Choo choo train (he has a tender behind)

I am not sitting 'four-square upon my botty' (to quote a song I bet no one remembers - to everyone's relief) today, because I have a selection of bruises on my nether end.

We went to sea yesterday -

And did quite well - that's a 70 litre esky - big fish probably around 60 (between 3 of us)- which will feed us for a good long while. The day started well, and in the lee of Babel Island, sheltered by Cat Island and Storehouse Island - was calm and pleasant. BTW - if you click on the pics you can see them full size.

unfortunately, as it can, the weather deteriorated fairly fast, and the 5 Km run back was interesting - we came through the gap between Stellars point and Babel where the waves from opposite directions meet... (I wrote about it in Cuttlefish) which is shorter, but very bumpy, and... interesting. VERY short and peaking chop. We had a horrible chop the rest of the way back too, and a bloody miserable retrieve - we got stuck about 4 times, and the winch handle was... absent. A spanner is not an adequate substitute. Anyway, we have some fish to eat and trade for a few weeks. That's the key with self-sufficiency - you can't JUST do/catch enough for this meal, or when the weather turns terrible, you starve. We've got days of wind forecast, with rain, and it would be thin commons if not for the freezer, the pantry and veggies.

The days are getting very short dawn is around 7

and dusk not long after 5



We surely pay for those long summer days now. Still, the seasons turn and the joy is that night stuff (floundering, wallaby shooting) might be cold, but at least they can be at a reasonable time. When it gets dark at 9.30 and light at 4.30 even at the best tide doesn't see you home before midnight, and up at dawn - my norm - is... rather soon.