19-6-08
Its Thursday and we have had a lovely sleep in. After having breakfast we see the ferry at Direction Island Jetty. Too late, we missed it, we had not realised there would be one and were going to take the dinghy over to Home Island. 8.15 it came, and it was not on the timetable that we had been given. It would have been so much more convenient than the dinghy as the weather was pretty ugly. It was warm enough, but wind and rain.....yuk! So we pack up our laptop securely in a dry bag, put on a wet weather jacket, and take the dinghy off to the island. It bucketed down! I had my skirt tucked up under my jacket and Steve just had a tee-shirt and shorts. Once we made shore, the only dry thing we had was the computer. If only they made dry bags for people!
We were in no state to go to the internet place, so after trying to make ourselves look presentable, I enquired at the Post Office about phone cards and mobile phones. Oh joy, oh joy...they only had a $10 card left and the mobile phones are delt with over at the other island. The next ferry is in 3 hours. Oh well, we can do our internet stuff, ring the oldies and get them to pass on messages and have lunch. Steve chose to wander about instead of hanging around the internet place as it was sooo cold from the air-conditioning and his Tee-shirt was acting like a Coolgardie Safe.
Finally on the ferry, aware that we would only have 1 hour on West Island before the last ferry back.
Little did we realise, the town was NOT walking distance from the jetty and we needed to catch a bus to town (15 mins)which in effect left us 20mins in town. And guess what, the Tourist Centre and the phone place were closed!!!! Looking on the bright side, we had a nice ride and we found the shops and found out the hours.
Tomorrow we will try again.
20-6-08
We were up too late to go to West Island and decided we needed a bit of healthy exercise. The remedy was to circumnavigate Direction Island, when the tide was low. (it is only a small Island) We were also looking out for two things. There is a hut on the Island with mementos of visiting yachts, so we were looking for a unique idea for our boat. Also we were not happy with the anchor after hearing stories from Latitude about dragging, and aimed to get a washed up float to attach to an existing mooring without a float.
Steve took the high tide route and I waded in the rock pools having fun with the rock crabs and mud skippers. The coast was littered with World War 2 debris. Along the way Steve found a SART (a bit like an epirb, but uses radar instead of satellites)It was making a noise, but once Steve picked it up, it really took off. He carried that awful noisy thing around most of the island, and rang the police when we were back. No answer so he left a message on their machine and then we went back to the boat. We tried to radio the police then and still had no luck. After a very short time, it was really getting on our nerves (it must have had a good battery) and as we could not find a way to de-activate it, Steve took it ashore and did some diving while waiting for the Police to turn up. Thank goodness they did.
Ollie and Claude from Latitude invited us over for drinks at sundown. We had lovely company on a lovely boat. They came from Darwin on this Farr 11.1? via Ashmore Reef and Christmas Island and had been at Cocos since November so were locals. It was good to swap tales and check out their boat. It is very well setout and I was very impressed in their orange covers. Ollie and Claude are avid divers and were intending to head off to Chagos, however with new rules that ban apparatus assisted diving, they had decided on Thailand instead. All this after heaps of drying and preserving getting ready for an un-inhabited archipelago. Steve enjoyed the taste sensations of the dried food with the French touch (Claude is French) and we enjoyed their carefree sense of humor and adventure
21-6-08
Saturday is ferry day on this island, but nothing is open on West Island so we decide to finally get the Walker Bay tender sailing. Yippee!!!! The mast has been lashed to the deck and its missing a couple of fittings, but that can be rectified. The boat is tied on to the back of Freo and after stepping the mast, we had a few problems with the sprit. That is rectified by Steve taking us ashore with tools and a radio and he goes back to Freo and a crossword. It took me ages to rig the WB. Still could not get the sprit going properly and managed to jury rig something that would do for the moment (I will have to deflate the inflatable ring of the WB to get the Sprit support fixed in) I also met a gent from Mandurah on the beach and we get to talking...have a chat Ally..
Once we were sailing, lovely.....I was so happy.
Steve took the opportunity to check out Horsburgh Island. He took the radio to keep in touch.
When I tried radioing him, I received no answer and found out when he returned that he had lost it and after searching for it, still had not found it.
22-6-08
No ferries at all, nothing open. Steve is intrigued by all the fish, sharks, old moorings and wrecks. I am forced to throw some of Steve's precious home made bread to the fishes while he is under water watching. The sharks follow the smaller fish in. (the sharks are black tip reef sharks or bronze whalers, harmless according to Steve) It's low tide at Lunch time so it off to Horsburgh Island to find the missing radio and to show me the old cannons and the huts there. He didn't tell me about the breakers we had to cross to get to the beach. He did not want to scare me. It was fun though. There are 2 huts on the island. One is well cared for, the other just a place to go. I stayed near the well cared for hut and tried to snooze when the chooks would let me, and read a book otherwise. Steve came back with the radio. LUCKY!
Then its back home, via the breakers. I was wishing I had a waterproof video camera as it was fun. Once home, restless Steve decided it was time to create a mooring for Freo and constructed a top part for an old, very large admiralty anchor that he had found wedged on the bottom. Of course the sharks followed him everywhere.
