During the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 St Helens Marine Rescue Association assisted 51 vessels, carrying a total of 116 persons. The activities included:

• aiding vessels in distress, including support to the Tasmanian Police (9);
• assisting vessels with mechanical problems or in poor weather, providing a tow-in where necessary (12); and
• escorting vessels across the bar and through the channel (37).

Our rescue base handled 3,415 VHF calls and 61 calls on 27MHz communicating with 1,214 vessels carrying a total of 4,081 persons.

Another year has passed with the unit injury free and we have now been operating for 21 years without an injury or damage to any vessel, our own, or any we have assisted. We would like to thank our volunteers, radio operators and boat crews for the hours invested in training and operating to provide the service, often in dangerous conditions.

As always, the organisation could not continue without the generous support of our sponsors and donations from the public. Your contributions, regardless of the amount, are always gratefully accepted.