SEA SOARING UPDATES
Firstly, an update on an article I wrote a few weeks back titled, ‘Have You Been Hooked’. Gerry Pateman, long time fisherman out of Gracetown, flicked me an email outlining how he had indeed been ‘hooked’ through the heel, when he stood on his 10/0 fishing rig while retrieving the anchor one day. Being a stainless steel beak hook, he knew there was no way to remove it on his own, with his greatest concern being how he was going to hop all the way up the Gracetown ramp to get to his vehicle and trailer and recover the boat. On the way in, he passed Nigel Lovejoy who had been diving with Duncan Melville. As it was still early, they asked where Gerry was heading, to which he replied, “the hospital to remove a hook”. Now Nigel has been around the ocean for some time and has many tricks up his sleeve, so when he told Gerry that he could remove the hook if he was willing, Gerry happily slung his foot over the gunwale. Nigel twisted fishing line around the hook, much like in the previous article and told Duncan to give it a good tug when he applied pressure to the hook. Gerry said Duncan’s face turned grey and he reckoned he couldn’t do it, to which Nigel replied, “It won’t hurt, it’s his foot.” In Gerry’s words, ‘Nigel pushed the hook sideways, Duncan pulled, and a painless extraction was the result. There was a good flow of blood, the prognosis was favourable so we proceeded back out to end a good day that didn’t start so well. The patient recovered and the hook is still serviceable!’
Sea Soaring Marine are now slowly working our way back to the deep south, but at the moment we are running courses in Port Hedland and plan to be home in a few weeks time. While we have been away, Tory and Sammie have been house minding our Gracetown residence and it is great to be away so long, knowing that reliable people are looking after your place. While in Hedland, Viv and I also managed to catch up with local chiropractor and Gracetown neighbour, Matt McGuigan who runs his business up here.
The other exciting news is that on my return I will be in the final stages of taking delivery of a new training vessel and custom made trailer. The vessel is a 5.6m side console Trailcraft with 115hp, 4 stroke Yamaha and of course I have organised with Shane and Anita from Roadmaster Trailers to custom build another trailer for me in recognition of the fantastic job they did on my current trailer, now in it’s 8th year and having travelled about 160,000kms. Along with all the previous trailer extras such as rear tilt system, third wheel, checker plate walkway, 15” alloy wheels, offroad springs, under carriage grill, I have gone for stainless steel brake cables, heavy duty axle, high tensile bolts on the suspension and requested all bolts to be antiseized. These guys double check every item requested, maintain contact throughout the quoting process and then deliver a quality product on time ( pictured ).
Looking forward to catching up with the down south news and for anyone who has been contemplating joining the Margaret River Volunteer Marine Rescue Group, what better time to see what’s involved then to attend their AGM being held on Wednesday, October 4th, 730pm at the Gracetown facility, alongside the town oval.
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