To cap off the day, we BBQ'd some T-bone and chicken on the beach and watched the rats scurrying around.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
arrived at cocos keeling islands....
15-6-08 We had been traveling at a decent speed with the kite up. We have a sock that makes it sooooo easy to put up and down when you are short handed. Well the block that fed the kite through the mast fell off when the shackle holding it on broke. There was a big bang and Steve who was down below thought it was just one of the big waves we had been having. When we realised what was the matter, then it was down with the kite, on with the slower jib. Well, it could not be fixed until we made land, or the seas calmed down (as if)
16-6-08 Excitement plus. We passed a boat!!!!!! I was on watch as was sooo excited that when I called Steve up from his well earned sleep, he rushed out of bed thinking there was an emergency. Sorry Steve, but, but..... It might have been a pirate ship, but I was informed by Captain Steve that it was a 'high bowed Indonesian Long Liner' and would only do 5knots of speed. Indeed, after watching him aim for us for ages, I was apprehensive about his intentions. We altered course which made us surf the mountainous swell at 13 knots, and soon the Pirates??? were crossing 100 metres behind us. We watched them go, wallowing terribly (as these boats have no stabilizers)and no one was seen on deck. This all happened in International waters, just before we re-entered the Australian waters around Cocos! It is getting cloudy towards night so we are glad that we just have the jib up. I was feeling seedy again, but was still restless and didn't want to sleep, so I stayed up a bit longer doing what I do well, look at the horizon. The night was not dark and I saw a bird circling the boat. Whenever I saw a bird, I would always comment that the Terns were coming back, so Steve took no notice that I was carrying on about a bird trying to land on the boat. After a few aborted landings, he finally ended up in the dinghy on the davit's, again. I had to admit it was not a Tern. I thought it was a GOOSE, Steve reckoned it wasn't and I was a goose! Anyhow, he was there to stay for the night, despite Steve upsetting the birds sleep whenever he had to bail out the dinghy. The GOOSE was off at the crack of dawn, but it was nice having company.
17-6-08 The heavens had opened up overnight and it rained in torrents! during many squalls. The wind was still behind us, so we did,t need to reduce the sail, just had fun surfing down the face of these lovely waves, that were flattened when the rain came. We took the opportunity to fill our water tanks and have a lovely, if rocky shower (just a little bit cold) It was a welcome change, but I was still seedy!!! Steve put on a DVD to cheer me up, and as I could only sleep down below, we watched it on the deck in the wheelhouse with the clear awnings protecting us from most of the weather. I still haven't finished making them and rain gets in at the bottom, where they are still to be fastened. Well we were sitting, in our deck chairs, with our feet up against the bottom of the clears watching chick flick and Steve jumped up with an exclamation that he had been brutally savaged by a killer flying fish. Still flapping, Steve got his retribution and as he was fresh, was made promptly into bait. Now to get and idea of this David and Goliath match, The fish had launched all of its 5 inches over the deck of the boat, under the 1 inch gap in the clears and hit his foot. Now that was a rather large one, but we have had fish as small as 1/2 inch on the deck and even in our dinghy at roof height. They are pretty wonderful characters! It is getting exciting as we will be in Cocos tonight and I keep looking forwards. At dusk I see what I think is the GOOSE again doing circles around the boat, but never landed and flew off into the sunset. My theory is that he was just popping in to say hello! We finally made Cocos at 2245 WST and dropped anchor in the quarantine area, thankful to arrive in a tropical paradise. We could see the silhouette of Coconut Palms against the horizon, the sea 'felt' blue and clear and we could see fish and sharks swimming, even though it was dark. We set the alarm so we could call up Customs and retired, contented.
18-6-08 Woke up early so we could talk to our sailing friends on the radio, but the storm was still going, and causing too much interference on the radio. We then looked around the anchorage and there were 2 sail boats. A cat and a sloop. Friends had mentioned the Sloop called Latitude. They had talked to her during past radio scheds, so it was good to see a semi familiar boat. Called up Customs at 0700 (cocos time) and waited till lunchtime for their arrival. We had plenty to do though and the boat was looking ok by the time they did arrive. When Customs had finished, Ollie from Latitude came over to welcome us and give us a few useful tips. By the time we made it to Home Island Post Office, so we could get a phone card, the Post Office had been closed for 10 minutes. Drat!!^&^& The Home Island Locals are of Malay decent and it was a lovely place to go, with every one smiling hello and scooting around on bikes or jeeps and boats at just about every house. It looked like a care free life in a tropical paradise. Well we missed the Post Office, so lets explore Direction Island, where we are anchored. It's lovely. No one lives there, but its the recreational area for the locals. There are a few shelters and one of them has been decorated by visiting yachties with lots of lovely mementos. We explored the small island, scattering the chooks that were there and being very careful not to step on a hermit crab. There was a local phone there, so I tried to ring Mum, reverse charges. Its great having that facility. All local calls are free and someone had scribbled the reverse charge call number next to it. The Mobile service here is not the same as the mainland, as is the internet, thus the need to get to the PO, so we could contact our loved ones.
