DAY 25
Week 4
SMOKY BAY ~ Acraman Creek (South Australia, AUS)
Thursday October 7th, 2010
TODAYS MILEAGE – 28 miles or 45 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 3241 miles or 5216 kilometres
After going out on the on the barge and removing several hundred metres of railings and posts, upon our return, Darky snuck off from the shed and left Jason and I to stack and pack all the timber we had removed from the oyster lease.
It was decided that, due to lack of interest in participating in industrious behaviours, we'd go out for a spot of fishing. So Darky had trundled on home to sort out the fishing gear.
But before I get started, let me tell you where we were headed - the fishing spot Darky had selected was the 3999 hectare (9881 acre) Acraman Creek Conservation Park, about a 20 minute drive from Smoky Bay.
Protected from the full force of the Southern Ocean, this mangrove estuary, samphire and mallee area provides an important feeding ground for many coastal birds. In particular, it supports migratory waders such as sandpipers and stilts that come from as far away as the Arctic Circle.
The long, white sandy beach, backed by dunes, is accessible to conventional vehicles and small boats can be launched from the beach. The creek and Point Lindsay can only be reached by four-wheel drive vehicles. A shipwreck, from past whaling activity, lies offshore.
OK, back to the story. Darky starts prepping the boat he has parked up on the footpath, but the steering was bound up and tight. With Jungle's help, he tried freeing up the steering when they ended up snapping the steering shafts. No matter, we'll just trundle over to his daughters place and grab the tinny that's in the back yard and mount an outboard motor to it ... problem solved ... rigth???
Now, I should have heeded the warning signs right about the point that Darky used the words "$50.00" and the "Ceduna Waste Management & Refuse Facility" in the same sentence. It appears that a couple of the boys salvaged the outboard motor from the tip for 50 bucks, but had it running and had been out on the water with it.
We get out to Acraman's Creek, a beautiful spot if the truth be told, and setup camp for the day. Darky baits and sets 3 beach rods for us novices and then sets about getting the tinny running. The outboard fires up, but it's not pumping any water.
Now Darky, who's one of the best mechanics I've seen in a long time, spends the next 3½ hours stripping and rebuilding the bottom half of the motor, with assistance/guidance/cajoling from Ty, Jungle, myself and the ladies, before we have an operating motor for the tinny.
So, were set then. Jungle, Darky and myself load up the tinny with essential fishing equipment i.e. rods, lures, bait & beer and head out into the water.
We're not in the water 2 minutes when we notice the crew we left on the shore were up on tier feet, yelling and waving their arms like lunatics and running for two beach rods. "you beauty" I thought, they must be on the fish.
We then noticed the outboard motor was getting bogged down and then it stopped……. AND there was a fishing rod in the water just behind us – "who dropped that" I wondered.
Turns out that Darky had headed out into the water and straight across the lines of the 3 beach rods he set earlier and managed to get all 3 fouled in the prop, which bound up the outboard and caused it to stall.
Ty and Jude managed to grab the 2 remaining beach rods before they went into the drink, while Darky was over the back of the tinny trying to free the 3 fouled lines. It was right about this time when we found out that the reverse function of the outboard was not working. Oh well, at least we were having a giggle.
With the tide running out and no propulsion, it was then that I picked up the long handled square mouth shovel and with Jude and Ty winding us in courtesy of the two remaining fishing rods whose lines had fouled the prop, managed to make it back to shore.
What was Jungle doing amongst all this activity ... I', glad you asked. Sitting on the bow, quietly sipping his beer and probably wondering how on earth did he got into a boat with a couple of blokes who hail from Alice Springs, which is in the middle of the desert, which is not a renowned area for honing ones nautical skills. 
It only took 10 minutes to free up the prop, get the reverse going and we were back in the water, wanting to catch some dinner.
By this time, it was late in the day, the wind had picked up, the tide was running hard and the water was becoming cold and really choppy. I managed to catch my second and final fish of the day, which was a keeper, before we headed back to shore.
We packed up camp and headed home and while were unloading the tinny, Darky manages to smash my thumb into Jason's ute tray, hard enough to draw blood. So, at the end of the day I had the fishermans trifecta – blood, sweat & beers.
In all honesty, the day will stay in my memory for a long time, as it was absolutely brilliant. Plenty of fun, huge amounts of laughter and I even managed to catch a fish or two. What more could you ask for???
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