Australia Day celebrations see Mandurah Estuary filled with boats as Peel Water Police praise good behaviour

Mandurah drew a huge crowd as thousands took to the water to make the most of the warm Australia Day weather.

The Peel-Harvey Estuary was a hive of activity as a stream of traffic travelled along the foreshore and hundreds of boats, many decked out in flags, dropped anchor for the day.

People took to the water on anything that could float — from paddle boards, jet skis and kayaks to floating foam mats, flamingo pool floats and one man even motored around with a snorkel using a hand-held sea scooter.

One boat was so full of young people — standing everywhere from the bow to the roof — that the vessel itself was barely visible.

Large groups of boats sat rafted up together, with some enjoying the afternoon with an on-board barbeque or music, and others sitting back to enjoy the spectacle with a drink in hand.

For Peel Water Police, the public holiday is their busiest day of the year and their officers spent much of the day patrolling the estuary, with one boat needing to be pulled from shallow water early in the day.

Sgt Diana Flint said those on the estuary had been well-behaved.

“Everyone seems to be being respectful, behaving, it’s nice to see people out having a good time,” she said.

Sgt Flint said the late afternoon would bring with it a wind change and direction reversal in the tide, which could see the large number of rafted boats run into trouble.

“What happens is anchors cross, and then they become entangled and that’s difficult, because then you can’t pull your anchor chain up, and you need to be able to pull your chain out quickly, and separate,” she said.

Tightly packed boats could also spell trouble with the wind change — boats could collide and cause chaos.

Those not on the water watched from the shoreline on the western foreshore as they lazed on deck chairs and under gazebos, Aussie flags flying high.

The City of Mandurah hosted its citizenship ceremony in the morning under a large marquee overlooking the busy estuary.

Not far from where families made the most of the day, on the other side of the Mandurah Bridge, a red navigation marker was covered in sunflowers.

It marks the place where local women Deborah Burdon and Kylie Bazzo, the mother of West Coast Eagle Rhett Bazzo, were killed in a boat crash, almost one year to the day.

John Phillip Burdon, 47, who police allege was the skipper, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of unlawfully killing the women and will face a trial in November.

On the night of the crash — January 21 — Peel Water Police’s Senior Constable Shaun Ukich was called back into work after finishing his shift to help with the search for Ms Bazzo — whose body was eventually recovered the following night near Creery Island.

“It’s not something that normally happens,” Sen. Const. Ukich said.

The shock deaths saw a huge community outpouring of grief as hundreds farewelled Ms Bazzo in a memorial service at Rushton Park, including her son Rhett’s Eagle teammates.

Police at the time were investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the incident.

New marine drug and alcohol laws were introduced in December and will be rolled out in stages over the next year.

As of December 21, anyone navigating a vessel who causes a death while under the influence of drugs or alcohol faces up to 20 years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Department of Transport manager of compliance and investigations Peter Beattie confirmed no skippers had been charged with the new offences so far.

The next stage of the laws will come into effect in April and will allow DoT and WA Police officers to test skippers for drugs and alcohol.