Boat users want plans for a spur off Warrnambool's Breakwater fast-tracked saying the wave surge still makes it too dangerous to launch vessels.
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They say a new boat ramp is never going to solve the problem and a spur or enclosed harbour is the only solution.
Tammy Good, who took her boat out into the bay on Saturday, said the dredging, which was still under way, hadn't made any difference at all and wouldn't.
She said a spur at the end of the breakwater was the only thing that was going to stop the swell.
Rodney Blake said what Better Boating Victoria had proposed to build was never going to do anything to harness the swell but said the structural rebuild was "fantastic".
"Now we just want to highlight that they've still got the original problem of surge and swell at the boat ramp, but we need to get going on stage two really quickly before any more people damage their vehicles," he said.
Mr Blake said he didn't launch his boat there on the day the boat ramp opened to the public because it was too dangerous.
He said he raised his concerns with Better Boat Victoria director Katherine Grech on Thursday, and with the city council.
He said it seemed the ramp was "no better".
Mr Blake said the alarm bells should be raised and council should get things moving on the next step which would hopefully be building a spur off the breakwater and possibly an enclosed harbour.
He said it seemed the ramp was "no better" and feared it might even be worse.
Mr Blake said the alarm bells should be raised and council should get things moving on the next step which would hopefully be building the spur off the breakwater and possibly the enclosed harbour.
Steve Tippet labelled the new boat ramp a "huge disappointment".
"Where's the improvement? It's the same size. It's the same everything," he said.
Peter Sandow, who has been fishing off Warrnambool for 32 years, said a lot boats on the weekend went in but he wasn't one of them.
"You've still got the surge running up the ramp. It's made no difference whatsoever, even with the dredging," he said.
"The surge is exactly the same.
"I don't fish at the moment. On a flat day you'd go in but not when there is any swell or anything, you'd be too worried about damage to your car or boat."
Dredging is expected to continue in Lady Bay to help reduce wave action until mid-December before being paused over Christmas.
Ms Grech said BBV's attention would now turn to how wave energy could be further reduced at the ramp and was working with the council.
Mr Blake said there was talk about putting permanent structures on the seabed to lessen the impact of the waves. But he said they wouldn't work with the southern ocean swell.
Original plans for a world-first porous boat ramp that may have helped address the wave surge were scrapped in favour of an "agreed" non-porous design.
Mr Blake said that with no lighting at the ramp and piers, there were boats launching in the dark at the weekend which was also a safety issue.
Mr Sandow said with so many boats and trailers parked at the breakwater on Saturday, there was little room for anyone to park and called on council to get moving the proposed extension. "We're not getting smaller, we're getting bigger and we are getting less space to park," he said.
The council was contacted for comment but did not respond.
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