Mr Wood made the comment after police dissauded a group of boaters from leaving the Warrnambool boat ramp on Monday.

He said the group’s boating inexperience was obvious because of the difficulty it had in launching and retrieving the vessel.

The boaters were also about to head out into rough seas where a four metre swell was running when police intervened, Mr Wood said.

He said police were at the Warrnambool breakwater because of concerns about another incident where a small yacht had capsized and had seen the difficulty the group having difficulties.

Mr Wood said wave action made the ramp near the Warrnambool breakwater dangerous at times and inexperienced boaters should use ramps on the Hopkins River that were safer.

“They (Warrnambool council) have to fix the Warrnambool ramp,” Mr Wood said.

On other local water safety matters, Mr Wood said he had been told one jet ski user was likely to have recently exceeded the five knot speed limit when skiing in the Warrnambool harbour.

A five knot speed limit applies to jet skis when being used near other vessels, swimmers or fixed or floating objects. However Mr Wood said he knew of no other breaches and boaters in local waters had generally been well behaved.

Jet skis cannot be operated on shore side of yellow buoys in Lady Bay.

Transport Safety Victoria has also warned it is currently undertaking an increased focus on maritime safety in south-west Victoria.

TSV waterway safety officers are coordinating with police patrols to tackle unsafe behaviour and issue fines to those who flout the rules. 

Among the rules they will be enforcing is the wearing of life jackets, in good working condition, when people are required to do so.