BIG YEAR WITH SPECIAL OFFERS, MAJOR PRIZES AND MORE CAMARADERIE

YOU’VE GOT TO HAND IT THEM – TCC BOAT OWNERS ARE THE REAL DEAL

WIN BIG IN ‘PHOTOS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE’

Team CruiseCraft has teamed up with Mayfair Dental at Manly West (Brisbane) to give you the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes and it doesn’t matter where in Australia you live … you’re still in the running to win.Firstly, we’re looking for photos that make you smile. It might be a shot of a person, a place, an event or a circumstance, a fish, a family on-water shot – just so long as it reflects the CruiseCraft lifestyle in some context. It does not have to necessarily include a shot of a CruiseCraft boat, but it can.

Just a photograph that puts a smile on your face when you see it. The Mayfair Dental team, and that includes the delightful Cara Schultz pictured at right with her smiling friend, will be presenting a quarterly prize comprising a free dental examination; a teeth de-scale and clean, free x-rays, a fluoride treatment and a gift promotional pack comprising various products to keep your teeth looking their very best.

At the end of the photo competition,  Mayfair Dental will give the winner a Zoom Whitening treatment.

Mayfair Dental is located at the Woolworths shopping complex on the corner of

Manly and Hargreaves roads at Manly West on Brisbane’s bayside – you can check them out online at www.mayfairdental.com.au. For quarterly winners located outside of Greater Brisbane, Mayfair Dental will be sending you a CruiseCraft gift pack in a special, zip bag comprising 3M  cleaning products   including marine cleaner and wax, marine vinyl cleaner and restorer, clean and shine wax, liquid wax and a cleaning pad and cloth. The gift pack has a recommended retail price of around $150.To be in the running, all you have to do is email your photo to info@teamcruisecraft.com.au with the words Mayfair Dental Photo Comp in the subject line. Attach one or two low or medium resolution photos and include a note about who is in the photo, where it is shot and any other relevant information.In taking part in this competition, you also are confirming that the photo is your own work, that you have the permission of any people clearly depicted in it to enter the photo and further, that Team CruiseCraft and Mayfair Dental have the right to publish the photo in newsletters, on their web sites and in similar applications. You also acknowledge that if you are a winner, it is your responsibility to organise your own transport to Mayfair Dental.  We will publish the best photos submitted each quarter, so start snapping away now.      

… if you’re in Team CruiseCraft, you’re already a winner thanks to Mayfair Dental    

WILSON TACKLES THE BIG ISSUES: ENDING ‘OVERBOARD’ PLIERS, FINDING PRE-RIGGED LEADERS AND WEIGHING IN THE BIG ONES

QUEENSLAND’S BEST IS HERE MAY 3, 4 & 5 – THE BOYNE-TANNUM HOOK-UP

 GOING POTTY OVER WHERE TO GO WHEN NATURE CALLS AT SEA    

EXPLORER WINDOW 570 RUBBERS – GOOD NEWS

Interesting question about window rubber seals raised by John Hayes from Leopold on Victoria’s near-western coastline. In undertaking a refurbishment that included adding an electric anchor winch, Lenco trim tabs and a hardtop, John thought the window rubbers needed attention. Well, the good news is that the trim rubber is still available from the factory in black at $4.15 a metre, plus postage.  

JOINT VENTURE CONTINUES TO YIELD DIVIDENDS FOR DAVE AND ALLAN

DON’T BE FUELLED BY TANK SIZES – WE’LL HELP YOU REACH THE ANSWER

The multi-award winning 625 hull featured on the Explorer and Outsider ranges has been one of the most popular ever produced by CruiseCraft. It was the outstanding seaworthiness of the hull that saw Outsiders and Explorers being taken incredible distances offshore. That in turn created the demand for a tank larger than the already impressive 195 litres fitted to the Outsider 625 (240 on the Explorer).The solution was to make the 240 litre tank an option on the Outsider. Quite a few people looking at pre-loved Outsider 625’s have asked how they can confirm the tank size easily. Well, all you have to do stretch out on the floor with your head towards the engine well, reach your hand into the bilge area and slightly back towards the bow.

If you can feel the tank, it’s the 240 litre model. The 195 litre tank is shorter, so unless you are one of those svelte things in a skimpy costume assisting a magician on weekends, odds are that you will not be a good enough contortionist to reach the smaller tank via the bilge. By the way, current production Outsider 625’s now have the 240 litre tank as standard.
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RELEASE WEIGHT SAVES FISH FROM BLOATING

It would seem that Western Australia is leading the country when it comes to undoing harm done to fish by barotrauma – that condition where fish’s eyes bulge and they expel their swim bladder and other organs as a result of having been brought to the surface too quickly for their physiology. (It is caused by the expansion of gases in those organs).While many advocate the use of a hollow needle to puncture the fish’s swim bladder, it’s something many folk are unsure about (let alone where to source the needle from and where exactly to place it in the fish).

But Recwestfish, in conjunction with an inventor, a Murdoch University research and monitoring team and co-operative manufacturers like Emilio Orifici’s WA Sinkers, have come up with a brilliant solution. It’s the Release Weight, pictured at right.   In simple terms, a weight of  20 ounces, 40 ounces or even 80 ounces is bonded to a U-shaped barbless hook that is pushed down through the top lip of an affected fish. In the middle of the U-shaped wire is a loop enabling a line to be tied to it.The fish is sent back down to depth with the weight forcing a controlled descent. As it descends, the pressure of water forces the gases to recompress back into the fish. Once back at the depth it was caught, a quick, sharp tug on the line tied to the weight, draws the barbless hook straight up and out of the fish’s top lip. Tagging and recapture studies undertaken by the university confirm the higher survival rates of fish which have been released using the weight.The Release Weight can be stored on a simple handline reel as we have set up here. Obviously the size of the Release Weight depends on the size and type of fish, but in general terms,  the 20 ounce will manage fish of around one to two kilograms; the 40 ouncer will cover most other needs. However Emilio also manufactures 80 and 120 ounce models for fish upwards of 50kg.The Release Weight is very well made and is reasonably priced $8 for the 20 ounce, $10 for the 40 ounce. We’re going to give it a try in the Boyne-Tannum Hook-Up so if you are participating in the event, make sure you track down John Daffy to have a closer look.Emilio also is producing a range of iron sinkers, rather than lead on the understanding that they are less harmful for the marine environment. The sinkers come in the conventional snapper dropper, spoon and other shapes. Further information, give Emilio a call on (08) 9330 6314.
      

