New Eagles Fans

[Mark M]

Bear & Deacon convert to the "eagles" after coming home with a WET sail.

[Mark M]

Father, son and a fridge?

[Ron]

Well done Bear & Deacs. Top effort on what I hear was a tough day.
Ron.

[Doc_Hollywood]

Well done Halsey,
another casual well organised day that was great fun, scarey, and a lot of holy craps going on, and that was just getting to the Murray and back again.
I needed my biggles cap and goggles because Sam and I spent more time in the air than actually on the water.
Apparently Bubba blanked again, and Sam fished with the unluckiest fisherman alive (me) so we only ended up with one for the day. But saying that a bad days fishing is better than a good days working.
Hopefully some more guys will have some pics to post.
Congrats to Bear and Deacs for planning to fish and then fishing their plan.

The Baron
(formerly known as Doc Hollywood )

[Dror]

Well done to Bear and Deacon. It was a tuff day and they did very well to find a bag of fish.
Bubba didn't technically blank. I managed to loose his fish as I was about to net it and will not live it down for a very long time.
Don and Chris were the smart ones. Caught fish and didn't have to get wet and bashed getting to the river and back.

Cheers, Dror

[SKINMAN]

Well done Bear & Deacon! Tough conditions and I take my soaking wet hat off to all who managed to find a few fish! Here's a pic of the 'BARON' before take off....

[dan_WA]

- My back will never be the same again after the hiding it copped heading back across onboard the FV Skinman - would've been a funny sight seeing me clinging on for dear life to the front of a clear deck as we pounded 1m waves !!

- was a tough days fishing. Congrats Bear + Deacon !

[SKINMAN]

Bilge was working flat out!!!!

[SKINMAN]

The inlet water level dropped by 2% but after pulling the bungs from my boat the inlet filled back up to capacity.....

[bubba]

Yeah congrats to Bear and Deacon. Only bag of 4 on a really tough day. Not only the weather either. Bloody boaters that cant net fish! Then he prodeeded to make me cast into more snags than a day at the blackwood! Mind you Dror's casting was as good as mine
The day itself was nice and causual but was certainly soured by one of the new guys flipping his boat out in the estuary and needing a tow/rescue. The boat itself was 4.35m so ceratinly wasnt small but it just goes to show how important these new Boatsmart courses are. It should also show organisers that if it looks nasty its better to err on the side of caution and either pull the pin or change the location (boatramp etc)
That being said common sense must prevail on the sidfe of the owners as well. If you are at all uncertain about the condiitons dont go!
The poor lad ended up with a case of hypothermia and Dad wasnt much better but the made it back safely. Mind you if it wasnt for the flare he was carrying we wouldnt have seen it.
Lets hope this little turn up for the worse doesnt spoil the chance to have the Mandurah comp a regular deal each year. Perhaps they can move it to Perth?

[Mim]

Originally posted by SKINMAN
The inlet water level dropped by 2% but after pulling the bungs from my boat the inlet filled back up to capacity.....

You think you had water on board?
Hrmph!!!!!

Rod had just finished putting together the mini tanker for us girls to use the day before the comp.

We made the trip across the estuary, but couldn't quite work out why we kept losing speed. We could see water on the deck, but decided it was just from a couple of the waves that had broken over the boat on the way over.

We finally got to the mouth of the Murray and I opened the lid on the livewell, seems the overflow was working the wrong way and we were bringing water in to the well, through the outlet. I phoned Rod, whilst hanging over the edge of the boat, with my hand over the overflow, to stop the water coming in. Rod asked me if there was any water in the bottom of the hull. I asked Jacky to have a look and her reply was "Quite a lot actually". We plugged the outlet with a rag and I opened the other hatch where the fuel tank was, to see the full tank floating and the other tank was almost empty.

We bucketed out the livewell and then the hull, took around 30 minutes of solid bucketing over the edge. Now thats what I call a lot of water!

