REEL REEF SUCCESS!

LET'S GET GOING

G'day All,
WOW!!!! What a trip!
Itz Sunday morning and Galleycat is now back in Townsville, I've had a much needed sleep and itz thyme 2 let the rest of you share "Our" week.
Ken and Myself had a ball! We caught plenty of quality fish, great food, gr8 conditions and an awesum adventure on the GR8 Barrier Reef.
 We left home base around 2.30pm on Wednesday after a false start at 6am with the Yot failing to float.

As usual the wind was straight in our face (typical), however we altered course around 40 degrees and set sail towards Cape Clevland on our 1st Tack across the bay. After a couple of tacks we passed the Cape just after sunset. The wind increased and conditions became less than ideal! With safety the main factor we decided to return to the shelter of the Cape for our first night. After some minor repairs we set up to catch a few fish and squid. This went into the very early hours of the morning before we settled down for some shut eye around 3am.
Before dawn we were both awake and with the wind dropping to a very light 6 knots it waz thyme to head towards the reef. (much better conditions).
The outriggers were deployed and a spread of lures were set behind us.
STRIKE!
My new Diawa Saltist reel (thanx Brad and Dee) screamed!
Our first spanish mackerel came aboard. At least we had lunch. Several more hook ups and tussels followed until I decided it was thyme for Kenny to catch a fish so the next rod to go off would be Kennys' regardless.
Once again it was my Saltist. However Ken couldn't get enough strength to remove the rod from the holder against the pull of the fish. He stood back and let me take over, however while this was happening a second rod on the other side of the Yot also screamed in protest!
Double Hookup! This was something much bigger, so both of us were busy now. My Northern mack tuna waz soon aboard while Ken was still fighting his fish.
Soon the shining silhouette of a big yellowfin tuna came into view. Happy Kenny!
 Now we have both lunch and some fresh sushimi.
This set the scene for the rest of the trip with more fish than we could count being the overall theme.
We arrived at the inner reef edges around lunch thyme with crystal clear water giving us the most spectacular view of this jewel of a "lump" 60 meters deep straight up to 11 meters below the Yot. Turtles, Coral, sharks and Fish everywhere you looked. Lotz of fish came aboard but we still had 12 miles to go before we hit the "reef proper"!
So we set off again looking back longingly at what has to be the best example of a coral reef I've ever seen, even better than bait reef in the Whitsundays.
We had a superb feed of fresh mackerel and salad for lunch just B4 we arrived at Little Broadhurst reef, more fish including our first coral trout and sweetlip.
Itz was also thyme 2 choose a "safe" place to anchor for the coming night. We selected a ledge between little and big Broadhurst reefs. This meant we'd be spending the night anchored in around 25 meters of water on a very fishy spot. It also would offer protection if the wind increased. It didn't.
However the tide changes during the night made life interesting and the fishing more so.
Lotz more quality fish for the tally.
Dinner, steamed fish fillets served with mixed Asian vegetables on a bed of jasmine rice.

We basically fished all night before lifting anchor just after dawn to head still further into the Great Barrier Reef system. We had selected our location from the chart. A group of reef's shaped like a triangle with a very large " "bommie" right in the middle. Once again WOW!
More coral and lotz more fish!
The water glassed off giving us ideal conditions (if a little warm) .
Once we were safely anchored, I made some crumbed coral trout burgers for lunch. Simple crumbed fillets with tartare and shredded lettuce. Yummy!
The entire day saw lotz more fish come aboard .
Mainly sweetlip and coral trout, but several other species had us diving for the species book with ever increasing frequency. Red Emporer, Barramundi cod, Football cod, Floury cod, Wrasse and many many other kept us busy.
This is not including the surface activity!
With spanish mackerel, shark mackerel, tuna and sharks all falling victim to our baits.
One monster Mack had me stretched to the limit and finally busted the line after several visits to the back of the Yot which he obviously didn't like the look of. We called it as being MUCH bigger than my 18 kg mackerel of a few weeks ago.
 This trip also saw both of us attempt the new craze of soft plastic fishing with limited success.
A few cods 1 coral tout and various other fish fell to these plastics but not enuf for either of us to abandon the idea of fresh bait, Just Yet!
The weather got better and better with almost glass conditions and it also got very warm, the cool clear water looked both inviting and dangerous at the same thyme.

Kenny was having a little problem with a pesky shark so with limited wisdom he decided to teach it a lesson! well I'm not sure just who was teaching who. The battle continued for a while with ken eventually subduing the beast enuf 4 us to break the trace and hopefully set him free to swim away with a new respect for those guys on the Yot!
It didn't help as many of his mates deciding to eat any fish we caught, needless to say we didn't go swimming.
With the approaching sunset we moved location slightly and settled down for another night of fishing.
Dusk saw several more coral trout and emperors  make it into the icebox.
After a spectacular sunset I set about making a special dinner.
Rolled scotch fillet steak with red wine and rosemary jus, served with buttered carrots, potatoes,cauliflower,broccoli and capsicum plus fresh parsley tossed in.
We ate this meal inside under oil lamp lighting with the incense burner going. Just a little different.
After a shower and a few bourbons I headed back outside to join ken who was fishing.
The wind began to increase and conditions began 2 resemble the first night.
 After a few hours of this it was decided to up anchor a day early and set sails for Townsville. We had plenty of fish and full belly's so it was prudent to use this wind to our advantage.