TCC PARTICIPANTS IN THE NEWS

Brisbane FM radio Station Triple M was doing a “Marry The Love Of Your Life” competition.Mrs Amanda Wells, (now well known for wearing Team CruiseCraft tattoos in order to attract her husband’s attention from time to time), entered Graham in the competition.

Did she nominate herself as “the love of Graham’s life?” No. Children? No. Did she nominate any family member at all?  Of course she did … Graham’s beloved Outsider 685.

He’s now in the running to win some serious prizes (and some serious ribbing).

Resident CruiseCraft media Tart ‘Brendona’ Tait (Outsider 685) has done it again. Not content with his three appearances in the one edition of the Gladstone Observer last year, he’s followed it up with two appearances in the one edition of Bush ’n Beach magazine. That’s thanks to two overnighters in rugged conditions out on the reefs east of the Town of 1770 where he once again demonstrated his finely-honed fishing skills.

Also figuring in the article by Mick Clutterbuck were Graham and Kathleen Taylor (Explorer 685) thanks to landing, among other species,  a 6.4kg rosy jobfish and an 8.2kg red emperor. Kathleen recently won the Power Boat Anglers club’s Bush N Beach award with Graham coming in second.

The couple always go hard at the Boyne-Tannum Hook-Up forming a formidable husband-wife team in the fishing, as well as in any card game.

Darelle Deighton (Outsider 685) was sitting in the doctor’s surgery and found the April-May edition of a boating magazine published in 1992. Flicking through 21 years of history, Darelle came across an article where former CruiseCraft Director, Kevin Nichols was announcing a three years hull warranty.

The article noted: “We’ve decided to extend the warranty on all CruiseCraft hulls to cover a full three year period instead of the 12 months it has been in the past.

The warranty applies to all pleasure boating situations including water-skiing and offshore fishing.”

That’s 21 years ago and scores of other manufacturers today have not yet caught up and also show no likelihood of ever doing so.

Meanwhile, CruiseCraft still continues to lead the industry … the current warranty period is seven years thanks to the brand’s superior design integrity and strength, Advanced hull construction techniques include a sub-floor girder system, moulded cockpit liner and foam-filled sub-floor. Of course CruiseCrafts also meet the stringent European CE level of manufacturing certification which is approved by the International Marine Certification Institute together with the relevant requirements of the International Standards Organisation and the Recreational Craft Directive 94/25/CE.

The question still to be answered is why a magazine 21 years old, is still sitting in a doctor’s surgery? We can only surmise that it’s the quality of the publication’s content.    

EXPLORER 595 HOSTS LAUNCH OF YAMAHA’S IMPRESSIVE NEW F200F   

That model also will have the capacity to connect to Yamaha’s high definition colour display that already features on the big model Yamaha motors. It’s a sleek panel pad that we first spotted a couple of years ago on a 300hp mated to a special build, Explorer 685.
      

BOAT SHOWS ARE A GREAT CHANCE TO CATCH UP

RIG UP WITH TEAM CRUISECRAFT DECALS FOR YOUR BOAT

It started out as a  helpful idea from TCC member (and multi-time CruiseCraft owner) Steve Deighton: “Let’s do a quick run out from 1770 to the Fitzroy Lagoon – Boult Reef archipelago for those who haven’t been there before. People can manage their own on-land bookings and suit themselves whether they stay just a few days, or perhaps a week or longer.”

Top idea  and so that’s exactly what we did. A few ‘regulars’ to the region escorting some first timers to this band of offshore reef located around 60km north-east of the Town of 1770.  That’s some of the crew above right when we threw on a ‘get to know you’ BBQ.  That’s also Graham Taylor pictured above in the middle showing what was on offer. In the shot above left, Jason Richardson coaches good mate Barry Young on how to bring in a big pelagic (or perhaps it was a reef shark – we never did find out), while rafted up for the night in the lagoon.  Watching on was Peter Layton, publisher of The Great Outdoors Tide Guide and Angler’s Almanack – those orange and yellow ‘must have’ fishing books.

