9th June - Wenlock River - jabiru - Spanish mackerel - mud crab - near Weipa

Sunday 9^th June

12 degrees south (latitude)

141 degrees (longitude)

Last night we had a most beautiful anchorage, in the Wenlock River.

And yes – we were welcomed by a glorious jabiru, patiently stork-ing away on a little peninsula in the mouth of a small tributary stream.  He wasn’t in the least bothered by us, not even when we buzzed in very close in the dinghy, to put down our crab pot.  I looked in my Australian bird book, to make sure it was actually my longed-for jabiru sighting, only to find that they now call it Black Necked Stork, and say, in terse small italics, formerly known as jabiru.  All I can say is – it is still jabiru to us…

Carsten and Mercedes (Yacht Forty-Two) were close behind.  They had radioed to let us know they had caught a big fish and to ask if we would like some.  Well yes of course!  And a big fish it certainly was – ten kilos of Spanish mackerel, with big sharp teeth!  None of it went to waste.  The big toothy head went into the crab pot, and the rest of it was DINNER.  I volunteered to clean and fillet it, with the lovely knife Michael gave me when he found out I was taking on a new and hitherto unwanted skill.  I stripped down to my slaughtering clothes (second-best bra and knickers) and sat on the back step, grimly wrestling with the innards before tackling the slightly more pleasant filleting job.  I think any resident crocs would have been thrilled to bits with my work, and I received a grateful cheeping chorus from some shy sea-birds, lurking to dive for the scraps as soon as I had vacated the step.

Carsten and Mercedes came to eat dinner with us and we had a very nice evening, full of sailing sagas and tales of the South Pacific.

When Pete took them back to Forty-Two in the dinghy, he went to check the crab pot and there, waiting slightly crossly, was a large and beautiful mud crab.  He rang our Cairns friends to find out what to do next.  Bill said that all you have to do it tap the crab lightly on the claws and it will just fall apart… This seems crazy, doesn’t t?  These crabs have huge great pincer claws which are very scary weapons.  But as soon as they are confronted with danger, they shed the claws and render themselves totally vulnerable!  Good thing for us if not for our hapless crab…

Pete took on the Crab Task.  For starters, once it had thrown off its weapons, he put it gently in the fridge – this is euthanasia for crustaceans; they just go to sleep, all chilled out.  No being put, shocked and horrified, into a pot of boiling water.  Not until they are deadybones… So we had a most splendid lunch:

And yes that is a lovely loaf of sourdough you see before you!  I think it was #8…Pete is VERY persistent.  Never Ever Give Up is absolutely his motto.  I would have thrown in the towel well before #3 I am sure.

We have had a long day today.  We left beautiful Wenlock River a bit after seven and only just dropped anchor before dark, at 5.30.  We had hoped to be at Weipa, but it is just around the corner, not far off, and we would have arrived just in time to do all of the jobs we need to do before crossing the Gulf except…it is a long weekend tomorrow and everything will be shut…

And a last look at our darling jabiru...