Bribie Island Weekend – 20/21 February 2010
By Dob & Dell Bliss

Friday evening saw 3 boats out on the water at Gallagher’s Point– Sea Pet, Sonata and Eight Bells. They were joined by 8 more boats on Saturday. As there was little shade at Gallagher’s it was decided to move further up the Passage to Mission Point where there are picnic tables on grass under shady trees. Alas when we got there, the whole of this area was taken over by a fishing club. Nevertheless we went ashore for nibbles and drinks in the late afternoon. Petra and Brian managed to find us a little shade behind a few low trees.

We were pleased to welcome some members who aren’t able to attend many outings – Heather and Terry with Eight Bells, the family from Attitude, and Geoff and Annie Boyle. Geoff and Annie have moved to Meldale – a small village on Elimbah Creek which empties into Pumicestone Passage. Attitude and Geoff’s boat are both Mustangs.

On the fishing front – Judy Oxley didn’t catch anything!! While we were having dinner on Saturday night a fish caught itself on Don’s line. After much consulting of fishing identification books he was confirmed in his initial belief that it was a Mulloway. It measured 50cm – now, had he caught it in 2009, it would have been above the legal limit of 45 cm but sadly the legal limit has been increased to 75cm for 2010 and so it had to go back in the water.
Never be tempted to keep fish or crabs that are undersized. On Saturday morning we had a visit from a Fisheries Patrol boat with 2 very pleasant inspectors aboard. They checked that we had all the necessary safety gear – we must have looked a trustworthy lot as they took our word without coming aboard to physically check. But, they did check the size of Brian’s crab. They pointed out that you must have a measure with you when you are checking your crab pots and you must measure the crabs immediately you take them out of the pot.

We also had a visit from Marine Parks inspectors. Dogs are not allowed in the Recreation Areas (what most of us call National Parks) on Bribie. This means that you are not even allowed to walk them along the beach adjacent to a park. We noted a sign saying that 1080 baits were laid in the Mission Point area. As we were coming into the Marina to go home on Monday morning we saw the Marine Parks boat going out. Obviously they patrol on a very regular basis.
Here is a tip for Monterey owners – How to have a shower and wash your boat at the same time-
Have a cloudy sky, open up every opening on the boat, go ashore to the toilet with no raincoat or umbrella, get caught in very heavy rain going back to the boat. You get your hair washed, your clothes right through to your undies washed and everything on the boat washed as well. It works. We did it on Sunday morning!!

Now I am always a little worried about using the toilets in National Parks as they are so dark. I’m fearful of coming across a snake in there in the dark. On Monday morning we went ashore, tied up the dingy and started to walk along the beach to the toilet. Don noticed at the water’s edge what looked like a dark stick, but it moved. It was a very black snake very much like a red bellied black. To our amazement it slid into the water and swam underwater for a couple of metres and then with its head above the water, swam parallel to the shore until we could no longer see it.

That morning we saw numerous armies of soldier crabs on the beach. Most of the crabs were quite small, nowhere near the size of the ones we remember seeing at Hervey Bay when we were kids. I suppose with the number of fishermen collecting them these days, they don’t get the chance to grow to full adult size.

We certainly had a good week-end and hope that all the other members did so too. We were sad however that Les and Sharyl Tuton were unable to attend as they were waiting for a part to come from the good old US of A for their motor.