Meanwhile Rod drove all over Mandurah finding bits and pieces to fix the water overflow, while Jacky, Shanine and myself sung "Six months in a leaky boat".

We caught up with Rod and he fixed the outlet and gave us another tank of fuel (just in case).

The ride back across the estuary was no walk in the park, but I did it and when we got across Jacky and Shanine simultaneously cheered and clapped.

My hands are bruised, my arms are aching and my back could do with a good massage, but we did it and I conragtulate both my girls for not falling off or jumping overboard.

Well done to all who competed, was an interesting day to say the least.

maybe next year we can have a drive through weigh-in and launch where ever you like, then all meet back at mary Street to drive over to the boat show as a group and do the weigh-in?

Just some food for thought, as we all know that estuary is not fun, even with only a small amount of wind and chop.

Cheers (from a very sore)

Mim

[Craig]

While the polycraft handled the conditions in the estuary without a problem, I did take it nice and easy on the way back. Well after seeing a simultaneous levitation act: the anchor rising half a metre out of the anchor well and Paula lifting off the passenger seat by a similar height.

Both landed from whence they took off!!

I got the message and slowed down but being airborne in the poly was fun.

Must say that if I was still in the 3.85 edgetracker I wouldn't have even gone across the estuary in the first place and the forecast would surely have warned me that it was going to get worse. So the skippers must take some responsibility and play it safe - it is just not worth the risk.

I have done the TL3 course through the Boat Skills Institute and would recommend that everyone does something similar. Sometimes there are no second chances and it pays to know just what you are dealing with when out and about in boats.

[Karl]

Originally posted by MimboNo5
maybe next year we can have a drive through weigh-in and launch where ever you like, then all meet back at mary Street to drive over to the boat show as a group and do the weigh-in?

Just some food for thought, as we all know that estuary is not fun, even with only a small amount of wind and chop.

Great idea Mim, this should be seriously considered by the organisers. The accident yesterday could have very easily turned out a whole lot worse.

Maybe there could be a weigh in station at one place on the Murray (like the park next to the Yunderup General Store) where each boat could pull up quickly and have their fish weighed. The weights could be recorded and the fish released back into the Murray.

After your fish is weighed you could then immediately drive your boat to whatever ramp you launched from (no need to watch every fish get weighed in). All competitors could then meet up one hour later at the boat show for the presentations and results (it could even be done on a stage inside the boat show).

With this sort of format:

1) There is no need for anyone to cross the estuary.
2) You have more than an hour of extra fishing (as you don't need to cross the estuary).
3) The Bream are all released back into the Murray, where they belong (ending all of that debate).
4) You save fuel and money.
5) Reduced liability to event organisers.
6) Safer for all competitors.
7) Better for the bream.
8) With everyones boats already out of the water etc., and everyone in the one place, there is a better opportunity to socialise after the event.

..... just some more food for thought

But I must say, apart from the horrific crossing, I really did enjoy the day, and I would like to thank Mark for doing such a good job organising a really great event, well done.

Also, a big thanks to Mim for organising a non-boater with a Minn Kota!! for me, much appreciated Mim Thanks Scott for a good day out and the lone of your Kota.

Here's to calm seas, no gale force winds and lots of fish next year!!

Cheers

Karl

[Stu_000]

Some good advice for the crossing. Ive been across there on horrendous days and it's tough going.

Congrats to Bear and Deacon for their win. It's a fitting result considering the amount of time and effort that Bear puts into the sport. His results in the AOY series probably reflect the fact that he puts the majority of his focus on the organisation and running of our comps and his own fishing takes a back seat.

[Bear]

Thanks to all. Had a great day out with Deacon and some exciting aerial acts on the way there and back. I ache in places I forgot exist, but it's a good ache. Seems I always seem to come good at the end of the season and it was nice to have a few things to go my way for a change.

Now just to get a boat for the sounder

Thanks go to the Rescue crew who dropped by each boat to make sure all was OK. Was the roughest conditions I've been in during a comp and was happy to have the bigger boat. Still moving some of my organs back into place this morning