16-6-08 Excitement plus. We passed a boat!!!!!! I was on watch as was sooo excited that when I called Steve up from his well earned sleep, he rushed out of bed thinking there was an emergency. Sorry Steve, but, but..... It might have been a pirate ship, but I was informed by Captain Steve that it was a 'high bowed Indonesian Long Liner' and would only do 5knots of speed. Indeed, after watching him aim for us for ages, I was apprehensive about his intentions. We altered course which made us surf the mountainous swell at 13 knots, and soon the Pirates??? were crossing 100 metres behind us. We watched them go, wallowing terribly (as these boats have no stabilizers)and no one was seen on deck. This all happened in International waters, just before we re-entered the Australian waters around Cocos! It is getting cloudy towards night so we are glad that we just have the jib up. I was feeling seedy again, but was still restless and didn't want to sleep, so I stayed up a bit longer doing what I do well, look at the horizon. The night was not dark and I saw a bird circling the boat. Whenever I saw a bird, I would always comment that the Terns were coming back, so Steve took no notice that I was carrying on about a bird trying to land on the boat. After a few aborted landings, he finally ended up in the dinghy on the davit's, again. I had to admit it was not a Tern. I thought it was a GOOSE, Steve reckoned it wasn't and I was a goose! Anyhow, he was there to stay for the night, despite Steve upsetting the birds sleep whenever he had to bail out the dinghy. The GOOSE was off at the crack of dawn, but it was nice having company.
17-6-08 The heavens had opened up overnight and it rained in torrents! during many squalls. The wind was still behind us, so we did,t need to reduce the sail, just had fun surfing down the face of these lovely waves, that were flattened when the rain came. We took the opportunity to fill our water tanks and have a lovely, if rocky shower (just a little bit cold) It was a welcome change, but I was still seedy!!! Steve put on a DVD to cheer me up, and as I could only sleep down below, we watched it on the deck in the wheelhouse with the clear awnings protecting us from most of the weather. I still haven't finished making them and rain gets in at the bottom, where they are still to be fastened. Well we were sitting, in our deck chairs, with our feet up against the bottom of the clears watching chick flick and Steve jumped up with an exclamation that he had been brutally savaged by a killer flying fish. Still flapping, Steve got his retribution and as he was fresh, was made promptly into bait. Now to get and idea of this David and Goliath match, The fish had launched all of its 5 inches over the deck of the boat, under the 1 inch gap in the clears and hit his foot. Now that was a rather large one, but we have had fish as small as 1/2 inch on the deck and even in our dinghy at roof height. They are pretty wonderful characters! It is getting exciting as we will be in Cocos tonight and I keep looking forwards. At dusk I see what I think is the GOOSE again doing circles around the boat, but never landed and flew off into the sunset. My theory is that he was just popping in to say hello! We finally made Cocos at 2245 WST and dropped anchor in the quarantine area, thankful to arrive in a tropical paradise. We could see the silhouette of Coconut Palms against the horizon, the sea 'felt' blue and clear and we could see fish and sharks swimming, even though it was dark. We set the alarm so we could call up Customs and retired, contented.
18-6-08 Woke up early so we could talk to our sailing friends on the radio, but the storm was still going, and causing too much interference on the radio. We then looked around the anchorage and there were 2 sail boats. A cat and a sloop. Friends had mentioned the Sloop called Latitude. They had talked to her during past radio scheds, so it was good to see a semi familiar boat. Called up Customs at 0700 (cocos time) and waited till lunchtime for their arrival. We had plenty to do though and the boat was looking ok by the time they did arrive. When Customs had finished, Ollie from Latitude came over to welcome us and give us a few useful tips. By the time we made it to Home Island Post Office, so we could get a phone card, the Post Office had been closed for 10 minutes. Drat!!^&^& The Home Island Locals are of Malay decent and it was a lovely place to go, with every one smiling hello and scooting around on bikes or jeeps and boats at just about every house. It looked like a care free life in a tropical paradise. Well we missed the Post Office, so lets explore Direction Island, where we are anchored. It's lovely. No one lives there, but its the recreational area for the locals. There are a few shelters and one of them has been decorated by visiting yachties with lots of lovely mementos. We explored the small island, scattering the chooks that were there and being very careful not to step on a hermit crab. There was a local phone there, so I tried to ring Mum, reverse charges. Its great having that facility. All local calls are free and someone had scribbled the reverse charge call number next to it. The Mobile service here is not the same as the mainland, as is the internet, thus the need to get to the PO, so we could contact our loved ones.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Nearly at Cocos Keeling Islands
