Life Membership for Jervis Bay Marine Rescue's unit commander

Earlier this year he was presented with the prestigious Marine Medal, and on Saturday, November 25, he was awarded life membership of Marine Rescue NSW at the service's annual general meeting.

Mr Hill was recognised for his long-term dedication to Marine Rescue NSW and its mission of saving lives on the water.

Mr Hill is just weeks away from celebrating a decade volunteering with the Jervis Bay unit after starting out as a radio operator after moving to the Shoalhaven from Canberra.

In fact, the urge to spend more time of the water was a driving factor behind the move, because in Canberra it was difficult to get the sea time needed to gain qualifications.

"I saw it as an opportunity to get the sea time I needed," Mr Hill said.

"I went back to TAFE and got my maritime qualifications hand in glove with getting the Marine Rescue qualifications."

Since then he had worked commercially and as a volunteer, and seen many incidents and rescues.

Mr Hill said two rescues stood out in his mind - both at the same place in similar circumstances, and only days apart.

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"In February we had an incident when a girl got into trouble while standup paddle boarding inside Jervis Bay off Iluka Beach near Green Patch, and her father swam out to help her," he recalled.

"But they had travelled a distance from shore, and our fear was that the father was going to end up being the casualty and not the daughter."

But the crew got to them in record time, and managed to get them both safely back to shore.

"It really hit home the next day when myself and one of the crew members, together with some other staff, were manning a raffle stand at the local shopping centre and the family walked in," Mr Hill said.

"The mother was overwhelmed with emotion and the little girl was just thrilled to see us, and of course the father just couldn't thank us enough for saving him and his daughter. That was quite an emotional experience."

But just a few days later there was a similar incident at the same location, when a woman came off her paddleboard, and while the Marine Rescue crew responded in the same way and other resources were deployed, the woman could not be saved.

"It was devastating," Mr Hill said. "It was such a tragic outcome."

He said the young mother who died could not swim, and was not experienced in the water.

"If she'd had a lifejacket on or even perhaps a tether to her paddleboard, that might have made all the difference for her."