A few weeks slipped by as we enjoyed our visit to Townsville, a magical place with free public swimming pools and the entire shoreline of town a series of parks, with free electrical BBQ and clean beaches. While we were there the wind kicked up pretty good causing a few boats to drag anchor and "go walkabout", Arete held tight.... I made a few new friends in the "duck pond" and enjoyed a few sundowners on other yachts, sharing some Arete Super #1 Lager Beer...
We made plans to buddy sail to Zoe Bay a couple days before the full moon, at 10:oo pm the night before we were to leave, the toilet stopped flushing...I spent the next two days learning a great deal more about marine toilets in the process of replacing mine...$300 later we have a new electric toilet and the winds had changed to a Nor'easter...We missed our chance at Zoe Bay but sailed around Magnetic Island and through Halifax Bay back to Horseshoe Bay to meet up with Matt on Aventure. Matt sailed out from Seattle, we know each other from Brisbane and he's also lived in Japan for many years...The day after the full moon party on Arete we weighed anchor and pointed our catamaran south, heading back to Brisbane...We are now in Airlie Beach after a nights at Cape Bowling Green, Cape Upstart and Bowen...
Sailing south in the Nor'easterly winds is a lot different than going the other way in the SE trade winds, first of all they are lighter winds and they blow you onto the lee shore, so you are constantly tacking out around headlands...It makes 40 miles into a long, tiring day...One morning just an hour after sunrise, just coming out around the headland of Cape Upstart, with an incoming tide,...I had the main sail up and the motors running, sailing just off the wind trying to put some blue water between us and the giant rocky shore of Cape Upstart before turning the boat down wind for a broad reach south to Bowen.....Bang...ZZZZZZzzzzzz the Penn reel was screaming...I knew it was a good fish from the power it had in it's first run of the line....After a long fight I got the fish to the back steps of my catamaran and he spit the hook and swam away.....I was crushed, losing a fish like that, so close but no cigar....I put the lure back in and secured the rod and just as I walked away Bang again...This time I brought him aboard....It was 142 cm long or 4 feet 7 inches... Wahoo is a good eating game fish...That night anchored near the town of Bowen Triple J FM played the John Butler Trio concert live as we ate Wahoo cooked with garlic and butter. I really like his music, a bit like Jack Johnson with some hot guitar work...
Not a lot of other excitement, we did see another huge sea snake in Abbot's Bay, way offshore in just about the exact same place I saw one on the way North( the only ones I've seen , ever!)...We had a brown Boobie bird that would not leave us alone, he landed on Arete about ten times....as we sailed along 4 or 5 miles offshore. That is a big sea bird with a three foot wingspan and a powerful bill, I was not real crazy about cleaning up after that big beast and he was not wanting to leave the friendly confines of Arete so I'd shooo him off one side and he'd fly around to the other side...It was like a comedy routine...
Funny how things go... I don't troll lures when we have fish in the fridge and as soon as I caught that big Wahoo, I had yellowtail Tuna jumping next to Arete all day... just like seeing deer out of season....
The winds are forecast to change in a couple days and then we'll cruise through the Whitsunday Islands...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Magical Magnetic Island & Terrific Townsville…
What is the perfect size town or city to live in??? I’d think it would need to be big enough to have pro sports teams, get good concerts but still have a small town feel and be a safe community. I think Townsville rocks !!! Home of The Cowboys a Rugby League team that was one win away from another Grand Final berth again this year.( For those of you in the USA not knowing what Rugby League is…try to imagine NFL football without any pads, no stops in play, and a tackling style that remind me of steer-wrestling) Also home of The Croc’s a professional Basketball team in the NBL, of course it’s not the NBA level but “I wouldn’t live in Cleveland just to watch Labron play anyways”.