9-6-08 - Hung around Main Bay off Trimouille Island in the Montebello's, very close to the wreck of the HMS Plym that was blown up in 1952 for nuclear weapon testing. Steve had finally fixed the wiring to the tri-colour and anchor lights after scrambling up the mast incessantly with Fran and myself feeding new cable to replace the damaged cable in the mast. Steve went off diving with Steve and Celina from Westward 2 and Vin and Rachel from Sailaway 2. They came back with exciting stories about sharks and had a good time. Fran stayed at home to make bread for the get-together tonight. This would be the last day together as Vin and Steve would be leaving for Dampier before first light, with Fran on board. Early party was planned so we could all get back to our own boats for the weather reports at 8.30. It looked a bit threatening with dark cloudy skies, so we took in all our washing and shut the hatches. Fortunately the party was on Vins boat where there was a lot of room under cover, unfortunately, Westward 2 had open hatches. The storm blew up VERY quickly and at the start we had intermittent heavy rain. So the 2 Steve's nick off in the dinghy to shut all of Westwards hatches, though a bit late for some items that were wet. The boys were back in time to enjoy Vins fish cooking and a desert of chocolate cake that Fran made for Rachel. Yum!During that time, the storm became a real doozy! Where did those heavy winds and waves come from??? Lucky for Vin and Steve, they had already taken their dinghies up on the davit's ready for the trip, so transport for Steve and Celina was via Freo's tender. It was a wild and wet ride with everyone drenched, but having fun.Steve came back for me and as we had less weight on board, I managed to stay dry on the way back to Freo.Right-ho, lets listen to the weather and see if there is any more to this storm....No, thank goodness, but the guys will re-assess their trip tomorrow at 5am.Early night for all of us, but I doubt any of us had any sleep. Everyone was worried about dragging anchors, and with the wind and wave action, the boats were bucking violently. Lucky for the other 2, their dinghies were high and try. Ours wasn't. It was filling up fast with rain water and insisted on sheltering under the back of our yacht. What a woozy tender. So Steve and myself are out there in the middle of the night, getting the gear off the tender and winching it back on deck. One consolation was we had a nice freshwater shower!Now we will try to get some sleep, or at least some rest! We set the anchor alarm and get some shut eye. Oh no, the anchor alarm goes off and the storm is still going. We have swung in a circle, tripping the anchor, however the anchor has reset itself. (later we find out everyone else did the circles as well)While all this is happening, the posh power boat next to us was in strife with its rather large tender. It seems their tender was also a bit of a coward, wanting to hide under their big boat. They managed to sort that out by rafting it alongside. By now we had decided that this big boat was a bit unsafe to be close to, so we pulled anchor and re-located further up-wind. That worried Winward 2 about their own anchor holding.
10-6-08 - 5am in the morning and we surface bleary eyed to see the other 2 yachts heading off under sail with Fran sailing with Vin. At last the storm has gone and we settle down for a bit of a sleep.On our own now with the power boat leaving for another anchorage at lunch time, we decide to check the weather and make plans. The weather forecast is good so we up anchor mid afternoon and start on our longest leg of our trip, bound for Cocos.
11-6-08 - Overnight we had a good following wind and managed 9knots. We also collected a Mum and Baby Tern who decided to make our dinghy on the davit's home. After several hours, the birds stopped talking to each other, with baby trying a bit of flying around the boat and Mum standing guard. They hung around for 24 hours, then flew off ducking and diving towards the East. Hungry also gave us problems during the night with the replacement roll pin that Steve had created giving away yet again. And we thought it was fixed! Steve just calmly made another replacement and we continued on with Hungry. He might be hungry and he might break down, but at least the auto pilot saves heaps of boredom at the wheel. We are also having trouble with the water maker (hungrier) After checking the primary filter, find it is clogged with weed, but the other filter is grotty as well. We are regretting trying to make water in the stirred up waters of the Montes and not bringing along a spare filter. I am seasick from last night and all day, and Steve is trying hard to keep my morale up. I am so grateful to him, especially as he is doing most of the work. Steve is loving the voyage as he loves challenges and the ocean so much.Coast Watch flew over about 4.20pm and it was good to hear another voice on the radio. 20 minutes later we heard them calling up a cat, that did not reply. We were a bit hopeful that we would see this cat in our travels.About 7pm, Hungry broke down again, this time a newly engineered part (1 month old) sheared. Steve to the rescue again and fingers are crossed. We are averaging 6.8knots for the trip and had planned on 5knots, but Cocos cannot come quick enough.
12-6-08 - Still seasick, so I took some seasick tablets and had a very good sleep, with the help of ear plugs. Did not even hear the large wave that swamped the cockpit, despite the clears being shut. For all this trip the waves have been large making the boat wallow. Lucky the winds have been steady at 15-20 knots. Feeling seedy all day, but Steve managed to get some sleep while I kept watch. I can only read or work on the computer for about 5 minutes before feeling crook again and have to surface to look at the horizon.We have discussions that the 3 birds we see off our bow most of the time are Terns (my view) and Puffins or Cormorant's (Steve just being opposite)After one of Steve's sleeps, he decided to make fast the dinghy on the davits as it had worked itself a bit loose. Propped up nearby was the cleaned jaw of the shark that Steve caught. As you can probably guess, the shark had its revenge and bit him! One thing we need to add to the medical kit is a surgical needle and thread. Steve had a 4" cut that really needed stitching. We used what we had and are very lucky that Steve is used to this sort of abuse and is a quick healer.5 Days to go!We are keeping scheds with Stan as well as Steve from Westward 2 so they have been our only other human contact.We are currently thinking of going to Christmas Island after Cocos/Keeling instead of Chagos as feeling seedy all the time is not much fun, but I may still get over it.....I'm hoping. Even considering Bali after Christmas for a shorter hop before we land back on the Australian mainland. We will have to do more research once we get to Cocos.
13-6-08 - Another eventful day on the rolling ocean waves. Same wind, same waves. Opted to put up the kite today as the wind died a bit last night and the average for the night was 5 knots. With the kite, we may be back to the daily average of 165nm/day.At the moment the ETA at Cocos is 1600 Tuesday 17th June. It would be nice to get there a bit sooner so we don't have to wait till the next morning for Quarantine. Steve made he's 2nd batch of damper, not as successful as the first sweet damper. This was genuine sour dough. Hope the fish liked it. Steve is still keeping my morale up as I am still seedy!
14-6-08 - No change in the wind, waves, seediness and Steve's happiness(thank goodness)The last few nights we have been finding dead flying fish on the deck. They are everywhere during the day and we just watched one just miss the boat! Have been seeing debri today, like a palm frond, a drink can some bits of foam. Put on the Radar to see if any other boats are around. Saw one to our port, but none ahead.
10-6-08 - 5am in the morning and we surface bleary eyed to see the other 2 yachts heading off under sail with Fran sailing with Vin. At last the storm has gone and we settle down for a bit of a sleep.On our own now with the power boat leaving for another anchorage at lunch time, we decide to check the weather and make plans. The weather forecast is good so we up anchor mid afternoon and start on our longest leg of our trip, bound for Cocos.
11-6-08 - Overnight we had a good following wind and managed 9knots. We also collected a Mum and Baby Tern who decided to make our dinghy on the davit's home. After several hours, the birds stopped talking to each other, with baby trying a bit of flying around the boat and Mum standing guard. They hung around for 24 hours, then flew off ducking and diving towards the East. Hungry also gave us problems during the night with the replacement roll pin that Steve had created giving away yet again. And we thought it was fixed! Steve just calmly made another replacement and we continued on with Hungry. He might be hungry and he might break down, but at least the auto pilot saves heaps of boredom at the wheel. We are also having trouble with the water maker (hungrier) After checking the primary filter, find it is clogged with weed, but the other filter is grotty as well. We are regretting trying to make water in the stirred up waters of the Montes and not bringing along a spare filter. I am seasick from last night and all day, and Steve is trying hard to keep my morale up. I am so grateful to him, especially as he is doing most of the work. Steve is loving the voyage as he loves challenges and the ocean so much.Coast Watch flew over about 4.20pm and it was good to hear another voice on the radio. 20 minutes later we heard them calling up a cat, that did not reply. We were a bit hopeful that we would see this cat in our travels.About 7pm, Hungry broke down again, this time a newly engineered part (1 month old) sheared. Steve to the rescue again and fingers are crossed. We are averaging 6.8knots for the trip and had planned on 5knots, but Cocos cannot come quick enough.
12-6-08 - Still seasick, so I took some seasick tablets and had a very good sleep, with the help of ear plugs. Did not even hear the large wave that swamped the cockpit, despite the clears being shut. For all this trip the waves have been large making the boat wallow. Lucky the winds have been steady at 15-20 knots. Feeling seedy all day, but Steve managed to get some sleep while I kept watch. I can only read or work on the computer for about 5 minutes before feeling crook again and have to surface to look at the horizon.We have discussions that the 3 birds we see off our bow most of the time are Terns (my view) and Puffins or Cormorant's (Steve just being opposite)After one of Steve's sleeps, he decided to make fast the dinghy on the davits as it had worked itself a bit loose. Propped up nearby was the cleaned jaw of the shark that Steve caught. As you can probably guess, the shark had its revenge and bit him! One thing we need to add to the medical kit is a surgical needle and thread. Steve had a 4" cut that really needed stitching. We used what we had and are very lucky that Steve is used to this sort of abuse and is a quick healer.5 Days to go!We are keeping scheds with Stan as well as Steve from Westward 2 so they have been our only other human contact.We are currently thinking of going to Christmas Island after Cocos/Keeling instead of Chagos as feeling seedy all the time is not much fun, but I may still get over it.....I'm hoping. Even considering Bali after Christmas for a shorter hop before we land back on the Australian mainland. We will have to do more research once we get to Cocos.
13-6-08 - Another eventful day on the rolling ocean waves. Same wind, same waves. Opted to put up the kite today as the wind died a bit last night and the average for the night was 5 knots. With the kite, we may be back to the daily average of 165nm/day.At the moment the ETA at Cocos is 1600 Tuesday 17th June. It would be nice to get there a bit sooner so we don't have to wait till the next morning for Quarantine. Steve made he's 2nd batch of damper, not as successful as the first sweet damper. This was genuine sour dough. Hope the fish liked it. Steve is still keeping my morale up as I am still seedy!
14-6-08 - No change in the wind, waves, seediness and Steve's happiness(thank goodness)The last few nights we have been finding dead flying fish on the deck. They are everywhere during the day and we just watched one just miss the boat! Have been seeing debri today, like a palm frond, a drink can some bits of foam. Put on the Radar to see if any other boats are around. Saw one to our port, but none ahead.
In The Beginning......
15-5-08 - Left at 21.52 after lots of packing and squeezing in. The crew consisted of Steve, Ally, Fran, and Karen. We didn't tell everyone we were leaving as we had been saying that for a while now, and would not have left as soon without Mums, Gary's, Yolanda's and Mals help.
Gary came around the next morning to take some pics, but surprise, surprise, we were gone!!!
16-5-08 - We anchored at Pig trough bay off Garden Island. Thank goodness for the radar as there were no lights on the mussel farm that was along our path.
We Left for Freo to make it in time for lunch. A few last minute chores were carried out before a bit of a party with the Battlestar Crew, John and Tina, Mal and Di and of course Trevor, Mum and Brownie.
17-5-08 - We gathered another crew member (Trevor), and we left Freo to make Rottnest for afternoon tea. Fran, Karen and Trev left to spend a little bit of time on Rotto before we left for Hillarys. We made Hillarys at 20.00 and Karen and Trev left for home. Mum met us there also, and gave the kids a lift back to Trevor's car which was in Fremantle.
18-5-08 - No wind, well nearly. It took hours to be level with Hillarys after having to head south through the passage before heading north
20-5-08 - Abrolhos Islands, Easter Group anchored late afternoon after hitting a bundi that was uncharted, but thankfully no damage :) Fran and Ally have a walk on shore. Barometer is falling, but was still un-calibrated.
21-5-08 - The fellow in next boat told us it was going to blow, but after checking the forecast, decided to go on as the blow was forecast much further south.After a drifter of a day (even went backwards, but Steve didn't tell us as we would have said motor!) we anchored to the north of the Wallabi Group in Turtle bay. Lines go overboard and there are seals and dolphins around us but no fish, so the avid fisherman aboard the boat pulled anchor as soon as the breeze came in. Forecast is still good.Wind increases through the night so we steadily reduced sail, while averaging 10 knots.
22-5-08Wind is blowing 35 knots and the barometer is still falling. Curses to the weather bureau, but we are getting a lovely ride and the boat is handling it all very well. When we started seeing cloud cover coming our way with squalls indicated, we reefed right down, and when they came, we hardly had any sail up!During one of the squalls, we managed a Man Overboard procedure practice. The Spinnaker fell into the water and we managed to retrieve both kite and bag with the help of Fran who held onto Steve with an iron grip while Steve pulled in the water filled kite. SKILL!!!!!! Wondered if we needed sails anyway as we were steaming at 5 knots with no sails up.
23-5-08Arrived at Carnarvon in the dark and as the tide was low, had to go to the DPI marina, which was full. So we lashed onto piles and stayed 2 nights while re-provisioning. It was dirty there, however, everyone were very friendly and helpful.
25-5-98 - Departed Carnarvon, next stop Dampier. The new Wallas Diesel oven is now commissioned, much to the chefs delight!Fran's Birthday. Bet that was Fran's most unusual Birthday
26-5-08 - Light and variable winds so the iron sail goes on (nicknamed Thirsty) As soon as we had wind, thirsty gets switched off and on when there is none. Very frustrating!
27-5-08 - Finally find a nice anchorage. Pop recommended it and it was as good as he said. Long Island near Exmouth.Hungry (the Auto Pilot) needed repairs so Fran and Ally went to the beach to fossick. Forgot the anchor, so we pulled and pulled to get the dinghy up high enough. We obviously did not do a good enough job as the dinghy went off on its own with Ally swimming after it, shouting for Steve, who was in the bilges fixing Hungry. Steve finally comes up on deck, wondering what the commotion is at the same time that Fran has caught the attention of a dive boat. Now we have 2 boats going to the rescue, with Steve stopping to pick up Ally on the way. After that, Ally had a sore throat for ages. Fran and Ally were thinking this would be a lovely anchorage for the night and tucked in for the night for a great sleep.Little did we know, the skipper had other plans. No fish forced him to pull anchor in the middle of the night and try the fishing on the other side of the island. That was rolly and no sleep was to be had!28-5-08Pulled anchor early due to the roliness and headed for Dampier. Wind died and by 1700 we were motoring again. Motored all night. YUK
29-5-08 - Anchored in Dampier after dawdling in the entrance channel, trying to catch fish. Stan and Ros were wondering where we had got to, but made Dampier just before dusk. Dampier was great. Met some wonderful people and Stan and Ros acted as guides as they had been there and done that! We went snorkelling and tidal creek swimming amongst the rays and crabs.Provisioned up again, much to Steve's chagrin, mind you Steve can't talk as he bought an old tinny while the girls were shopping. That put the pressure on Steve to finish off the davits.
