Summer Spawn Time

Its that time of year again when we are all excited by the activities on the the reef. Firstly, we finally have summer conditions: Calm Seas ! 

When considering a snorkeling trip, most folks naturally assume sunshine and blue skies make for a good day. However, wind strength is what defines the entire day; firstly the potential of sea-sickness on the way out, then the degree of difficulty snorkeling with wave size, followed by the amount of current to fight against, then how stirred up or clear the water is and finally, how cold one becomes with the chill effect once out of the water.

Here at Wavelength, we show our guests incredible underwater scenery and life at our unmatched collection of mooring sites. This is true even when pouring with rain with black skies !

The video above shows that rainfall itself does NOT mean the sea is rough and frightening. In fact, in the Summer, this is usually the opposite, low pressure rainy days are usually this calm.

Ordinary October Blues

There seems to be a pattern emerging. Each time we post we first have to apologise for our slack approach to our Blog.

So, apologies for the long delay in posting !

Much joyous celebration occurred recently with the ending of the howling winter winds just before the last of the whales (see previous post) departed for the Antarctic. It is this time of year (summer) that we all wait for because of the lack of wind. In fact, we often term the October-November period as "brochure days" as it is the time of year all the boats take photos for next season's brochure.

Unfortunately, call it bad luck, call it the weather gods or call it Climate Change, but this has been a very Ordinary October with strong, very winter-like winds. It is a cause of great distress to us because we will not take our guests out into those smashing waves as it would be a tough call to give anyone a good day in those conditions. Consequently, we have not gone to the reef in 4 days.

Anyway, before these winds arrived, we did squeeze in some typically amazing summer days including one day of crazy turtle action at our premiere site "Turtle Bay".

Included in the top of this post (just to get your attention you see) are a few of the photos of the crazy turtle day - up to 8 turtles were seen by guests including both common species of sea turtle and even both species swimming side by side.

Hope to see you here soon, in the summer, when these winds have finally gone, so we can show you our amazing exclusive sites.

Cheers,

Wavelength Team.

Baby Whales

Wow ! The whales are still out there despite the typical winter conditions and lately we have been seeing lots of babys !

Seen here is a mother and calf that actually approached Wavelength III within a few metres !

We all agree that mum was teaching baby about boats and friendly humans.

Wavelength Gets a Makeover

Well as promised everyone, here are some photos that show what the new Waves III looks like after her major overhaul.

Looking in from her stern you can see the huge main working deck offering plenty of space for our small groups.


From this angle you can also see all the new tarpaulin covers and clear windows.

Moving onto the back deck and looking forward you can see the shine on all the stainless work and the cool blue theme of the seats and carpet.

The lunch table in the middle is stowed away when not in use so even more deck space is available.

You can also see in the distance, the new galley !

Here it is, the new Galley. Heaps of dry storage space for guests bags and dry clothes.

Lockers for our educational material and spare snorkel equipment.

New sink, taps, benches and just out of sight the new stainless steel fridge.

Just for completeness, here is a shot of the upper deck and captains helm.

Notice again the shiny stainless, cool blue theme and transparent sides all around.

So there you have her. The new and improved Wavelength III.

Hope to see you on-board soon !

Whales Whales Whales

Apologies again for being so late for this blog. We are so busy now in peak season that none of us have had the time.

Anyway, enough of that. Whales ! Yes we are well and truly into the Humpback Whale season. The short and sweet Dwarf Minke Whale season has all but gone so now it is up to the bigger Humpbacks to put on a show.

Wavelength has been encountering thse 15 metre long cetaceans most days except for the windy days when rough seas hide the big mammals in a sea of white caps.

Finishing touches are still being made to Waves III after the massive refurbishment earlier this year. Lately we have replaced ALL snorkeling equipment with brand new, high quality masks, snorkels, fins and wetsuits for all sizes !

If you are interested in both an educational reef snorkeling experience AND a good chance of whale watching, you still have several weeks left to come out and try your luck. Look for a day with the lowest wind and/or the lowest tide, remember to book in advance because it is our peak season and hopefully we will see you soon.

The big REFIT

Apologies for the blog being a little (!) overdue, but it has been madness and mayhem up here in Port Douglas! Wavelength has not been travelling to the Great Barrier Reef since April 10th!
The management team of Wavelength Marine Charters decided to bring forward some major refurbishment plans that they had planned for May/June.
Eciting happenings! The boat is being repainted, new clears are being put on, the galley is being remodelled, basically Wavelength will be almost brand new again!
When we have some images I will post them.
Our poor crew are having major withdrawal symptoms from the reef!

Great Barrier Reef Gorgeous Weather

From the Office

Hi all! Back to the lovely weather at last. FINALLY

We had three weeks or so of extremely high winds- 35 to 45 knots in fact. There were a number of days where we decided that owing to the high winds and massive tides; that the conditions were not suitable for snorkelling! We had some very big tides, with a significant difference between the high and low tides, (potential for strong currents) and we also had many days where the highest point of the tide was right in the middle of the day(no protection from the swell). Combine this with gale force winds and the conditions can be pretty ugly for snorkellers.

Weather like this also highlights the importance of good sea sickness prevention tips..

1. Don't eat a massive greasy breakfast. A light brekki is better than too much or no brekki!

2. Dont sit upstairs on the vessel, sit downstairs in the middle of the boat where it is the most stable.

3.Take the seasickness tablets BEFORE you start feeling ill.

4.Avoid confined spaces like toilets.

5. Get plenty of fresh air on your face.

6.Watch the horizon.

Now however it is a different story. Today it is a much awaited 10 knots, the sun is shining and the boat is very busy- booking out 4 days in advance. The weather is looking great...finally

A number of people have been coming into the shop wanting to book our boat for the next day...but we are fully booked out 4 days in advance!

The best bet is to make an online reservation before you get here, that way you can still change your dates if the weather is really really bad AS LONG as you give us 24 hours notice!

From the Crew

Lots of schooling steepheads lately a pretty amazing sight considering that these fish are around a meter long! Imagine seeing 30 or 40 of them at once. They look a bit scary but rest assured...these guys eat coral not people!

A nice photo of a turtle from Fluffy our gifted Marine Biologist... he really is a turtle whisperer !

From the Fan Club

A really lovely email this week that we thought we would share with you.

This one from Stuart Morgan

"Please feel free to put this one the website: it's the highest recommendation I can give you guys. My family and I had a fantastic day on the boat back in Aug 2007. We toured 5-weeks around Queensland, NT and Sydney. The tour was one of the best days of all: what a fantastic crew. You get a real team-spirit among the other tourists and it makes it so special. My brother from Sydney came with us and he agrees - and he has done like 90+ dives all round the world. Miles better than a later one we took off Airlie Beach. And we even met up with some other guys on the trip by accident down the coast a couple of weeks later. If you want a top-notch cruise with what feels like family, whales, shark, turtles ... and the best/most informed, friendly and entertaining darn crew in Queensland, choose these guys first. The time of your life! Go Wavelength!"

And a great video from some of our guests who actually went out on one of the rougher days...

Click here to watch the Video from the O'Farrell family and many thanks to you for sharing this with us.

That's all for this week,

Cheers

Wavelength