With OS travel and Covid, we hadn't taken the boat out for nearly two years. When we were finally allowed to go boating after the second lockdown last November, the electrics and engine of the Zodiac had obviously taken a severe hit from the salt and weather of Bass Straight and were in need of a serious overhaul. Even the guy in Port Albert had a couple months' backlog of work, but it was finally ready for the Australia Day long weekend. Baz didn't need much encouragement, but in the frantic packing to get out of Melbourne to pick up the boat at Port Albert and then back to launch it at Port Welshpool, we made several rookie errors.
So yes, I didn't log in our campsite to Parks Victoria, yes I left my marine license in the car, and yes we took the wrong gas canister for the portable stove which meant lighting a small fire to cook our noodles.
However I think that the $1250 worth of fines that we copped the next morning by the overly serious Parks folk in their anti-fun police boat was a little over the top. Expensive 2 minute noodles. Victoria has certainly become even more of a nanny state under covid. And maybe a good time to point out that the greatest threat to Wilson's Prom in my lifetime have been fires lit by the State Government. But I don't think even the DSE (Department of Scorched Earth) had to pay as much as Balti and I did when they burnt half the freaking Prom down. No more donations from me.
Anyway, we still had a great time. Whilst we failed to catch any snapper, we got plenty of flatties, a huge ray, and a shark, all of them thrown back for good measure.
The next day we took mother out with us on Shallow Inlet and she got 5 whiting to our zero. But the day after, Balti and I made amends by finding a sweet spot where we both bagged out with whiting in less than an hour!
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