Blasé no more

Back in Cooktown the wait for the replacement rudder cable finally ended. The new starboard steering cable was installed in record time (about an hour), as we’d done this twice already for the port side. Another potentially serious problem emerged though: the flexible solar panel heated up so much it started to burn the fibreglass underneath. The instructions of placing the panel directly on the surface were ill-advised, it seems, as an air gap is required. Fortunately the supplier sent through a replacement panel and will hopefully now revise instructions to other purchasers.

           

We managed a short trip back to Lizard Island. We had intended to volunteer at the Marine Research Station there, but while in Cooktown we were offered a house to sit in the rainforest; a tough decision but the rainforest won, and volunteering at Lizard Island has been postponed. Our stay had to be brief, therefore, but being able to swim and snorkel again, without being overly concerned about crocodiles, though we had been told a two meter one lived there, was a joy.

Back in Cooktown we were given a timely reminder not to be complacent about potential dangers in the water. Captain stepped out of the dinghy onto a stingray. The stingray, of course, was not pleased about this and poor old Captain felt its wrath via a venomous barb. It managed to draw a surprising amount of blood as well as creating intense pain so Capt initially thought he had been bitten by something with lots of teeth, like, say, a small crocodile.

Nasty as this was at the time, considering the remote places we have been recently, it was fortunate it happened in Cooktown, where we have friends, there is a hospital, and across the road from the police station. Help was fast in arriving. The young ambulance officer gave Capt a painkilling pipe to inhale from, which resulted in a very calm Captain (Matey would like to source more of these!!) At the hospital the foot was immersed in hot water to neutralise the venom and more painkillers were administered. Poor old Captain spent the night in Cooktown hospital.

It’s also very fortunate that this reminder came from a stingray and not a crocodile. As it turned out, just a few days after we left Lizard Island, someone was bitten by the resident croc. Luckily it was during a night snorkel for the coral spawning, the guy was bigger than the croc and he was able to repel it with his flashlight so his injuries were minor. Mr Croc, of course, had unwittingly written his own death sentence.