Greetings from Fremantle

Yes, we have left lovely Albany and the Southern Ocean and now we are tied up at Fremantle Sailing Club on the Indian Ocean.

View over King George Sound

I set up an online enquiry with Australia Post and three days later my long-awaited parcel arrived from the UK. We were anchored off the town and about to go food shopping when the message arrived that my parcel was ready for collection. All of a sudden our plans changed. We knew the weather was going to be settled for a few days with northerlies and easterlies, so we needed to start our journey west as soon as possible. After three months of comparative inactivity, we sprang into action, moving into the marina, provisioning, doing laundry and preparing Sal Darago for the ocean. The next day, Wednesday 3^rd June, we left Albany.

 

The marina in Oyster Harbour

There was no wind so we motorsailed. Perhaps it was a bad idea to be preparing and eating lunch as we rounded Bald Head in the swell and backwash. It was too late to remind ourselves that usually we pre-prepare lunch before setting out on an ocean trip. All went well as we headed west. We even had a beautiful sunset and the full moon to light our way at night.

We saw several humpback whales blowing and diving as we started a second lovely day. In the afternoon, the wind turned easterly and increased enough to allow us to switch off the engine and sail with the full main and almost full genoa goosewinged. Our Hydrovane was steering. The sun set on another pleasant day.

Sailing into the sunset

I was on nightwatch and Jeremy was asleep down below. I heard a noise as something hit the stern quarter of the boat. Jeremy shouted from his bed, “Is everything OK?” I assured him everything was fine. It was just a breaking wave hitting us. Moments later, our speed dropped to almost zero and SD began to slew. “No it’s not!” I yelled. “Come up, quickly!” I grabbed the wheel, which was very heavy, and tried to keep the boat straight.

Jeremy dressed as quickly as he could and went to look over the stern. We had picked up a crayfish pot line and floats set in 45 metres of water. The line was wrapped round our rudder anchoring us by our stern. The swell was lifting us by about 3 metres with each wave. Jeremy furled the genoa to reduce sail. He was frantically working out what to do next and worrying about the damage the line might be doing to our rudder and propeller. He was not looking forward to diving into the cold sea to cut the line loose. Fortunately, he did not have to as the line freed itself and we drifted away. Our location at the time was abeam the lighthouse on Cape Leeuwin, where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.

Shipping channel, Fremantle

Everything was OK after this. There was no water in the bilges and the prop shaft was still attached. We turned the corner and sailed on a beam reach with an increasing wind. Jeremy put a reef in the mainsail. As we approached Cape Naturaliste, we were close hauled and motorsailing. A dolphin came by to check us out. The weather forecast predicted northerly winds for the next day, so we decided to put into Mandurah instead of continuing to bash northwards. Jeremy called Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club (MOFSC) and arranged a place on their Collectors’ Berth.

Approaching Fremantle Sailing Club

As we approached in the dark, the seas became smoother and the wind eased. The approach and the channel into the river were well marked and we had no problems following our chart plotter and GPS to the entrance into the marina. The Collectors’ Berth was a long floating pontoon. We tied up at 2310.

The VIP berth at FSC

Mandurah is certainly worth a visit. The clubhouse was serving meals for the first time since lockdown began and lots of sailing activities were starting up again after the enforced shutdown. A well-stocked chandlery was situated next door.

SD alongside the lawn

We left Mandurah on Sunday 7^th June for the 35 mile motor to Fremantle. The spring tide was running into the river as we left making steering against it quite a challenge. There are many sandbanks and shallows on both sides of the channel, so we were careful to keep to our course. We made a note to ourselves to check the tides before entering and exiting coastal channels and harbours.

 

Buying items for the boat

We tied up to the berth just north of the VIP berth at Fremantle Sailing Club at 1530. We called Andrew, the Deputy Harbourmaster, to make sure we were in the right place. We were. We have a lawn alongside us and the clubhouse just a few strides away.