Craig Petterd has documented almost all of it on his quest to write the comprehensive history of Narooma's marine rescue, and aims to publish later this year.

But there is one important item which still eludes him.

A photo of Narooma's original pilot boat.

Through his research, and tracking down former rescuers and their families, Mr Petterd has collected pictures of each type of boat used by Narooma rescuers, except for this one.

The vessel in question was skippered by Narooma's first pilot William Lubbock, a former Navy officer who was stationed to Narooma in 1927.

After tracking down Mr Lubbock's two daughters, who still live in the district, Mr Petterd has collected fascinating stories and even caught a rare glimpse of the pilot boat.

It sits almost indistinguishable in the background of a small, grainy, black and white photo - just two inches wide.

Mr Petterd hopes to find someone with a close-up photo of Mr Lubbock's pilot boat.

"It was a rowboat of some sort, which would take around five or six people," he said.

"I haven't been able to find anyone yet who has a photo of it - I've got the other boats we've had here, but not this one.

"So I'm sort of casting the net a bit wider, to see if I can find someone who can track down a photo."

In the late 1920s, Mr Lubbock would row all the way to Montague Island delivering supplies to the lighthouse keeper.

While it is a quick 15 minute jaunt in today's speedy vessels, it was a far longer and slower trip almost a century ago.

Mr Petterd's book will be a chronicle of maritime rescue in Narooma through its many iterations: from community lobbying the government in the late 1800s, to the early boat pilots, Volunteer Rescue Association, Volunteer Coastal Patrol, and right through to Marine Rescue as it's known today.

His journey started with an archive of records at the current marine rescue base, and interviews with a handful of current rescuers and former volunteers.

The search started a chain reaction, as ex-volunteers connected Mr Petterd to their own former colleagues, or their spouses and children.

Mr Petterd said connecting with the right people has provided a wealth of information, and most importantly the personal stories behind Narooma's marine rescue service.

"Narooma is a pretty small place, so there has been a lot of word of mouth," he said.

"There was also a lot of records which an old Marine Rescue member had kept - old logbooks, exercise books with handwritten minutes of meetings, and newspaper articles mentioning names. I've spent a lot of time looking people up on Google."

There are still a few more interviews to be completed, but Mr Petterd said he's 'basically got the guts of the book'.

The addition of some more local stories, and hopefully a photo of the original pilot boat, will mean the book is all but complete.

Once published, profit from the book's sales will directly fund Narooma Marine Rescue operations.