SILHOUETTE

The conditions for fishing were not good but sailing was a different story, the Yot handled being under full sail really well with Kenny describing her as "steady as a rock".
Everything went so well on this trip I plan to do it all over again in a couple of weeks.
This thyme we won't take the dinghy which was towed everywhere but never used.
A really fantastic trip was over around 1pm on Saturday as we pulled back into Townsville.
It was low tide as we arrived so after Ken had gone home I spent the arvo securing Galleycat on her mooring position as the tide rose.
A shower, bourbon and Finding Nemo on the telly finished my trip off perfectly.
Very little went wrong this time and very lotz went right (not proper english I know).

My repair list is small while my planned trip list is getting larger. The Whitsundays will be my next venture after another trip to the reef.
Cairns is now locked in to the calender with brother Andrew,Jenny and christopher planning to meet up with me there. Mum and Dad look like they'll be here a week before and help with the sail up the coast. Stopping at The Palm Islands followed by Dunk Island then out to the reef before sailing into Cairns to greet Andrew and Co.
Galleycat is now a "going concern" with the work left to do being basically cosmetic in nature. The mast will come down for itz refitt, the new refrigeration needs 2B fitted and the bathroom upgrade finished but all of this has to be fitted in between trips out wide to keep me in supply of fresh fish fillets.
My life is good I can only hope yours is too!
If not, jump on a plane,or into a car and come aboard for a week or month or whatever, all are welcome.
Captain Felix
P.S. Pineapple and meteorites!
More to follow...

DESTIN8TION UNKNOWN!!

G'day All, This week has to start with a really BIG- HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERON!
My not so little man had his special day on Tuesday this week, and while as usual I didn't get to see him I did take thyme out to stop and look over his photo album with a slice of cake and a pint of Fellixer. Congrats Cameron!
I'm thinking of you Always!

The title will become clearer half weigh through this update.
I've spent the better part of this week turning a big cat into a zebra!(anatomically impossible)
Galleycat has now got stripes, 5 of them 2B precise. These "stripes" will allow the dinghy or kayak to tie up along side without the need to put fenders over to protect the paintwork. I found out during previous trips that the fenders caused more problems than they solved. So when I saw this design on anuther cat I decided to copy it onto Galleycat.
Does this make me a "copycat"?

After several attempts the final result should both look right and work! as the initial layout proved 2B flawed in design with not enuf angle and too short rubbers above the water. So once the dinghy was placed along side and the mistake realized the fender sections were lengthened by around 200mm. Once the whole thing is trialed it'll be sanded, faired and painted.
With the increase in temperature and the readiness of Galleycat to go 2C again itz "finally" thyme for Kenny and I to head towards The Gr8 Barrier Reef for a spot of fishing and relaxation (wkoa) which as you can see kenny has already begun!
However rather than twiddling my thumbz for a few days until Ken is ready on Wednesday I've pointed the Yot seaward again for a short trip to partz unknown!
I wanted to see were the wind would take me as I left the Harbour around 2pm Monday.
Turned out it took me to Florence bay on the very southern side of Magnetic Island. Normally I wouldn't be able to stop here with the constant Southerly winds blowing straight into the bay but Monday night saw a stiff Northerly breeze blow in making this little piece of paradise a suitable place to rest for the night. While it is very nice it is alas a "green zone" which means no fishing ! So I kept myself busy with music and bourbon while undertaking a few last minute maintenance issues. Still an enjoyable thyme.

I've set sail this morning around the corner towards Horseshoe Bay where I'll try to catch some Garfish for our Big reef trip and spend the day servicing my fishing reels in preparation (wkoa) for what I hope will be a really memorable trip. I'm looking forward to having Ken aboard with his knowledge of both sailing and fishing the reef. I'll be taking lots of notes.
The weather Godz look like they're on our side with lite North and Easterly winds predicted. Which of course means it'll blow itz tits off but one has 2B optimistic.
On the uther side of the country Mum and Dads new house is now well underway with demolition set to take place this week. Brother Andrew has realized his recovery will be a little slower than he had hoped. Big Ash is very busy with his grass and landscaping while Miss Mermaid and Brad and Dee are both missing in action!
Fridays lunch was a huge B.B.Q with steak, satay chicken, rissoles, grilled asparagus  and also roasted pumpkin with balsamic and cashews, fresh bread rolls, tomato and onion salad along with a tossed salad as well. Lotz of food with very little left over.
Last night while anchored and excluded from fishing I put the kitchen to good use with a chicken and asparagus soup and a very spicy thai red curry. All washed down with a few boubons and loud music.
I'll no doubt have anuther update upon my return from the reef so look 4ward to lotz of fishy foto's and some tall tails.
That's all 4 now!
Captain Felix.