Update from Carnarvon and Shark Bay

There was a great deal to do once we’d made our decision to fly home to the UK. The most reasonably priced boatyard and one we already knew was Pickle Point Seafoods and Boatyard at Carnarvon. A haul out date was arranged for 29^th September.

 

Kneading the dough

We would have liked to use our vouchers for our cancelled Malaysia Airlines flights, but this meant spending 12 hours overnight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. No food was available overnight and the lounges were closed until the morning. There was also a restriction on how long we could stop over at the airport, but no actual times were published. We continued our internet search.

Preparing for our international flights

We were impressed with the Covid safe practices put in place at Changi Airport, Singapore, where our night-time stopover would be five and a half hours. Prices were competitive also and we were able to book flexible tickets. However, Singapore is not on the UK safe list, so a fortnight’s quarantine at home is mandatory. We fly from Perth to Singapore on 9^th October and Singapore to London Heathrow on 10^th October. We have booked a hire car at Heathrow so we can drive straight home on arrival.

Carnarvon is a nine hour drive from Perth. It has an airport. We booked a domestic REX flight on 8^th October with free cancellation up to 48 hours before. Now we needed a hotel in Perth and more internet searching led us to a suitably priced hotel, which we booked for two nights as our flight to Singapore does not depart until late evening. The final booking was for an overnight room not far from the boatyard for the night before we fly from Carnarvon.

Monkey Mia jetty

We could relax a little after this and plan a trip to Shark Bay. We made bread and lists of the food onboard which needed to be eaten first. Then Jeremy noticed a skin eruption or wart just below my collar bone. Another internet search told us we should have it checked out. We took the dinghy ashore to the boat harbour and walked into town. The pharmacist said to see a GP at the medical centre across the road. It was Friday and there were no appointments until next week. We were advised to go to the hospital. We walked to the Emergency Department. I was seen by a triage nurse and as they were busy with emergencies, I was asked to return later. I saw a doctor at about 4.00pm that afternoon. Although, a diagnosis can’t be made without a biopsy, she assured me it was not a melanoma, but I should see my own GP when I return home. The skin eruption was treated with liquid nitrogen and I had to take a course of vitamin B3 tablets.

We weighed anchor on daughter-in-law, Erin’s, Birthday and motorsailed 48nm to Herald Bight in Shark Bay. We saw whales, dolphins and a turtle on our journey. The first night was OK even though we were about a mile from the shore in 3.1m. The wind increased overnight and became increasingly gusty. The next day a gale force gust dragged the new Rocna anchor. We started the engine and motored towards the shore watching the depth decrease until we were as shallow as we dared. We re-anchored and stayed put. It was too windy to go ashore in the dinghy.

Monkey Mia Resort

We had lighter S-SE winds the next day, so we motorsailed south to the world famous Monkey Mia Resort. A local fisherman arranged a free mooring for us for three nights. Thank you, Marco.

Calm seas for a change

Jeremy started with the symptoms of a urinary infection while we were in Herald Bight. Fortunately, everything returned to normal after 24 hours. It was while we were ashore having lunch at Monkey Mia that his symptoms returned. Back on board SD, he began a course of antibiotics.

We left Monkey Mia when Jeremy felt better and motored south towards L’Haridon Bight. This eastern area of Shark Bay is poorly charted. Some of it has not been surveyed at all. We had a cruising guide and thought we would find the deep channel that led into L’Haridon Bight. Alas, it was not to be. We ran out of water and went aground. Jeremy was keen to keep looking for the channel. I was not. We turned back and motored to Cape Rose about four miles north of Monkey Mia. Jeremy was not well again the next day, so we did not go ashore.

Gale force gusts

On Monday 7^th September, we weighed anchor after making some bread. We motorsailed around Cape Peron to Gregories and anchored for the night in pleasant conditions. We had intended to go to Denham the next day, but it was becoming obvious that Jeremy probably had a secondary infection and needed to see a doctor. There is a nurse’s station in Denham but no doctor. It was decided to return to Carnarvon about 45nm away and go to the hospital the next day.

