Soft plastic lures snagged in Balls Head Bay.
Saturday 29th March, 2008.
I stayed on the boat last night on the mooring after having dinner with Andrew and Monique at their house.
I went to Whitworths in the morning to buy a few things. Back on the boat I spent some time scrubbing her bottom – both from the dingy and by diving down to the keel. Next, I got out the new fishing gear I have bought and the boat rod I have now brought on-board. I rig up one of the soft plastic lures and spent some time casting it out and reeling it back in without any luck.
Eventually a bit of wind comes up so I put up the sails and sail off the mooring. I sailed around for a couple of hours before heading into Balls Head Bay. There is very little wind now and I slowly glide into the bay. As I am dropping the anchor with the sails still up, it starts to softly rain.
The rain doesn’t last for long. I spend some time in the twilight fishing with my soft lures only to lose a couple on snags.
[Note: later on dry land I do some googling and read up on something called the "Texas Rig" which I will have to try next time.]
Sunday 30th March, 2008.
A very gentle SE is blowing as I sail off the mooring late in the morning. I sail around the back of Goat Island. The wind drops. Out in the slop of the channel between Balls Head and Goat Island the wind drops completely and I am marooned along with a Folkboat in the slop from the wakes of passing stink boats.
The wind picks up again as I sail back past Balls Head Bay, around Yurulbin Point and along the western side of Birchgrove and past Cockatoo Island. As I pass Dawn Fraser Pool towards Iron Cove the wind stiffens up nicely. The water is smooth. Perfect sailing conditions. I have to sail through a couple of dinghy fleets which approach me from the west as I sail between Drummoyne and Snapper Island. To avoid them, and give myself a bit more time between tacks, I sail through the old ammunition barges between Snapper and Spectacle Islands.
I sail around Spectacle, past Hunters Hill and Woolwich, into the Lane Cover River and back to the mooring in Woodford Bay.
Another relaxing weekend spent mucking about on a boat.
