Hi again
Last week received some good falls of rain however this week the rain has left us for the time being - which has 'steamed' things up considerably.
Nancy departed Croker earlier this week. She spent a couple of nights in Darwin and then flew down to Brisbane. She was able to visit her mother, with her three sisters which was very special. The aged care facility was in lock down due to Covid cases however some special arrangementsents were made to allow the visit.
I will follow her to Yarraman just before Christmas.
This time of the year here we get some of the lowest tides of the year - and they are occurring during the day. For any lovers of fresh oysters, that means feasting time! Nancy, being one of the afore mentioned, was keen to tried some black lipped oysters that are easily accessed during the low tides.
They don't come any fresher than this!
PK always enjoys an outing. Below she is checking out a little crab - thankfully she didn't get a nip on the nose.
Many of my posts over the last couple of years have included stories about ghost nets and marine litter.
Recently the Crocodile Island Rangers, based at Milingimbi (a little further east of Croker Island), discover an overturned vessel with a large ghost net attached - see photo and the link below. It is believed to be a vessel that capsized a couple of months ago in Indonesian. Part of the ghost net looks to be around the propeller so I wonder whether that may have caused the vessel to capsize in the first place.
The rangers are fitting a tracker in the photo below. At the moment it is not moving which means the vessel and net are snagged on the something below. The fear is that the approaching monsoon may cause it to break free and re-commence it's drifting journey, thereby becoming a marine traffic hazard again. There is also a biosecurity risk that unwanted marine creatures may have hitched a ride.
See the full story via the link.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-20/nt-capsized-boat-mystery-near-murrungga-island/101668242
A few weeks ago I attended a Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture Biosecurity Indigenous Ranger conference in Darwin. One of the main messages from this conference was that the biosecurity risk along the northern Australian coast has increased significantly in the last 2 years. This is mainly due to some animal diseases establishing themselves in Indonesian - including Foot and Mouth, African Swine Fever and Lumpy Skin Disease. If any of these were to enter Australia it would be a huge problem.
This week we have had two yachts spend time in Mission Bay, the bay that Minjilang looks out on - both with engine troubles. The first did not respond to radio calls and none of the authorities seemed to know anything about them. Regularly yachts go cruising in Indonesia and return so we had biosecurity concerns - especially after the recent conference.
As we departed on a patrol to the outer islands we dropped by to check if they were OK and to discover who they were and what their plans were. Its turns out that they are sailing from Queensland to Darwin and were waiting for engine parts - see sailing ketch below.
The owner/skipper was an Australian but originally from Norway. The name of his vessel was 'Roald Amundsen', named after a famous Norwegian polar explorer. He was the first to navigate the North West Passage - from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic around the top of Alaska and Canada, in 1909. Also, he and his party were the first to reach the South Pole in 1911.
Just as the 'Roald Amundsen' was sailing out of Mission Bay, another yacht was sailing in - again with engine trouble. The owner/skipper was an spritely 86 year old man. And like the other skipper originally came from Norway however has been in Australia for 37 years. He was a boiler maker and build his yacht and then circumnavigated the globe in it.
The name of his yacht is 'Fram', which was the name of the vessel that Roald Amundsen used to go to Antartica on his South Pole expedition. I asked this skipper if he had communicated with the other yacht departing as he was coming into Mission Bay - sadly no.
Anyway, there was a real Norwegian mariner flavour to this last week. The interesting people we can meet on life's journey.
Until next time, take care and blessings
Bryan
Comments