Force 6 at anchor

In the hospital at Carnarvon, the emergency doctor confirmed a secondary infection and prescribed ointment and another course of antibiotics. Swab tests were taken and sent to Perth. We stayed on anchor at Teggs until 14^th September, experiencing strong winds with gale force gusts to 38 knots. When the weather calmed we took SD into the boat harbour to fill up with water. Friends from yacht Sandale and another yacht from Fremantle Sailing Club were tied up in the harbour awaiting suitable weather to head south. We were invited aboard and were sad to have to refuse.

Sunset at Teggs, Carnarvon

All three yachts left Carnarvon on 14^th September. Jeremy was feeling better and did not want “harbour rot” to set in! We motorsailed to Gregories and the other yachts must have sailed further south in Shark Bay because we did not see them again.

Going fishing!

After a calm night at Gregories we motorsailed to Denham and picked up a mooring we have used before. A yacht called Chinook, from FSC, is moored nearby. Strong winds began to blow soon after tying up and they increased overnight. This morning the mooring buoy had disappeared. Fortunately, over a month ago, Jeremy had tied the mooring line to a ring under the buoy, so we were still attached. Today, he has attached a second line. We’ve had the anchor drag alarm on since we arrived. Better weather is forecast for tomorrow.

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.

I'm using Blogger's new interface. Think I prefer the old one. 

Shark Bay

Three Bay Island

Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site “valued internationally for its rich and abundant marine life and spectacular scenery where the desert meets the sea.”(Shark Bay Marine Reserves Visitor Guide) Roughly, it covers an area 80 miles long and 50 miles wide. There are a number of marine protected areas, 320 species of fish and more than 80 coral species. Seagrass meadows are extensive supporting 10,000 dugongs. Turtles, sea snakes, dolphins and sharks inhabit the many bays, inlets and islands.

Northern bay, Three Bay Island

Alongside the maritime reserves there are national parks, campsites, 4 wheel drive tracks, holiday resorts and many boating and fishing opportunities. We have been here for 16 days and we’ve barely scratched the surface of this unique place.

We started in the south at Geritsen Cove and motorsailed up Blind Strait with Dirk Hartog Island to port. We were heading for Denham, the main town in Shark Bay. We spotted catamaran Barbarossa with Frank and Marianne on board, last seen in Geraldton. We contacted them on VHF. Then we had to concentrate. There are many shallow areas that most keel boats must avoid and there is only about half a metre of tidal range. To save an hour on our trip to Denham, we went across the well- marked Bellefin Flats with a least depth of 2.1m and made it safely to the moorings off the town. As it was neap tides, we were able to pick up a mooring which we learned belonged to a local man who was happy to have us use it in exchange for a bottle of red wine.

After a few days, we moved to a deeper, outer mooring near a Bavaria yacht called Sandale. We met the owner, Andrew Maffett, who was Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2015. As we spoke to him from our dinghy, the strop on his mooring broke free and he was drifting. Quickly, he started his engine and we helped him reattach to the mooring buoy. Later that evening, we had sundowners on board Sandale and swapped sailing stories. Andrew gave us lots of information about anchorages in Shark Bay and further north in WA.

Don't stand on the edge!

After provisioning for a week, we set off the next day and anchored overnight at Ant Island. The next day we tried to enter a protected anchorage called Boat Haven Loop. We met Barbarossa on her way out. Frank called us on VHF and gave us information about the channel into Boat Haven. It was not as charted. In spite of having this information and the mid morning sun behind us to light up the shallows, we lost the channel and found ourselves in shallow water and aground at one point. 
 

