MOST youngsters like to think their parents are invincible, but in the Russell household there was a favourite family story about the day dad walked on water to save two of his children.
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The story is all the more amazing when told by 93-year-old Jim Russell who just three when he was saved by his father James, who could not swim, from the ill-fated Nestor which sank on the Hopkins River on January 9, 1921.
"We always used to say he walked on water, because he couldn't swim," Mr Russell joked.
"He did a marvellous job, all he could do was tread water as fast as he could.
"A lot of good swimmers lost their lives on account of all the commotion.
"We were lucky to come out of it alive."
With 10 lives lost, the sinking was a tragedy for Warrnambool and the state's worst ferry disaster.
At the time of her death earlier this month, it was believed 97-year-old Janet Glass Dickson was the last living survivor but a call to The Standard by Mr Russell's daughter Maria revealed at least one more living link to the event.
Historians also believe there may be another unknown living survivor who was just three-months-old at the time of the sinking.
Mr Russell, who still lives in Warrnambool, was on the Nestor with his older sister Mary who was six at the time.
Because he was so young at the time, Mr Russell doesn't remember much about the trip along the Hopkins which could have easily ended his life but he remembers hearing stories about the day told by his father over a pint at the pub.
"Everybody was expecting great things and a good trip," he said.
"We were going to Jubilee Park for the afternoon and then coming back again, but that didn't happen."
Though he survived unscathed, Mr Russell said he had never really been too fond of boating trips since.
"I like to feel the ground under my feet," he joked.
The father-of-six will celebrate his 94th birthday on July 15.
