Camden Sound, June 30 - July 7
Coppermine Creek, June 30 - July 2 27nm, 6.5hrs
At Coppermine Creek I'm greeted by a shark whilst standing on the transom washing my hair. I’ve got my eyes closed and Colin shouts “Nic, Nic!!”. I’m thinking “crocodile”, so imagine my relief to see it’s only a two metre shark. Colin throws a bucket of water at it before I can take a photo. Spoil sport. Luckily it returned the next night and I had ample photo (and movie) opportunities!
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At Coppermine Creek I'm greeted by a shark whilst standing on the transom washing my hair. I’ve got my eyes closed and Colin shouts “Nic, Nic!!”. I’m thinking “crocodile”, so imagine my relief to see it’s only a two metre shark. Colin throws a bucket of water at it before I can take a photo. Spoil sport. Luckily it returned the next night and I had ample photo (and movie) opportunities!
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Dugong Bay via Dog Leg Creek, July 2 - 3 20nm, 7hrs
We’d heard the fuel operation at Dog Leg Creek was like a scene out of "Deliverance", but you couldn’t ask for a more friendly, chatty or helpful fuel attendant. Chris (who lives on the barge with wife and Dachshund) took care of our diesel and petrol needs, and had a most extreme sense of humour saying not only were they the best looking servo ever seen, but also the cheapest! Three bucks a litre...ouch! Still, when they’ve got you by the short and curlies what else is there to do but meet their demands? (Insert Banjo tune here)
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Horizontal Waterfalls, Talbot Bay, July 3 - 4 19nm, 3hrs
We cruise through the inlet and anchor not far from the houseboat “Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures”. More like a floating hotel than a houseboat, and busy with helicopters, seaplanes and boats ferrying passengers in and out for a wild ride of the falls. We get on the last tour of the day. Mighty impressive!
Once again the sharks join us, first one, then a few, then twelve or more at final count. The tour guides have given us a positive ID of 'Tawny Nurse Shark', aka 'Lemon Shark'. Not as docile as they look, as discovered by the last guy who thought it would be a good idea to put his hand in a shark's mouth, costing him thirty stitches and microsurgery!
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Raft Point (including Montgomery Reef), July 4 - 6 45nm, 10hrs
Paul hasn’t caught a fish for TWO DAYS and is getting a bit twitchy, so he’s off in the dinghy as soon as we can launch it. I try out the new safety harness and climb the mast, with Monica down below taking pics and getting sweaty palms on my behalf.
Paul’s desperation pays off and we have Queenie sashimi for dinner.
We head to Montgomery Reef the following day (a 20nm return trip), leaving at 5am to catch low tide and see the water rushing out of the reef. During low King Tides the noise of water rushing out of the reef can apparently be deafening! We return to Raft Point and hike up to see the spectacular Aboriginal Artwork.
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Langgi, July 6 14nm, 3hr sail
Langgi is a spectacular place with its white sandy beaches, naturally sculpted rocks, and freshwater creek running to the sea through a narrow gorge. We spend a couple of hours walking amongst the beauty, timing our landing and departure with the tides.
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Kid Island and Sheep Island, July 6 - 7
Kid Island (South end of Deception Bay) 7nm, 1.5hr sail
Sheep Island, Camden Harbour 23nm, 3hr 45min sail
Thanks to patient tuition and gentle encouragement from Paul (and a circle hook) I landed my first big fish, a Golden Trevally, and a number of snapper. Feast on!!
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