The day started off ok until Gerard realised (on the way to collect the boat) that his fishing licence had expired, so we had to go back and re-new it before he could catch anything. We then had a bit of trouble loacting 'Chookie', Gerards dive partner, who we'd arranged to meet at the petrol station. There was some confusion, but finally we left for the boat yard where 'The Selfish Bastard' (Gerards boat) was being repaired.
We collected the boat and got her over to the ramp, where we found Chookie, so things were starting to look up.
Gerard and Chookie disappeared off the back of the boat with all their dive gear on and Nick, Bee and I settled down for some sunbathing and relaxing on board. However it quickly became obvious that the flies had had the same idea. Within 10 minutes hundreds of dirty big blue-bottles were swarming over the boat, desperate to get in our eyes, ears and mouths. So the relaxing never really got off the ground as it was a constant battle to stop the flies from landing on any exposed bit of flesh!
Fortunately for us ( but not the wedding buffet) Gerard and Chookie didn't find a single fish, and came back on to the boat after about 15 minutes. It was decided that we'd head off to a different part of the bay and look for some abalone (and hopefully lose the flies on the way!)
So Gerard threw the boat in to warp-speed and we crashed and bumped our way along the coast, about a kilometer off-shore. We were hanging on for grim death as the boat slammed in to the increasing swell, with Gerard grinning like a maniac and Bee and I screaming like girls, when the engines stopped.
Grateful for the pause, we collected ourselves and our belongings from the bottom of the boat, when Gerard calmly announced that we'd run out of fuel.
The initial plan was that we'd drop anchor and all swim to shore. While I'm quite a strong swimmer the prospect of swimming a kilometer in a big swell that is possibly infested with sharks, didn't go down well. Realising that this could end badly, Gerard decided to ring a friend to come out with some fuel. Luckily the friend agreed and we sat waiting for help to arrive listening to the radio.
About an hour later we were still waiting, and it was clear that there was a problem with the rescue plan. So Gerard rang back, only to discover that his friend had set off ok and was happily coming out to us, when the engine fell off the back of his boat.
There were 2 reasons why this was a bit worrying; not only were we still stuck without any fuel, but he was the man that had just 'repaired' the boat we were in. Great.
Reaslising that there was nothing else we could do, and despite the embarrasment, Gerard rang the coast-guard and asked them to come and rescue us.
The coast-guard, an old friends and drinking buddy of Gerards, came out immediately and before we knew it we were off again.
When we finally made it back to dry land Gerard took us to the pub for a well earned beer!
No comments:
Post a Comment