  SO YOU THINK YOU’VE LOGGED A FEW HOURS – WELL ALLAN & DAVE CERTAINLY HAVE We just love getting feedback from CruiseCraft owners – it doesn’t matter whether it’s an extensive tome detailing every minute of a trip or an absolute classic like this one just received from Allan Cois of Ashgrove, Brisbane. Allan wrote: “Our Outsider 595 is now ten months old and we have over 250 hours on the clock –  our wives cannot keep us out of it!”“The performance of this amazing boat can only be described as a weapon.  She has very few limitations; whether we are skiing at Somerset Dam, towing her up the beach or 40 miles offshore. She goes off!”Did you catch the punchline there? – 250 hours in just 10 months!Allan (that’s him pictured at right) and good mate, Dave Bartlett purchased the Outsider 595 together and appropriately named it Joint Venture. Their families fish together, tour together, ski together. “It turns on a dime when we’re skiing – it’s got to be boat of the year,” Allan said   CRUISECRAFT OWNERS SHOW THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO BARGE DOWN THE BEACH Owning a CruiseCraft opens a whole world of beachside experiences as the photographs below clearly show. In the first shot (below left), John and Sue Heit from Jambin (inland from Gladstone, Queensland) go to extraordinary lengths of personal inconvenience just to demonstrate to others in Team CruiseCraft, how shallow the mouth of the Boyne River can be at low tide. They are frequent travellers in their Outsider 685 Bait Waster to North West Island about 80km north west of the mouth of the Boyne River. John and Sue also have a very customised extended canopy that is supported in part by the rod holders on their bait board. It has a significant height step up from the standard targa giving plenty of clearance to fish without hitting rods on the shelter that is needed from the fierce, Queensland sun.In the middle, that gun of all fishing styles, Richard Love shows the serious jewfish he landed on pillie and 15lb line – a truly remarkable feat. The sand-encrusted jewie was nailed just before a major storm hit North Stradbroke Island where Richard was fishing you his son Will,, who also is extremely handy with a fishing rod.And Mark Larsen easily secured pole position on the barge going over from Inskip Point to Hook Point at the southern end of Fraser Island. That’s his Explorer 685 Krooze pictured below right. Mark is a regular to distant offshore fishing locations. He also has a great eye for detail, keeping his boat immaculate, One of his secrets is having a hot water tap outside his home to wash down his boat – the hot water dissolves the salt thereby removing any chance of residual encrustations.   IT’S OFFICIAL – EXPLORER HARDTOP ISTHE VERY BESTWhen the CruiseCraft Explorer 685 Hardtop took out Trailer Boat magazine’s title of Australia’s Greatest Fibreglass Fishing Boat of 2012, there smack bang on the front cover was the Team CruiseCraft logo.Ten boats, five judges and two days at The Rip – the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, saw CruiseCraft’s awesome fishing platform outclass the Whittley SL26; Signature 600C, Tournament 1900CC and Evolution Axis 552 to take out the fibreglass fishing boat category.This wasn’t some special build for the marine shootout of 2012 – it was the very same vessel with the HT685Q personalised registration, that CruiseCraft’s Kevin Nichols had taken, as part of Team CruiseCraft, to the Boyne Tannum Hook-Up fishing tournament in June.The Australia’s Greatest Boats shootout was judged on 10 criteria: Fishing suitability; innovation; design and layout; quality of finish; handling and ride; stability at rest; ergonomics; standard equipment; value for money and the X-factor.

Every judge rated it 9 out of 10 with Trailer Boat editor, Angelo San Giorgio rating it a 9.5 out of 10.

Judge Jeff Strang noted: “Of the boats I tested today, it’s the offshore fishing package with class.  Absolutely superb boat:” John Willis noted “Quality through and through” and fellow judge John Ford said: “It’s like a rocketship with the big 300hp Yammie.”

Team CruiseCraft congratulates the factory on yet another major boating industry win.   FINDING A CLEAR ANSWER TO IMPROVE YOUR OUTLOOK ON BOATINGIt’s a pretty frequently asked question – what is the best thing to use to clean a CruiseCraft’s front clears and side curtains? Here’s the answer – VuPlex. The product was first developed for the aviation industry, then expanded into marine and other applications. Just give your clears a good rinse off and then spray and wipe VuPlex – the results are sensational.It doesn’t use abrasives to scrape down the dirt and cut out fine scratches and marks. Instead, it cleans the muck off and then is claimed to fill the very fine scratches which cause diffusion and loss of clarity. VuPlex  also is the product recommended by Gary Crook from Rowland Street Boat Trimmers who has been making the CruiseCraft factory’s clears, canopies and targa trimmings for the last six years.You’ll see the price vary a little between different retailers, but the bottom line is that a 445 ml spray can will cost around $20. You only need a fraction of the can to do a full set of clears.
And while on the subject, want to know the best way to stop salt build-up on your  nylon zippers around your clears and side curtains? Just open and close them a couple of times before and after each trip.   If the zip already has become encrusted with salt, use a little Inox spray into the zipper slides to free them.  Factory fitted front clears and side curtain zips do not need lubricating. Just give them a good rinse with fresh water after each trip and run the zips along their tracks. THE RIGHT LINE ON WEAVING BRAIDSThere’s no doubting the expertise of our friendly fishing line guru Paulus Van Gaal – for many years, he’s been closely tracking the availability of new fibres suitable for braiding into fishing lines as they are released around the world. Now he has commissioned the manufacture of Honeywell’s latest Spectra fibre into his Tasline range.The new fibres are in 75 denier strands – previously, the finest was 100 denier. What does that mean?Well quite simply, you now can get these super-fine fibres nominated as a 25 lb six strand braid of just 0.262mm diameter (that breaks at 39 lb under testing);  a 30lb eight strand solid braid of 0.299mm diameter that went to 49 lb in testing and a 40 lb 12 strand hollow braid of 0.310mm that went to 77 lb.The bottom line – very fine fibres and smaller braid diameters, but with more fish stopping power.   Previously, for these lighter lines, you had to go to Dyneema fibres  and while there is one, very high grade for Spectra, there were multiple grades of Dyneema.That’s why some Dyneema braids were great and others were, well, to put it mildly, “also rans”. Obviously the top grade Dyneema sits right up there with Spectra. The new ultra fine braid lines will be marketed under Paulus’ Tasline brand – the same label as on those lines which we have been giving away in our newsletter competitions.And remember you can always send a sample of your fishing line to Paulus and have its breaking point professionally tested, free of charge. You also can compare the real breaking strains, versus the manufacturer’s claims, on his web site at paulusjustfishing.com It’s one of the best research resources you have at your disposal. MICK’S BEEN BUSY PUTTING THE STING BACK INTO THE TAIL OF HIS SCORPION
How good does this Scorpion 625 look?  Pandora has been undergoing a loving restoration in the hands of its fourth owner, Mick Wilton from Muswellbrook, NSW. The original owner was from Nelson Bay. His wife ran a hairdressing business called Pandora’s In The Bay – hence the Scorpion’s name. The boat then was purchased by fellow Muswellbrookian, Lyall Ward whom Mick knew well. It then passed to coal miner, Chris Page who ploughed some serious maintenance into it including a new trailer, new seats, hydraulic steering, storm covers, new hatch, stainless rocket launchers, VHF & 27 meg radios, AM/FM/CD stereo, live bait tank and sounder.Mick then purchased it for $14,000 (including the leaves and dirt that since had accumulated in it). Mick and partner Kim recarpeted the floor and side panels. Kim the cleaned the teak with methylated spirits and water transforming the timber from black, to its original teak colour. Mick rubbed back the fibreglass and resealed it with clear. He also replaced the old carby 175 with a new E Tec 175 in 2008 and built a shed to accommodate it. Mick and Kim use the Scorpion at a nearby dam which measures more than 50km end to end.The Scorpion allows Mick and Kym to travel at 50km/h in almost any weather. “We stay out fishing for 3 to 4 nights or until the ice runs out,” Mick said. “We have barbeques on board and it has the best bedroom going.  We also travel to Nelson Bay and stay at Soldiers Point marina or in some of the protected bays as well as travelling offshore to Broughton Island. Pandora is a great sea boat,” he said. CruiseCraft Scorpions were built from 1979 to 1986. EXPLORERS AND OUTSIDERS FEATURE CLEVER NEW OPTIONS FOR FISHINGThe CruiseCraft Explorer 685 can now be optioned with insulated and fully plumbed underfloor kills tanks. That means fresh sea water can be cycled through the tanks and pumped out via a skin fitting on the hull. It also removes the need to scoop the last of the ice out by hand. Bleed the fish and flush in the one action – it’s now a more efficient operation. The insulation also extends the life or the catch. (The feature cannot be retro-fitted to existing boats). As well, an insulated front underfloor storage locker now can be ordered as an option.And people buying new Explorer 685, 625 and 595 models as well as the Outsider 595, now can order an optional side “dive door’. The door makes it much easier to land large tuna, and billfish aboard the boat. (Again, it’s not available as a retro-fit).The dive door is fitted to the portside; the starboard side carries all of the electronics, battery and engine cabling from the transom to the helm.  PUTTING YOURSELF ON GUARD AGAINST STONE DAMAGE TO YOUR BOAT Here’s a great way to protect your CruiseCraft from stone chip damage and road grime – it’s a removable guard, framed in stainless steel, that bolts on to your trailer.Moveable brackets enable it to be adjusted to any trailer suitable for carrying CruiseCraft boats.The brackets enable the guard to be moved into the exact location required to best protect the hull from stones, gravel and muck thrown up by the rear wheels of the towing vehicle.Its aerodynamic, tilted forward shape and angled deflector sides make no discernable impact on towing performance or towing stability. The infill material can be color-matched to existing CruiseCraft factory targas and biminis. 

