit years.
This is also the first issue of a QF6 only magazine, as detailed further by our Editor, as the rest of the
Sunshine Coast Squadron Flotillas found providing a sub-Editor and supplying articles and information too hard.
The Flotilla has had an extremely busy time over the last three months with the number of callouts to Assists
increasing by over 20%, together with Police-activated search and rescues and the number of community marine
events. Letters of commendation from the Officer in Charge of the Mooloolaba Water Police and Buck Rogers of
the Mooloolaba Outriggers attest to the professionalism and capabilities of our volunteers in Marine Rescue.
The Flotilla has had a steady growth in Volunteers over past 12 months with over 100 attending recruit nights
and 42 members joining up. Unfortunately, only five wanted to do Radio Duty, which is one of our major functions,
being the only Coast Guard Flotilla on the Queensland coast to have a manned radio 24/7 365 days a year. So
we are on the lookout for people to join us as radio operators willing to do at least one 6 hour radio shift a week.
Please contact us on 5444 3222 for further information if you are interested.
I recently started doing a weekly boating conditions report for WIN News, which is broadcast every Friday at
the end of WIN News. I have also continued our weekly Friday boating safety report at 1630 on FM 104.9 and I’m
sure Ian will continue with these from July. Following the success of the weekly reports for WIN, QF6 has signed a
sponsorship arrangement with the WIN Network for 12 months, which is covered in more detail in this magazine.
Our Facebook page continues to gather strength and the videos posted by our new magazine editor, Richard, are
getting many positive comments, so have a look.