Man dies, stepson and teenage boy survive Woodside boat tragedy

A father of seven is the fifth person to drown in Victorian waters in a week, prompting calls for authorities to be on high alert this weekend as temperatures soar.

Terry Chandler was celebrating his 42nd birthday when he and two family members were flung from their tinnie in the waters off Woodside in South Gippsland.

A father of seven who drowned after his boat capsized off the coast of South Gippsland is the fifth person to die in Victorian waters in a week.

His death comes as authorities warn they will be will be on high alert to respond to calls for help this weekend as high temperatures hit the state and people flock to the beach.

Terry Chandler was celebrating his 42nd birthday with a fishing trip with his teenage stepson Noah and a young family friend when they were all thrown from their tinnie at Jack Smith Beach near Woodside in the early hours of Wednesday.

The younger males managed to swim back to shore but Mr Chandler, a dairy milker, did not make it and his body was later recovered by the police air wing near McLoughlins Beach.

Terry Chandler.

His sister, Kerryl-Lee Chandler, said he was a wonderful father, uncle and brother. “Terry was always the life of the party,” she said.

“He loved to fish, to camp, to four-wheel-drive, and he had an amazing ability to get cars back working.

“He had a wicked sense of humour and was always joking and laughing.”

Mr Chandler’s death comes after four people died in Victoria’s waters last Wednesday.

Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville urged swimmers to take their own safety seriously, with Victoria in the middle of one of its worst periods for drownings.

“These are preventable deaths,” she said. “Don’t drink and go on a boat, or go swimming. Make sure you’re always there with someone else so there’s someone there to assist you,” she said.

“With toddlers, please don’t take your eyes off them, they can drown in the smallest amount of water.”

Mother of four Aida Hamed, 45, drowned after being swept off the rocks with friends at Bushrangers Bay near Flinders last Wednesday.

Her female friend, aged 43, and two teenage girls survived the ordeal after brave bystanders jumped in to save them.

In Venus Bay, science teacher Lisa Mandeltort, 29, drowned after rushing into the water to save a struggling teen the same day.

Ms Mandeltort, who taught at Nossal High School in Berwick, was pulled from the ocean by an off-duty lifeguard but could not be saved.

A four-year-old girl also died after being pulled unconscious from Lysterfield Lake last Wednesday. And a man aged in his 80s was found deceased in the water at Rye front beach the same day.

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Originally published as Man dies, stepson and teenage boy survive Woodside boat tragedy