The guards and brackets can be ordered from the CruiseCraft factory on (07) 3390 4877 or Wynnum Marine in Brisbane on (07) 3396 9777.   DIARY ENTRY – BOYNE TANNUM HOOK-UP IN 2013 WILL BE HELD IN EARLY MAY  Just before it left office, the Queensland Labor Government changed the Queen’s Birthday weekend to October which would have made this fantastic tournament a non-event because there is a reef closure during that time. So the organisers of the Boyne Tannum Hook-Up made the commitment to move the event to the May Day weekend which they thought would suit all competitors better in terms of the likelihood of better weather and better fishing.The in came the new LNP Government which moved the goal posts again. It returned the Queen’s Birthday holiday to June and the Labor Day May holiday weekend out to October 2013

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Confused yet? Well you can now tell you family and friends that the 2013 Boyne Tannum Hookup will be held on May 3, 4 and 5 next year. This is not a designated holiday in Queensland, so you will need to plan a break from the Friday for the event through to and including the Monday for recovery and for many of us, the trip back home.

   NICK BLACKMORE’S NEW HOUSE DESIGN STRATEGY WAS A FLAMIN’ GOOD IDEA Now here’s the way to design a house. First you design the boat garage so you can drive your CruiseCraft in with the targa up. Then you design the living areas, kitchen bedrooms and anything else you might need, on what’s left of the land.Just ask Nick Blackmore from Wantirna in Melbourne who used this flawless strategy when he rebuilt his house at Cowes on Phillip Island. Rebuilt? Well a retired couple lived next door   The elderly gent lit a pot belly stove outside, then left it unattended while he went inside for a nap. At the time, it was raining quite heavily so old mate neighbour thought it would be okay. However, the wind picked up and began blowing flames at right angles to the stove. The flames set fire to old mate’s house, then spread next door to Nick’s boat which went ‘boom’ before Nick’s house also went up, or rather down, in flames.Oh dear. On the upside, no-one was hurt, the insurance companies paid up on the boat and houses and Nick was able to start with a new Outsider 625, a clean sheet of paper and a better way to accommodate his vessel. That’s the finished result above which proves conclusively that the design strategy works very well.p.s. Nick hasn’t taken the neighbour out fishing yet – still a little too much embarrassment. And the fact that Nick’s new home has a 3.6 metre high, two hour fire rated wall on the boundary makes is going to make it a little hard to forget easily.  RIG UP WITH TEAM CRUISECRAFT DECALS FOR YOUR BOAT If you have registered with Team CruiseCraft and are committed to safe and courteous boating practices as well as sustainable fishing, then you are entitled to display the Team CruiseCraft logo on your vessel. The decals are not sent out automatically when you register – you need to request them in writing by email and confirm your preferred postal address for delivery. The decals will then be dispatched to you free of charge along with installation instructions and your vessel may wear them unless requested otherwise by the CruiseCraft factory. BOAT SHOWS ARE A GREAT CHANCE TO CATCH UPWant to catch up with representatives from the CruiseCraft factory? You can during the various boat shows held around Australia. Meeting owners is something which the factory representatives love doing – those meetings translate into first-hand feedback about the boats and their features which then are considered in the development of future models. Here are the forthcoming boat shows: TACKLE & TINNIE SHOW, Queensland
March 15 to 17, 2013
RNA Showgrounds
Gregory Terrace
Fortitude Valley
Brisbane, QLDSANCTUARY COVE, Gold Coast
May 23 to 26, 2013
Sanctuary Cove Resort
Coomera, Qld MELBOURNE, Victoria
Melbourne International Boat Show
June 14 to 17) 2013
Melbourne Exhibition Centre
2 Clarendon Street
Southbank Melbourne VICADELAIDE, South Australia
Adelaide Boat Show
June 20 to 23, 2013
Wayville Showgrounds, Adelaide SA SYDNEY, New South Wales
Sydney International Boat Show
August 1 to 5, 2013
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
and Cockle Bay Marina, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSWBRISBANE, Queensland
Brisbane International Boat Show
TBA WWW.TEAMCRUISECRAFT.COM.AUDon’t forget to regularly check in at the www.teamcruisecraft.com.auweb site. New information and pictures are posted there regularly.And if you have news that could be of interest in the Team CruiseCraft newsletter or on the web site, drop us the details and a few photos.

