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New Years Eve On The Harbour


Flightmanager

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Got a phone call on Tuesday from Stumpy , which went something along these lines :

" Hey Dude , you coming out to watch the fireworks with us on NYE?"

" Ah , not sure , had we pre arranged this? Better talk to Mrsflightmanager"

" Just did that , she said talk to you"

" OK , I guess we are going then !!"

Went to work on Wednesday morning , then home at lunchtime , packed the boat , hooked her up to the trailer and off we went.

Got to Kissing Point Ramp , and every available parking space was taken ( mostly by single vehicles :ranting2: ) Put the boat into the water , and as I was about to try and find parking , a spot became available. I proceeded to get the spot , like all sane , safe , rational boaters do :

FLAT OUT !!

Having taken care of that little problem , we headed down the Parramatta River, which was a little lumpy due to the easterly wind that was blowing at about 14 knots. We were in a convoy of about 6 boats of all sizes , and making 15 knots until we got past Cabarita , then there were several Maritime vessels displaying 6 KNOT placards. That slowed us all down , then we proceeded at a much more sedate pace , under the bridge , and towards our final destination, Bradleys Head.

After establishing communications with Stumpy , we foolishly relied on him to tell us exactly where he was. ( For more information on Murrays Navigational skills , see the post from the 2007 Back To The Bay Social).

After a short time ( and several phone calls ) , we arrived at our spot for the evening!! Rafted the 2 boats together , and set up everything for the evenings festivities.

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As it was quite warm, Murray and his lovely companion Lisa deemed the time was right for a swim.

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Getting into the water was one thing , getting the pair of them out again was another matter !!

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After a quick patch up on Lisa's knee ( oyster cuts) we made the awful discovery that there was not enough beer :1yikes: . It was quickly decided that Lisa , Brett and I would zip over to Watsons Bay to remedy the situation. After much discussion on the best way to untie a Tree Loppers knot ( ask Murray for details) , we set sail , and in the 2 mile crossing , managed to lose all 3 of our caps overboard !! ( Something to do with the awesome power of the Etec so Im told !!).

Managed to return to Bradleys Head without further incident , and rafted the 2 vessels together again.The sun was slowly starting to set , and there was much eating , drinking and raucous merriment aboard Day Release and UpYaGo !!

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As can be seen from the above pics , there were a lot of boats about , but we each had plenty of room around our vessels .The NSWFB boat even made an appearance !

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After dark , there was even time for a little fishing to while away the hours until the 9PM fireworks display. Only small trevs , but a lot of fun nonetheless !!

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The 9 PM fireworks were quite spectacular , unfortunately someone had changed the settings on the camera , so if you are in the middle of an Acid Trip flashback , these will look quite OK. If not , use your imaginations !!

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Time for a few more drinks and munchies before the main event :

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Sadly, a very early morning start and no sleep took its toll on me , and I lost consciousness before the main fireworks at Midnight , and slept right through them !! Oh well there is always next year !!

Id like to say a big thank you to Murray and Lisa for hhelping making NYE 2008 so memorable !!

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Ross

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Hope you remembered to untie those boats mate. Those evil twins would have had a hard time fighting the awesome power that is ETEC eh!

:1prop:

Yes, the power of the E-TEC. Once you open up the E-TEC for the 1st time, you are never the same again :074:

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After establishing communications with Stumpy , we foolishly relied on him to tell us exactly where he was. ( For more information on Murrays Navigational skills , see the post from the 2007 Back To The Bay Social).

After a short time ( and several phone calls ) , we arrived at our spot for the evening!! Rafted the 2 boats together , and set up everything for the evenings festivities.

Ross

Ohhh dear dear dear ..........................I dissapear for a while and all of a sudden you come up with smart cracks about my navigational skills.Well, its obvious that Fishraider need me back to set the moral standard of truth telling and non embellished stories, so I might aswell start here.

We shall start where you give me the phone call to say your under the harbour bridge and we shall communicate on channel 96 for finer directions. I do believe that the reason you COULD NOT HEAR ME on the radio , thus relying on PHONES was that your aerial ( being a coathanger shaped into an outline of Australia) wasnt recieving, only sending ! Well....................DER ! :tease:

The fact that I never know wheather to tell you to head right or left, is simply because I dont know if you want to know Your left heading towards me, or My left watching you head towards me. And what idiot knows where North is when your surrounded by thousands of boats ???? :ranting2:

Anyhow........ We had a good trip out heading from Roseville, and its literally been 12 months since Day Release has been in the water ! (Thats what a divorce does to you !) I had the twins serviced the week before and I was anxious to see how they went. Well they certainly went well. All was great, my partner was beaming and I was feeling quite cocky. Unfortunately I came back to reality when I accidently forgot to notice this small wave ahead that was rolling off the back of a rather large ferry................ I had no idea that you could get a 24ft bertie fully airborn :1yikes:

So......... we putted rather slowly around to near Athol Bay, and met Ross and tribe for a totally brilliant night. Paris and Lisa took over Day Release and danced the night away, whilst us more mature folk told tall tales and did some serious gossip catching up !

