Illegal fishermen & 🐊

PARRY HARBOUR. We 🐌 cruised into the bay @ dusk to snag a very different catch... Indonesian fishermen. 3 guys walking waist-deep with net bags in tow & 4 guys on the beach who ran. Border Force notified...not a simple task AH on Sunday 🤨. It had been a big ⛵️ day so ⚓️ down & early 😴 (CCTV on &🤞). The next morning Oz warship 📞 to advise that 2 ribs were incoming. Pete pointed them directly to the mangroves, approx 400m to the side of us. Within minutes we heard "Get down on the ground" yelled as they caught all 7. They wait for tide to come in to secure/remove boat & crew, which had been caught 2 times in as many weeks & returned to international waters (20 nm out). The Captain radio thanks on exit....it would have been great if they show appreciation by sharing a few veggies 😉. We buzzed in to check out the camp...gotta say they do it tough in mangroves...no fire, 1m from creek & 40°+. A machete-caved passage hid the boat...now understand why its tricky to spot by 🛩🚁🛥. Knowing what to look for we found 2 more hiding spots in the area.
A super exciting stopover that included a sneaky 2m 🐊 visit to beach BBQ, a night of bioluminescenceence & a running exit from beach when a 4-5m+ 🐊 decided to join us. 😀Read more