Twenty or so, Singaporean students on and Easter break to Lakes Entrance had bought some crab nets for recreation and were enthusiastic about the prospect of catching a feed. They were in the middle of this group activity when we approached the public jetty where we intended to tie up for a few nights to shelter from bad weather coming from both the west and the east. Lucky us! We can also get provisioned here for our next passage 'around the corner' past Gabo Island and on to Eden.
The students were initially confused that we would actually be mooring against their fishing spot but soon cottoned on that removing or relocating their kit would be called for. In their haste, one crab net was released without someone actually holding onto it. By now, barely 5m from the jetty and yet to be tied up, the request to assist in the rescue of the crab net was hardly a priority while wrangling a 9tonne vessel. Thought bubble -Would we mind just driving that thing over there, leaning down 3 metres towards the water and lifting it up for them? Hmmmm? Let's just say that a $20 crab net belonging to someone else was not going to trump a $KKK,KKK boat that belonged to us in the hierarchy of priorities!
Once tied off I was able to be sympathetic to the student's distress - the crab net was beyond their reach even with a boat hook. Lightglobe moment - we'll cast a fishing line to retrieve it. Going below, I attempted to remove a fishing rod from its rack. In doing so, the tip of the rod flicked. Against the odds, the attached fishhook dropped in behind my glasses and caught my eyelid. If you asked a dozen people to do this deliberately you wouldn't be successful but you can't beat Sods Law!
The poor Bloke was convinced I'd actually hooked my eyeball. Yes, there was a commotion. Luckily, just as the hook was about to be snipped off with thoughts of a visit to Accident and Emergency etc. the hook dislodged. The Bloke continued on his winning streak and retrieved the crab net using his excellent casting skills derived from 18months of almost fruitless fishing attempts and there was a happy ending.
Now our thoughts are focused on maybe updating those tetanus shots.
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