With perfect weather we spend the morning on the beach saying hello to the resident seal population and avoiding the bird rookeries. The water is crystal clear and we are able to see the bottom out to about 15 meters with all its coral and fish population. Whilst paddling the inflatable between yachts (too much coral for the motor) one of the seals followed and dived around me, each time I would look at it, it would dive again but would still follow. We are all having a relaxing day with work on the boats and a bit of diving and swimming.
| 2007 - Darwin to Mandurah |
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After about an hour of trying to get the anchor up, eventually Andrew dived to free it from the rocks, we departed for the next group of islands south. We motored down through Goss Passage past Traitor's Island and out across Middle Channel, it was an easy passage across to the Easter Group with a light breeze and not much swell. I had a few problems with my furling headsail and a fair bit of weed on the prop so I stopped off at White Bank before continuing through the group, past Rat Island to Morley Island where we had a few beers and BBQ fish and the remains of my fresh vegetables. It still amazes me how many fishing homes are located on the habitable islands, some with very individual finishes. Just prior to anchorage we had our flyover from the Customs plane, and as usual they called Sea Urchin because of its large name on the side, always friendly and always helpful and on many times through this voyage its good to know they are around. Tomorrow we will spend the day swimming and diving on the coral around this little island. Note in the photo that we are starting to hit colder weather and starting to wear the winter woollies, this is Keith on Waitani waiting for me to finish cooking on the BBQ.
| 2007 - Darwin to Mandurah |
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All three yachts departed Steep Point at around 9am on Saturday and took off down the coast past the Zuytdorp Cliffs with favourable NE winds, soon after departure the Urchin hit a top speed of 9.7 knots which isn't too bad for the old girl. These impressive cliffs extend for miles and proved to be a trap for sailing ships of old, a lee shore and no where to run sealed the fate for an unknown number. Soon after leaving Shark Bay I started to see the whales yet again, one crossed my bows far too close and I had to take evasive action just to miss him, the one pictured swam next to me for some time waving away. Andrew crewed with Tony on Waitani this leg due to the amount of rain we anticipated, this didn't eventuate until we were at anchorage the next day. We are now tucked in behind Pigeon Island in the Wallabi Group of the Abrolhos islands. This group was the final resting place of the Batavia in 1629 and the horrendous events that were to follow. I am now taking a little rest after the all-night sail and some 150 NM of sailing, the only difficult part was when I was 15 NM from the islands the cold front approaching the coast arrived, the westerly winds suddenly became 30 knots on the nose from the SW, thankfully this soon died and I was left to motor the final 5 NM with not a breath of air. We will travel down through the Abrolhos Islands which cover around 100 NM from North to South, from there it is the final jump to home and the Urchins final home.
| 2007 - Darwin to Mandurah |
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We are now anchored at the southern end of Dirk Hartog Island after what can only be described as a perfect sail, we had 10 to 15 knots on the beam the whole day on a flat sea. The Urchin loved the conditions and led the other two yachts into the anchorage, I admit I had more canvas up. We spotted another 8 Dugongs out in the bay, hooked one mackerel but let him go as he pleaded for freedom due to his young age. The wind has now died and it was in for a swim, tomorrow we aim to head for the Abrolhos Islands and will therefore be out of range for about a week.
| 2007 - Darwin to Mandurah |
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We finally left Carnarvon after spending a bit of time waiting for weather, Keith took off early and wasn't seen until the end of the day when we finally caught up at Broadhurst Bight which is north of Denham. The bay was a comfortable anchorage in preparation for the next day when we aimed to reach the southern end of Shark Bay. We had about 20 knots SE winds all day which allowed us to stay on one tack, after a reasonably demanding sail, due to the short sea, we settled down to an early night. Throughout the day we saw some of the local Dugong population, these sea cows harvest the local sea grasses, it was good to see so many in number, with even more obviously on the ocean floor. The photo is of a Dugong, not a great photo but we didn't want to get to close as they are so slow moving.
| 2007 - Darwin to Mandurah |
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