JonD Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Sorry for the delay on our trip away, its taken a while to get a few pic's from my daughters computer. As usual managed to get stuffed up by bad weather. 3800km of driving through what seemed to be the longest amount of roadworks and speed restrictions I've ever seen. Once we reached our destination the forecast to reach the 76km offshore island looked pretty grim. With the boat ( 5.2m zodiac) loaded with 200lt of fuel, 100lt of water + enough food and camping gear ( + 4 people) for at least a week we were well loaded down especially considering the 15-20kt wind. Simply getting the boat onto the plane meant using the swell direction to gain speed before changing coarse for the offshore islands. Once we reached our destination we quickly set up camp before heading off to explore the coral reefs. We litrely had only gone 50m before finding 3 large sharks about 3m long cruising in just 1.5m of water. My daughter jumped in and my son flicked lures taking on the giant 1.5m garfish (needle fish) which seemed to spend as much time leaping out of the water as they did under the water (understandable when you see just how many sharks were in the area). With a good sized emperor caught dinner was sorted so back to camp we headed just on dark, must admit I didn't feel overly happy swimming back to shore after dropping the kids on the beach to anchor in deeper water. Next morning we sorted through our box of food for a big day on the water before heading out. With the wind still up around 10-15kts and a strong current I decided to pull some lures through a wild looking patch of water, this only took about 40m before my son was hooked into a solid little dogtooth tuna of around 8-10kg. After a battle trying to get his fish away from the shallow reef he eventually pulled the hook at the side of the boat ( probably a good thing with trebles and teeth in a rib). We managed a few good sized coral trout and got to see some more big sharks. At one point my daughter was filming a fat 2.5 m shark when she spotted a large manta ray at 25m deep, she managed to get some good footage and I even managed to get get down deep enough to photo bomb her shot. Morning two we got word of a weather change which was going to make our stay pretty uncomfortable, especially for anchoring the boat each night. With the weather already turning wet and the sea turning to white caps we decided to pull the pin and quickly pack up camp. The run back to the mainland was a little easier after ditching 100lt of drinking water and using 80lt of fuel during the trip out and the day before exploring, saying that we did have 76km of wind and rain to contend with. At one point I realised I had left my bungs in from the overnight anchoring meaning we were filling with water from breaking waves hitting us side on, once the bungs were out I was able to get back up to speed again (flat out). Three more days of driving to get back home feeling disappointed in the huge effort for just one full day on the water, I was saying never again but I soon got back to planning the next one. Didn't take many pics due to expecting to get another 5 days out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geshy Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raging Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 That's awesome. Any concerns about having enough fuel to get back if you did stay for a week ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 21 minutes ago, raging said: That's awesome. Any concerns about having enough fuel to get back if you did stay for a week ? We used 32lt on the run out there loaded with more weight. The plan had been to just mainly stay around the island mostly. I actually posted the above fuel wrong, we used 80lt there and back including the big day of exploring around. That gave us 100lt still available which is a safe 250km of running when the boat isn't loaded. I pretty much use 1lt per 3km. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raging Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 That makes sense now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papafish Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 nice trip.. but aint you guys scare of the shark?? i assume you guys dive down lol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Some nice fish to be caught there. I was up that way during winter, travelling the Qld coast from south to north in the caravan, and the wind was blowing most days on the coast. The locals said it is normally windy during winter, but this year it was windier than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 (edited) Thanks for the comments everyone. papafish no we don't normally have to many concerns with any sharks, we enjoy seeing them when we are in the water. I do sometimes get that creepy feeling diving at night after you get bumped by a big black ray. I struggle to get my daughter out of the water even when we have great whites around, she's see's them all as her pals. We see sharks a bit like that dog a kids runs from only to get chased and bitten, where the dog would happily great the person who doesn't panic and run. I see surfers a bit like the running child that provokes an attack, divers and spearfishers rarely have issues but see way more sharks. The abc currently have a thing on youths living in rural areas, they have to make a short video on what's good about living in such areas, this is my daughter's effort. Edited September 13, 2017 by JonD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigunner54 Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Amazing trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutsaboutfishing Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 That video is BRILLIANT!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Georgia sure has a talent for camera work . . . amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geshy Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 11 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said: That video is BRILLIANT!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledge Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Shame about the weather but such a great adventure! A trip like this has been on my bucket list for some time... hardest part is finding the mates and the resources to make it happen! Hope your kids know how lucky they are!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizza Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Your daughter is a female marine version of Steve Irwin,sharing a love a lot of us have.Apparently the mother ship of the WW2 mini subs from Japan holed up near Lady musgrave undetected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, wizza said: Your daughter is a female marine version of Steve Irwin,sharing a love a lot of us have.Apparently the mother ship of the WW2 mini subs from Japan holed up near Lady musgrave undetected. It's funny you mention the Irwin's as I'm heading up to their place at the weekend. My other daughter is as fanaticle about land animals as Georgia is about the marine side. This is the younger sister https://www.newidea.com.au/robert-irwin-shares-instagram-photo-of-rumoured-girlfriend Edited September 13, 2017 by JonD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaxland Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Thank you for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volitan Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 I love your daughters video. If she's experienced all that by age 16 then she's a lucky girl - and youre a great dad for giving her such great opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTIE 01 Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 wow what an amazing trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailcraft43 Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 (edited) Awsome video, better than some of the TV doco ones. was a great to watch. Edited September 13, 2017 by Trailcraft43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babboo Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Awesome kids mate, you must be a very proud Dad. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 wow!!!!! some amazing pics ther again, love them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rphi6876 Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 (edited) I normally cant be bothered to post-, but this thread inspired me to post for first time in 7 years of reading. Tell your daughter she is a LEGEND! Hopefully she will inspire more to follow in her path Edited September 14, 2017 by rphi6876 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaniSS Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Awesome trip. Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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