Rescue attempt is costly

11th November 2008

Joe Flynn

ALMOST six months after his boat was destroyed in a Volunteer Marine Rescue operation Grahame Ives is yet to see a cent of insurance.

The panic of a towing attempt has been replaced by the tedious task of insurance as Mr Ives fights for the $12,000 needed to get his beloved boat back on the water.

"I don't want to knock anyone or anything, I just want my boat back," he said.

Mr Ives had been fishing with his son, a friend and his friend's daughter on June 14 at the Karma wreck when the boat's engine failed to start.

When the VMR boat attempted to tow the boat, which Mr Ives was negotiating, a difficulty with the anchor and the tow rope caused it to capsize.

"Everything was lost, the chairs, the fuel tanks even my mobile phone and my glasses," he said.

In a letter to Mr Ives VMR's insurer company Club Marine refused his application saying the organisation could not be liable for damages caused while participating in a rescue.

The boat which is now collecting rust, was a present shared between Mr Ives and his son Kayne after Mr Ives received a liver transplant after a three-year wait.

The keen fisherman had been forced to hang up the rod for three years when he moved to Brisbane awaiting a possible donor.

"We always had to be 45 minutes from hospital in case a donor arrived," he said.

About one year ago, the day after Mr Ives was told he had a fortnight to live, that donor did arrive.

"When we came up, the whole town had got me gift vouchers and fishing gear because they knew how much I loved fishing," he said.

"Me and my son decided to go halves on the boat.

"It was supposed to be something that we could do together because I was given a second chance.

"We only had it six months."

To make matters worse, the longer Mr Ives boat rests at his Moore Park Beach property the worse its condition will become.

After exhausting his options with Club Marine, Mr Ives has gone to the Insurance Ombudsman where it could take months to resolve.

"We just want the whole mess to be over," he said.