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IMAGINE this frightening scenario.
It’s pitch black, a 2m swell is breaking over the treacherous Ballina bar, the ocean is freezing cold and your boat is quickly sinking.
That was the situation facing boat skipper Guy Peluso and his wife at 2am on June 12 this year, after their 45-foot cruiser hit an object and began sinking bow-first.
They issued a mayday call and a crew from Marine Rescue Ballina was dispatched, forced to cross the hazardous Richmond River bar on a large swell in challenging conditions. Guy Peluso and his wife with the mobile phone in a waterproof case that they used to summon help.