THE rising floodwater in the Shoalhaven River has forced a number of boats to pull their moorings, with the two large boats used by the Shoalhaven River Cruises appearing to be locked together.
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Around 11am it appeared from the bank the two vessels moored just west of Pig Island had come together in the middle of the raging floodwaters.
North Nowra boat owner Greg Stubbs, who has had his 36 foot Riviera moored in front of the Nowra Sailing Club for 10 years, managed to move his boat to the safety of Bomaderry Creek around 8am Wednesday with help from friends Wes Murphy and Chris McDonald.
“The boat it pulled its mooring,” Mr Stubbs said “but we managed to get to it in time.
“We had a few dramas with the amount of debris coming down the river.
“The debris was the biggest problem. It wasn’t so much the volume of water but the debris that was building up around and under the boat.
“We managed to get onboard and cut the ropes but some debris was entangled under the boat and we only had one engine operating which was pushing us towards one of the banks.
“Thankfully the debris cleared and we managed to get both motors going and made it into the creek.”
He said he would have to wait to inspect any possible damage.
This is the third flood Mr Stubbs has encountered since having the boat in the river and said this was by far the worst.
“This is the worst we have been through, it was only two years ago we suffered similar flooding, ” he said.
He said he couldn’t get over the amount of debris flowing down the river including trees, pontoons, marker buoys and even a lounge.
In Jervis Bay, while surfers were taking advantage of the larger swells near Plantation Point catching a few waves and youngsters were body boarding near the Vincent Street boat ramp, a sailboat broke its moorings at Orion Beach and washed up on the northern end of Collingwood Beach near Moona Moona Creek.
