We were on deck wiping sleep from our eyes as Spain bay flushed with a crimson dawn and a small pod of dolphins made their way from boat to boat.
The crew ducked back north aboard Velocity and Nena, while the fuel thirsty Rumours and Celtic Rose stayed behind. Bucky, Grant and Daz taking the opportunity to vacuum their boats before round up two Stripeys and some Abs for our dinner.
After a scenic steam north we pulled in behind Green Island and shuttled on to Towtera beach. A sandy expanse with a solid dune system and freshwater creek. That this special place had been enjoyed by many before us was evident in the thick layer of shellfish in the dunes.
A couple of big bits of rope were balanced by the 5,867 bits of small plastic, the beach so scattered with them that at times it was easier to crawl along collecting rather than be constantly stooping to scoop them up. As we shuffled along under the baking sun, Dave and Harry made a nice backdrop scoring some good waves. When we loaded the dingy with trash, Harry hauled out an armload of rope, body surfed back in through the breakers before wading out with another load of bags.
A quick snack was scoffed as we rounded the corner to the Duckhole, a place historically so bad it’s seared into the collective memory..
memories waft back of an olfactory cacophony; sea-lice dance betwixt layers of rotting kelp, a decomposing pilot whale ripples in the rain.
The bay’s smell wasn’t as bad as folks had talked it up to be, but the layers of marine debris were. Just 68 less pieces were collected in half the time of Towtera. Many folks just sitting in one spot and sifting through the writhing sea lice for trash before shuffling to the next arm-span length of matted kelp. One notably large piece of trawl net was extracted using a 4m log as a lever, a team coaxed it to the surface foot by foot from beneath the kelp.
After receiving enough sunshine to power a small solar town, we bailed from the beach. Nena taking some folks snorkelling and the rest aboard Velocity headed back to the surf where an excellent session was had. Quality waves, light offshore breeze, a cranking rip, bright sunshine, smiles all round, dunes backed by buttongrass mountains. Ula lent me her waterproof camera setup and I drank it all in through the lens. my stoke tanks were overflowing. To top it off we got so see Oscar whizzing way out across the bay with his kite.
The surf crew returned to Rumours and ‘Rose about 12 hours after leaving, exhausted and stoked. Cold beer and a delicious dinner of salad, fish and chips were ready fresh for us. We roused from near food comas to complete the count under lights as colour faded from the day and the stars woke up overhead. It was a high count day clocking in at 11,667 pieces in just 3.5 hours of beach time. Fingers crossed for another aurora, hope you’re headed to bed as full of life and utterly knackered as I am.
Dan out.
*photos by Lee
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