Sandy Coves

After an hour or more, we gave up, turned away and headed for a less protected anchorage about 25 miles south called East Landing. In the distance, on the beach, we saw the wreck of a WW2 lifeboat from the German ship, Kormoran (the ship that had sunk HMAS Sydney II with the loss of all hands.) We were now in Henri Freycinet Harbour.

Arid scrubland at Sandy Coves

Fortunately, it was a calm night so we slept well. The next day, we set off for Three Bay Island, anchored and went ashore in the dinghy to explore. Mostly, the rock was too fragile to trust and the scrub was of the prickly sort, so our walk was short from the east beach to the north beach.

Gregories, Peron Peninsula

A weather front came through giving us rain for a whole day. We filled our tanks and water bottles. Fresh wind came with the front and started to blow from W to SW to S. The short waves became uncomfortable so we weighed anchor after lunch and headed to Salutation Island. We changed our destination for Sandy Coves as neither of us wanted to attempt a narrow entrance into a new anchorage with a fresh to strong wind blowing. Sandy Coves gave us more protection from the wind.

The jetty at Denham

Ashore, there were miles of beach to explore with no signs of other humans other than footprints. We were on mainland Australia, but it was a remote place with access to some of it by four wheel drive vehicles over sandy tracks. We could send text messages by hauling my mobile phone up the mast on a halyard. This was how we contacted Wende at ACRM.

Jeremy, Barbara and Rob

We headed back to Denham on 19^th July and tied up in the evening to one of the outer mooring buoys. Two days later we met up with British sailing couple, Barbara and Rob from Zoonie. They were returning from a road trip and camping in Denham.We had lunch together and met up again the next day for coffee and cake. It was great to catch up on their news. They are keen to launch their yacht and set off across the Indian Ocean. Always, the same question crops up. Is it safe and sensible to leave Western Australia? Cocos Keeling and Reunion have opened up but South Africa is struggling with huge numbers of Covid infections and deaths.

Teggs anchorage, Carnarvon

After provisioning for a week and doing our laundry, we left Denham for Carnarvon, stopping for two nights at Gregories on the north west side of Cape Peron. We walked in the Francois Peron National Park using the beach and 4WD tracks to circle from our dinghy to Gregories’ Campsite, Bottle Bay Campsite and back to our dinghy.

Another crowded beach

We left Gregories on Saturday 25^th July and sailed 45 miles north to Carnarvon. We are anchored at Teggs about 2-3 miles from the town. We are waiting for letters from Albany and Geraldton and two parcels from the UK, which have been sent to Carnarvon Post Office.

Houtman Abrolhos Islands

Tied to Fisheries Department mooring, Pelsaert Island

Generally known as the Abrolhos, the 122 islands lie 40 nautical miles west of Geraldton. There are three main groups: Wallabi, Easter and Pelsaert. All by itself lies North Island. They spread north to south across 55 nautical miles of ocean and are a meeting place for tropical and temperate sea life. The south flowing Leeuwin Current brings warm, tropical water through the Abrolhos. Normally, corals and tropical fish would not be found in these southern latitudes. This is what makes the islands unique.

Sal Darago at Pelsaert Island

After a few heart stopping moments on our passage into the Pelsaert Group, where the depth plunged to only 1.9m at one point, we found the yellow triangular Fisheries Department mooring buoys. We tied to one and informed VMR Geraldton of our arrival on VHF 81. The wind was blowing strongly from the east.

Remains of guano loading jetty, Pelsaert Island

We stayed here for two nights. We took the dinghy ashore at the old Guano Jetty and saw the remains of the mining industry of the past. Someone had left a pair of diving/reef walking boots on the sand. They were Jeremy’s size. There were no other people on the island. We walked around the southern end of the long, ribbon like Pelsaert Island to the lighthouse and aptly named Wreck Point, then back to the old jetty. We were careful to keep to the tracks or walk close to the beach to avoid damaging fragile plants or disturbing wildlife. We saw many types of seabirds, several sea lions and a couple of lizards.

