The service’s two helicopters, based at Moruya and La Perouse, flew 12 search and rescue missions across a five-day period between April 13 and April 17.

The callouts, in support of other agencies including police and paramedics, spanned an area from the Central Coast south to the Victorian border.

Of the 12 missions, seven were carried out between the Royal National Park, north of Wollongong, and Eden. 

Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter chief executive Stephen Leahy said the Easter period was “the busiest long weekend we’ve had for quite some time”.

“We’ve had rescue missions going the full length of our operational area,” Mr Leahy said.

The Moruya-based Lifesaver 23 responded to a distress call from a yacht adrift east of Wallagoot Lake, near Merimbula, late on Easter Saturday. For newest crew member Mitchel Van der Muelen it was a challenging first test of his training.

On board the yacht were sailing legend Peter Mounsey, 89, and 71-year-old marine artist Ian Hansen. The two men were returning from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart and heading towards Sydney.

However on the afternoon of April 15 all was not well, with both men badly affected by food they had eaten. In fading light, Mr Van der Muelen, a 22-year-old Tathra local, was winched on to the yacht to assist with one of the men. Eden Marine Rescue also attended.

Mr Van der Meulen has been at the Moruya base for two months and has undertaken hours of static, in-flight and theory training.

Putting that training into action was “great”, he said. “That’s kind of why I wanted to get into this, once you’ve got all this stuff in your head and it comes to the point you need to do it, you just do it, you don’t need to think about it,” he said.

Mr Leahy said Mr Van der Meulen’s first job was challenging.

“Light was fading, he’s several kilometres offshore, he’s being winched on to a moving target and [dealing with] an elderly gentleman who’s rather ill,” he said. “His training really kicked in.”