How do you decide where to go?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by NedX

Where I sail we have white sharks, not that it affects my decision making (other than not to dive in with a wet suit and flippers). Crocs would probably mitigate against that desire for a quick sea bath....

I've been in the water with lots of sharks over the years, and while I surely respect them, I don't really fear them (mostly). But the bloody crocs just scare the hell out of me. I don't understand their habits well and they just look, well, evil to me.

Brrrrr.

Jim

[NedX]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I've been in the water with lots of sharks over the years, and while I surely respect them, I don't really fear them (mostly). But the bloody crocs just scare the hell out of me. I don't understand their habits well and they just look, well, evil to me.

Brrrrr.

Jim

Brrrr is right!

Maybe it's because the white shark evolved 45 million years ago to eat things that taste like seals, whereas crocodiles evolved 65 million years to eat anything our size.

Though I'll accept corrections from anyone who has a better explanation.

[RaymondR]

Fortunately the crocs rend to stay in the tidal creeks and rivers with fairly dirty water and most of the snorkeling and diving takes place around the offshore islands where the crocs seldom go so it is generally not a problem.

During the last couple of years there have been a couple of shark attacks in one of the anchorages heavily frequented by charter boats otherwise pretty well nothing elsewhere.

The stinger problem tends to be seasonal when they are flushed out of the creeks and rivers by heavy rain. People who swim in the sea in areas they frequent now tend to wear "stinger suits" which mitigate the problem. They tend to be more of a problem along mainland beaches rather than around the offshore islands.

There are a lot more boats cruising the coast the last couple of years than there had been previously, bit of a retired baby boomer bubble I guess.

[Jim Cate]

Fortunately the crocs rend to stay in the tidal creeks and rivers with fairly dirty water and most of the snorkeling and diving takes place around the offshore islands where the crocs seldom go so it is generally not a problem.

We were in the Solomons a few years back and at a neighboring island a German yottie came to anchor and then dove in to check how it was set. His wife, watching from the foredeck, saw a large saltie grab him and he was never seen again. Horrible experience for them both. Made an impression on me that won't go away.

Brrrrr.

Jim

PS This was in a bay where crocs were known to live... don't know if this chap had that info, or if it would have made a difference in what he did.

[Tonali99]

Originally Posted by NedX

Brrrr is right!

Maybe it's because the white shark evolved 45 million years ago to eat things that taste like seals, whereas crocodiles evolved 65 million years to eat anything our size.

Though I'll accept corrections from anyone who has a better explanation.

Your time frame might be off a bit, but no matter.
Sharks tend to favour seals and stuff that looks like them. Like surfers, people playing in shallow water near the beach. Trying not to look like bait.
Never had a problem with 'em down deep though.

[RaymondR]

Don't think you are safe down there in Tasmania Jim.

My summer cyclone avoiding strategy brings me to the Great Sandy Straits every year.

About seven years ago we started to hear reports of croc sightings in the Mary River
which, for a while, were denied by the parks and wildlife authorities. However the sightings became more common and there was even a report of a large croc attacking a cow on the outskirts of Maryborough on the Mary River. The next decent sized river south of the Great Sandy Straits is the Logan River and there have now been reports of sightings in it.

We have another mass climate change conference coming up somewhere in the northern hemisphere in the near future and I would not be at all surprised to hear media predictions that the warming has been sufficient to allow colonization of the Derwent by crocs in the near future.

[NedX]

Originally Posted by Tonali99

Your time frame might be off a bit, but no matter.
Sharks tend to favour seals and stuff that looks like them. Like surfers, people playing in shallow water near the beach. Trying not to look like bait.
Never had a problem with 'em down deep though.

Yeah, "great" white sharks are a surface, by the shore, where the seals are concern mostly.

We could go back over the evolution of the shark (Late Ordovician if we go by shark-like ancestors or Early Devonian if we go by shark-like teeth) and the crocodilian (late Triassic), but I was more shooting for the modern versions.

But that'd be thread drift.

[Jim Cate]

I would not be at all surprised to hear media predictions that the warming has been sufficient to allow colonization of the Derwent by crocs in the near future.

Oh gawd, Ray, say it ain't so. It's bad enough with mainlanders crossing the moat and bringing the pestilence with them... but crocs too.... GAAAAAhhhhhh!

As I understand it, crocs can survive well south of their ancestral homelands, but it is difficult for them to reproduce in those climes. With their burgeoning population in the north and their territorial social views, young ones are being driven ever further south. Hopefully they will die as lonely spinsters and bachelors... but they live a long time, eating cows and tourists all the while.

Jim

[fxykty]

Our destination is Queensland and the GBR next year. I’m not showing these recent posts to my wife!

The Vanuatu story that Jim or Ann shared is absolutely awful to contemplate. Wow.

Oh yeah, for the OP, we currently choose destinations while coastal and weekend sailing based on weather forecast. For passages and longer term cruising, it’s based on combinations of locations of far flung family, places one or both of us wants to explore, and a grand idea.

For some the grand idea is to circumnavigate, for others to anchor in a South Pacific lagoon, and for us to circumnavigate the Pacific. With family in three corners it kind of makes sense.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Weather, if it's cold go towards the equator and if it's hot towards the poles.