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You are just toooooo smooth Paris!

Well, the 9pm fireworks came upon us and they were great.... Lots of oos and ahhhs and its an experience that you have to see for yourself. 12 pm was coming fast and, well, that was it for Ross. His head slowly dropped and it was lights out for him. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING was going to wake him up ! errrrrrrr, trust me, we tried........hehehehe!

12pm came and the fireworks certainly impressed again! we all got mushy, cuddled and kissed everyone on board, made New Years Eves promises(I stopped smoking for 8 minutes) and ever so slowly went to bed.

We had a little drama around 4am though. I was woken to a scream of abuse from the boat next door and could hear the police helicopter right over our boat! I jumped out of the cabin only to realise it was just Ross snoring (And keeping 1500 other boaties awake.)I was going to tell him to roll over but he would have gone into the drink so we just threw a sleeping bag over his head and left him outside! The noise stopped and we all went to bed :thumbup:

All in all, a great night...........Thanks Ross and tribe :thumbup::thumbup:

oh yeah, 1 more little thing to clear up................

Boofhead, I do believe that the pic below is Ross working on his ETEC ! It seems that my Evil Twins were used to JUMPSTART the ETEC ! So, I am not too sure about the awesome power of the ETEC........... actually, a warmed up fart would have had more power than Ross's baby :biggrin2:

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SHITBOX !!!! hehehe

Sorry...............................

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I couldnt help myself! hehehehe

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Actually , nothing wrong with the Etec , just the batteries !! Never lose a chance to show less fortunate folk how nice the Etec looks on the inside !! :074:

We had a little drama around 4am though. I was woken to a scream of abuse from the boat next door and could hear the police helicopter right over our boat! I jumped out of the cabin only to realise it was just Ross snoring (And keeping 1500 other boaties awake.)I was going to tell him to roll over but he would have gone into the drink so we just threw a sleeping bag over his head and left him outside! The noise stopped and we all went to bed

Completely untrue , dear reader !! This is actually Murrays entry in the Annual " Worst Piece Of Short Fiction Created By An Envious Mercury Owner " Competition . He received a Highly Commended Award for last years effort , we all wish him well in this years competition !! ( Personally , I hope he gets the Most Improved Award ). :thumbup:

It was a great night out , with many hilarious moments , look forward to doing it all again next year !

Ross

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A real ETEC devotee would have pull started it !!! Just wrap a rope round the prop and .......... Ya whooosss

I actually think he is kissing it goodnight but was just using the battery excuse so he didn't sound too weird or was he sneaking a quicksnort of XD100?

It is so good out there when you don't enounter idiots that wreck your night. Glad the weather was good and the idiots few and far between. You are right it is so much better policed and organised but was always used to be good when people showed common sense. Too many old experiences of pissed people and dragging anchors a couple of years in arow but might do it next year if weather looks good or will if it looks a bit horrible to keep some crowds away.

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It's good to see old mates getting out together again, and being out there on the Harbour, what a terrific way to see the fireworks display and enjoy the city lights while welcoming the start of the New Year .

Good boat that Bertram Stumpy and it seems Upyago has a lot going for it in that it has an Etec on it and it seems to float which mind you is quite an important factor in a boat :D Hope to hear much more from you in the near future Stumpy, the forums haven't been quite the same without your input and humour.

I hope you all have a happy and prosperous year for 2009. :thumbup:

Cheers

jewgaffer :1fishing1:

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For Gods Sakes Byron, Don't encourage him!

Just when I was starting to get some serious fishing tips by reading valuable posts. Now its gonna be a waste of time as I'll spend my browsing time reading Stumpys antics.

(Good to see ya back mate, missed your input but don't tell anyone or I'll have to send the Etec boys around to sort you out proper)

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Pel , I am soooo busted!! Nothing like a quick snort of XD100 to clear those morning after cobwebs !! ( Cant get off on the exhaust smell as it doesnt have any!!)

Ross

There were no exhaust fumes as you couldnt start your engine Ross , remember ........................hehehehe :074:

It is so good out there when you don't enounter idiots that wreck your night. Glad the weather was good and the idiots few and far between. You are right it is so much better policed and organised but was always used to be good when people showed common sense. Too many old experiences of pissed people and dragging anchors a couple of years in arow but might do it next year if weather looks good or will if it looks a bit horrible to keep some crowds away.

You are soooo right Pelican, last year it was exactly as you said.......... dragged anchors everywhere, idiots all but running into you...... This year was so much easier. Last year I had 2 beers all night because I was that concerned. Mabe the fact that I was parked at a different part of the harbour. Most people tended to be a little easier on the aggression. I actually thought it was less crowded this year too !

Cheers,

Stumpy.

(My first responsible post this year........or 2!)

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sounds like a great time was had by all..

those f/w pics sure are trippy though :wacko: ...

welcome back muzz, has not been the same without your witty input around here thats for sure..

good to see you have moved on and a smile on ya dial after the D.

cheers...steve.......

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