Sheik of the Creek

ROCKLEA BRISBANE BOATING & LEISURE 1713 Ipswich Road Rocklea P: (07) 3875 1600 E: sales@kareemarine.com.au W: www.kareemarine.com.au

NORTHERN GOLD COAST ONSHORE MARINE Horizon Shores Marina Woongoolba P: (07) 5546 2480 E: onshoremarine@ozemail.com.au W: www.onshoremarine.com.au

EVERTON HILLS HOLT MARINE 25 Queens Road Everton Hills P: (07) 3353 1928 E: info@holtmarine.com.au W: www.holtmarine.com.au

CAPALABA MIKES MARINE 9 Smith Street Capalaba P: (07) 3390 3418 E: sales@mikesmarine.com.au W: www.mikesmarine.com.au

SLACKS CREEK AUSTRALIAN MARINE CENTRE 3491 Pacific Highway Slacks Creek P: (07) 3808 7333 E: sales@amcboats.com.au W: www.amcboats.com.au

NOOSAVILLE SUNSHINE COAST MARINE 122 Eumundi Road Noosaville P: (07) 5449 7633 E: sales@sunshinecoastmarine.com.au W: www.sunshinecoastmarine.com.au NORTH ROCKHAMPTON RIFEN BOATS 6 Dooley Street North Rockhampton P: (07) 4927 9150 E: rifen.boats@bigpond.com W: www.rifenboats.com.au

AIRLIE BEACH WHITSUNDAY OUTBOARD CENTRE 17 William Murray Drive Cannonvale P: (07) 4946 7286 E: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au W: www.whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au

CAIRNS AUSSIE MARINE 5 Hannam Street Bungalow P: (07) 4033 8800 E: sales@aussiemarine.com.au W: www. aussiemarine.com.au

KARUMBA JONES MARINE 30 Yappar Street Karumba P: (07) 4745 9159 E: jonglo@bigpond.com W: www.jonesmarine.com.au

IPSWICH IPSWICH MARINE 45 Huxham Street Raceview P: 07 3294 3944 E: enquiries@ipswichmarine.com.au W: www.ipswichmarine.com.au

GOLD COAST TR MARINE 167 Currumburra Road Ashmore P: 07 5532 5812 E: shaun@trmarinegc.com.au W: www.trmarinegoldcoast.com.au

BRISBANE The Sheik of the Creek

The thing about owning your very own boat is that you can modify it.

It’s a bit like those lucky enough to own their own house. In a rental, you have to watch every thing you do so you don’t leave holes in the walls, or stains on the carpet, or cracks in the windows. And being who I am, I can do all those things before dawn, without getting out of bed. But in your own home, you get to make your own holes in the walls exactly where you want them to be, and roughly the size you want them to be. You can stain the carpet all you want, and break all the windows you feel like breaking without the risk of being chucked out of the house, as long as you have the coin to fix them up in your own time. Obviously I’m not saying you should do those things, only that the world doesn’t threaten to fold if you decide to go down that path. It’s your call in your own home.

Owning your own boat is similar; well it is for me because I feel I can put things on to it that suit how I collect bait and fish. The position of these boat additions doesn’t necessarily translate between different people. I know for example that my brothers, Stuffer and Ponish, jointly own a boat, and the negotiation before a bottle holder goes in would bore the UN General Assembly. That’s because, as I said, the things that one person needs just…there… annoy the hell out of someone else for being in the way, or not being in the way.

That’s especially the case when it comes to bottle and cup holders, because you need to be able to grasp that stubby

while looking at your rod tip and thinking about the tidal flow and who the Maroons will be looking at for second row next year while re-baiting with a herring and tying that FG knot on your spare rig. And, of course, pondering whether Skipper’s suggestion of Quade Cooper holds water. My problem is that instead of putting accessories where they belong, I tend to put temporary things in bizarre positions so I can see whether they work, and then find they don’t, and I take them off. What this means is that at any one time on my current boat, there are rod holders on windscreens, chillybins under lounge chairs on back decks, VIC MERCURY DEALERS and fishfinders festooned with zipties hanging off biminis. ALBERTON But one thing that isn’t ALBERTON MARINE out of place are the drink 39 Johnson Street Alberton holders. They’re exactly where P: (03) 5183 2344 they’re supposed to be, for me anyway! F: (03) 5183 2219 W: albertonmarine.com.au MELBOURNE MELBOURNE MARINE CENTRE 92 Hallam South Road Hallam P: (03) 9703 2003 W: melbournemarine.com.au

BENDIGO BENDIGO MARINE & OUTDOORS 160 Midland Highway Epsom P: (03) 5448 3988 W: bendigomarine.com.au MORNINGTON PENINSULA MY MARINE Cnr Nepean Highway & Ponderosa Place Dromana P: (03) 5987 0900 W: mymarine.com.au

MELBOURNE BL MARINE 612- 614 Plenty Road Preston P: (03) 9478 1420 F: (03) 9470 4638 W: blmarine.com.au

SHEPPARTON BOATS AND MORE 207 Numurkah Road Shepparton P: (03) 5822 2108 F: (03) 5821 2908 W: boatsandmore.com.au MORNINGTON PENINSULA NAUTICAL MARINE 141 Hotham Road Sorrento P: (03) 5984 1666 E: info@nauticalmarine.com.au W: nauticalmarine.com.au

TOORADIN P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin P: (03) 5998 3107 E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com

MORWELL CRAWFORD MARINE 71-77 Chickerell Street Morwell P: (03) 5134 6522 F: (03) 5134 6455 W: crawfordmarine.com.au

ECHUCA EADES XTREME MARINE 24 Sturt Street Echuca P: (03) 5482 2333 F: (03) 5482 2133 W: xtrememarine.net.au

BRAESIDE JV MARINE WORLD 878 Springvale Road Braeside P: (03) 9798 8883 F: (03) 9798 7554 W: jvmarine.com.au GEELONG PORTSIDE MARINE CENTRE 36-38 Geelong Road Portarlington P: (03) 5259 1110 E: info@portsidemarinecentre.com.au W: portsidemarinecentre.com.au

MELBOURNE THE MARINE SHOP 6 Holland Drive Melton P: (03) 9747 0588 F: (03) 9747 3999 W: themarineshop.com.au

MELBOURNE TRIPLE M MARINE 117 Northgate Drive Thomastown P: (03) 9465 8787 F: (03) 9466 1418 W: triplemmarine.com.au