A NEW marine rescue base is keeping Hunter boaters afloat, attracting more volunteers and has given the squad a place to call home.
The Marine Rescue Newcastle team is now operating out of its state-of-the-art, purpose-built Stockton facility.
Lyn Van Homrigh is at the helm of the local unit and said the base had put the wind in the sails of members and the community alike.
"It's just amazing that we have this facility that we're going to be able to use, be able to look after, share and do what we're meant to do in much better conditions," Ms Van Homrigh said.
"It's made a huge difference, people just love coming here."
The crew has been moving into the new base on the harbourfront for the past couple of months, after the concept was first floated more than three years ago.
The double-storey building boasts a specially-made radio room, which is the heart of the operation where boaters can make contact.
It also has a crew area, kitchens and a catering window, training facilities, meeting areas, and the space to host multi-agency search and rescue missions.
"There's a lot of versatility built into this space," Ms Van Homrigh said.
"I think we'll continue to grow, and we've set it up to grow."
Marine Rescue Newcastle relies on volunteers to man the radio room for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, though it responds to calls for help on a 24-hour basis.
Most call-outs have a happy ending, but the team is sometimes confronted with tragic circumstances and difficult conditions.
Ms Van Homrigh said the new space had made a big difference, and the "crew room" downstairs had contributed to that.
"People can go and relax, have that proper debrief, have that moral support from each other, that's a big deal as well," she said.
"There are circumstances where it is very challenging ... some [jobs] end positively, and some not so."
She said the shiny new base was helping attract new hands on deck.
"It's a bit of a magnet actually," she said.
The squad spent the past eight years bouncing between locations in Newcastle, so the move to the purpose-built facility has been a huge change.
Ms Van Homrigh said the team was ultimately there for the community and the large, harbourfront presence made them even more visible for boaters.
Ms Van Homrigh and her deputy unit commander John Lane thanked the community for their support and engagement.
The new multi-million-dollar base has already been put to the test.
One of the first missions from Stockton was to rescue a jetski rider who had started to take on water and needed a tow from the Hunter River near Hexham.
