RJP BOF: Perth to Geraldton

June 24th
We left Mindarie at 3am.

First mate keeping as warm as possible for the early start.

We put our first reef in the main when wind came up. Half main and quarter jib into 25knots at 60 degrees off the northerly wind.

The whales were putting on a show. This about as good a photo as we got.

They were breaching away from the boat. After sitting at the front of the boat trying to get a decent photo I said to The Mustang, "You'll never get a decent photo". Of course as she was putting the camera away one came up right next to the boat. She got a good photo of the netting. Those buggers are big, but they're sneaky.

We anchored (twice to make sure) just West of Green Islands at sunset. 30d40.891S, 115d6.525E

June 25th
The wind had picked up fom the east and the anchor had dragged leaving us only about 20 meters from the beach. This meant we had to move at sunrise...

Sunrise exercise raising the anchor still in her PJ's.

We then went over and reset it just north of the fishing shacks at Grey 030d38.984'S, 115d7.572'E. At least if we drag again there's less to hit.

Boat work at Grey....

and sunbaking...

...and walks on the beach.

June 26th

The ancorage got a bit rolly so we thought we'd better head to Jurien for the rain the following day. What a mistake. Started off with 15 knots on the nose which quickly turned into 30 knots. The waves were really sharp up to 20'. We'd lurch off the top of one and bury the nose into the next. Very uncomfortable...

The Mustang and Buffy find somewhere relatively confortable.

The autopilot couldn't cope so I had to manually helm after we lost the netting for one of the trampolines. Even lost one of the cheap tablets that we use for backup navigation. It hit the floor after coming down a particularly big wave. Meanwhile, I was doing my old man of the sea impersonation. The videos never really show what a sea state is like. However, there was only us and the whales out playing that day...

"Get out of the way!"

Finally made it to Jurien. A long day. We don't fit in the pens so we've been allocated one of the service jetties. Deserved a good day off and The Goodie lent us her car and even cooked us a home meal...

Roast pork with The Goodies

Thanks again for your generous hospitality.

29th of June
Left Jurien at 5 a.m. and motored all day. Wind was on the nose from the north east with swell from the Southwest. It was lumpy but not too uncomfortable.
We tied up to Port Denison town jetty for an overnight stay with permission from VMS Dennison. Managed to tangle a dock line at the back of the boat and crushed Son of Merv against the dock. Nothing serious so went for a walk up the hill...

then retired to the pub for dinner.

30th of June
Motor sailed up from Denison to Geraldton. Very uneventful day. Sea state was a bit crap to start with but got an extra knot by using the jib. We are going to stay in Geraldton whilst a storm front passes through. There are quite a few other yachts in the marina doing the same.