Ulladulla Marine Rescue’s change of leadership will be a formality in June.
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Dave Hall recently filled the Commander’s post vacated voluntarily by colleague Ken Lambert due to illness and will continue in the role.
Mr Hall has managed base operations for the past 15 months and led the volunteers since Mr Lambert’s departure.
Elections are due in June and Deputy Commander Kevin Marshall has already signalled he is happy to hand over after two terms totalling 11 years.
Dave Lindley is expected to be elected unopposed as deputy, and Mr Marshall will maintain his on-call 24/7 dual roles as search and rescue officer and watch officer.
“We are very thankful for the community's support over the years and hope to continue our excellent relationship with locals and visitors alike,” Mr Hall said.
Mr Lindley agreed and added their gratitude to Mr Lambert and Mr Marshall.
“This town really looks after us and Ken and Kevin have been a real inspiration to the base,” he said
“We are very thankful for the community's support over the years and hope to continue our excellent relationship with locals and visitors alike.”
- Dave Hall
Mr Hall, a retired electrical contractor from Canberra has been a volunteer at the Ulladulla base for four years and has loved the sea all his life.
“My dad was a professional fisherman and as soon as I could walk was going to sea in various sized boats.”
Later he went underwater - diving and taking photos.
His never-to-be-forgotten moment after years of diving was being chased by a two metre bronze whaler off Collers Beach at Mollymook.
“I was out about 500 metres and about seven metres down when I saw it. It turned around and came at me flat out then stopped.
“It was really frightening. I thought is this happening to me? I was kicking flat out backwards, watching it and it followed me right back to shore, well within striking range of my hand spear.
“It certainly put the wind up me, and I was an advanced diver at that stage.”
Dave Lindley has spent time below the surface too, as an electrical fitter in submarines for 14 years for both the Australian Navy and the Royal Navy.
It was all he wanted to do when he joined as a 16-year-old and in one exchange visit to the Royal Navy in 1977-78 he was in the commissioning crew that took delivery for Australia of the superseded Oberon class sub, Otama.
Mr Lindley later worked for 25 years in Canberra as a bus driver and for Australia Post, has owned various fishing boats and when he and his wife retired to the coast, volunteering at the base was a good fit.
