Victoria’s thick bushfire smoke starts sinking boats

Gippsland Lakes-based Complete Boating Services has alerted boat owners to a string of failing bilge pumps – mainly on older boats – as solar panels, masked by heavy smoke from Victoria's East Gippsland bushfires, fail to keep batteries fully charged.

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Owner Peter Medling said his business had been called out to rescue a number of swamping boats over the last few weeks, including “a few” yesterday – the same day that Melbourne recorded the world's worst air quality as smoke filled the city.

“With the current bushfire smoke situation here at present, solar panels are not receiving much sun or radiation to keep batteries charged up,” he said.

“So batteries are getting low and in some cases going flat and not keeping bilge pumps working.”

“So please, if you can check out your setup and make sure all is good – a sunken boat is not a great way to start the year off.”

Part of Paynesville's problem is that many boat owners do not live in the town, and are not there to regularly check and maintain boats left on the water to ensure that bilge pumps are operating effectively and keeping older vessels afloat.

Paynesville has been shrouded in smoke since bushfires broke out in the eastern part of Victoria late last year, with the fire risk over the Christmas/New Year period forcing the State Government to declare a state emergency during the region’s busiest time for tourists.

However, the threat has abated, with the region now declaring its doors have reopened.

The Gippsland Lakes area is still gearing up for the Paynesville Classic Boat Rally, which this year kicks off from Saturday, February 29 to Sunday, March 1.

The rally is expected to attract more than 300 classic boats, including

The event includes a grand parade of all the boats on the Saturday.