At long last, i happened to be at home on break at the same time some of the lads were planing a trip to Exmouth. I started the task of ringing around to try get a few crew for my boat, but when the time was getting close and still not enough able to crew my tinnie. I got an invitation to jump on another boat as a deckie.

So i exchanged all the equipment a responsable skipper would take, with beer and moonshine and headed to kalbarri for a night so see the oldies. 2:30am departure from there the next morning towards exmouth had me catch up to an old friend in his truck doing the paperrun to canarvon. Its always nice to have someone to chat to at that time of the morning for those drives.  

Met up with the lads that arvo and set up camp in the caravan park and got a bit of a gameplan together for the week to come. The next 3 days were not really the best weather, but after driving all that distance and living in Geraldton, a little bit of wind was never going to stop us.

First day we went 2-1-0. Was a good day to get routines and all sorted out. bit of a catchup with the lads and just crusing around the ocean, with beers in hand.

Second day we went 0-0-0 and returned home broken. Seen a few free jumpers, but just couldnt get anything to strike. 

Third day we 2-2-1. Whoop whoop, got one to the boat at last. Finished up a bit ealier this day so we could drop past the local tackle shop for a bit of advice. Walked out with a bunch of new skirts and a whole lot of wisdom from the crew. I can see why everyone goes on about this shop, it was worth the trip up there just to listen to what they had to say. 

Forth Day went 5-5-3. So it would seem, all we had to do was swallow our pride and listen to some local advice and change a few tatics and the results spoke for themselves. 

Fifth day. 8-7-4. Today was forcasted to be the best day of the trip, so an early start had us dropping that boat in the water just after the sun was up and the sun was down by the time we pulled back into the caravan park. A quiet few beers and an early night.

Sixth and final day had us out there for an early start. Went 2-2-1 for the day with an early finish also. Got back to the camp and started the depressing task of packing gear away ready for the drive home. As i drove up seperate to the others, i was going to head back and try make it for our "kiddy combo" comp back in Gero the next morning, so i hit the road about 18:00 and managed to get home in time for a few hours sleep before my crew rocked up at home to get my tinnie ready for a day on the water. 

There were the 3 of us on this boat and we each landed 3 blacks each over the week, as well as another 2 boats (both with 2 ppl on board) that came up with us. For a few of us, these were our first marlin that we actully managed to land and there has been a lot of trial and error in the process leading up to this trip. Ive got a week up there between Xmas and new  years for a friends wedding, so i think the boat might be coming for a little road trip, if i can find a crew.... 

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