Thanks guys.
Paul it really does. Although I'd avoid Somalia... aaaarrrr....
I read an article on it the other day when a guy on his way to work turned round and said to hell with this. His wife joined him and they set sail for years. It’s always been a dream of mine to sail the south Pacific– I’m working hard at it :-) . For now though I’m stuck in the rat race trying to pay off the next fishing trip and dreaming about the last one to keep me going!
PLEASE NOTE: This is the Archived Sexyloops Board from years 2004-2013.
Our active community is here: https://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/
Our active community is here: https://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/
Bassas Da India - Uncharted Waters
-
Paul Arden
- Fly God 2010
- Posts: 23925
- Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 10:35 am
- Location: Travelling
- Contact:
"Let's go now!"
"What?!"
"We’re leaving in 10 minutes!"
I flew out of my bed and grabbed one of the coffees. There was no time to sit back and enjoy it as the race was on. The boat was alive with action - fly rods and backpacks everywhere, pass me this chuck me that! The clunk, clunk of the winch was in the background as the tender was lowered and then the engine put in place on the transom. I was trying to sort myself out but clearly the others had a head start and I was the last into the tender as I couldn't find my dam stripping glove.
The scene must have been similar to young soldiers getting ready to go to battle. We were fighting against time and by the urgency around us we were running low on it.
The tide was running out and the water level dropping quickly. Not only would this mean we'd have less time to explore the flat, our journey over the outer reef into the lagoon would be interesting. Today we were really going exploring! We were hunting the monster GT's of this water which get over 100lb’s.
The tender left the security of the mother ship and headed out to the unknown. Slowly Brent edged the little boat as far as he could over the reef towards the centre lagoon but eventually we had to bail out. Step by step we pushed and pulled and routed the boat forward. "My god," I thought to myself, “This is a true adventure! What the hell were we in for today? What would Bassas do next?"
Just then, two really big blue spots darted out from our paths. I was desperate to have a cast but managed to resists the urge. Man, this place never lets you relax!
Finally we find a way and broke through the barrier of the reef. We piled back into the boat and drove on. The view in front of us infolded as we approached, a scene of darkness it was eerie and ominous filled with unimaginable tragedy. As we drew closed the devastated remains of a huge ship swallowed your attention.
We pulled up close, about 1km from where we entered the lagoon. The coral flat was different again here. Simply put it was a maze. As you looked out there were channels running every which way. Fire coral everywhere, there were deep holes and ledges that could never hold a man’s weight. As you walked across ankle deep water, one wrong step and you were over your head at best, sliced to pieces and stuck at worse. The coral was razor sharp and care was essential. We did not want a medical emergency now. Bits of the ship lay all around us, the steel orange, brown and red with rust. The dark clouds scattered the sky and the huge breakers crashed on the outer reef, huge barrels of power behind the ship. Everyone was silenced by the awe of it. This was a god forsaken place, what had these people been through.
Sure I took a shot at a blue spot, it pounced on the fly and then proceeded to cut me off even faster but really our focus wasn’t there and we just forgot about the fishing for a bit and tried somehow to take it all in. We slowly walked around what lay in front of us. There were broken propellers bigger than a wagon wheel and a massive anchor chain. The links were as thick as a man’s trunk and lay running from the outer reef to the broken bow... a failed attempt at saviour.
I remember standing with Tomo on a piece of the ship staring at the wreckage as the waves pounded the reef. We were consumed the reality of what had happened here. There can only be a handful of places on the planet as wild, incomprehensible and unforgiving as this. We stood there for ages and didn’t say a word. I remember thinking back to the wonderful memories of my life, my friends, my family. I felt such a contrast of emotion, that of sadness for what had happened here and that of happiness for all I was lucky enough to have. The rest of the memories for that day remain mine, what we found there will never leave me. Moments and days like this make any expedition or adventure worth it all.
The tide flooded us off and we made our way back to the mother ship. It was most definitely time for a beer.
"What?!"
"We’re leaving in 10 minutes!"
I flew out of my bed and grabbed one of the coffees. There was no time to sit back and enjoy it as the race was on. The boat was alive with action - fly rods and backpacks everywhere, pass me this chuck me that! The clunk, clunk of the winch was in the background as the tender was lowered and then the engine put in place on the transom. I was trying to sort myself out but clearly the others had a head start and I was the last into the tender as I couldn't find my dam stripping glove.
The scene must have been similar to young soldiers getting ready to go to battle. We were fighting against time and by the urgency around us we were running low on it.
The tide was running out and the water level dropping quickly. Not only would this mean we'd have less time to explore the flat, our journey over the outer reef into the lagoon would be interesting. Today we were really going exploring! We were hunting the monster GT's of this water which get over 100lb’s.
The tender left the security of the mother ship and headed out to the unknown. Slowly Brent edged the little boat as far as he could over the reef towards the centre lagoon but eventually we had to bail out. Step by step we pushed and pulled and routed the boat forward. "My god," I thought to myself, “This is a true adventure! What the hell were we in for today? What would Bassas do next?"
Just then, two really big blue spots darted out from our paths. I was desperate to have a cast but managed to resists the urge. Man, this place never lets you relax!
Finally we find a way and broke through the barrier of the reef. We piled back into the boat and drove on. The view in front of us infolded as we approached, a scene of darkness it was eerie and ominous filled with unimaginable tragedy. As we drew closed the devastated remains of a huge ship swallowed your attention.
We pulled up close, about 1km from where we entered the lagoon. The coral flat was different again here. Simply put it was a maze. As you looked out there were channels running every which way. Fire coral everywhere, there were deep holes and ledges that could never hold a man’s weight. As you walked across ankle deep water, one wrong step and you were over your head at best, sliced to pieces and stuck at worse. The coral was razor sharp and care was essential. We did not want a medical emergency now. Bits of the ship lay all around us, the steel orange, brown and red with rust. The dark clouds scattered the sky and the huge breakers crashed on the outer reef, huge barrels of power behind the ship. Everyone was silenced by the awe of it. This was a god forsaken place, what had these people been through.
Sure I took a shot at a blue spot, it pounced on the fly and then proceeded to cut me off even faster but really our focus wasn’t there and we just forgot about the fishing for a bit and tried somehow to take it all in. We slowly walked around what lay in front of us. There were broken propellers bigger than a wagon wheel and a massive anchor chain. The links were as thick as a man’s trunk and lay running from the outer reef to the broken bow... a failed attempt at saviour.
I remember standing with Tomo on a piece of the ship staring at the wreckage as the waves pounded the reef. We were consumed the reality of what had happened here. There can only be a handful of places on the planet as wild, incomprehensible and unforgiving as this. We stood there for ages and didn’t say a word. I remember thinking back to the wonderful memories of my life, my friends, my family. I felt such a contrast of emotion, that of sadness for what had happened here and that of happiness for all I was lucky enough to have. The rest of the memories for that day remain mine, what we found there will never leave me. Moments and days like this make any expedition or adventure worth it all.
The tide flooded us off and we made our way back to the mother ship. It was most definitely time for a beer.
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