April 2017 on the Great Barrier Reef

Taste of Adventure

Captain Trevor Jackson

As this article goes to press, Spoilsport is sliding back into the water after nearly a month on her annual dry-dock. For the uninitiated, slipping a ship can seem like total chaos. Everything gets ripped out, fixed, cleaned or replaced, and then the whole process reverses. Just when the end product seems impossibly out of reach, and time has all but run out, it all swoops back together again and you wonder how it happened. Then comes the fun bit, she goes back in. There’s nothing like the feeling underfoot of a ship springing back to life as she reacquaints herself with her natural environment. All the sweat, stress and toil that goes hand in hand with dry-docking a vessel like this simply melts away. You’re left with a feeling of unfathomable pride, and a sense that the ship is ready to tackle just about anything. Plus everything is new again. This year our favourite ship will hit the water sporting a pair of brand new engines …. the motor heads amongst us are super excited!

Personally, I feel like I’ve been on the slip myself as well. I spent the month at home updating manuals and doing general admin… all the while recharging the batteries for those night crossings on the Coral Sea, that take us to the wonder world we call Osprey Reef. The year ahead on promises some grand adventure. A quick glance at the Mike Ball website tells the story…. Shark Shooter Photo workshop, special Nautilus viewing trips and our soon to be legendary Turtle Spectacular, way…..way up north at Raine Island [that one really went off last year] ….as well as those we have plans to hit the reefs in the Far Northerns a little more frequently this year…just to spice things up…..coz we know that as soon as that boat hits the Cairns leads again…it will be time to reacquaint ourselves with the Taste of Adventure.