The Hookup team worked diligently to bring the event to life for you this year with a couple of innovations from the IT lads to make the drawing of the prizes easier and clearer. Rusty our park manager spent many hours designing the park layout to fit all the displays in and give the event the best atmosphere. Kris & Fiona excelled as per usual with the running of the merchandise marquee along with Cathy who sat for many hours writing raffle tickets.

With all the problems that were thrown at us we still had a very successful year where we gave away a $40,000 Toyota Hilux ute to the Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, generated many thousands of dollars for charities and sporting groups and succeeded in being one of the only towns along the coast that did not get flooded out over that weekend.

So, to 2013! As you would be aware the previous government changed the Queen’s Birthday weekend to October which would make the Hook up a none event because there is a reef closure during that time. We made the commitment to move to the May Day weekend which we believe would suit all competitors better with nicer weather and better fishing.

Hold your breath folks; the new government has moved the goal post again. The Queens Birthday has been returned to June and the Labour Day May Day weekend has been moved out to October 2013.

Are we confused yet? Well you can now tell you family and friends that you got the mail first hand, the 2013 Boyne Tannum Hookup will be held on 3^rd- 4^th -5^th May. This is not a designated holiday so you will need to plan a holiday for the Friday for the event plus the Monday for recovery.

Is it going to be worth is? Let’s see,

Prize pool- $270,000 +

4 x 310 Dart Quintrex junior boats fitted with 6hp Yamaha, rego, safety gear sitting on a trailer

4x 420 Renegade Quintrex senior boats fitted with 30hp Yamaha, rego, safety gear sitting on a trailer.

1 x Off road camper trailer with a brilliant 5.4 x 4.5 m tent.  Mounted on top is a 340 Quintrex car topper.

1 x 575 Cruise Craft Explorer fitted with a 150hp Yamaha 4 stroke. This magnificent boat is being custom built for the 2013 Hookup and will be fitted with of the best equipment that money can buy. Value $75,000.

There will be holidays, fishing gear, fuel vouchers, kayaks, push bikes,eskies and much more to be won over the weekend.

Dave Hodge (Bare Foot Fisherman) will be there to entertain and show the art of throwing lures, and the best way to fillet those precious fish you have spent many hours catching. Phippsy will be running a cooking Master Class with one lucky person receiving a beautiful bar-b-q.

You could try your arm at landing a 500kg marlin? The Gamakatsu team will have those unbelievable simulators going again. These machines are so close to being real thing that your arms will feel like jelly when you finish.

With Easter being at the end of March in 2013 our sign on day will be 23^rd March at Bray Park Boyne Island and on line starting midnight the same day.

Each month I will update you on things that will be happening next year so you can plan for that is unquestionably the best fishing competition in Australia.

Jeff Amos
President
Budda

During the next few days of the Hook Up, Gladstone Marine Centre will be running competitions for you to win some great prizes and giveaways.

“ Name  the  Boat ”

Gladstone Marine Centre have a wonderful range of boats and motors on display  over to your right and welcome your suggestions for a good name for the striking new  7.4 metre Yellowfin.  This beautiful new boat can be fitted with any motor of your choice up to 250 hp  and has countless features ideally suited to the serious offshore fisherman.

All you have to do to win a great prize is to write your suggested name for the vessel on to an entry form available at the stand and drop it into the barrel.  At the conclusion of the Hook Up,  Gladstone Marine centre will select the best appropriate name from the barrel of entries and the lucky entrant will win a fabulous fishing pack esky.

“ Thanks a Million”

Gladstone Marine Centre have loads of prizes and giveaways for their valued customers and in appreciation for your support we will be drawing Gladstone Marine Centre’s customers names at random from the barrel for your chance to win a great prize from their display.

If your name is called , just make your way to the boys over at the Gladstone Marine Centre display and they will be happy to greet you with a prize in appreciation for your business.

If you are a first-timer or a relatively newcomer, you might be wondering about the best places to hook up with Boyne Tannum ‘regulars’ during the event this year. There are plenty of opportunities to catch up on land and water before and during the event. So here’s a quick guide. Bear in mind that weather is always a key factor.
While a few in Team CruiseCraft leave for Boyne-Tannum a day or two before the event, many TCC boats will travel north along the Bruce Highway leaving Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts in the morning of Thursday June 7.

The Golden Nugget Caltex Truck Stop (on your left heading north, a few kilometres south of Gympie), often makes a convenient stop for a coffee and toasted sanger.

