Salt Water Honeymoon

by John Hattrich

"....After a grueling trip from New York to Cairns we boarded our boat for five days of fishing that was to end with three days at a resort on Lizard Island. The "Iceman", a beautiful, two year old boat came with all the amenities of home. Our accommodations surprised us. We had a nice size state room with a private bath. To add to our surprise and pleasure we found that the "Iceman" had the ability to make its own water so we were able to take a hot shower for five days, twice a day, and not run out of water. Our crew consisted of two mates, a cook and the captain. As we were about to board the boat the captain asked if we minded if another man joined us. We agreed and off we went. Little did we know that our crew now consisted of Captain Bob Jones designer of the "Iceman" and a very well respected and sought after captain, "Sharky" an internationally recognized first mate who also had his captains license, Nathan, the second mate, but one of the best in the business and Abby, also a certified mate but on this trip, the cook extraordinaire. The man who joined us at the dock we learned was the retired legendary Captain Dennis Hayes, also with over 30 years on the water.

As we set off Captain Jones (Jonesy) explained his plan for us, which was to fish the ribbon reefs from Cairns to Lizard Island and anchor at night behind the reef for a restful night's sleep. My expectations were cautiously optimistic after having fished Mauritius for five days and Bimini for too many days to remember and never having raised a marlin. Michele (now my wife) who is always more optimistic than me, was to be the first in the chair. Within five hours of the first day, Michele had our first black marlin on the line, a 250 pounder that wouldn't stop jumping. Considering the trip already a success we continued with a sense of accomplishment and high hopes for the next four days. As we continued trolling the reefs, Sharky and Nathan worked feverishly to make rigs from baitfish previously caught and frozen. Numerous baits were cut off by Wahoo just leaving the hook. When we had a strike one mate would dash to the rod and the other mate already had a new bait uncoiled and ready to snap on. Often, all of this was done in vain, as a booming voice came from the bridge "I don't like it Sharky", the mates would then go into their fire drill routine again and have a fresh bait out in seconds. Sometimes they would have to put out several baits before Captain Jones found one who swam to his liking. We thought the actions of the captain a little neurotic until the reel sang out again with our second marlin. Over the next four days we caught and released seven black marlin with the two largest being 850 and 950 pounds.

Early mornings were set aside for snorkeling, bait fishing and bottom fishing. The motto on the "Iceman" is "There are only two kinds of fish; billfish and bait fish." When bottom fishing on this sport fisherman we had to use hand lines. This was a first for Michele and me and we found it very adventurous. We dropped our lines in 80 feet of water and caught a large variety of fish including, blue spotted cod, giant maori wrasse, coral trout, red bass and trigger fish. Besides the excitement of just catching the fish, we had to pull them up as quickly as possible or the sharks would get them before they reached the boat. Unfortunately, that happened more times then we care to admit. The fish ranged from 2 to 15 pounds and provided Abby the opportunity to show off her culinary talents. The mackerel sashimi was incredible. Bait fishing was a blast, too. We would put out two downriggers with ten feathers on each; the Captain would circle a bird or two and like magic we would have as many as eight fish on at one time. Yelling up to the captain when we had a hit "righteo Bob". We caught so many fish that the deck was strewn with scally mackerel and blue runners and we actually filled the freezer to capacity with our bait for the next few days and probably the next charter.

Our evenings proved to be as much fun as the days. The first night Captain Jones fell asleep at the dinner table and we all teased him undauntedly. The next night, after dinner, Sharky, Nathan and Abby gave Michele fly fishing lessons off the back of the boat, after finally giving up, she returned to the table with Captain Jones and Captain Hayes where she fell asleep. You can imagine how Captain Jones retaliated. The following two nights we anchored with two other boats and had fantastic parties both nights. The three cooks prepared various dishes that we all shared and the captains, crews and guests of the three boats socialized like old friends.

The trip continued with perfect weather, no bugs and a delightful crew. We fished until we arrived at Lizard Island and were very reluctant to leave. Had Captain Jones not had another charter booked directly after ours we would have extended our stay. After only five days with them it was difficult to leave our new friends.

Lizard island was as pretty as the brochure, with its secluded beaches and private dinner cabanas. Small sailboats and aluminum boats with motors were available free of charge and we were encouraged to adventure to the surrounding uninhabited islands. There's nothing like a romantic picnic lunch on a deserted beach in a blue lagoon. The picnics the resort packed for us consisted of Australian lobster known as "bugs", prawns, a meat and cheese platter, tossed salad, fruit platter, cookies, cake, a bottle of wine, two wine glasses and to make it all complete a red and white checked tablecloth. The other meals should not go unmentioned. The gourmet food just kept coming, one dish better than the next. This, too, was a really tough place to leave. Anyway, on to Cairns for white water rafting and horseback riding in the rainforest. Then off to Sydney for the opera (yes the opera). I'm sure that a salt water honeymoon might not be for everyone but we dream of being on the "Iceman" for our first anniversary."

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