Jupiters Casino is next to the Townsville Entertainment Center right in front of the “duck pond” a free anchorage right outside the marina breakwater in the center of town…”gotta love it"…(see photo)
Magnetic Island is about 8 miles offshore from Townsville, we spent a week in Horseshoe Bay, I’d say it is almost a perfect anchorage. We were able to get wireless internet in the bay though no cell phone reception. We were lucky enough to catch the “Bay Day” a jazz festival, a great day of live jazz on the beach. One afternoon we went out for a day sail, just put the sails up and tacked straight out towards the GBR ahhhh…perfect… I had the lures trolling behind and bang !!!! Fish on !!! It didn’t feel like a Tuna they have their own feel, as I brought the fish closer to the back step I saw it was a shark, yuck!!!
It was a pretty damn big shark too with one of my best lures in his mouth. I live on the water and spend a lot of time in it too, so have come up with a theory that if I don’t kill or eat sharks they will show me the same respect. Now how can I get my lure back safely? Well getting a treble hook with barbs dislodged from a swimming shark on a boat sailing 5~6 knots ain’t easy…A new Repella rattler lure is about $25. and I’m not going to give one of my best lures to a damn shark!!! End of story…
Another beautiful afternoon we hiked up to the Forts, these forts were built to defend Townsville from the Japanese in WW2. On the hike we saw a couple Koala bears sleeping in the trees. It was our first experience to see Koalas in the wild;( see photo) they are surprisingly cute and have great expressions on their faces. On the way down we saw some Wallabies bouncing along the path and as we walked back towards Horseshoe Bay the full moon rose giving Magnetic Island a truly magical feel.
As for us right now we have a few things to sort out here in port, a small tear in the mainsail, leaky pump in the head, a few new books to read, re-stocking of fishing supplies and of course a chance to try my luck at the tables at Jupiters Casino coinciding with the happy hour drink prices…
What is the perfect size town or city to live in??? I’d think it would need to be big enough to have pro sports teams, get good concerts but still have a small town feel and be a safe community. I think Townsville rocks !!! Home of The Cowboys a Rugby League team that was one win away from another Grand Final berth again this year.( For those of you in the USA not knowing what Rugby League is…try to imagine NFL football without any pads, no stops in play, and a tackling style that remind me of steer-wrestling) Also home of The Croc’s a professional Basketball team in the NBL, of course it’s not the NBA level but “I wouldn’t live in Cleveland just to watch Labron play anyways”.
Jupiters Casino is next to the Townsville Entertainment Center right in front of the “duck pond” a free anchorage right outside the marina breakwater in the center of town…”gotta love it"…(see photo)
Magnetic Island is about 8 miles offshore from Townsville, we spent a week in Horseshoe Bay, I’d say it is almost a perfect anchorage. We were able to get wireless internet in the bay though no cell phone reception. We were lucky enough to catch the “Bay Day” a jazz festival, a great day of live jazz on the beach. One afternoon we went out for a day sail, just put the sails up and tacked straight out towards the GBR ahhhh…perfect… I had the lures trolling behind and bang !!!! Fish on !!! It didn’t feel like a Tuna they have their own feel, as I brought the fish closer to the back step I saw it was a shark, yuck!!!
It was a pretty damn big shark too with one of my best lures in his mouth. I live on the water and spend a lot of time in it too, so have come up with a theory that if I don’t kill or eat sharks they will show me the same respect. Now how can I get my lure back safely? Well getting a treble hook with barbs dislodged from a swimming shark on a boat sailing 5~6 knots ain’t easy…A new Repella rattler lure is about $25. and I’m not going to give one of my best lures to a damn shark!!! End of story…
Another beautiful afternoon we hiked up to the Forts, these forts were built to defend Townsville from the Japanese in WW2. On the hike we saw a couple Koala bears sleeping in the trees. It was our first experience to see Koalas in the wild;( see photo) they are surprisingly cute and have great expressions on their faces. On the way down we saw some Wallabies bouncing along the path and as we walked back towards Horseshoe Bay the full moon rose giving Magnetic Island a truly magical feel.
As for us right now we have a few things to sort out here in port, a small tear in the mainsail, leaky pump in the head, a few new books to read, re-stocking of fishing supplies and of course a chance to try my luck at the tables at Jupiters Casino coinciding with the happy hour drink prices…
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