Lighthouse at Wreck Point, Pelsaert Island

It was possible to get a Telstra phone signal if you were 3 metres above sea level and the lighthouse was the highest point. We sent messages to our family. On our way back, we walked along a beach made entirely of tiny, white shells piled up by the sea into banks a metre or so high. Then we saw footprints. Perhaps they belonged to the owner of the boots although we saw no-one.

Can you name this lizard?

In the afternoon, I donned my wetsuit and swimming cap and we snorkelled on a nearby reef. We could see various corals and some tropical fish, but the water was cloudy and parts of the reef were shallow.

Do not disturb the sealions

The next day, once the now northerly winds had settled down, we headed north. We would have stopped at Middle Island, but the wind was easing, so we continued on to Morley Island in the Easter Group, 21 miles away. The swell died down as we reached the shelter of the South Passage, identified the entrance markers, furled our genoa and avoided bombies and an aquaculture area, to reach a yellow, Fisheries Department mooring. 
 

Climbing up for a phone signal

In the afternoon I persuaded Jeremy to come with me to snorkel a diving trail. We found the reef to be very interesting with lots of different types of coral and many tropical fish.The next day three lads in a “tinny” whizzed past us and zipped out to sea through a small gap between Morley Island and Crake Island. Two of them started surfing the rollers on the seaward side. Meanwhile, we took our dinghy ashore and walked around Morley Island, avoiding several beached sealions and noting a sea eagle on the highest bush on the island, which was probably only a couple of metres high. We talked to a crayfishing family enjoying time off at a small beach.

Beautiful evening at Morley Island

Back at the dinghy, Jeremy saw the surfing lads were in trouble. One was pushing the tinny and the other two were paddling it against the wind towards Morley Island. Jeremy called out to them that we would tow them to SD if they could bring their tinny through the gap. Soon we had brothers, Tom and Will on board along with their friend, Riley. Somehow, their Dad’s 15hp outboard had dropped off the transom into the sea. The fuel line was broken. 
 

Sunset from Morley Island

Jeremy fixed the broken fuel line with a Bic pen top, but the motor would not start. Eventually, we managed to send a text message to their Dad by hauling my mobile up the mast on a halyard. Dad arrived in his fishing boat called Connada and picked up the lads from the beach.

Spot the sea eagle

The next day, we headed to the Wallabi Group passing Rat Island with its many fishing houses to port. We felt the 2-3m swell as we left the shelter of the island and headed north to Goss Passage. We saw the reef where the Batavia went aground in 1629 and passed nearby Beacon Island where the survivors camped and suffered terrible atrocities at the hands of their Commander, Cornelius. We saw the memorial cairn erected on the island, but the swell was too big for us to stop.

Sealion family

Jeremy changed his mind about anchoring off Pigeon Island near another crayfishing village and we headed for quieter Turtle Bay further north. Here we tied to yet another yellow mooring and went ashore for a look around. We were surprised to see an aircraft pilot and a small group of people in a beach shelter. It turned out they had flown in from Kilbarrie.

Crab on Morley Island

We walked along the lovely, crescent shaped beach, where the white sand was partly covered in more seaweed than we’ve ever seen on a beach before. We followed a trail that led us to a dirt runway and there was the plane parked nearby. There were toilets but we didn’t find the terminal building! Later, we watched the plane take off and disappear into the distance.

Kathy on the runway, East Wallabi Isalnd

Back at SD, we swam and showered. Jeremy checked the engine over and we prepared for our overnight passage to Shark Bay 152 miles away.

Plane about to take off

On Wednesday 8^th July, we dropped our anchor in Geritsen Cove near the south passage into Shark Bay. We contacted ACRM Base in Denham and they let VMR Geraldton know of our safe arrival. So here we are in Shark Bay, our interim destination to discover whether it would be sensible to cross the Indian Ocean while Covid 19 rages across the world.