A CATAMARAN moored at Shoal Bay has drifted across the water in the wild weather, finishing up in pieces at Winda Woppa.

On the afternoon of Sunday 3 July, Marine Rescue was called to the vessel, which had made its way from Shoal Bay to Winda Woppa, however, conditions were too dangerous.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

Rachel Higgins and her partner Beau Higgins were the owners of the boat and found the boat sideways at Jimmys Beach.

“We actually live three hours off the card and my partner Beau was monitoring the situation.

“He knew the weather was bad and noticed straight away that there was no way that the catamaran was still attached to the mooring in the position that it was in,” Rachel said.

The couple instantly hopped in the car, and when they arrived, they found the vessel on its side.

“We did the best we could, but we couldn’t do a lot.

“Some really lovely people came and helped us get the anchors out and we hoped that when the tide came up, the boat would get beached on the sand.”

However, it was only hours later that the couple heard the worst noise they could imagine.

“The weather got worse and worse and we just sat there watching it gradually get smashed by the waves.

“At approximately 9pm, we heard lots of crunching and just knew it was all over,” Rachel said.

The boat was Rachel’s partner’s deceased father’s boat and she said it was “very sentimental” to him.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” she said.

“We have no words.”

Local residents showed great community spirit and were quick to jump on to the local Facebook groups to help clean up the masses of debris left over.

By Tara CAMPBELL