2 months ago
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Two paddleboarders were rescued by police on Christmas Day after being swept about 17 kilometres across Port Philip Bay.
A 17-year-old boy and 51-year-old woman from the same family set out on their boards from Portarlington caravan park jetty about 3pm on Thursday but were carried away from the shore. Neither were wearing lifejackets.
Two hours later, a family member contacted Triple Zero when the pair had not returned, prompting police, Life Saving Victoria and the Queenscliff Coast Guard to begin a search.
The police air wing spotted the paddleboarders floating and waving for help at 6.20pm near Wyndham Harbour, near Werribee – about 17 kilometres from where they began – and water police rescued them. The pair were uninjured.
Their unexpected trip coincided with the coldest Christmas in Melbourne since 2006, as the city reached a top of just 14.5 degrees.
Peter, a skipper with Queenscliff Coast Guard who declined to share his surname, said the paddleboarding trip was made hazardous due to the windy conditions on the bay.
The paddleboarders were spotted by police while floating near Wyndham Harbour. Credit: Joe Armao
“They paddled and all of a sudden, the wind and the … tide got them and next minute they couldn’t make it back to shore,” he said.
“The key to this is just having a look at the conditions that you’re going to be dealing with.”
Peter said the search ended on a positive, “but at the end of the day, it’s something on Christmas Day you don’t think you’re going to be doing”.
In 2022, four teenage paddleboarders were swept more than 20 kilometres across Port Philip Bay and lost at sea overnight, before landing at an island reserved for military training and being saved.
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