TRAGEDY was narrowly averted at the Rhyll Boat Ramp last Wednesday night when the 2012 Toyota HiLux Twin Cab a couple from Pakenham was using to retrieve their fishing boat slid off the ramp and deep into the water at about 5pm.

Owner of HiLux, which has been declared a total write-off after the incident, and the boat Chris Norman, blamed the slippery boat ramp for the incident, and there’s been plenty of corroboration locally.

But as costly as it was in terms of property, there had been some hairy moments for Chris and his partner Aleisha.

“I’ve launched and retrieved boats from here, Newhaven and Corinella hundreds of times,” said Chris, when the ordeal was finally over at about 10.30am on Thursday with the salvaging of the car from the murky depths in front of the $5 million Rhyll Boat Ramp, only opened September 2022.

“We had the car and trailer in position on the ramp, no problem, but as soon as the trailer started taking the weight of the boat, the car and the trailer started slipping backwards.

“Aleisha was doing the winch and I called out to her to stop and jumped across the bonnet and opened the drivers’ side door to put my foot on the brake.

“But the car was in gear and the handbrake on, and I realized I wasn’t going to stop it that way.

“I thrashed around for a knife and found a filleting knife but by the time I cut the boat loose, it was too late.”

In fact, another boat owner who saw the whole thing, said the car and trailer was also pulling the boat down and as soon as the winch was cut loose, the boat sprang up and the car and trailer was lost.

Chris and Aleisha got safely out of the way, no one else was in the car, but it all happened so quickly there was certainly margin for tragedy.

A local kid ran across to Phillip Island Marine to alert them to the unfolding situation and they quickly scrambled into action with their tractor and a spare trailer, but the car had already gone by the time they arrived, and it was all they could do to retrieve the boat for the hapless couple.

One of the first things Noel Duffy of White Realm Diving did, an authorised mooring tackle and salvage expert, after he and his team recovered the boat trailer and HiLux, was to open the door and check on the gears and brakes.

“I can confirm that the handbrake was on, and the car was in gear,” he told the Sentinel-Times.

The car and trailer had indeed slid down the slippery boat ramp just as Chris Norman said it had.

Another local, “just call me Henry”, said there had been problems with algae and seaweed on the boat ramp for quite some time and he knew of four cars now that had come to grief including Chris’.

“This is the fourth time, they’ve got to do something about it,” he said.

They do. The Bass Coast Shire Council has been contacted for comment.

Phillip Island Councillor, Ron Bauer, arrived early on Thursday morning to survey the scene, and while he said he wouldn’t comment until the incident had been properly investigated, he said he was aware that the fishing community had its concerns.

The salvage of the car and trailer, and the clearing of the obstruction to use of the ramp was meticulous by the team from White Realm Diving, led by Noel Duffy and his daughter Alyssa, Jacob and their supporters.

Noel did most of the diving, to first release the trailer from the car, which was brought up first with the use of airbags.

Then the car came next, with an initial effort to pull it out unsuccessful and a couple of additional barrels needed, first submerged, attached to either side of the car, and then refloated with air from Noel’s scuba gear.

There was a cheer from the onlookers, and those waiting to launch their own boats on what looked to be a pristine day for fishing.

The incident happened at low tide on Wednesday, so the retrieval trailer and the car were at their closest point to the end of the ramp while attempting to pick up the boat.

But you can practically rule out driver error, given the experience of the boat owner.

Is there something fundamentally wrong with the boat ramp or is it a lack of maintenance? The authorities will have to get to the bottom of it before the next unsuspecting boatie does.

What the Bass Coast Shire had to say

Response from Acting CEO, Jodi Kennedy:

“The Rhyll Boat Ramp was designed and built in accordance with Australian Standards with grooves to reduce slipperiness and provide grip to boat trailers and cars.

“An additional 'scabbling' treatment was also applied. This ‘scabbling’ treatment roughens the concrete surface.

“Council is not aware of any other incidents of this nature at the Rhyll Boat Ramp.

“Our boat ramps are maintained on a cyclical schedule and the Rhyll Boat Ramp was pressure washed on 20 December 2023 in preparation for the busy Christmas period.

“Boat ramps by nature are submerged often. The tide on the day of this incident was particularly low and it follows that the surface exposed may have had more seaweed and algae build-up than parts of the ramp that are more regularly exposed.

“Boat users should always observe and assess the conditions prior to accessing the ramp. Boating Vic's website has up to date and useful information on safe boating.

“Thank you to those who attended the incident and ensured the safe retrieval of the vehicle and enabled the swift return to service of the boat ramp.”