On Christmas Eve 2018, a father and his 20-year-old son were swept away by a rip at the Colonnades. After being retrieved from the water, both were declared dead at the scene. "It makes so much sense to swim at a patrolled beach, and no sense not to," said WBSLSC Club President Jason Close.
Last summer, six people tragically lost their lives at beaches across the Bass Coast, as drowning figures across the country continue to rise.
This summer, the Advertiser's summer safety series highlights some of the island's most dangerous beaches for visitors and anyone not familiar with local conditions.
This week, we speak to locals and emergency services about the Colonnades at Cape Woolamai.
On Christmas Eve 2018, a mother watched on from the shore as her husband and 20-year-old son were swept away by a rip at the Colonnades. Tragically, after being retrieved from the water, both father and son were declared dead at the scene.
The Colonnades is an unpatrolled stretch of beach, to the west of the Woolamai surf beach. The area is renowned for its dangerous rips.
It is rated as "highly hazardous" by the BeachSafe app, which describes it as "an exposed high energy beach used by surfers and fishers, but unsuitable for safe bathing".
One senior lifesaver who responded to the 2018 rescue, who requested not to be named, was cooking a Christmas Eve dinner for their family when the call came through about an incident at the Colonnades.
The senior lifesaver, who retrieved one of the bodies from the water, said around 10 volunteer members, some under the age of eighteen, arrived to respond to the emergency. By the time the senior lifesaver arrived on the scene, one body had been retrieved from the water while a co-ordination of rescue services searched for the second.
"I can't remember who spotted him, but someone saw his body in the rip. So in the end I went in on the board, and there were some members of the public on the rocks because it was just mega low-tide by then," the senior lifesaver said.
"And we grabbed him and got him out, but he was dead by the time we got him."
Response capabilities
As Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club (WBSLSC) President Jason Close explained, if a member of the public needs to call for help from lifesavers, they must dial 000. It is then a case of saying where the incident is taking place and describing the emergency, the Club President said.
If lifesaving assistance is required, Life Saving Victoria (LSV) communications will then contact the club's emergency response contacts, and those in the area will respond.
The Club President said whilst emergency procedures exist for volunteers to respond to incidents which are after hours or at unpatrolled beaches, there are a number of reasons why these emergencies are much more difficult to respond to.
The time it takes to call for help, the time for the volunteer lifesavers to retrieve and set up rescue equipment, and then the time to travel to the rescue location are all factors which mean when help arrives, it may already be too late.
"For these reasons, the safest option is only to swim at a patrolled beach, between the flags, between patrol hours," Jason said.
"This way lifesavers are there on the beach with their rescue equipment, can see you and can respond immediately if you get into trouble."
The senior lifesaver who retrieved one body during the 2018 Christmas Eve Colonnades rescue, said that particular incident "did get under my skin a bit".
"I think the Christmas Eve (incident), it's a time when you're reflecting on family and that other families don't get to go home," the senior lifesaver said.
"I remember feeling afterwards - whenever I've been to a drowning - I then get pretty protective the next day and week.
"When you see people swimming outside the flags you get quite an emotional response, wishing that they had better instructions or were making better decisions for themselves."
Lingering community impact
Local surfing legend Glyndyn Ringrose lives on the doorstep of the Colonnades, and said the Christmas Eve rescue and other very close calls at the beach still weigh heavily on the minds of the community.
"Yeah, I'm always looking, always watching people, and I think that goes for most people who are surfers, and a lot of surfers go down here," Glyndyn said.
"There's a lot of guys who would run out and save someone at the drop of a hat if they had to - if they saw them in trouble."
Of the Christmas Eve rescue, Glyndyn said "I wish I was there. If only there was somebody, a local who knew what was going on around, (the victims) probably wouldn't have been in the water. They would have been fine."
Recently in an interview with the Advertiser, the CEO of Life Saving Victoria lauded the efforts of local surfers and community members who perform unsung rescues and take proactive preventative measures such as advising people not to swim or surf at a particular beach.
Glyndyn said he has performed several rescues where the victims didn't even realise how much trouble they were in.
"As soon as your feet leave the ground, you've got no real reference point of where you are except if you're using visual reference points.
"When you're looking at a mass of water, it feels like you're not really moving. But when you look visually back at the land, you can see how fast you're being swept out."
Woolamai Beach Club President Jason Close said Phillip Island has so many beautiful surf beaches, but unfortunately the conditions and the remoteness of many of them makes swimming dangerous.
"It makes so much sense to swim at a patrolled beach, and no sense not to."
Next week: Berrys Beach.
READ MORE:
