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.