Paul Mervyn Gendre, 61, had travelled through Wodonga, to Dartmouth, in July last year.

The Camberwell resident set off from the shore about 12.30pm on July 6 and was found dead, floating face down in the water, by fishermen five days later.

A toxicology result showed he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.23, which a doctor found may have contributed to the circumstances leading to his death.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson recently found Mr Gendrea, a father to three daughters and a grandfather, had drowned in unclear circumstances that were preventable.

Ms Jamieson said it was possible he had had a medical episode or was affected by alcohol, lost balance and fell into the water, before succumbing to hypothermia and drowning.

The incident most likely occurred the same day Mr Gendrea set off in his four horsepower Coleman scanoe, which he had owned for about 26 years.

The throttle was seized in the full fuel position, which suggested it was likely running at full throttle at the time of the incident. 

“A number of safety issues appear to have contributed to Mr Gendre’s death, including the absence of a personal flotation device, an elevated blood alcohol level and boating alone,” the coroner found

“Incidental breaches of regulation, including an unregistered scanoe and the lack of a recreational boating licence also reflect a lack of safety-related education on Mr Gendre’s part and should appropriately be included as possible contributing factors.”

Leading Senior Constable Neville Barrow said the weather in the week before his death “was one of the worst recorded in the Lake Dartmouth area for some time”.

He believed the scanoe would have been dangerously overloaded and a bystander said the vessel appeared to be “an accident waiting to happen”.

Another officer noted safety signs at the lake were hard to understand.

Signage expert Rob Andronaco noted there were no standards for cold water warnings but said the driver of behavioural change was the fear of consequences.

The coroner urged Goulburn Murray Water to erect additional signage near the boat ramp.