tigermullet
18-01-2009, 10:34 PM
Ten days ago a friend and I decided to try to hang out with the wealthy boaties in Tiger Mullet channel. In order to blend in we rafted up like so many of them do.
Didn't work and we were ignored by one and all. Fair enough I suppose - he forgot the Chardonnay and my wife wouldn't let me take the little white doggy along. Beer on the back deck just doesn't cut it apparently, especially if your boat can lower the tone of any anchorage.
However, we did have a peaceful time for 24 hours until a mini gin palace came steaming down the channel flat out and generating a bow wave worthy of the name, 'Freak wave'.
Trying to stop several tons of boat coming together under such conditions is almost impossible. Seven plump fenders certainly didn't do the job. After a few bruises, lots of swearing and a couple of hundred dollars damage we settled down and set off in the dinghy to do a bit of yabbying near the northern tip of South Stradbroke.
Just as we were approaching the island a semi rigid, inflatable Water Police vessel crossed our bows and, at the same time, we spotted the offending mini gin palace doing fancy high speed turns about three hundred metres to the north.
My mate decided to give the Water Police a 'heads up'. They took note and headed off to have a yarn with the skipper.
After half an hour yabbying we got back in the dinghy just in time to see the Water Police zooming south followed by the mini gin palace also tracking south
along the island at a very slow pace. No wash.
He must have been blind and hard of hearing because he didn't return our cheerful waves and shouted greetings.
All of which just goes to show that my New Year's resolution of being very nice to Fisheries, Marine Parks, Water Police and other assorted arseholes has paid off.;D
Didn't work and we were ignored by one and all. Fair enough I suppose - he forgot the Chardonnay and my wife wouldn't let me take the little white doggy along. Beer on the back deck just doesn't cut it apparently, especially if your boat can lower the tone of any anchorage.
However, we did have a peaceful time for 24 hours until a mini gin palace came steaming down the channel flat out and generating a bow wave worthy of the name, 'Freak wave'.
Trying to stop several tons of boat coming together under such conditions is almost impossible. Seven plump fenders certainly didn't do the job. After a few bruises, lots of swearing and a couple of hundred dollars damage we settled down and set off in the dinghy to do a bit of yabbying near the northern tip of South Stradbroke.
Just as we were approaching the island a semi rigid, inflatable Water Police vessel crossed our bows and, at the same time, we spotted the offending mini gin palace doing fancy high speed turns about three hundred metres to the north.
My mate decided to give the Water Police a 'heads up'. They took note and headed off to have a yarn with the skipper.
After half an hour yabbying we got back in the dinghy just in time to see the Water Police zooming south followed by the mini gin palace also tracking south
along the island at a very slow pace. No wash.
He must have been blind and hard of hearing because he didn't return our cheerful waves and shouted greetings.
All of which just goes to show that my New Year's resolution of being very nice to Fisheries, Marine Parks, Water Police and other assorted arseholes has paid off.;D