North to Adventure
| Vessel Name: | Aka Aka |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Catalina |
| Hailing Port: | Bunbury, Western Australia |
| Crew: | Terry & Bon |
| About: | Description: Dubious |
07 December 2017 | Geraldton Western Australia
25 November 2017 | Geraldton
06 November 2017 | Carnarvon Western Australia
23 October 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
09 October 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
25 September 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
18 September 2017
13 September 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
07 September 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
03 September 2017
31 August 2017 | Carnarvon Western Australia
18 August 2017 | Freemantle Sailing Club Western Australia
07 August 2017 | Bunbury Western Australia
Recent Blog Posts
07 December 2017 | Geraldton Western Australia
Leaving Geraldton.....
Tuesday 5th December - Our number 2 grandchild, Ava Lauren O'Connor's 12th birthday.
25 November 2017 | Geraldton
Heading South....SLOWLY!
Hi Today is Sunday 26th November This begins with a continuation of the last one...6th November
Warm and Sunny!
07 September 2017 | Exmouth Western Australia
EXMOUTH Thursday 7th September
We managed to get away at 10:00. Had to wait until the breeze died down enough so that we could pull away from the jetty without being blown into the huge pylon just next to us. The winds were favourable, skies sunny and it made for fantastic sailing!!! We didnt even have to wear a jacket!! T-shirt and hoody was enough. As we headed north the weather began to improve as did the ocean. The colour of the water was a clear seafoam green. To say we saw a few hump back whales would be a gross understatement! “look Terry a whale!” “over there! A Mama and her calf!” “Oooohhhh man! They are sure close!” “WOW! Didn’t see THEM coming!” “Check out the barnacles on that one!” “Sheeez! Did you see that huge splash......etc etc etc..! It almost became commonplace would you believe!?! I also saw my first ever sea snake. A rather large one at that! Lots of sea birds too – different colours. I felt like I was inside a David Attenborough film with all of the wildlife around us. We sailed through the night with the same pleasant conditions, averaging around 6-7knots. Now, I will answer a couple of questions I have been asked:
1. (Q) What do you do at night, anchor up and get some rest?
(A) We sail through the night non stop, since most Ports on the west coast are approx. 300 miles apart from each other. Also, we cannot carry 12,000 feet of anchor chain on board! A little kitchen timer every 7 minutes to check in front and to see that we are on course. We sleep up on deck
2. (Q) Are you tethered to the boat?
(A) Yes, at night time we wear life jackets; personal ID beacons; and if we go “up front” out of the cockpit we tether to the safety line which is along both gunnels. We also place the life raft and “ditch bag” together on the back of the boat at night too. Day time we are a bit more relaxed.
Anyway, the last two nights we have been fortunate to have a full moon to light our way! It feels like you’re in a dream the way everything looks milky under the moon. Very beautiful!
Unfortunately, our fantastic weather had to turn on us because it just has been our luck! It was around 5pm Tuesday 5th when the winds decided to gust from dead ahead - which made big swells, causing the boat to ride up them then smash down! Ride up, then SMASH...ride uuuupppp, then SMASH!!! You get the picture! It was most unpleasant! Boo Hoo - poor me - Poor Me!! Luckily it only lasted about 45 minutes(!?) and then it calmed down so much that there was no wind!!! What? Yes you read correctly – N.O. WIND. So for the next 10 hours we motored – and motored....to Exmouth, arriving at 4:30 in the morning Wednesday (Renae’s 32nd birthday) 6th September. We showered and fell into bed by 5 something, only to be woken up just after 8 by the harbour dude. He gave us a form to fill out and said he’d be back later on in the day (he felt bad to wake us). We were moved into a nice secure pen near facilities. Later in the day, we met up with a man named Scott and his 12 year old son, Finn whom we had met at the Yacht club in Carnarvon (we ate our meals together). They had just come back from a sail to Murion Island for a couple days fishing & surfing with friends. Finn was happy because he got to miss a week of school to do this! Very nice chatty boy – kinda cool to meet them again! Although it made me miss our grandies even more!
Today Rob & Sue (dear friends of ours from old Bunbury days) rode their bikes to come see us on the boat. We had a cuppa and quick chat before planning to go out for tea tonight. Terry worked on some maintenance projects of the boat as well as unfolded our bikes while I did a little bit of “housework” and then read my book! ALL DAY!
The Chapman’s picked us up for tea around 6:30 and took us to a place called BBQ Father in the Ningaloo Caravan and Holiday Resort. There was a beautiful water feature outside on a deck where we sat. So nice to not have to wear a jacket! In fact Sue borrowed my cardigan because she was cold!?! We had a wonderful meal with lots of free laughter! We shared pictures of our grandchildren and Sue confirmed our thoughts that we are definitely not bias – ALL of our kids are beautiful looking! To top off a fantastic evening, Sue took our three loads of washing home to wash for us! She will drop it off later this afternoon! Now THAT is friendship!!!
