Two paddleboarders were rescued on Christmas Day after being swept more than 10 kilometres across Port Phillip Bay in a three-hour ordeal. Victoria Police reported that the pair, a 51-year-old woman and her 17-year-old stepson, set out from Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula around 3pm but drifted out into the bay when conditions deteriorated, eventually reaching Wyndham Harbour in Melbourne's outer west.
The alarm was raised by their family just after 5pm, prompting a search involving ground police, air wing officers, Life Saving Victoria, and Queenscliff coast guards. At about 6.20pm, the police helicopter spotted the pair lying on their paddleboards and waving for assistance. They were not wearing lifejackets but were uninjured, though exhausted and cold.
In a statement released through police, the pair expressed gratitude for their rescue, saying: 'We are so grateful for the outcome but still trying to come to terms with how quickly a beautiful, carefree afternoon turned into an almost tragedy. We are exhausted, very shaken and feel so lucky we were able to stay together.'
The incident was one of three separate potential drownings on Christmas Day in Victoria. In another, a kayaker was rescued at Lake King in Paynesville after being missing for two hours, and in a third, a mother and her two teenage daughters were winched to safety near Corinella after being swept from shore while trying to retrieve an adrift kayak.