Past experience shows some participants arrive at this stop between 5.00 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. departing around 5.45 p.m. That generally has them arriving at Boyne Tannum around lunch time.

The unofficial headquarters of Team CruiseCraft (TCC-HQ) is the BBQ shed and cabins located in Team CruiseCraft Ally at the Tannum Sands Beach Caravan Park on Millennium Esplanade at Tannum Sands. Early this week and due to a cancellation by a mining company, there still were a few cabins available for rent. All Team CruiseCraft participants, irrespective of whether you are staying at the park or not, are most welcome to catch up here. Ordinarily we’ll unpack and grab a take-away lunch – if the weather is fine, then some boats probably will head straight out, a number of them staying out overnight.

Mobile phone reception is not good in the park.

The launch ramp is great and has a pontoon, but the entrance of the river into the bay can be impassable at low tide.

Touch base at TTC-HQ for local info, but have a look on Google Earth before you leave home.

Fishing destinations to look up include the Rock Cod Shoal (about 40km offshore) Masthead Island which is about 15km further out and then the far offshore areas of North West Island, Douglas Shoal, Guthrie Shoal and surrounding reef areas.

(The MPZ17 Gladstone map available free from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority mentioned in Bulletin #1 is a great help. There are good fishing areas closer to base as well. Again, don’t leave your homework until the last minute.

Double and then triple check that you have enough fuel range including allowing for a change in weather and sea conditions.

In between weather-related fishing windows, TCC-HQ is a good place to hang out, check the catches, share a lunch or a refreshment. The BBQ shelter becomes a meeting place in the late arvo and early evening – an ideal place to throw dinner on the BBQ with your new friends.

Of an evening, it’s off to the competition site in Bray’s Park, back home for a night cap and time to file a few Zzzz’s before doing it again the next day. Team CruiseCraft is an alliance of like-minded people so don’t be a stranger – look up, turn up and hook up.

Looking forward to catching up with you.
Kind regards
John Daffy
0403 180 178
info@teamcruisecraft.com.au

Along with that the whole region offshore seemed to shut down with the south to southwest wind.

Many, along with Grant Cooper ventured out only to turn back to more sheltered waterways such as Seal Rocks, or in behind Cape Capricorn maybe out of the wind but unfortunately there weren’t many fish caught.

For many it was a bit hit and miss but the old saying that a day out on the water certainly beats a day at work rang out loud!

Meanwhile inshore the waterways were pumping and alive with Barra, Salmon, Jack, tarpon, and Flathead.

We ventured up the Boyne on Sunday afternoon to flick some lures around the rocky walls and snags right on sunset and also the time the tide was turning to come back in.

Having hooked up a couple of Jack and Tarpon the skeeters became too much and we called it a day.

Other reports were coming in that the likes of Middle Creek, Colosseum, and the Lillies Beach were lousy with Flathead, whiting, and Mackeral around the mouths.

On Saturday we took Grant Cooper’s Mustang out for a little shake down run and I was impressed with his new Simrad sounder/GPS Plotter combination. This piece of electronic equipment was awesome as we cruised along at 30 knots while this read every bump and fish on the bottom of the harbour!

I don’t know about you but my old Navman even reading at 200mhz won’t read the bottom above 17 knots, mind you that is through the hull too.

This also had fuel flow measuring incorporated along with a feature where if you spotted a nice bump on the bottom which was loaded with fish you could actually scroll back on the touch screen and mark it. The GPS will take you back to that precise point if you ask it too. Awesome!

Now onto the nitty gritty, whilst cruising along 300m off and out front of the grain terminal and Auckland Point Wharf the bottom was riddled with little bumps and structures which were absolutely loaded with fish.

It makes you wonder that if you drifted along with the current bouncing a soft plastic up and down off the bottom just what would you catch?
Keep an eye out though for incoming ships and big vessels and stay out of their way!

Entries for the 2012 Observer Boyne Tannum HookUp are coming in and this event is set to be a beauty!

With over $280,000 including the prize boat being a Quintrex 610 Spirit with a 150 hp Yamaha 4 stroke and on a dual axle trailer valued at $70,000, along with a land and sea package for those who love to disappear into the wild and explore the remote camping and fishing spots.

The event is in aid of the Volunteer Bush Fire brigades who do an amazing job when it comes to keeping control over some of the infernos we’ve seen around the region these past couple of years.

Those areas in the western suburbs of Gladstone and around our region can certainly vouch for the commitment of the brigades and their volunteers.

If you want to enter this family fishing event you can do so by simply going on line at www.boynetannumhookup.com.au and downloading an entry form and entering on line or visit Pat’s tackle World in Lord St Gladstone or C&J Video at Tannum Sands.

There is only another 15 days left to enter so do not dilly dally plus numbers are restricted to 3,000 senior entrants with unlimited juniors.

This weekend is shaping upo to be another cracker weekend and the last quarter of the moon phase will see the tides dropping off allowing you to smash those red fish in the deep without having to put a kilo of lead on the bottom of your line to reach the bottom.

Saturday and Sunday are looking promising at the moment.

Hooroo Dags

Well folks it is almost here! The 2012 hookup

This year is going to be one hell of a party, after 17 years this will be the last time the Hookup will be held in June.

We have taken delivery of all 8 boats including a magnificent 610 Spirit Quintrex, to top this off Belco Custom trailers have built a brilliant Land & Sea camper package which has a 420. Explorer fitted with a 30hp Yamaha.

The previous QLD government decided to move the Queens birthday long weekend to October which has left us in a bit of quandary. Do we follow and move to October?  NO. As it has turned out in 2013 the reef closure happens to fall in that week so that counts that time out.

