Matey's musings: Dodging Ita

It was all happening. After two cyclones this season that turned out to be fizzers, in Cairns at least, we thought that Ita, rated Category 5 before making landfall, would really test our cyclone endurance skills. Matey can admit now, after the fact, that she was feeling a little anxious at the prospect of a Yasi-strength cyclone. Captain, having waited out two non-events in the mangroves, was now somewhat nonchalant even once Ita’s rating was increased to 5. Anyway, off we went into our favourite cyclone bolt-hole on a mangrove creek in Admiralty Island in Trinity Inlet. This location meant that as well as the great protection the mangroves provide from fierce winds, run-off from heavy rainfall on the mainland wouldn’t be surging past at an alarming rate. Any tidal surge would mean the water under us would deepen, but in the absence of king tides, run-off shouldn’t be too strong, or contain too much in the way of logs and litter that might tangle in the anchor chain and wreak havoc. We cunningly sensed this storm could be ugly when we found, a day before Ita was due to make landfall, several boats were already tied up in our creek, (two of which were near the entrance and blocking access for other boats—hurrumph! But luckily owners soon appeared and kindly untied the ropes on the port side so we could squeeze through.) Even the locals were taking Ita seriously …

Ita hit land at Cape Flattery, around 200 km north of us, took around 24 hours to reach us, and by this time had been downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone, yet she still was a destructive force and we were glad we were sheltering in the mangroves, mosquitoes and flies notwithstanding, when she arrived. So well protected were we that we only noticed the rain and the Matey slept through the whole show.

(Tip of the cyclone: stinger suits are a good idea when tying ropes to mangroves. They confound sandfles, small crabs, spiders, green ants and mosquitoes, it seems. Amazingly, Matey seems to have fewer than 10 sandfly bites as a result.)

The wait

What better place to learn something about mangroves and how amazing they are than when surrounded by them? Not only do these old-growth forests provide great protection for boats in cyclones, they protect shorelines from tidal surges and erosion (and hence property valued by humans), they sequester carbon very effectively, they are fish nurseries and extraordinary ecosystems. We undervalue them at our peril. Guess what Matey was reading?

Let them eat shrimp: the tragic disappearance of the rainforests of the sea, Kennedy Warne.

The importance of mangroves is often overlooked: recommended reading.

There’s just one problem the Matey has with fabulous mangroves: sandflies. She is yet to ascertain the ecological value of these irksome midgets, but no doubt they have one. Any suggestions on this would be most welcome.