^ best answer ever

[end thread]

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Oh gawd, Ray, say it ain't so. It's bad enough with mainlanders crossing the moat and bringing the pestilence with them... but crocs too.... GAAAAAhhhhhh!

As I understand it, crocs can survive well south of their ancestral homelands, but it is difficult for them to reproduce in those climes. With their burgeoning population in the north and their territorial social views, young ones are being driven ever further south. Hopefully they will die as lonely spinsters and bachelors... but they live a long time, eating cows and tourists all the while.

Jim

As a loyal Queenslander Jim I'd like to see them all move south and take up eating Victorians and New South Welshmen.

Interesting fact about Tasmanians. They don't have rivalries with any other state in the Commonwealth.

The aquatic fauna in the Mary river is fairly tropical in nature. Years ago I noticed what I thought was a dead pig caught up in the mangroves. Not long before there had been a dead pig which floated up and down on the tides for a few days holding us in terror. It was pretty swelled up and we were firmly of the belief that one poke with a stick would lead to an olfactory intense biowaste incident which could pollute the entire city until the next heavy rains.

After closely observing the mangrove anchored supposed pig I came to the conclusion that it was an unusually shaped hog and decided to approach it carefully for a better look. It was actually a dead fish and at least six feet long. With a bit of research I found that there were cod fish this big native to the Mary River. Earlier this year another slightly smaller one was snagged on another of the moored vessels so they appear to be fairly common as they are in the tropical rivers.

Lung fish were once common in the Mary and were served in a number of the local restaurants and I seem to recall that crocs were once native to Moreton Bay. Be just like those tricky damned New South Welshmen to have placed the border so that they got all the oysters and we got all the crocs.

Having thawed out with the warmer weather you and Ann should be nicely placed for the Australian summer.

[Jim Cate]

Having thawed out with the warmer weather you and Ann should be nicely placed for the Australian summer.

We plan to enjoy the Tasmanian summer. The locals tell us that if summer happens on a weekend there may be a picnic.

Meanwhile, to entertain us, one of the salmon farms inadvertently released 52 thousand adult Atlantic salmon a few days ago. They (or their insurers) are not happy, but the local anglers are kinda stoked. We keep seeing tinnies go by full of big silver fish and a lot of smiling faces. Better than bread and circuses IMO!

And it is such events, planned and unplanned, that help yotties decide where to go (see, back to the thread subject!)

Jim



Jim

[Mr B]

The Kimberlys, Western Australia,
Been wanting to go there for 50 years.
Now have a boat and Im going there,
Its a 6000 mile trip from where I live,
Being retired, Time is not an issue,
But there is plenty to see on the way,

Ive done it all by car, Now its by Catamaran,
Eastern Coast of OZ, Gippsland lakes, Eden, and all the towns up to Sydney, Brisbane,
The Hawkesbury river, The great Barrier Reef. The Mary river and Maryborough where I lived for a time,
When I lived there, They had stories of a 32 foot Croc that was shot in the Mary river in the fiftys,
Crocs have been protected since 1974 and have now grown to 20 foot long,
I have swam in the Mary river and all the way up the coast to cook town with my Kids,
Swam in Darwin Harbour, , There wasnt a problem with crocs as the biggest you would have seen then was 3 foot long, They had been almost shot out to extinction,

Sharks and Crocs are not a problem, I dont intend swimming with them,
Cape York Peninsular and down to Wiepa and Normanton in the Gulf, across to the other side of the Gulf and up to Darwin, Party time with Friends,

Then across to the Kimberlys, Might take a few months to do that properly,
Down the coast to Broome, Carnarvon Etc Etc, Perth, Stopping at all places of interest,
Then back across the Bight to Adelaide, Albany, Esperence, Ceduna, Port Lincoln and up to Port Augusta, Then back across Bass Strait to Home,
Last time I was in Albany, The whaling station was in full swing, I can still taste the smell of that place in the air,

It will be good catching up to friends I havent seen for years up the coast of OZ, and all round OZ,
Will be doing the Atherton table lands on a Blackbird my friend in Cairns has offered me,
I rode her Bike when she came down to Melbourne a few years back, That was an 8000 Kay trip for her on her own, She went down to Tassie too,

Places of interest, What ever floats our boat, Its an adventure,
My Cats capable, Ive been in well over 40 knots in Bass Strait, It handles all seas comfortably,

About the only planning involved, The Kimberlys is the destination, Every thing else we will take as it comes,
When the wind is going in our direction, We will pick up the anchor and move,
I only sail down wind, Bugga sailing upwind and getting battered chronically,

My new copilot, Bought me a new, Anchor pulley up thingy to lift the anchor,
Just in case I cark it or get dissabled and cant pull up the 40 Kg hoop anchor I made,
Then she can do it instead, and sail away in my Cat, hahahaha
And a new stove, griller and 3 burner gas top as she didnt like my two burner gas top,

Just waiting for the Borders to open and we are gone,

Cheers, Brian,

[fxykty]

+1 the Kimberlys!

They’re a recent addition to our plan and an example of how plans can change even before they’re started!

Another new factor is the upcoming (soon? not so soon?) rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine. We expect international travel will require proof of vaccination. Is it reasonable to return to our (current) country of residence to take advantage of whatever vaccination program is established, rather than take our chances of buying the vaccine somewhere along the way?