Nothing like a Cyclone to get motivated.
After having a failed attempt to get the big duck from Cairns to Darwin eight weeks ago with the end result being the boat, truck and ( slightly broken ) trailer sitting in the port Hinchinbrook marina waiting patiently for me to come and collect them. The grand plan was to leave them parked there for the wet season and drag em home to Darwin in April / May next year.
Tc Jasper has well and truly put a rocket up my ass. Knowing my luck it will cross the coast right where everything is sitting and it's not going to be the wisest place to have em parked...
Google image Port Hinchinbrook Marina and TC Yasi, it makes me want to barf.
I'm due to hop on a plane Sunday night and get over to Cairns followed by a Greyhound ride down to Hinchinbrook. Pull off all of the Hubs and take em to Townsville to get them re studded and collect a new hub for the trailer. Then it's back up to Hinchinbrook to get everything re assembled and hit the road for Darwin. Hopefully this will see me still having a nice boat as opposed to a Munted pile of Fibreglass and aluminum that I spent far, far too many hours making look pretty.
The joys of owning a boat!.
My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....
Brock O
Posts: 3177
Date Joined: 11/01/08
All the best with the trailer
All the best with the trailer repairs, safe travels back to Darwin.
Plenty turn into fizzers...but better safe than sorry.
Rob H
Posts: 5751
Date Joined: 18/01/12
.
yeah good luck, hope it goes well
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
crano
Posts: 696
Date Joined: 04/11/09
Best of luck
Interesting driving with a cyclone chasing you.
Silver Fox
Posts: 1098
Date Joined: 19/06/14
Mission accomplished
Back in Darwin with the big duck.
Dream run from Cardwell back to what is now we call home. Fitted a new hub and all new studs to the trailer on Tuesday last week, then I sat around Wednesday and Thursday waiting for the weather to clear up. First thing Friday morning there was a hint of northerly in the breeze and not too much rain from the cyclone so I manned up and hit the road. Looks like it was a good choice leaving when I did as parts of my route south are now blocked due to a shit ton of rain closing all the roads, Cairns is now the Venice of Qld by the looks of things.
Three and a bit big days on the road Han Solo just me and my Mitsubishi truck and the boat and trailer.
I'm in love with my ancient truck ( 88 model ) she never complained or missed a beat and her aircon kept me cool even in 40' plus heat out in bum fuck Idaho western Qld and all the way up to Darwin. Road train drivers need to be given sainthood's, when I'm chugging along at 70ks and they're sitting up your rear end I'd get on the radio and offer to pull over to let 'em pass and not once did they let me do it. " You're good mate, when I get a chance I'll come around you keep doing what you can " Legendary behavior in my books.
Zero fuck ups this time round and the boat is parked up at the trailer boat club waiting to be splashed in the Arafura sea for the first time.
Is there a day spa available for ageing trucks in Darwin that anyone knows of?.
Failing that she's off for all new fluids and a well deserved bath.....:)
My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....
Brock O
Posts: 3177
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Great to hear. Let the
Great to hear.
Let the fishing gods be good.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8631
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Road closures
Did a run over in the early seventies with my father from Bunbury to Bowen to bring mother in law and her 22 foot Viscount caravan back towing it with a Valiant AP5 slant six.
Was pissing down when we arrived and instead of waiting we hooked up the next morning and hit the road, as we travelled down you could hear on the car radio the roads and bridges that were closing and most only 15-20 mins after we crossed them. For the run down it was touch and go and I think we were lucky to get through .
Just out of Biloeola we were first to come across a head on smash with a family of 4 in a sedan into a ute with a young couple on board almost completely closing the road, it took about 3 hours to get the badly injured mother off to hospital and the kids [now settled inside the caravan ] safely into town and hit the road again.
All up we covered 6 and a half thousand miles in ten days from the time we left till we arrived back home, this include the Nullabor which was still dirt from Ceduna through to the WA border, the car never missed a beat
davewillo
Posts: 2285
Date Joined: 08/09/16
Good to hear it all went to
Good to hear it all went to plan this time. I lived in Cairns for a while and was there when a cyclone came close one time and I have never seen so much rain. This one was something different again so well done getting out of its way.
On another note, Darwin will be a pretty sweet place to call home for a while, at least as far as fishing goes!
PGFC member and lure tragic
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17898
Date Joined: 11/03/08
You certainly were lucky to
You certainly were lucky to make the call and get out of there.
Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and go
Hope the big duck serves you well up there
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together