Fishing Adventures as a Kid The Day Botany Bay Showed its Deadly Power , I was sixteen at the time ,full of bravado , Fearless, Owner of a new ten foot Trimcraft , An ultra light dingy which I bought a 9.9 Johnson to have a fast craft that was registered after being chased by water police who were unable to catch me until I stopped for fuel , ( never realised they were after me , too far behind to notice !) the little boat had no trouble doing 20 knots and she was only 40kg boat ! The only flaw this tiny tinny had was the ribbing was designed as square tubing that was just , Bent , into square shape required this was to be a MAJOR flaw !! About a year after I bought it I had taken that little craft to places large boats dwelled in , No fear of the sea is best way to put it UNTIL a bad day on the water. I regularly got dropped off in Cooks River at Tempe on Friday morning on finishing work as apprentice baker doing night shift , My step dad would drop me off with my lil koori mate Charlie Watson , R.i.P Charlie (passed away few yrs bak at 30 !) and all out stuff for a weekend . Two Fuel Tanks , Double Blow up mattress that filled the boat and we slept on it many weekends without touching the land too!, Food , Fishing gear and bait ,We were pretty well full and at times had to keep the nose up with the motor and watch the wash behind us carefully to avoid swamping the boat ! I was never scared even had bull sharks whack the side a couple of times but I was shocked but never really felt death near me until the Botany Bay dilemma ! My mate was unable to come so I was travelling alone , Done many times but if alone I wore life jacket ( I was state champ swimmer and junior lifesaver at Maroubra for years) and tether to cut off on outboard , I was a brave kid but not stupid !!! The weather was not good rain with massive wind squalls that created waves to 10ft in Botany Bay ,Rare but when conditions are right surfing is very popular inside the protected bay !! The shifting sandbanks making waves rise fast and break too. I was in the water at Cooks River a few miles from entering Botany Bay so had no idea of what I was heading into . I loaded the boat with less than normal gear ( gods must have warned my soul !) The rain was appalling when I launched so I had wet weather gear on ,if you end up swimming with this stuff on you are an anchor guys! , Do not panic if you are suddenly in the water , Its easier to go to the bottom in shallow water and drag off ya gear , In the cubs as a kid we learned this a great thing to teach kids BEFORE THEY NEED TO TRY IT ! I said bye to the old step dad and showed him a bit of a jumping porpoise show until out of his sight in maybe 20 seconds , The boat now getting wind under her I backed off to sit her flat on the water and made the next two miles of river without a drama. Then I got to Cooks River Mouth ! , The Botany Bay Area was whitecaps and howling winds and I had to head south to the Georges River Mouth to head up river to Picnic Point at Menai ,a peaceful place protected in all weather by a mountain ridge both sides , Many hooligans smoked pot and drank in the area on weekends so I always anchored the boat out of bottle tossing distance ! Beautiful places have ugly sides too. As I shot out of Cooks River I knew the waves were breaking with little water left between them , I could see sand , This was scary , First time I felt like I may drown out here ! Turning back was impossible I was having enough trouble jumping off one wave onto the next to ensure the outboard leg never hit the sand and flipped me over , This is how small boats get wiped out guys. The waves were heading straight into the bay making my run side on to the mess of wash, spray , and then a bloody big shark ! , He was attracted to the thumping of my boat for sure I never send one follow the boat before ,I think it was a Tiger around ten feet the same as my boat and looked as wide too , I was now shitting the proverbial Brick , As they say ,A shark, weather and a swell that comes maybe six times in twenty years to this location . The boat was reliable ,The outboard a Johnson I must say started every time first pull no matter what temperature , but as I got around halfway across the bay , Bang , I jumped of a wave much bigger than the sets running and the ribs buckled in !! The shark was not in sight but my gut said he still follows , I am now in the middle of the bay , The angle of my route dictated by the sea itself an upside down v is easy way to see it reading this ,When riding big seas u cannot go side onto waves or you will be rolled I assure you a good ANGLE TO THE SEAS IS PARAMOUNT TO SURVIVING BAD WEATHER REMEMBER THIS IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE .Deep water is safer than shallow water too stay clear of steep changes on the Seafloor when caught out in weather guys . FROM the point where the ribs caved in ( the two near the center of the tinny leaving only two holding it together ) I was now just trying to save my pride and joy a new boat and engine from vanishing into the blue , The only luck was it happened on the apex of my upside down v route so I was now heading with the seas toward Georges River and flat water once past the two bridges in sight but still two mile and maybe an hour away in this mess . I sat the boat up on a massive wave and stayed on it , The wave never broke I rode it to within 500m of the first bridge , I was gonna make it and so was my beloved boat , my ship , my vessel good old ES206n I still remember the rego !! I got her into calm waters and seen the welds were starting to split so maybe 20 min and the boat would of went down, with extra gear and a passenger and the bought would of split apart , With less than a couple seconds between breaking sets you wont get a breath and sea will take you. I replaced the ribs with custom made ribs with rubber shock absorbers spread out between spot weld it cost more than a new boat back then (48 now) but that boat was me and my lifestyle so cost was not an issue !! The repairer was amazed it stayed together , It was not my time to go Im sure of that ,Many lose their lives taking on the fury of the sea and dont be fooled by so called Protected Waters , This only means the waters are protected on certain wind and swells , I knew this place well ,Had thousands of hours small craft expertise and was a good swimmer so I was taking a well educated risk going into the suds on the day I neargot wiped out , James M Wilson Fish Magnet creator Ps buy my app guys it works with many years devoted to the project PLUS 10% of November sales is going to charity for typoon in Phillipines. So we all an help and you get an awesome device for the cost of a pack of prawns ! Sent from James M Wilson
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:17:46 +0000
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