5-6-08 - Cleared Customs and said our last goodbyes to Stan and Ros and are now on our way to Cocos/Keeling IslandsAnchored in Mermaid Channel, however both anchorages we tried were very uncomfortable so we headed for the Montebello's at 2am (about 40nm away) Needed to fix a nav light that was on top of the mast, so we needed a calm place.6-6-08It's getting rougher and windier as we go. The wind is behind us and so are the waves, gianormous!!! Let's go surfing. Hungry is having troubles as an exact course is not suitable to downwind steering so Steve takes over. The seas are getting bigger as we approach the Monte's. Fran is a bit seedy so she is on deck feeling miserable. It doesn't help that Fran can't take the wheel as when you are on the wheel it not so daunting. We had not planned to be at the Monte's so we have no paper charts, however we do have C-Map. Ally radioed the Monte Cruisers to check that C-Map is correct and that our planned passage will be safe. Meanwhile Steve asked Ally to take the helm as we are getting close and he wants to check the course. Once on the helm, Ally realised that the plotter was wrong. We must have lost a Satellite fix and the plotter was saying we were 20nm off. Steve rectified that straight away and we were very happy with the boat, navigating and all the crew. Once we had navigated the tiny passage between Daisy and Dot (which really is a dot) islands we were contented and tired. Just after anchoring, Lance from an Oil Rig Rescue craft came over to say g'day and offered any help they could give. They had been given permission to shelter from the storms instead of staying by the rig. Everyone we have met during this trip have been wonderful. For our radio scheds, we couldn't contact Stan on the radio as he was out boozing at the club. Could hear Dick on the radio, but no contact was made.
7-6-08 - Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. Fran starts calling us the Bride and Groom. We started off in busy mode getting boat projects sorted, until Steve who was up the mast (for a change...???) reported 3 yachts coming into our bay. Sailaway Too, Westward 2 and Quatro anchored next to us as we were frantically trying to get the boat up to Frans' standards of presentable for incoming guests. Just as well. Vin and Rachel came along straight after anchoring for a chin wag after last seeing them when they left Mandurah in April. It was great to catch up.
8-6-08 - Fran is ambitious to make our first loaf of bread in our lovely oven. Steve NEEDS to go fishing to actually catch fish, so Ally decides to go touring the island with Vin, Rachel(Sailaway Too) Stephen and Celina (Westward 2) We see lots of debris from when the bombs were let off in the 1950's.Lunch was Steve's catch of the day, with a cray that Westward had donated. Fran went frantic with the cooking revelling in using the new oven and also made a chocolate cake for Rachel. Later we met the guys on the rescue craft while Fran made a phone call to Customs. Fran had decided to jump ship before getting to Cocos as time was running out, and anyway, the last lot of night sailing was not too enjoyable (a bit of an understatement I think) Fran will now be travelling with Vin to Dampier. To cap off a lovely day, we all got together on the beach for a Sundowner. Lovely! OOPS, as I am writing this, the shark alarm has gone off. Steve, the eternal fisherman/hunter was out to get himself a shark! He set up a hand line and attached it to a winch, which makes a very loud noise when there is something on the line. Thing is, when it went off, Steve was up the mast and he took his time getting back to bring in the 3ft bronze whaler shark. Fran and myself were both cringing and Steve was beaming from ear to ear. Looks like it will be dinner tomorrow night for all of us.
Gary came around the next morning to take some pics, but surprise, surprise, we were gone!!!
16-5-08 - We anchored at Pig trough bay off Garden Island. Thank goodness for the radar as there were no lights on the mussel farm that was along our path.
We Left for Freo to make it in time for lunch. A few last minute chores were carried out before a bit of a party with the Battlestar Crew, John and Tina, Mal and Di and of course Trevor, Mum and Brownie.
17-5-08 - We gathered another crew member (Trevor), and we left Freo to make Rottnest for afternoon tea. Fran, Karen and Trev left to spend a little bit of time on Rotto before we left for Hillarys. We made Hillarys at 20.00 and Karen and Trev left for home. Mum met us there also, and gave the kids a lift back to Trevor's car which was in Fremantle.
18-5-08 - No wind, well nearly. It took hours to be level with Hillarys after having to head south through the passage before heading north
20-5-08 - Abrolhos Islands, Easter Group anchored late afternoon after hitting a bundi that was uncharted, but thankfully no damage :) Fran and Ally have a walk on shore. Barometer is falling, but was still un-calibrated.
21-5-08 - The fellow in next boat told us it was going to blow, but after checking the forecast, decided to go on as the blow was forecast much further south.After a drifter of a day (even went backwards, but Steve didn't tell us as we would have said motor!) we anchored to the north of the Wallabi Group in Turtle bay. Lines go overboard and there are seals and dolphins around us but no fish, so the avid fisherman aboard the boat pulled anchor as soon as the breeze came in. Forecast is still good.Wind increases through the night so we steadily reduced sail, while averaging 10 knots.
22-5-08Wind is blowing 35 knots and the barometer is still falling. Curses to the weather bureau, but we are getting a lovely ride and the boat is handling it all very well. When we started seeing cloud cover coming our way with squalls indicated, we reefed right down, and when they came, we hardly had any sail up!During one of the squalls, we managed a Man Overboard procedure practice. The Spinnaker fell into the water and we managed to retrieve both kite and bag with the help of Fran who held onto Steve with an iron grip while Steve pulled in the water filled kite. SKILL!!!!!! Wondered if we needed sails anyway as we were steaming at 5 knots with no sails up.
23-5-08Arrived at Carnarvon in the dark and as the tide was low, had to go to the DPI marina, which was full. So we lashed onto piles and stayed 2 nights while re-provisioning. It was dirty there, however, everyone were very friendly and helpful.
