Smokin’!!

Our first trial of the smoker proved to be quite successful.  Soaking the mackerel steaks in a brine of salt, soya sauce, brown sugar and warm water for 4 or 5 hours, then drying the steaks seemed straightforward.  

The wood chips, we chose cherry wood (available at any “Daddy Day Care” near you), were soaked in water for 2 or 3 hours then put in the smoker box in a hot BBQ until they began to smoke.  

We chose to wait until we were facing into the wind, but the smoke itself was quite pleasant anyway.  Twenty minutes later, with the steaks on a rack above the smoker, Skipper Pete had created a delicious lunch, served with a Greek Salad and a glass of chardy, as you do!  YUM!

So Many Shorebirds at Inskip Point

Thousands of shorebirds were roosting/resting on the sandspit on high tide at Inskip Point, one of the few safe places for them accessible at high tide.  

We cruised in slowly for a closer look and saw Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed godwits (which means “food” in Norwegian, another story), some returned from Siberia and still in red breeding plumage, Golden Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Greater Sand Plovers, other small plovers we couldn’t ID without the scope, along with Pied Oystercatchers, Pied Cormorants, Little Pied Cormorants and Pelicans.  

We were careful not to disturb the birds, but when we got back to our boat a fishing boat zoomed over to the spit, dropped a dog and a child on the beach, who chased the birds, did a crap, then got back on their boat and left.   We were just gob-smacked, to say the least!

 

The Narrows to Pancake Ck to Rooney Point, Fraser Island

 

After a long day’s sail (15 hours) from Pancake Creek to Rooney Point, without seeing any whales, we dropped anchor near Tellurian and Euphoria at 8 pm, under the full moon.  Then we heard the whales singing, echoing through our hulls.

Full moon over Fraser Island

Along the way Peter caught a nice spanish mackerel, the first since last November!  Yum!!

Back in Gladstone, we took the north channel out of The Narrows, following a small barge which was checking all the channel markers.  At the last port marker there was a huge osprey nest with a chick sitting in it.  The serviceman was carefully working under the nest while the curious chick was watching him with the anxious parents circling over head.