Many are taking advantage of extremely powerful crafts and doing things they should not be doing, Lake Eppalock Coast Guard flotilla commander Colin Ritchens said.

“We are already seeing a lot more people on the lake because of the heat. The safety message just isn’t being met,” he said.

Bendigo Yacht Club commodore Andrea McGregor said many jet skiers did not seem to understand safety around yachts.

“They must get their licences out of a Weeties packet. They are coming within five or 10 metres of us, swearing at us,” she said.

Jet skis should travel no faster than five knots an hour within 50 metres of other vessels, but Mrs McGregor said many broke that rule in attempts to swamp yacht occupants in water, even moving between boats during competitions.

She feared that if something went wrong yachts would not be able to turn suddenly, and that sails could limited visibility even when boats had people on board to spot other vessels.

“Jet skiers need to remember they are small and can’t always be seen. If someone falls off there is no way we can stop,” McGregor said.

“I understand that it is hard to judge 50 metres on water. But surely when you are right beside a boat you understand that that is not 50 metres.”

The comments came as Maritime Safety Victoria, Goulburn Murray Water and the Coast Guard prepared to spend Friday spreading safety messages at the lake.

MSV’s Gareth Johnson said that for many years the key message to inland boaters had been about wearing life jackets.

While that was still important, statistics now showed that inland boaters often got into trouble when they went into the water and were unable to get back into the vessel or call for help.

“People die doing that because they are so exposed and are unable to get back on board,” Mr Johnson said.

“Some of these are events that lead to drowning, some are hypothermia. There are different impacts but our main point is that when you enter that is the moment you are exposed.” 

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The new campaign would focus on five key areas: wearing life jackets, knowing weather for the entire trip, carrying distress beacons, letting people know where you are going and how to get back on board the vessel.

A tent would be set up near the shoreline at Kimbolton, with representatives on hand to discuss issues and provide information from 10am until 4pm.

The Lake Eppalock Coast Guard hoped to have a greater presence on the lake in coming years as its role expanded to include more emergency responses, flotilla commander Ritchens said.

By this time next year crews could be spending more time on the water, with hopes they could get a much-needed new boat.

The coast guard began sourcing a refurbished 7.5 metre aluminium boat five years ago to replace a 33-year-old  vessel.

A company contracted to provide a boat went bankrupt this year, without completing the project, flotilla commander Ritchens said.

The ageing fibreglass vessel was still an active part of the two-boat flotilla, but its use was being limited where possible.

A replacement could come in 2019, with Emergency Management Victoria preparing to step in.

“They are looking at about six months,” flotilla commander Ritchens said.

“They are replacing boats with newer ones as spares become available.”

Flotilla commander Ritchens described the Lake Eppalock Coast Guard as a “Swiss army knife”, able to respond to emergencies on the water, search and rescues and fires.

“That might be fires on the water or land-based fires where we can transport CFA members or evacuate certain parts of the lake foreshore,” he said.

The group could respond to incidents in most inland waterways in the region, flotilla commander Ritchens said, making it different from many other Coast Guard flotillas.

“We are a little more flexible, which is how we like to be,” he said.

For Maritime Safety Victoria advice on safely handling jet skis click here.

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