Change of Plans

Sal Darago and tugboat MacLeod anchored at Teggs

Our sailing friend of five continents, Ann Lange, once said that the plans of cruisers are written on the sand below the high water mark. The tide has come in and wiped out our plan to cross the Indian Ocean, stopping at Cocos (Keeling) and Reunion Island.

Occasionally, a tram uses this bridge from the Railway Museum to Carnarvon

Only eight days after granting permission, the Indian Ocean Territories (IOT) revoked it. No reason was given. We were allowed to stop at Christmas Island instead but would have to quarantine on the boat. Our British friends on Zoonie, were sent a similar message. We both emailed to point out that Christmas Island was several days of sailing in the wrong direction and asked again for permission to stop at Cocos. Permission was denied. I tried telephoning and learned that fear of Covid-19 reaching Cocos was the main reason for the decision. The IOT personnel had seen that New Zealand had another outbreak after 100 Covid free days and the Australian state of Victoria had gone into lockdown as a second wave of the virus arrived. This made them nervous of receiving any visitors.

The old lighthouse at the Railway Museum

We were not looking forward to 35-40 days at sea, sailing direct to Reunion, but we decided it was doable and we were provisioned and ready. We observed the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Reunion and were horrified when the numbers jumped from single figures to 92 in less than two weeks.

Spot the Gascoyne River

So, with heavy hearts, we made the decision on Monday 24^th August (two days ago) not to go. Jeremy phoned Andrew at Carnarvon Australian Border Force(ABF) and cancelled our appointment to clear out on Friday. He phoned Zelka at the DoT boat harbour and cancelled our pen booking for Wednesday and Thursday. 
 

Pressure cooker valve restored

I phoned Avis and cancelled our hire car for Thursday, when we were going to provision with fresh food, do laundry and buy extra diesel. Today, Jeremy emailed ABF to let them know of our revised plans. He also emailed Jerome at Reunion Island cancelling the berth we had previously arranged.

Wind speed working again

After much discussion with friends and family, we have decided to find an affordable boatyard where we can haul out Sal Darago for a year. Then we’ll see if we can book a flight to the UK. The safest place to be with very few new Covid-19 cases is Western Australia, but we have already been living aboard for nine months and do not wish to be away from our home and family for a further twelve months.

Blue swimmer crabs given to us by passing fishermen

We are still in Carnarvon anchored in the Teggs channel. I have had my broken tooth fixed enduring one and a half hours in the dentist’s chair! Our parcels have arrived at the post office and Jeremy has been up the mast to replace the broken wind speed and direction instrument with the new one. Our pressure cooker works again with its new release valve.

The Gascoyne River flows underground most of the time

We have discovered some walking trails along the Gascoyne River bank and have visited the Railway Museum, the lighthouse keeper’s cottage and the one mile jetty. There is a cafe there serving breakfast and lunch. However, check before you walk out there as the first time we visited the cafe was closing for a private function and they could only offer us coffee and cake!

Huge numbers of shells shore up the river bank

Last Friday was a rare, calm evening and we were able to join the friendly folks at Carnarvon Yacht Club for drinks.

One mile jetty, sadly closed to the public for safety reasons

Fresh to strong southerlies have been blowing for several days now. When they ease we might return to Shark Bay for a while until we hear from the boatyards we are contacting. We hope to eat our way through 50 days of provisions before we leave. Does anyone want a bag or six of flour?

Carnarvon

We really wanted to get into the Fascine, which is a sheltered anchorage and much closer to the town than Teggs. Thanks to Joanne and David of Fremantle Sailing Club, we had a phone number for Jan and Terry who are members of Carnarvon Yacht Club. Jeremy phoned them for advice on entry into the Fascine. The answer was decisive. “Not a chance!” We draw 1.5m and the maximum depth on a high tide is 1.2m. The entrance has silted up and only catamarans and shallow draught boats have been able to get in and out for the last two years.

Sunset at Teggs anchorage

Teggs anchorage is fine in most wind directions. The surrounding sandbanks prevent big swells rolling in, but choppy wind waves can develop at high water. The holding is good. Nearby, a marked and dredged channel leads into the DoT Boat Harbour. It takes us about 15 minutes in the dinghy to a small boat ramp in the harbour, where we can haul out the dinghy and walk for 30 minutes into town. About half way along the road we came to Carnarvon Yacht Club and met John. He gave us lots of information about the Fascine and Carnarvon. He said we could use their washing machines and showers. The DoT harbour has uninviting ablutions with cold showers and no laundry facilities.

Waiting for the laundry at Coral Coast Tourist Park

Soon after our arrival we needed to do our laundry, fill a cooking gas bottle and buy food for a few days. Jeremy had the great idea of taking the dinghy into the Fascine. It was about half tide on a fairly calm day. We touched the bottom with the outboard at one point and crossed breaking waves on the bar to reach the deeper water beyond. About 30 minutes after leaving Sal Darago we chained and padlocked the dinghy to one of the pontoons along the Fascine.

 

Mangrove beach near Teggs channel

I had found out that Coral Coast Tourist Park had washing machines and dryers and also filled gas bottles. Jeremy phoned and asked if we could use their facilities. No problem. They were very friendly and helpful. Afterwards, we carried a full gas bottle and two bags of laundry back to the dinghy. The tide had gone out revealing sandbanks in various places, so we motored to a small boat ramp and hauled out the dinghy. Fortunately, our dinghy has wheels, but it was still a hard ten minute pull along the road to the small boat ramp in the DoT boat harbour.

We believe there is a bus around town, but not out to the boat harbour. There are taxis and when we had heavy shopping to carry, we used one.

SD before power washing

Located in the boat harbour is Pickles Point Seafood and Boatyard run by Bruce and Gail. Bruce agreed to haul us out so that Jeremy could renew the antifoul paint on SD’s bottom. We arranged to hire a car from Avis to make provisioning and general running around easier.

SD washed,sanded and undercoated. Avis hire car

 We also contacted Andrew, who is an officer in the Australian Border Force. We made two appointments: first, to extend our Control Permit (this is similar to a cruising permit and has to be extended every twelve months up to a maximum of three years and second, to clear out of Australia. Since we hoped to stop at Cocos (Keeling) which is part of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories (IOT), we had to obtain permission from the IOT before we could be cleared out.

New antifoul paint applied

We filled out the required online form and sent emails. Permission was granted, but we

 have to quarantine on the boat for two weeks before we can go ashore. However, we

 understand that food, water and diesel can be brought to the boat.

Next, we emailed the harbour master at La Reunion and were given permission to berth in Le Port. As Reunion is a department of France, we are accepted as European citizens. No-one seems to know what will happen to boats (and crew) that are in Europe after 31^st December.

Inside the Apollo 11 capsule

All being well, we leave on 28^th August and start a 3,700 nautical mile passage across

 the Indian Ocean which will bring us closer to home.

The OTC dish at Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum

With most jobs done, we were ready to launch. Unfortunately, no-one told the weather and a gale warning was issued for our area. Bruce very kindly agreed to postpone our launch and we sat out the gale in the boatyard.

Carnarvon from the OTC dish

We had the opportunity for a day off so we extended the car hire and visited Carnarvon’s number one attraction, the excellent Space and Technology Museum. Here we had a trip in an Apollo capsule and had our photo taken on the Moon! It’s a great place showcasing Carnarvon’s role in tracking NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions.

Guess where we are?

Now that we’re back on Earth and the gale is easing, we think we’ll be on the water tomorrow. We’re still waiting for the parcels from the UK. The letters have arrived. I have to contact a dentist and have my broken tooth fixed.

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