By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
IT’S THE nastiest stretch of water in the world when it’s playing up, but the Queenscliff coast guard blokes brave it anyway.
It’s often a yachtie stranded outside the heads, run out of petrol or with a dead battery, just when the wind and water are battling each other in the Rip.
“The rip is a nasty piece of water,” observed flotilla commander Ted Beggs.
“The wind fights against the water, you can have 64 knots of wind and it can create hazardous conditions.
“We were coming through once and the water just dropped away, it was like we were floating in the air, until we came crashing down again, and half the Rip landed on deck,” he said with a chuckle.
But his eyes belied the severity of the risks the volunteers all take traversing the Rip when the weather turns foul.
The Queenscliff flotilla has had its own foul weather to survive in recent years.
Its headquarters, based across the car park from the Queenscliff boat ramp, burned down five years ago, and killed a lot of flotilla morale as well.
“It took a long time to get replaced, the insurance issue complicated. We were in an old caravan, then a portable hut, but it was a challenge.
“Membership dropped, and we are trying to build it up again. We had around 20 members, but we are looking for another six or so.
“Queenscliff has a bit of a floating population; people come and go, so it’s hard to hold on to members sometimes.
“We would love a few younger members and more women members.”
The Queenscliff flotilla area stretches from Rye to Portarlington inside the bay and Lorne to Cape Schanck outside the heads.
The headquarters is manned weekends from 8am to sunset, and runs on extended hours if there are special events on.
“We are all on pagers during the week so we still offer a 24/7 response. We always need a skipper and one crew for the boat if there’s a call-out,” Ted explained.
The flotilla finally got its new headquarters three years ago, purpose built with a training room.
Down time is used in training, with formal qualifications available for members in courses such as first aid, radio operations and seamanship.
“We are essentially a paramilitary organisation run by volunteers. We do about 65 assists a year, we monitor the ocean swims and handle the start of the offshore yacht club races.”
“Because they have both formal and inform races, we often go out and hang around, in case we’re needed.
They start on the tide so race time can vary quite a bit. We set up buoy for the race start and fire the Very pistol to send them off.
Ted said members enjoyed being with like-minded people.
“We just want to do something positive for the community,” he said. “We derive some personal satisfaction and benefits from the training, but for us it’s a marine activity with a purpose.”
The flotilla is part of a formal arrangement with the CFA and is actually a certified CFA unit, offering water-borne transport to firefighters when required.
Look up coastguard.com.au/flotillavic/51-vf9 or give public relations officer Richard Lasslett a call on 0412 527 061.