The only logical date is the May Day weekend 4^th—5^th—6^th May 2013. So the turnaround for the hookup team is very short and to put that into prospective Easter 2013 is March 29^th> 1^st April 2013, from there it is only 32 day to hookup. What a challenge

Don’t forget there is accommodation available at Tanyalla (3 min) from Bray Park with 2 and 3 beds per room available. There are also several powered sites available for those of you that intend bringing your vans. Check out our accommodation page.

Besides the incredible prize boats we have several holidays up for grabs, Townsville, Brisbane and Kingfisher Bay Fraser island. XXXX are looking to give away 1 special holiday for 3 people. Watch this space!!!  As we get closer to the event I will reveal the details.

Sign on Day is 21^st April at Bray Park 07.00>1200

For those of you that make the effort to sign on that day there is some great prizes up for grabs, again check out our links.

Andy Phipps and Dave Hodge (The barefoot fisherman) are fires up to do some filleting demos and cooking plus Hodgy will show off his incredible skills with his bait caster. If you think you have what it takes to shoot a coke cane while on the fly come and challenge him to a contest.

The Koorana crock farm will be doing a cooling show on the Sat. So for those of you that like some adventure in you food drop on by around noon and excite your taste buds.

36 days to go.

Look forward to seeing you on stage to collect one our fantastic prizes.

Buddha

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, Wednesday, are going to be excellent for fishing out wide as well, but unfortunately as the weekend approaches, come Friday the wind is about to pick up to around 20-25 knots and the sea up to 3 metres.

Peter Vouvoulis & Nick Pikis

In the lead up to this past HookUp I happen to run in to Peter Vouvoulis, and his good friend Nick Pikis who’d been out taking advantage of the excellent weather to visit and fish the 12 mile and surrounding region.

Now the guns in this region like Johnny Mitchell, Joe McGuire, Thomas Hayes and co, Brad Busteed and Wayne Daly, just love fishing this region.

Peter and Nick had hunted around for some nice ground which is around the size of a small office, rising off the bottom around a metre, sometime less.

You need to anchor in the right spot though taking into consideration the tidal current and wind direction otherwise if you are off the mark by a few metres you won’t catch anything apart from Grinners and trigger fish.

At slack water on low and full tide though the weed will stand straight up and you will see it on your sounder. This is where the large Reds, Trout and sweeties thrive.

This also brings in the food chain predators like Mackeral, Tuna, Sailfish and the odd Marlin.

You might have to hunt around a bit for good ground but it is worth it.

These spots are all over the place between the coast and the main reef region like Eugene’s Pots, which is a patch of ground not far past 12 mile where there are four or five clumps of rocks on the bottom forming a small cluster of reef. This is another awesome spot but can get fished out if too many hit it.

I think we all have secret spots on our GPS system which we really don’t like to share and also we don’t hit them too much in fear of ruining a great location.

This years winner of the senior Snapper category was the same as last year John Browne, and he told me that the spots (fairly close too) he has consistently cough up good snapper and the odd Pearl Perch at which might ears pricked up!

Catching Pearl Perch in this region has usually been reserved for the deep waters of the shelf outside Sykes, and Fitzroy Reefs but to hear that some are catching them in close is very encouraging.

At this time of the year the Jewies and Grunter are the go as well with good Jew fish being caught in the harbour and around structure like the channel markers or the tripod down off Colosseum Inlet.

The large grunter hang around a gravelly bottom like the gravel pits up the Boyne River, some of the sections in the middle of the harbour but many of the real big ones are caught at the sunken barge off Cape Capricorn and that is marked on all of the charts.

With the wind strengthen this weekend there are plenty of places to hide like up Grahams Creek and if you do slip up there make sure you take your pots along with some good fish frames for bait.

The South Eastern side of the Creek appears to be the best as we have had great success at this time of the year.

On a different note I stopped by the new ramp at the far end of the Marina last week and I know that we have bagged it because of the location but the facility is awesome with room for 5 or 6 launchings at once plus that large pontoon jetty where you can park your boat when you launch or prior to retrieving and up the top a boat and trailer wash down area has been installed so that you can wash all the salt water off while the trailer is still wet.

Most of the damage which is caused by the salt water is when we launch our boats or carting them home as the trailer dries before we get to wash it all down at home. A great facility!

Finally I have done up a little video and uploaded it to you tube from all the snippets Johnny Mitchell and myself took over the weekend of the HookUp. While it doesn’t have everything on it it does show the conditions and the great time people were having. Have a look at it on the HookUp website or lookup dags2112 on you tube. See if you can see yourself in there. http://youtu.be/Owtp8gY4HIo

Dags

The week leading up to this awesome event was picture perfect from a weather point of view with sunny days, light winds and warm temps in the mid 20’s, to the lunar phase and water temps being in harmony producing some of the best fishing conditions we have seen in the region for a long while.

Thursday night the temps started to plummet and come Friday morning the outlook was bleak but the show had to go on and an inshore comp was expected.

Many diehards were already out at the reef when the change really started to come in so they headed for home and around 4 pm Friday it dropped right out for a few hours allowing many to come home from Masthead at 28 knots.

I was starting to get crook, very crook, and that evening I actually didn’t know how I would be of any help to the HookUp team the next day.

Come Saturday morning I told myself “common Dags harden up!”. The weighin on Saturday morning saw many big fish come in which were caught the day before out on the reef and to be honest they didn’t need any ice on them because at 11 am it was still only 9 degs!!! Brrr.

The decision to can the evenings proceedings was sort of made around 2ish as we had it in our mid that we couldn’t risk injuries, nor risk causing any damage to the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment around the park.

Sunday was a new day and I rolled of my death bed from a severe dose of man flu (life threatening too) and bathed in the warm sun.

It was a glorious day for our event and soon Phippsie and Hodgy were doing their thing filleting and doing some cooking demos.

