Hi All,
I work down at Wilsons promontory national park, and just on knock off tonight we got a call to get the Parks boat out to rescue a kayakker who had gone missing off Norman bay. Apparently he and a friend were going to kayak over to Oberon bay to meet up with other friends who were hiking over, and camp the night. With quite a strong easterly wind blowing offshore they got into trouble and were separated, one kayakker swimming his kayak into the beach at Norman bay. The bloke we rescued said the front of his kayak (sit in type) had filled with water and he was making no headway against the wind. He was drifting out from Pillar point at the North end of Norman bay, and decided to abandon his kayak and swim to the rocks at the point. By the time the alarm was raised he had been in difficulties for 2+ hours. We located him up on the rocks just as the police helicopter arrived, and as he was not injured and mobile we got him to swim out about 20 meters to where we could pull him into the boat and get him to shore. He was taken to our first aid centre where paramedics checked him over for possible hypothermia.
Although this is not a fishing related post, it should remind everyone to be aware of the weather, particularly wind strength and direction, and our own abilities, as both these kayakkers were self admitted novices.
Both of them were at least wearing life jackets, or things would have been much worse.
Stay safe,
Cheers
Phil

Good to hear all worked out well.

A good example for having a PLB in the ocean. May have been a different story if not within swimming distance

Thanks Phil.
Just reading gives me the big time.
Very very fortunate indeed & I agree a PLB at minimum especially in that place.

And that is why I only fish the prom in the very best of conditions. There's so few people on the water down there it could be ages before anyone raises the alarm if I can't fire off the EPIRB for some reason, and even if I do it'd take a fair while for the coast guard or the chopper to get down there.

We used to dive the Prom regularly. You’d hear people standing at Tidal River saying “it’s lovely and calm” but looking at the horizon it was jagged. As soon as you leave the sheltered area things can get pretty challenging even in a decent boat.

Is there a VHF coast station in the area that will pick up a handheld?

Theoretically they should be able to pick up a handheld as they claim to be able to monitor up to 20Nm offshore anywhere along Vic
http://transportsafety.vic.gov.au/marit ... rine-radio
(You'd probably want a good 5W Handheld down that way with a good antenna but PLB should suffice)
The closest Coastguard there is Port Welshpool but that's a fair way away.

Adrian wrote: Is there a VHF coast station in the area that will pick up a handheld?

I had mobile reception halfway between Norman Island and Leonard Point. I assume there's a phone tower on Mount Oberon and as long as you have line of sight with that you can call for help without any hassles

Hi All,
Yes it does get pretty rough out past the headlands, also the wind, particularly from the East funnels through the valleys. I have only yak fished from Norman bay to Squeaky beach, and then in a light North westerly. There are mobile towers on Mt Oberon, also at Yanakie. On the road out we generally lose signal from Picnic bay until the wildlife viewing area near the old airstrip.
The Coastguard do have a boat at Port Welshpool, and I think there is also one at Inverloch, but both are a fair way away.
Cheers
Phil

I have just viewed footage of the police helicopter taking off from Tyabb airport to rescue a paddleboard occupant from off Wilson's Prom. I think from the timing it may be the same episode. The airport people were spruiking their new helipad and stocking jet A1 fuel. I guess that those features will extend the range of rescue capabilities. Thumbs up for Tyabb airport.

For sure any rural airport upgrade to help out in emergencies is a bonus to everyone