Our waterfront roundsman has been so busy in the leaky office coracle checking on vessels that go unreported by the Townsville media that he has developed muscles like Popeye the Sailorman after downing a slab of spinach juice.
There must be a human interest story in an Italian registered bulk carrier called Miss Simona . An all girl crew ? How did it get its name ?
A short distance away, above, was the Chinese livestock carrier , Nine Eagle . Many years ago, vessels which called into Darwin , in the Northern Territory, were said to bring in Nine Dog , a Chinese aphrodisiac . Across the way was another cattle boat , the Gloucester Express, sporting Singapore. Two cattle boats in port ... could be a story for a cadet reporter , or an unpaid intern.
Also in port the same day was the interestingly named Pos Oceania, a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
Flying the Norwegian flag was the chemical / oil tanker, Champion Concept .
But what about the skidmark mentioned in the heading ? It is a yacht which was chugging out to sea at the time . At Horseshoe Bay , Magnetic Island , a Skidmark is fondly remembered as one of the many yachts which dropped in from near and far over the years .
The Shipping Reporter nearly fell out of the coracle and narrowly avoided making a skidmark when he was buzzed by a low flying RAAF jet fighter in Cleveland Bay , but managed to jump up out of the bilge and snap the plane as it roared in to land at Townsville .
