A smart phone and tablet app designed by a member of the Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie unit is being hailed as a "game-changer" for the service.
Dubbed the Distressed Vehicle (or DV) Locator, the program allows the rescue team to find vessels in trouble with an accuracy of four-to-five metres on the water.
To use the DV Locator, designed by Lake Macquarie volunteer and software developer Matt Dorhauer, the crew sends a text message to someone on a troubled vessel after a distress call comes in. The person on the troubled vessel then clicks a link in the text message and their location transmits to the rescue team via GPS.
The location information is received on computer tablets onboard the response vessels, meaning the rescue crews can get to where they need to go faster - the app also follows the drift of the troubled vessel.
So rescuers are less likely to be hindered by rough seas and inhibited orientation, which the service says is the most challenging part of finding a vessel-in-distress when an emergency is unfolding. The service says the app is life-saving - whether people are using a tinnie, a cruiser, a yacht, a kayak, a canoe or a jet ski.
Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie unit commander Malcolm Druce told the Newcastle Herald his crew was the only Marine Rescue team that used the app at this stage, but it was called upon often - it had even been used in a rescue as recently as Wednesday night.
"It's a game-changer, an absolute game-changer," Mr Druce said.
"We've had it in place probably about six months and it's getting to the point where some of the other Marine Rescue units are looking to trial it, which is really, really good."
Just like most public holiday weekends in the warmer months, the next few days are expected to be busy on the region's waterways - particularly on Lake Macquarie.
Mr Druce said his team typically responded to between 10 and 12 calls for help on a public holiday weekend day - for anything from vessels breaking down, boats running out of fuel, crashes, incidents involving alcohol and other serious events.
The demand makes for "massive days" for the volunteer service.
"It certainly means we are very, very busy," Mr Druce said.
The forecast for boaties on the weekend is northeasterly winds at 15 to 25 knots on Saturday, before 15 to 20 knot northerly winds on Sunday morning turn northeasterly.
It is expected to be partly cloudy on Saturday, with seas 1.5m-2m, before becoming mostly sunny on Sunday and seas going from 1m-2m to 1m-1.5m during the morning.
