Friday 6 November 2020

Fishing Reconnaissance

Our friend Ken suggested I check some of the beach fishing locations north of Perth and yesterday I took the Isuzu to Guilderton and Seabird which are some 90km north of Perth.

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Guilderton has the more interesting history.  The local aborigines name for it was Gabbadah, an Aboriginal term meaning "mouthful of water".  This probably isn’t surprising as it’s located at to mouth of Moore River.  By 1905 it had become a recreational area for the local population.

In 1931 forty 17th century silver guilder coins were found in the sand dunes.  The coins were thought to be from the wreck of the Dutch ship, Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) that had foundered on a reef north of the river-mouth near Ledge Point in 1656. (Wikipedia). 

During WW2 the site was used by soldiers for rest and recreation.  In 1951 the settlement was named Guilderton after the guilders found in 1931.  In 1983 the State government built a brick lighthouse on the site where the guilders had been found.  It was the last lighthouse to be built in the state.

When I visited the mouth of the river had been silted up, which apparently not unusual.

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The sea was murky with plenty of seaweed.  Not good fishing conditions!  I drove a further 10km north to look a Seabird.

Seabird used to be a fishing town, these days it’s mostly retirees.  Rising sea level has been causing erosion of the sea front and the beach road has already gone. 

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Fishing conditions looked better, although I didn’t fancy my chances trying to catch something at midday.  My assessment proved correct!  However I did discover I had a problem with my berley mix.  It’s too dry and is quickly washed off the float.  I don’t suppose I should complain as I bought the berley and tuna oil back in 1993 when we last lived in Perth.

I’ve decided there will be no serious attempt to fly the new drone until I have the landing pad I ordered.  Perth is mostly built on sand and I want to avoid the propellers blowing or sucking sand into the motors. 

On a more successful note I poured the foundations for the swimming pool handrail yesterday using 60kg of rapid hardening concrete and 20kg of 40mpa concrete.  A total of 80kg.

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Ready for the concrete

Today I struck the boxing and fitted the handrail.

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Whilst it isn’t required; I’ve also run an earth wire from the handrail to the fence and then to the steel pergola frame.  This will ensure everything is earth bonded.  The pool company phoned to tell us the wifi controlled pump still hadn’t arrived and they were prepared to offer a bluetooth controlled pump in-lieu.  I declined their offer and we will wait for the wifi system.  I want to be able to monitor the pool from anywhere where there is internet access. 

The pool water was starting to go green so I threw in a litre of liquid chlorine.  The good news is the paver will lay the paving slabs Jan has selected at the end of the month.  When that is done we will hopefully be able to minimise the amount of sand being blown into the pool.

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