newy.com.au – A retired rescue boat that once answered calls across Lake Macquarie and off the Hunter coast has found a new home in far north Queensland, where its Swansea-raised owners plan to restore it and preserve the name of veteran volunteer Neil Grieves.
Richard and Tammy Baxter recently bought the former Lake Macquarie 20, a fast-response catamaran commissioned by Marine Rescue NSW in 2019. The couple now live at Wonga Beach, north of Port Douglas, but both attended Swansea High School and retain close family and friendship ties to Lake Macquarie.
In an email to Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie, the Baxters said owning the vessel gave them custody of a piece of their former home.
“We are incredibly proud to take custodianship of a boat that served our local community and waters so well for so many years,” they wrote.
“We wanted to extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers at both Swansea and Pelican Bases for the vital work you do keeping everyone safe on the lake and around the Swansea Channel.”
Lake Macquarie 20 was commissioned at the unit’s Pelican boat base on April 27, 2019. The $300,000, 7.8-metre Sailfish catamaran was equipped for search and rescue work on the lake and up to 15 nautical miles offshore, with capacity for a crew of six.
The vessel was named Neil Grieves in honour of the former Lake Macquarie unit commander, who died in 2018 after 36 years of service to the boating community.
Grieves was also a prominent figure in game fishing. He became a life member of the NSW Game Fishing Association in 1998, while the Lake Macquarie Game Fishing Club continues to award a trophy bearing his name.
When the rescue vessel was commissioned, then-unit commander Malcolm Wardrop said Grieves had loved boating, game fishing and keeping people safe through his work as both a volunteer and Marine Rescue NSW staff member.
The catamaran was retired from the Lake Macquarie fleet after the arrival of Lake Macquarie 31, a larger 8.5-metre Naiad rescue vessel delivered in 2024 and formally commissioned at Pelican in July 2025.
The Baxters expect the former rescue boat will need several months of work before returning to the water. They hope eventually to take it to the tip of Cape York, but say its original name will first be restored.
“We want to put ‘Neil Grieves’ name back on the boat for the honour to continue, because once a boat is named you shouldn’t change the boat’s name. That’s how we have been raised,” Tammy Baxter said.
Garry Luxton, Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie said “our volunteers are so pleased to know that the vessel known as Neil Greives will continue to be on the water for Neils legacy to live on”
The couple lived at Caves Beach when their son was born 28 years ago. Tammy said acquiring the vessel had unexpectedly brought a part of that earlier life to their new home.
“We are very excited and proud of this boat and the history of her,” she said.