There was that old buzz around the park too as we waited in anticipation for the biggest fish to arrive. Many of the older teams like the “Havta Fish” team like to make this grand entrance in their sponsored shirts, sponsored hats and sponsored coffin sized esky.

Hafta Fish Team with John Flesser and his championship 24.53 kg Mackeral

These guys have been in this event since it started and have a banner which denotes the years they have won awards. The last entry was in 2007 I think, so it’s been a drought but they still enjoy each others company for the weekend every year.

This year though they actually did have some decent fish one of which was a 24.53 kg Spanish Mackerel caught by John Flesser. This fish ended up being the biggest of the event!! Well done Johnno!

Now this is what this event is all about camaraderie, fishing, and playing in the Gladstone region.

These guys demonstrate that in bucket loads as do many others.

Our team headed up by Jeff Amos as president, Ned Beaumont as Vice and I/T, Andrea Phillips as secretary, Blair Mellor as Treasurer, Steve Barnes as program developer and IT expert, Russ Tomlinson as Park Coordinator, Pat Laws and yours truly sharing the promotion and media duties are incredibly proud and thankful for the way this event has run and been supported not only by the incredible sponsors we have but also you folk who enter it every year and enjoy the entertainment we put on.

I know we go on all the time about how the show doesn’t happen without sponsorship, well it’s so true as without not only the monetary support but the in kind support like rubbish removal, light tower hire, or generator hire, and liquid waste removal just to name a few as there are heaps and I don’t have enough room to express our true gratitude.

On behalf of our committee I personally would like to thank our wives, husbands, partners and our families for putting up with the upheaval this event creates in each of our homes for 9 months of the year, every year. You all deserve a medal.

Enough about the HookUp but do keep an eye on the website for photos, and young Danny B is putting together a film clip that he and Local film maker Johnny Mitchell filmed over the weekend.

Fishing around the traps this week looks awesome with the bad weather gone for a few days and leading up to full moon on Thursday.

The afternoons look as the wind could drop right out today, Wednesday and Thursday until it strengthens again over the weekend to a steady 10-15 from the south..bbrrrr.

On a final note I’d like to thank in particular Carl, Meredith and their fabulous team at the Gladstone Observer. They continue to excel each year and this was n o different with that awesome special HookUp edition on Sunday. All I can say is wow!

Pat and Darryl with a group from Mt Larcom School down for a feild trip

Due to the online entry side of things not kicking off until a fortnight ago we have decided to keep the website entry aspect open until this Friday June 3^rd.

We are also aware of accommodation issues which are holding people back from attending so if you are a motel owner or manager and you have vacancies over the Queen’s Birthday weekend please let us know and we’ll see if we can’t fill them for you.

In saying all that Queensland has taken a major hit this year with all the natural disasters and many of our usual entrants have been majorly affected. Let’s hope that this awesome event gives people a break so that they can enjoy a weekend with families, friends, and fishing!

If you are going to be around for the weekend and would like a chance to win one of our many prizes including one of our 8 boats or 3 camping packages or 3 mountain bike and kayak packages all you need to do is enter and be at Bray Park Boyne Island to claim your prize within 2 minutes when your name is called out!

We have displays like the Yamaha Supertank where you can learn how fish behave with hard-bodied and soft plastic lures. This show is spectacular and well worth sitting in on at various times of the day when the boys show off their skills to the well trained Barra in the tank.

Phippsy from Zinc Radio will also be there over the weekend showing off his culinary skills by doing a cookup on Saturday and Sunday around lunchtime.

Phippsy is also a very accomplished fisherman and currently runs his own charter business from the Sunny Coast and I have no doubt he’ll be sharing some of his knowledge while helping me on stage over the weekend.

Dave “the barefoot fisherman” Hodge will also be showing off his casting skills. Dave or Hodgie as he is affectionately known is an awesome fisherman who has fished all over the globe and knows this region like the back of his hand. He is very good to listen to as he will also be sharing the knowledge.

Local Guru, and film maker, Johnny Mitchell is also helping us out with some of his knowledge on the region. Most of Gladstone region know Johnny not only from him being a guide in the region but also because of his 3 or 4 videos he has put out on Lake Awoonga and Mondurran, and also chasing Spanish Mackeral, and how to know and catch Mudcrabs.

This guy is a champion and will be with us the whole weekend filming and chatting with people at the park.

The moon phase for the HookUp weekend are pretty blimin good for those wishing to chase those big red fish in the deep as it’s the first quarter of the full moon phase, where tidal runs are at a minimum, and all we need is the weather to be bang on! I might have another chat with the big fella and see what we can do.

This past week as far as weather and fishing is concerned has been a little hit and miss with the ones venturing off shore on Friday and Saturday having to contend with sloppy conditions, and storms out wide.

Warren Bambrick with his 12kg Spanish

In close to shore where it was a little more sheltered from the chilly South Westerly winds those chasing Mackeral like Warren Bambrick who nailed this 12 kg specimen off North Entrance over the weekend.

There are loads of these fellas about at the moment and can be caught on just about anything from Raider lures, through to live and dead baits.

Even casting a Pilly out around the channel markers on a set of 3 or 4 gang hooks and slowly retrieving it brings good results.

The more berley you have in the water the more fish will hang around so make sure you don’t trow away all those whiting frames, and fish guts from previous trips. Might even be a thought to take a spare block of Pillies with you to be used as berley!

In close the rivers, and estuaries are alive with fish with good numbers of flathead around the entrances being caught and at this time of the year the Calliope comes into it’s own with Salmon, Jack, Grunter, and big Barra around the hot-water outlet.

The middle of the harbour is also rich with very good Grunter along with the barge wreck at Cape Capricorn.

Look there are a few places to consider over the weekend of our huge fish event commencing Friday week.

Remember this that if you’re not in it you can’t win it! Get on line and enter this week. Deadline Friday!!!

I can hear your name being called out now

Dags