9th July
We left Geraldton early, motoring for the first few hours until the predicted southerly kicked in at about 10. Just after we put the sails up and I go to have a snooze to be ready for the night shift, the starboard engine oil alarm goes off. The bilge is full of oil and the motor has no apparent leak???
We left Geraldton early, motoring for the first few hours until the predicted southerly kicked in at about 10. Just after we put the sails up and I go to have a snooze to be ready for the night shift, the starboard engine oil alarm goes off. The bilge is full of oil and the motor has no apparent leak???
Out come the tools as I pull the engine bay apart and start pumping out and collecting the oil. As I'm cleaning up I find a bolt from the sea water housing which must have come loose. Maybe this motor was built on a Friday was the consensus.
By the time we had everything cleaned up and were happy that we could carry on the sun had set.
We kept that motor running all night just ticking over to check that the leak didn't reappear.
Night watch.... I don't think you can get tired of sailing ... however, motoring in a boat overnight can be very tiring. With the motor issues I thought it best to keep it running, checking every 30 minutes for leaks along with the usual night watch checks. We have a kitchen timer that buzzes every 30 minutes. When it goes off whoever is on watch has to check the boat's heading. Then double check the heading and the track on the back up tablet. Do a full horizon check for other vessels. Note any changes in the wind and trim the sails to suit.
When things are going well and you don't have to worry about leaky motors and the noise they make, night sailing is the best because the rest of the time there are only a million stars to keep you company as you go with the sea.
Night watch.... I don't think you can get tired of sailing ... however, motoring in a boat overnight can be very tiring. With the motor issues I thought it best to keep it running, checking every 30 minutes for leaks along with the usual night watch checks. We have a kitchen timer that buzzes every 30 minutes. When it goes off whoever is on watch has to check the boat's heading. Then double check the heading and the track on the back up tablet. Do a full horizon check for other vessels. Note any changes in the wind and trim the sails to suit.
When things are going well and you don't have to worry about leaky motors and the noise they make, night sailing is the best because the rest of the time there are only a million stars to keep you company as you go with the sea.
...and then the sun rises.
10th July
This part of the coast is lined by the Zuytdorpt cliffs. Spectacular but the southerly swell runs straight into them and then bounces back making the seas very confused if you are too close. We kept about 10 nautical miles out and had to watch the whales jumping around in the slop from a distance.
These are the trimmed results of about two hours of vidoes...
.... Apart from when the camera was charging. That's when a young one cleared the water twice less than 30 meters away.
To get through the southern entrance to Shark Bay you have to go through these confused seas. Of course thats when the fishing line goes off...
So we might as well pull the sail down as well...
Buffy guards the captured fish while we are busy with sails to make sure it doesn't escape. I don't think she understands the head part is missing.
We moved up the inside of Dirk Hartog to Quoin Bluff 25d 52.743'S, 113d 8.047'E . More fresh fish along the way. A big Mac smashed my large spoon lure and managed to bend off the terminal tackle before we could slow the boat enough. Bought that lure 6 years ago in Qld and is has probably swam over 3000 mautical miles. There are dolphins and cormorants almost continually swimming around us eating small crabs. Buffy the Barra Slayer is scared of sand crabs?
16th July.
School holidays are over so it is probably safe to go into Denham. 25d 55.827'S, 113d 31.625'E
Used the water maker for the first time on the way and the tanks are now full. And caught a fish.
School holidays are over so it is probably safe to go into Denham. 25d 55.827'S, 113d 31.625'E
Used the water maker for the first time on the way and the tanks are now full. And caught a fish.
Sashumi...
A walk around town...
A walk around town...
and a perfect sunset.
Dragging an anchor has nothing to do with men in dresses (Should I be worried by how quickly he was able to come up with this photo?) ... it is when the anchor gives up its hold on the bottom and your boat goes drifting across the bay. lt always happens at two in the morning and it is usually raining. It was raining at 2 o'clock this morning.
Actually we were quite lucky. Instead of ending up on the beach, our rudder caught up in the mooring rope of a disused and unloved fishing boat. Poor Merv was left squashed between us and acted like a fender keeping us from being damaged.
The three inches of bird shit on the fishing boat was it's protection so it was unharmed as well.
By three am we had managed to retrieve our anchor, unhook the rudder, save Merv and make our way out past all the other boats and anchor again... 25d 56.057'S, 113d 31.306'E
3.20 am we dragged again. Reset the anchor then downloaded and set an anchor alarm app.
The rain stopped about 4... 25d 56.099'S, 113d 31.181'E
8.00 am we were discussing what our options would be to try and find some sand to anchor in that wasn't taken up by other boats when the anchor gave way again.
We tried two other places ( 25d 55.851'S, 113d 31.631'E and 25d 55.808'S, 113d 31.491'E )to get the anchor to hold but it just doesn't want to dig through the weed and set. There are a lot of disused moorings here that we could use but there is no way of knowing how close they are to failing...
We finally have managed to get the anchor to set in a sand patch but haven't been game to leave the boat until I can dive on it and visually check that it's in the ground. 25d 55.778'S, 113d 31.381'E
A boatie at Geraldton had warned me about how difficult it can be to find a good anchorage here...hmmm
All in all, a fun day!
We are going to use Denham as a base and probably stay around here for a month, maybe going as far as Carnarvon. Maybe.
The Post Office here will receive mail and packages for us, so I can order some replacement parts. This is what cruising is about. Going to nice places and fixing your boat...
See...we're flat out....
Actually we were quite lucky. Instead of ending up on the beach, our rudder caught up in the mooring rope of a disused and unloved fishing boat. Poor Merv was left squashed between us and acted like a fender keeping us from being damaged.
By three am we had managed to retrieve our anchor, unhook the rudder, save Merv and make our way out past all the other boats and anchor again... 25d 56.057'S, 113d 31.306'E
3.20 am we dragged again. Reset the anchor then downloaded and set an anchor alarm app.
The rain stopped about 4... 25d 56.099'S, 113d 31.181'E
8.00 am we were discussing what our options would be to try and find some sand to anchor in that wasn't taken up by other boats when the anchor gave way again.
We tried two other places ( 25d 55.851'S, 113d 31.631'E and 25d 55.808'S, 113d 31.491'E )to get the anchor to hold but it just doesn't want to dig through the weed and set. There are a lot of disused moorings here that we could use but there is no way of knowing how close they are to failing...
We finally have managed to get the anchor to set in a sand patch but haven't been game to leave the boat until I can dive on it and visually check that it's in the ground. 25d 55.778'S, 113d 31.381'E
A boatie at Geraldton had warned me about how difficult it can be to find a good anchorage here...hmmm
All in all, a fun day!
We are going to use Denham as a base and probably stay around here for a month, maybe going as far as Carnarvon. Maybe.
It's ok here. Although...
...some of the fisho's think its cold.
We've been keeping busy...
I've fixed the trampoline mat...
The Post Office here will receive mail and packages for us, so I can order some replacement parts. This is what cruising is about. Going to nice places and fixing your boat...
See...we're flat out....
