COMMUNITY boating safety at Lake Eppalock has been boosted, thanks to a generous donation.
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The VF5 Australian Volunteer Coast Guard will buy two satellite phones, after it received a $3000 grant from the Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst.
Coast Guard VF5 volunteer Andy Reaburn said the new equipment would come in handy when trying to locate a broken down or missing boat.
“(The phones) will assist in overcoming the problem encountered with communications on the lake from the dead spots,” he said. “In the past, areas of the lake have frustrated efforts by Coast Guard in searching for missing or disabled vessels due to those dead areas.”
Mr Reaburn said the donation from the Rotary Club was deeply appreciated but said it was only a short-term solution.
He said the Coast Guard was looking to install towers and repeaters to enable coverage of the entire lake.
“It all takes money and at the moment to install two towers and repeaters we are looking at about $30,000,” he said. “We are an unpaid volunteer organisation so we depend upon community support.”
But Mr Reaburn said despite the high costs, the benefits were far greater.
“The resulting benefit will provide additional safety to all those members of our boating community who require assistance,” he said.