How do I learn the art of bantering?

Nice day here presently, not to warm, exellent for some work in the garden. Tonight I'll do a few whiting fillets on the barbeque for dinner, we'll eat them with fresh salads. Fried whiting in beer batter as in another method of preparing them. Next March I will visit my son in Port Lincoln (Google it for location and details) and will spend some quality time fishing on the ocean with him. I have a 76litre portable fridge which is always full with seafood goodies when I return home.

I'll be right over!

googling Port Lincoln

Bathy

Come on over now Bathy, we're heading for 41 (106) degrees tomorrow, I'll take you to the beach where 10 feet sharks were sighted yesterday as I know you like adventure. Anything you've seen you like about Port Lincoln?

You can have the sharks but I hope you catch a big tuna! Looks like a beautiful place, with the blue waters, coves. Lincoln Nat'l Park is lovely....Coffin Bay (how did it get that name?) is pretty as well.
Hope you had - are having a wonderful time! Nice looking fishing fleet there...going to charter a boat?

Bathy
Dianne

Hi bathsheba.
See "yabber-liner" for an update on Port Lincoln, all in a bit of a shock presently but will persevere. Will find out for you where the name 'Coffin Bay' originated, it really is the pearl on our coastline. We often camp in the Lincoln National Park, so beautiful, serene and peaceful almost like paradise and hard to leave once there for a few weeks. No need to charter a boat, son's firm has at least a dozen to pick from. Hope your feeling well. Hugs from downunder.

Oh man, I looked at yabberliner right after I posted to you - I'm SO sorry! I looked at photos in Port Lincoln of your son's plant, and got tears in my eyes....I can only imagine what they are going through and my prayers are with you and your family. Thank god they are ok, though. That's what important, and you will persevere. Is there no end to the drought? Or are fires common in that area?

Sending good vibes,
Bathy

Drought is all around us Bathy, however it is the hot weather (well over 110 degrees on the day of the fire) and the hot desert winds which makes any fire so dangerous at this time of the year. This is the 3rd bad fire in that are in the last 5 years, the previous fire was much larger and destroyed many homes/farms but also costs 9 lives. Thank you for your concern and good vibes, much appreciated.

The same things that cause the fires in southern Calif year after year. At least this fire didn't cause loss of life. Will your son rebuild?

Bathy

Bathy Coffin Bay was named by Matthew Flinders, English explorer of the South Australian coastline after his friend the naval officer, Isaac Coffin. Coffin, who was to become a Vice Admiral of the British Navy, assisted Flinders when he was preparing to sail for Australia. Flinders passed the area in 1802 although he never actually entered Coffin Bay.

Son phoned tonight and stated total damage bill around $5 million but covered by insurance. Decided to rebuild and press on. Will definitely go fishing by the end of the month and try to fill their 12 fish farms with 260 tons of Tuna. Luckily farms already anchored 25 miles offshore in deep water. Had they been damaged there would have definitely been no season.

Well, I learn something every day! That's interesting history about Coffin Bay. Thanks, Dutchy. We have some Spanish names around here - English as well, since Captain Vancouver was nosing about our area and had some Spanish crew members with him. One area he named Desolation Sound is far from being desolate! He saw it on a foggy day thus the name.

Your son certainly has a huge stake in this....my god, 5 million dollars. Good thing he was insured. I also had no idea that tuna could be farmed! Tuna have to be in deep water when they're farmed, do they? We have oyster farms where I live. They don't need deep water, only clear and clean. It'd be interesting to know the differences in salmon farming vs tuna farming.....

Bathy
enduring yet another day of foggggggg

Hi Bathy just want to make it clear the business is not owned by my son, he certainly has a stake in it and is its General Manager. Have a look at this site which will give you an idea what "Tuna Farming" is all about. http://www.samstuna.com.au/tuna_ranching.html

That's a heck of a job your son has! I read the site you sent. Really interesting. Quite the operation! I am impressed.

We don't get much tuna here and when we do it's pricey because it's imported. Guess there is no tuna fleet in Vancouver which is strange, come to think of it. We get halibut locally and local wild salmon.

Hope the winds and hot weather are lessening, Dutchy,

B

Bathy on your television do you get the "National Geographic" channel? Some years ago they made a documentary called "Tuna Cowboys" which is still shown on our channels from time to time. It's all about sons Tuna fishing operations and shows them on a trip catching the fish in the Great Australian Bight. Get hold of a copy if you can, it is very interesting but also frightening. I was unaware of the dangers they're exposed to, son never told me, but it certainly isn't a job for the faint hearted.

Good oysters from Coffin Bay

haven't had good oysters in along time

Friend of mine owns the only Oyster Restaurant in Coffin Bay margo, so I've tasted them in all shapes and form.

Does he want to meet me? I have my own oyster knife!

Around New Year we got some oysters from Greenwell Point, which is a bit south of the Kiama holiday house.

We sat there on the terrace, overlooking the ocean, with our bag of oysters, glasses of bubbly and an oyster knife each. Doesn't get much better!

Remember having a great Oyster meal at Doyles in Sydney many years ago! Son makes a mean Oyster Kilpatrick meal whenever I'm over and feel like it. Has a 5 acre Oyster farm near Port Lincoln but leases it out as to busy with the Tuna.

Yes, we do watch Nat'l Geo channel. Knowing the size of a tuna I guess it'd be like trying to catch a steer so tuna cowboy makes sense! I'll try & find a copy of that. That's cool that it's your son's fishing operation. You must be a proud Dad, eh?

Hey, we've got oysters/clams on our rocky beach right below the house here. We have eaten so many oysters over the years that we're fairly sick of them. I used to steam them open and then coat them in cornmeal mixture, then fry them. I don't know the link for the restaurant that is near our place but if you google Laughing Oyster and Desolation Sound, British Columbia, you'll see that we are real close to an internationally famous restaurant that is also in an amazing, beautiful location. We get a lot of yachties sailing past our home in summer whose destination is the Laughing Oyster for a sumptious dinner. They have the best oysters ever, as well as lots of other stuff. The chef is amazing. Now I have to go eat. All this food talk has made me hungry

Bathy

Hi Bathy haven't been here for a while, oh how time flies when you're busy. Have been through a heat wave with unbelievable temperatures, upto 115 degrees. Worth in our neighbouring State Victoria where in addition to the heat they have experienced the worst bushfires this country has ever seen. As of this moment 181 casualties with many more to come once they have examined all of the many hundreds of homes destroyed. Fires have been burning since last Saturday and are still out of control. Luckily it is now cool although the winds are still strong.

Son left last week and is presently in the middle of the Australian bight chasing the elusive Tuna. He called us per satellite phone last night and said there is plenty of fish and bigger in size than in other years. His quota is 300 tons. Once the cages are full it will take a month to tow them slowly back to Port Lincoln!

Greetings from downunder.