Residents and tourists stranded in the bushfire-ravaged town of Mallacoota will have to wait until Friday morning to evacuate on board a naval ship that is docked off shore.

Key points: HMAS Choules will evacuate about 800 people on Friday morning

HMAS Choules will evacuate about 800 people on Friday morning It could be weeks before those who do not get evacuated can leave by road

It could be weeks before those who do not get evacuated can leave by road For the latest information, visit the Vic Emergency website

About 800 people are expected to board the HMAS Choules when the evacuations begin at 7:00am.

Premier Daniel Andrews said it may be necessary for the ship to make multiple journeys.

"Some people will want to go, some people will be happy to stay," he said.

There were hopes some of the most vulnerable people in Mallacoota could have been flown out this afternoon, but smoky conditions hindered those efforts.

About 4,000 people have been trapped in Mallacoota. ( Supplied: Sean Rainey )

About 3,000 tourists and 1,000 locals are stuck in Mallacoota as roads remain cut off after a fire tore through on New Year's Eve.

Elsewhere in East Gippsland, 17 people are still missing.

Smaller naval boats have arrived at the jetty at Bastion Point. ( ABC News: Elias Clure )

Trapped tourists can't get home

Samantha Corbett was visiting Mallacoota from Kyabram, in northern Victoria, with her extended family.

They rented two homes on the same street and had been looking forward to spending the week together.

Now, she just wants to get out before conditions worsen again on Saturday.

"At this stage we can't leave Mallacoota. Obviously if they're evacuating people we will put ourselves in for the register. But at this stage there is no way out," she said.

"If there is a possibility of getting out, then yep, I'm on the first boat that I can get myself and my family onto.

"But if not, my plan is to be on the waterfront."

She said the family was doing their best to be self-sufficient and not place additional stress on a town where so many people had lost everything.

"We brought a lot of stuff with us for the holiday house, so we're quite lucky about that," she said.

"We brought a lot of water. We're trying to be really smart about what we're using and how we're using it."

Homes and structures in Mallacoota have been reduced to twisted metal and ash. ( Facebook: Jason Selmes )

Evacuation plan based on ADF process

The evacuation is being coordinated by Victoria Police and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The Premier said people who wanted to leave were being encouraged to register through a formal process.

"People will be encouraged to register through a formal process, a well-established process that the ADF has used in many different parts of the world assisting with evacuating large numbers of people," Mr Andrews said.

Brigadier Doug Laidlaw said the current plan was to begin transferring people to HMAS Choules around 7:00am.

"An hour or so later hopefully the vessel will be in a position to sail," he said.

"The intent is to take those people to a Victorian port. As we understand more about the weather a decision will be made about whether that's Welshpool or Westernport and there are different considerations that apply to each."

HMAS Choules anchored about 1.5 kilometres off the Mallacoota shoreline this morning, loaded with supplies.

A second navy vessel, the MV Sycamore, has also arrived in the area to help.

Naval fast-recovery crafts have landed at a jetty at Bastion Point, from where emergency authorities will begin figuring out how to get people from hard-to-access parts of the town onto the boat.

HMAS Choules left Sydney on Wednesday, headed for Mallacoota. ( AAP: Benjamin Ricketts/Royal Australian Navy )

'I wouldn't mind some fresh air'

Deputy Emergency Management Commissioner Chris Stephenson said a number of people wanted to stay behind to get their cars and caravans out of town.

With roads blocked and fires still raging, he warned it "could be two or three weeks" before that was able to happen.

Francesca Winterson, who broadcasts from Mallacoota's local community radio station, said people were "starting to get incredibly anxious".

"Because they have been isolated for so long, but they have to accept that right at the moment there's absolutely nothing we can do," she said.

Tony Priest said he was waiting to be able to go home. ( ABC News )

Musician Tony Priest was visiting Mallacoota with his band when the fire approached.

"In the distant sky, seeing the red, sort of, glow approaching and then the ember attack. It was just terrifying," he said.

Now, like many people who were visiting Mallacoota and became stranded by the fire, he said he just wanted to go home.

"I wouldn't mind some fresh air," he said.

"It would be nice to go back home."

Locals prepare to stay in 'caring and resilient community'

The fire danger for most of Victoria is expected to worsen on Friday and Saturday, as hot and windy conditions return.

But resident Gayle Sands said she would stay in the town she called home, even if the option of evacuating was made available.

Her husband Peter decided to stay and defend their house as the fire closed in on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

"I am sitting at our house thanks to my husband's efforts at saving it," she said.

She said she could not sleep as the fire approached the town on Monday.

"We could see the glow of the fire getting closer and closer and in the end I decided I would evacuate to the hall," she said.

"I needed to relieve the tension of my three children who didn't think I should stay, knowing that their father is much stronger."

Her son-in-law, Nicholas, was defending his house in Mallacoota on his own.

"He and Peter had two-way radio communication, Nicholas was on his own and he saved so many places and he put out so many fires with a bucket of water," she said.

"I feel very positive that the network of the community is happening quickly.

"I am fairly confident we are a loving, caring and resilient community and we get through this."