Terry and I plan to ride into town soon to get a few items and have a look around. The last time I was in Exmouth was in the mid 90’s on the maiden voyage from Bunbury to Exmouth, of a former boyfriend’s catamaran named “Wild Thing” (which by coincidence we passed and spoke to the new owners just outside of Exmouth. They were heading south) OoooWeeeeOooo! All I really remember of Exmouth then was what the shiny new stainless steel bucket looked like (since that was all I saw for most of the trip!) I was sicker than a dog – wanted to die and kept asking someone to throw me overboard! Needless to say, I wish to explore this town on terra firma!!!
Monday we are taking Rob and Sue out for a day sail.
We managed to get away at 10:00. Had to wait until the breeze died down enough so that we could pull away from the jetty without being blown into the huge pylon just next to us. The winds were favourable, skies sunny and it made for fantastic sailing!!! We didnt even have to wear a jacket!! T-shirt and hoody was enough. As we headed north the weather began to improve as did the ocean. The colour of the water was a clear seafoam green. To say we saw a few hump back whales would be a gross understatement! “look Terry a whale!” “over there! A Mama and her calf!” “Oooohhhh man! They are sure close!” “WOW! Didn’t see THEM coming!” “Check out the barnacles on that one!” “Sheeez! Did you see that huge splash......etc etc etc..! It almost became commonplace would you believe!?! I also saw my first ever sea snake. A rather large one at that! Lots of sea birds too – different colours. I felt like I was inside a David Attenborough film with all of the wildlife around us. We sailed through the night with the same pleasant conditions, averaging around 6-7knots. Now, I will answer a couple of questions I have been asked:
1. (Q) What do you do at night, anchor up and get some rest?
(A) We sail through the night non stop, since most Ports on the west coast are approx. 300 miles apart from each other. Also, we cannot carry 12,000 feet of anchor chain on board! A little kitchen timer every 7 minutes to check in front and to see that we are on course. We sleep up on deck
2. (Q) Are you tethered to the boat?
(A) Yes, at night time we wear life jackets; personal ID beacons; and if we go “up front” out of the cockpit we tether to the safety line which is along both gunnels. We also place the life raft and “ditch bag” together on the back of the boat at night too. Day time we are a bit more relaxed.
Anyway, the last two nights we have been fortunate to have a full moon to light our way! It feels like you’re in a dream the way everything looks milky under the moon. Very beautiful!
Unfortunately, our fantastic weather had to turn on us because it just has been our luck! It was around 5pm Tuesday 5th when the winds decided to gust from dead ahead - which made big swells, causing the boat to ride up them then smash down! Ride up, then SMASH...ride uuuupppp, then SMASH!!! You get the picture! It was most unpleasant! Boo Hoo - poor me - Poor Me!! Luckily it only lasted about 45 minutes(!?) and then it calmed down so much that there was no wind!!! What? Yes you read correctly – N.O. WIND. So for the next 10 hours we motored – and motored....to Exmouth, arriving at 4:30 in the morning Wednesday (Renae’s 32nd birthday) 6th September. We showered and fell into bed by 5 something, only to be woken up just after 8 by the harbour dude. He gave us a form to fill out and said he’d be back later on in the day (he felt bad to wake us). We were moved into a nice secure pen near facilities. Later in the day, we met up with a man named Scott and his 12 year old son, Finn whom we had met at the Yacht club in Carnarvon (we ate our meals together). They had just come back from a sail to Murion Island for a couple days fishing & surfing with friends. Finn was happy because he got to miss a week of school to do this! Very nice chatty boy – kinda cool to meet them again! Although it made me miss our grandies even more!
Today Rob & Sue (dear friends of ours from old Bunbury days) rode their bikes to come see us on the boat. We had a cuppa and quick chat before planning to go out for tea tonight. Terry worked on some maintenance projects of the boat as well as unfolded our bikes while I did a little bit of “housework” and then read my book! ALL DAY!
The Chapman’s picked us up for tea around 6:30 and took us to a place called BBQ Father in the Ningaloo Caravan and Holiday Resort. There was a beautiful water feature outside on a deck where we sat. So nice to not have to wear a jacket! In fact Sue borrowed my cardigan because she was cold!?! We had a wonderful meal with lots of free laughter! We shared pictures of our grandchildren and Sue confirmed our thoughts that we are definitely not bias – ALL of our kids are beautiful looking! To top off a fantastic evening, Sue took our three loads of washing home to wash for us! She will drop it off later this afternoon! Now THAT is friendship!!!
Terry and I plan to ride into town soon to get a few items and have a look around. The last time I was in Exmouth was in the mid 90’s on the maiden voyage from Bunbury to Exmouth, of a former boyfriend’s catamaran named “Wild Thing” (which by coincidence we passed and spoke to the new owners just outside of Exmouth. They were heading south) OoooWeeeeOooo! All I really remember of Exmouth then was what the shiny new stainless steel bucket looked like (since that was all I saw for most of the trip!) I was sicker than a dog – wanted to die and kept asking someone to throw me overboard! Needless to say, I wish to explore this town on terra firma!!!
Monday we are taking Rob and Sue out for a day sail.
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