25-5-98 - Departed Carnarvon, next stop Dampier. The new Wallas Diesel oven is now commissioned, much to the chefs delight!Fran's Birthday. Bet that was Fran's most unusual Birthday
26-5-08 - Light and variable winds so the iron sail goes on (nicknamed Thirsty) As soon as we had wind, thirsty gets switched off and on when there is none. Very frustrating!
27-5-08 - Finally find a nice anchorage. Pop recommended it and it was as good as he said. Long Island near Exmouth.Hungry (the Auto Pilot) needed repairs so Fran and Ally went to the beach to fossick. Forgot the anchor, so we pulled and pulled to get the dinghy up high enough. We obviously did not do a good enough job as the dinghy went off on its own with Ally swimming after it, shouting for Steve, who was in the bilges fixing Hungry. Steve finally comes up on deck, wondering what the commotion is at the same time that Fran has caught the attention of a dive boat. Now we have 2 boats going to the rescue, with Steve stopping to pick up Ally on the way. After that, Ally had a sore throat for ages. Fran and Ally were thinking this would be a lovely anchorage for the night and tucked in for the night for a great sleep.Little did we know, the skipper had other plans. No fish forced him to pull anchor in the middle of the night and try the fishing on the other side of the island. That was rolly and no sleep was to be had!28-5-08Pulled anchor early due to the roliness and headed for Dampier. Wind died and by 1700 we were motoring again. Motored all night. YUK
29-5-08 - Anchored in Dampier after dawdling in the entrance channel, trying to catch fish. Stan and Ros were wondering where we had got to, but made Dampier just before dusk. Dampier was great. Met some wonderful people and Stan and Ros acted as guides as they had been there and done that! We went snorkelling and tidal creek swimming amongst the rays and crabs.Provisioned up again, much to Steve's chagrin, mind you Steve can't talk as he bought an old tinny while the girls were shopping. That put the pressure on Steve to finish off the davits.
5-6-08 - Cleared Customs and said our last goodbyes to Stan and Ros and are now on our way to Cocos/Keeling IslandsAnchored in Mermaid Channel, however both anchorages we tried were very uncomfortable so we headed for the Montebello's at 2am (about 40nm away) Needed to fix a nav light that was on top of the mast, so we needed a calm place.6-6-08It's getting rougher and windier as we go. The wind is behind us and so are the waves, gianormous!!! Let's go surfing. Hungry is having troubles as an exact course is not suitable to downwind steering so Steve takes over. The seas are getting bigger as we approach the Monte's. Fran is a bit seedy so she is on deck feeling miserable. It doesn't help that Fran can't take the wheel as when you are on the wheel it not so daunting. We had not planned to be at the Monte's so we have no paper charts, however we do have C-Map. Ally radioed the Monte Cruisers to check that C-Map is correct and that our planned passage will be safe. Meanwhile Steve asked Ally to take the helm as we are getting close and he wants to check the course. Once on the helm, Ally realised that the plotter was wrong. We must have lost a Satellite fix and the plotter was saying we were 20nm off. Steve rectified that straight away and we were very happy with the boat, navigating and all the crew. Once we had navigated the tiny passage between Daisy and Dot (which really is a dot) islands we were contented and tired. Just after anchoring, Lance from an Oil Rig Rescue craft came over to say g'day and offered any help they could give. They had been given permission to shelter from the storms instead of staying by the rig. Everyone we have met during this trip have been wonderful. For our radio scheds, we couldn't contact Stan on the radio as he was out boozing at the club. Could hear Dick on the radio, but no contact was made.
7-6-08 - Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. Fran starts calling us the Bride and Groom. We started off in busy mode getting boat projects sorted, until Steve who was up the mast (for a change...???) reported 3 yachts coming into our bay. Sailaway Too, Westward 2 and Quatro anchored next to us as we were frantically trying to get the boat up to Frans' standards of presentable for incoming guests. Just as well. Vin and Rachel came along straight after anchoring for a chin wag after last seeing them when they left Mandurah in April. It was great to catch up.
8-6-08 - Fran is ambitious to make our first loaf of bread in our lovely oven. Steve NEEDS to go fishing to actually catch fish, so Ally decides to go touring the island with Vin, Rachel(Sailaway Too) Stephen and Celina (Westward 2) We see lots of debris from when the bombs were let off in the 1950's.Lunch was Steve's catch of the day, with a cray that Westward had donated. Fran went frantic with the cooking revelling in using the new oven and also made a chocolate cake for Rachel. Later we met the guys on the rescue craft while Fran made a phone call to Customs. Fran had decided to jump ship before getting to Cocos as time was running out, and anyway, the last lot of night sailing was not too enjoyable (a bit of an understatement I think) Fran will now be travelling with Vin to Dampier. To cap off a lovely day, we all got together on the beach for a Sundowner. Lovely! OOPS, as I am writing this, the shark alarm has gone off. Steve, the eternal fisherman/hunter was out to get himself a shark! He set up a hand line and attached it to a winch, which makes a very loud noise when there is something on the line. Thing is, when it went off, Steve was up the mast and he took his time getting back to bring in the 3ft bronze whaler shark. Fran and myself were both cringing and Steve was beaming from ear to ear. Looks like it will be dinner tomorrow night for all of us.
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