It is with a heavy yet hopeful heart that
the Matey writes this post. A visit to the Low Isles and a snorkel there on a
perfect day revealed many beautiful things, including coral that seemed to be
in quite good shape. The water visibility wasn’t good, with a lot of sediment
floating, resulting in an often green hue. Yet despite this Matey once again
experienced the magic of joining the marine life in their world, which here at
least, is looking relatively healthy. A long, slow glide with a green turtle
restored Matey’s sense of joy in the amazing planet we inhabit, and hope that us humans will care for it as we should. Matey feels sad
at the loss of so much beauty further to the north, where the reef has
bleached, but hopeful that enough pockets of coral, like at the Low Isles, have
survived the bleaching to go on and spawn new coral to replace the dying and
dead. Then the young coral and companion species need enough years of
sufficiently cool waters to become colonies and replace dead reefs. But where
there is life there is hope!
RIP Dinghy the First
Our dinghy had been looking increasingly ragged and the cover was becoming quite tattered. It had acquired the fond name
of ‘the deflatable’ as its glue seams failed and each time it was repaired it
would remain inflated for a day or so and then fail in another place. Captain
was unwilling to give up on the sad sack our trusty steed had become and
determinedly fixed each failed seam, with loving care and patches, though the
process of glueing curved seams and leaving it ashore overnight to fix, in
croc-infested waters required some patience, the occasional borrowing of a dinghy, and now and then the flagging down of passers by for a lift ashore.
Swimming to and from Ebb TIde not being an
option, we finally faced the sad fact that the dinghy’s reliable life was over.
We then experienced the warm and friendly (and sometimes a little too relaxed!)
customer service to be found in FNQ. Good ole Captain had already made
enquiries in Cairns and sourced a possible replacement dinghy. A phonecall or
two later and the new dinghy was on the way to arrive in Port Douglas within
two hours. Mr Delivery was flexible and happy to make the detour to collect
the new dinghy immediately. Mr Salesman was fine with payment after the dinghy had arrived. A few complications resulted from the rushed
delivery, such as the wrong sized seat and oars being sent. Being relaxed and
apparently quite busy, he needed a few reminders to sort this out, but we were
impressed by the goodwill and trusting nature of these great people who went
out of their way to help us out, and save us from what could have been a
frustrating and inconvenient wait sans dinghy.
Dinghy the Second
The new dinghy has welded seams. We hope
this means failing glue won’t be a problem. It also has an aluminium base and
Captain managed to source some fabulous pneumatic wheels for it that pop up and down
easily as required, and so far roll over each surface they have been tested on
without complaint. This is a definite improvement on the plastic ‘wheels’ of
the previous dingy, which bogged in sand and refused to turn, and never seemed
content rolling on smoother surfaces such as ramps.
Dinghy II, being slightly longer and wider
than Dinghy I, seems to rise to the plane more easily, which is good news. It
is also smoother to row. Sadly though, its once eager-to-start motor is showing
signs of becoming temperamental. Hopefully a thorough service is all that is
required …
Also inflated
Captain recently decided another exciting
purchase was essential. A paddleboard, while not advisable where crocs abound,
is an enjoyable way of getting around elsewhere, say, at the Low Isles. It’s a
good way of turtle spotting and checking out coral clusters when the water’s
flat and clear. Why did it take us so long to realise a paddleboard was mandatory?
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| The sad sack hangs limply from davits |
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| Who wouldn't be cheered by these beauties? |
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| What a healthy new dinghy looks like, hanging from the davits. Note stylish wheels. |
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| A flat surface on a calm day. Why not yoga? |
