A man living on a houseboat moored in McMillan Straits was lucky not to have drowned after he swam after his small paddle boat which had drifted away last Saturday afternoon.
He was found by chance by the Paynesville Coastguard clinging exhausted to a buoy at Point Montague, the western most tip of Raymond Island.
“He was floundering, it was just pure luck we spotted him,” Michael Doyle, the flotilla administrative officer with the Paynesville Coastguard, said.
“He was in the process of drowning.”
Mr Doyle said the man had attempted to swim from Raymond Island to Montague Point to catch his timber boat, which had blown away around 4.30-5pm.
The man uses the small boat to access his houseboat and the shore.
“He was rescued and checked out by paramedics and in the end didn’t require hospitalisation,” Mr Doyle said.
“All in a day’s work,” he smiles.
The incident sums up the role the Paynesville Coastguard plays seven days a week, 365 days of the year.
Staffed by volunteers, the coastguard gets called out to about 100 marine incidents on the waters around Paynesville every year.
Mr Doyle said on Saturday afternoon the coastguard had gone to the Grange to tow a boat that had been caught up in big waves and high winds back to shore when on its return they noticed the man struggling in the water.
“He was very lucky to have been found,” Mr Doyle said.
Paynesville Coastguard usually responds to calls for assistance from people in boats who have run out of fuel or have become stuck on a sandbar. They will often be called to boats that have broken down, especially in the spring when people who haven’t used their boat since the previous summer put it in the water without having done general maintenance checks.
The coastguard works closely with Gippsland Water Police on many jobs.
Mr Doyle says the coastguard alerts the Water Police to calls it receives about boats in trouble and the police “will make a decision whether they go or allow us to attend”.
The situation works in reverse where the Water Police will ask coastguard to attend to a job if they are already busy doing other rescues.
The Coastguard is entirely a volunteer organisation that relies on donations and grants to survive.
“Bairnsdale companies and suppliers are good to us, as are the Bendigo Bank in Paynesville, the local Lions Club and Paynesville Op Shop,” Mr Doyle said.
The fuel bill for the coastguard is usually about $4000 each month while maintenance takes running costs to $10,000.
The cost of rescue equipment is funded through grants.
The coastguard has 58 volunteers, mainly retirees, although a lot of younger people are now keen to join and are actively encouraged to do so.
Those who volunteer need to be physically fit and have a boat licence.
The Paynesville Coastguard also consists of a CFA brigade, which responds to fires on the water and assists the land brigade when necessary.
It has its own dedicated firefighting boat (silver in color) and is called out to two or three fires a year.
The Paynesville Coastguard is located behind the library and generally operates from 10am to 3pm, although someone is always on call after hours. In summer, the hours are extended and two shifts are the norm.
There is a strict rank process at the coastguard with a commander and deputy commander elected by the members while the administrative officer, purser and training officer are appointed. The five positions form the executive who collectively are responsible for running the show.
New members are always welcome.
IMAGE: Michael Doyle is the flotilla administrative officer for the Paynesville Coastguard. He has been a volunteer there for about 10 years.
