Day 287 – 28th October 2018 – Darwin, Fishing Darwin Harbour

We were all organised to go fishing in Darwin Harbour today.  Col had looked up the tides and we knew when we had to leave to be able to put the boat in ok, but ended up doing a mad rush to get there before low tide.  Col remembered at the last minute that there was a problem with the throttle on the boat the last time that we took it out.  Very glad he remebered it before we were out  on the water!!  It was loose the last time we took the boat out but it had gotten much, much worse.  So Col fixed it which was great but we were then under serious pressure to get the boat in before we ran out of water.  We were not the only people rushing to try and get in before it was too late.  Col reversed down the boat ramp as he is a little quicker than I am, and I stood on the jetty holding the rope to restrain the boat.  There were three boats crammed in next to each other and I was struggling to control ours from slamming into the others.  

Col parked the car and rushed down to jump in the boat and I pushed off from the jetty and jumped on board.  We were picking our way between the shallows on the way out of the harbour when we came to a grinding halt on a shallow sand bar.  If you get stuck there, you are stuck for hours before the tide comes in to allow you to get out.  It is hot and you don’t want to get stranded in your boat!  So Col asks me to jump out with him to drag the boat off the sand bar.  I ask if I will die from Box Jelly fish, Irukanji or Crocs.  He says he doesn’t know.  So we both jump out and drag the boat hahahahaha.  With me quietly crapping myself and eyes darting all around.  I jumped back into the boat like a pro though!

You will all hopefully be pleased to know that neither of us were killed or injured during this mad moment.  We dragged the boat and jumped back in then headed back towards the boat ramp.  We noticed some other boats crossing to the other side of the harbour to get out around the other side of the sandbar, and we quickly followed them.  Our hearts were in our mouths.  Finally we were clear of the the shallows and out into the wide harbour.  We did have a few nervous moments where it suddenly got very shallow way out from shore, but we only got stranded once that day.

Col caught his first Barra in Darwin!  It was undersized but he was stoked.  He had been flicking a lure all morning and it was not long before we were calling it a day when he got lucky and pulled the Barra into the boat.  Very cool.  So now we have both caught undersize Barra’s in the NT and now we just need to catch ourselves a monster!

I was the catfish queen (not a title I want to hold for so many reasons).  I was casting my line and pulling out a catfish as soon as it hit the water!  It was kind of fun though but they have poisonous barbs on them and I was too scared to touch them!!  So Col was very patiently taking them off for me.

Getting out of the water went way smoother than getting in, I am pleased to say.