The call of the Sea!

[Skoshi Tiger]

“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

And so I found myself with long service leave on my side and the start of the “Cray” (Note- Crayfish colloquial for the Western Rock Lobster) season at hand. And so the quest for the ‘Great White Gray” begins!

Today I found myself draw inexplicably to the local fish market and left with 15 Kilograms of prime ripe fish heads and frames for bait. The last week or so have been devoted to getting My pots and boat in order or the endeavor!

Damn the kids education, as I’ve taken them out of school for the next eight days and I’m dragging them kicking and screaming to our Holiday house at Ledge Point. The sea and life will be their education for the next week or so as they roam the windy, tick infested sand dunes and scrub that boarders the great expanse of the Indian Ocean in our location!

So yesterday I left a “Gone Fishin’ ” sign on my Pigeon Hole at work and early tomorrow I’ll be heading up with the family to catch a Crayfish!

[Feathered_IV]

Nice! Perfect time of year for it too. Hope you get a basket full.
Extra marks for STC btw. I enjoyed that. :)

[baronWastelan]

I was just thinking the other day, that all the oceans are connected and therefore are one body of water. That info could come in handy for someone looking to move something very large from one part of the world to another.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Well,

Bit of a disapointing trip catch wise with only one size Crayfish landed (At great personal peril due to inclement weather), but it's the thrill of the chase that's important! (Bloody crayfish! The pots were stuffed with undersized ones and unfortunately the fisheries officers over here are a force to be reconed with!

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b423/Skoshi_Tiger/DSC_0033.jpg
"You lucky little B.......! It's back in the water with you!"

The kakka (undersized crayfish) shown was only a millimetre too small to keep! Most of the other kakkas were just under! :(

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b423/Skoshi_Tiger/DSC_0037.jpg

"I went out in a twenty five knot wind with two metre swell for this?"

Basically we only had four days out of the eight that we could get the boat in the water. Lots of 5:00am starts. But the rest of the trip and time with the family was very enjoyable!

Cheers!

[swiss]

no pics of the boat?

Thx for reporting btw. :)

[Skoshi Tiger]

no pics of the boat?

Thx for reporting btw. :)

Ooops! Sorry!

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b423/Skoshi_Tiger/olympus021.jpg

A very modest, 4.6 Metre center console hull (80's vintage) with a brand new 50HP motor (14.5 hours on the clock! You need a motor that starts when you turn the key!!!!! The last engine had some issues! )

2 meter swells don't sound like much until your in a small boat.

The photo's taken on the East side of Lancelin Island (A nature reserve - it's a pitty because I'm sure the place is crawling with crayfish!!!!!) A very beautiful little island about 700 metres of the Lancelin, Western Australia. The bay is surrounded by reef and is very sheltered.

Took the kids and wife for a fish inside the reef on Wednesday and popped over to the island for a look around! You wouldn't pick it from the look, but the RAAF fairly leveled it during WWII for bombing practice! Theres a sign = "stay on the marked tracks" - "unexploded bomb risk!"

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b423/Skoshi_Tiger/IMAG0456.jpg

Cheers

[Ataros]

Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring if you live in Moscow in this time of year :)

[SlipBall]

I hope your family had a great time Skoshi, here we are having 6 ft. swells as well...so no go to work day :)

[Skoshi Tiger]

It's funny really.

If the wind had been from the East it would have put a completely different complection on the matter. It would had held up the faces of the waves and there would have been some fairly decent surfing up at Lancelin. (Given that Novembers our 'Shark Season' as the big ones follow the whales migrating south for the summer, and theres been a few sightings AND I'm fairly scared when it comes to things that eat you!!! I probably would have given it a miss!)

As it was we had the swell comming in from the West and then three or four feet of wind slop from the South and just made it unpleasant!

Hopefully I'll be able to get a few weekends between now and Christmas to drop the pots in the water. It's always good to be able to throw a few crays on the BBQ when you go to your friends house over the festive season!

Cheers!

http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b423/Skoshi_Tiger/DSC_0056.jpg

Long afternoon walks along the beach at Ledge Point!

[swiss]

It would had held up the faces of the waves and there would have been some fairly decent surfing up at Lancelin. (Given that Novembers our 'Shark Season' as the big ones follow the whales migrating south for the summer, and theres been a few sightings AND I'm fairly scared when it comes to things that eat you!!! I probably would have given it a miss!)

Given the surfing a miss or the fishing trip?
There are no reports of whites attacking boats, are there?

[Skoshi Tiger]

Given the surfing a miss or the fishing trip?
There are no reports of whites attacking boats, are there?

Every so often you hear a report of them chewing on the outboard motor leg on someones boat, but apparently they are just being currious!

You can immagine it's easy to be missunderstood when your trying to explore the world and all you have is your teeth! ;)

If I ever actually see one it may be time I reassessed my water activities! Though your still more likely to get killed driving to work!

Hmmm! Now I think about it, more holidays does sound like a safer idea!

Cheers! ;)

[SlipBall]

The sea is a powerful beckon for some humans, not sure why I need to be near...here is my son near some new pot gear cir 2008

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/SlipBall/Vicandgear.png