Perth and Fremantle

Shades of Mexico

Fremantle Sailing Club has about 500 pens or wet berths and plenty of hard standing. The Clubhouse has a bar, restaurant and upstairs function room. There is a Junior Clubhouse and lots of competitive dinghy and keel boat sailing as well as a cruising section. There are also many power boats and sports fishing boats. It’s a friendly place and in 2020, they were celebrating 100 years. We were made very welcome. There are toilets, showers and a laundry. Each pen has water and electricity nearby. We recommend that cruising sailors should stopover here.

New cradle for liferaft

New liferaft

Most of Sal Darago’s safety equipment had reached its use by date and needed to be replaced. It was always our intention to do this in Fremantle, where there are three chandleries: Wilson’s (on site), Yacht Grot (in town) and Whitworths (a short train ride away towards Perth). Jeremy sent an email to them all with a list of items asking for prices and availability. We bought a new Rocna anchor from Wilsons and just about everything else from Yacht Grot. This included liferaft, flares, EPIRB and Vetus mushroom ventilator.

New Rocna anchor

New EPIRB

New ventilator

We had a day out in Perth. It was strange to go on buses and trains again. We kept social distance and used plenty of hand sanitiser. We spent the morning in the vast King’s Park, walking through the botanical gardens, visiting the Peace Monument and traversing the glass bridge over the treetops. We had lunch in Zamia’s, which had only recently started serving food indoors with the tables placed two square metres apart.

Kings Park, Perth

Swan River, Perth

We caught two buses into town and found the Museum of Western Australia. Unfortunately, it was closed while undergoing extensive renovations. Next door the art gallery was open so we had a long browse in there. We were particularly impressed by a display of final year art students’ work.

Peace Monument

Perth CBD

Back in Freo, Jeremy went to the Bosuns on the Fremantle Sailing Club site. He needed a small piece of stainless steel to fix to SD’s bow to prevent the new anchor from damaging the fibre glass. This was curved and cut for no charge by Arthur (AJ). Jeremy gave the Bosuns some beers. Another day, he needed some wood to make a new cradle for the new liferaft. Andrew, from Bosuns, took him to Bunnings (like B&Q in the UK) in his vehicle. Then Andrew took Jeremy to his own house. In the garage, Andrew cut and drilled the wood before returning Jeremy to FSC. Once again there was no charge, so Jeremy took a bottle of wine up to his house. The generosity we found in Albany obviously extends to Freo. Long may it continue.

Glass bridge

Name this flower?

We couldn’t leave without a proper look around Freo. We went to the amazing Maritime Museum, walked along the harbour and admired the Victorian buildings, which the people had fought to save from demolition in the 1970’s.

Queensland Bottle Tree

Walking in Kings Park

On another day, Jason and Pauline from Albany came to see us on their way to Perth. It was great to catch up with their news and take note of Jason’s tips for sailing up the west coast.

Bronzed off immigrants

Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour

The next day we visited the Shipwreck Museum in Freo. Four Dutch ships were wrecked on the west coast, the most well-known being the Batavia, which was on its way to the Dutch East Indies or Spice Islands (now Indonesia). We were going to follow its route northwards and hopefully arrive safely in Geraldton. It was just a pity that we were not carrying 12 wooden chests each containing approximately 8,000 silver coins. That would’ve paid for lunch!

The Roundhouse, the oldest stone building in WA

Fremantle Customs House

We left FSC on Friday 19^th June. A cold front had blown through and the swell was still big, although the wind had died away. The two nights at sea passed without incident giving us a mix of beam reach motorsailing and calm motoring under a canopy of stars. At dawn we saw a number of humpback whales blowing and diving. We anchored off Geraldton Yacht Club on Sunday 21^st June at 0930.

Scary Fremantle Shipwreck Museum

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.

Our day out and TV interview

Attractive Princess Royal Sailing Club

We had a busy last week at Princess Royal Sailing Club. It started with another water leak. We heard a bang (always disconcerting when you’re on a boat) and a sound like an engine running nearby. No boats were nearby. We realised it was the domestic water pump and one water tank had emptied into the bilges. Another pipe had popped off close to the water pump. Jeremy fixed it and we filled the tank from the nearby tap. Just an inconvenience when you are tied up in a marina, but a major incident out at sea with no water maker.

Castle Rock Sky Walk

The next day was our granddaughter Ellie’s birthday. We sent her a video message and spoke to her on a video call later.

Jason and Pauline asked us if we’d like to join them on a drive to Castle Rock about 45 minutes away from Albany. Restrictions had been lifted, so it was okay for us to go. We had a great day, walking to the top of Castle Rock with a challenging set of handholds followed by a ladder that led to a skywalk on the top. The views were amazing across the land and out as far as the Southern Ocean.

We had lunch sitting at a table outside a bakery in Denmark, maintaining social distance. The steak and mushroom pie I had was delicious and equalled any I’d had in the pie capital of the UK, Wigan.

Viewpoint Ocean Beach

After lunch we drove to a viewpoint over Ocean Beach, where the surf was breaking and a handful of people walked on the white sand. Once upon a time the river met the sea here, but now it stops in Wilson Inlet, which is a large lake.

All this was thirsty work, so we stopped at Wilson’s Brewery pub for refreshment. Only 20 people are allowed inside at once and food must be eaten with the alcohol. We were delighted to find only 9 people inside and soon we were tucking into large portions of nachos and loaded fries, washed down with beers named Lost Sailor or Golden Seahorse.

It started to rain as Pauline drove us back to Princess Royal Sailing Club. It didn’t matter. We’d had a great day out. Thank you Jason and Pauline.

First meal out in 2 months at the White Star Hotel

Jason’s sister works for the local TV company and she asked us, via Jason, if we would be happy to be interviewed for a slot on GWN7. We agreed and a reporter/cameraman called Stephen contacted us by phone to make the arrangements. At 0800 the following morning Stephen arrived and set up his tripod and camera in Sal Darago’s saloon. Most readers of this blog have already been sent a link to the two minute clip that resulted from an hour of being interviewed. You can find the clip by looking for GWN7 news for 22^nd May named “Stranded”.

Dolphins tried to pinch the show crossing the bay

Our unexpected gifts from PRSC Commodore

Later the same day Susette, the Commodore at the Sailing Club, came by to wish us well on our future voyages and to give us some gifts. The boomerang means we can always go back and we will always treasure the club pennant. Thank you, Susette, Duncan and everyone at PRSC. We enjoyed staying at the club and meeting so many members. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. We shall miss you.

Not looking good for sailing

It was with mixed feelings that we returned our gate key and motored out of our pen the next day. Almost immediately, a weather warning was issued. The tail end of a tropical storm was going to meet a Southern Ocean cold front and cause a deep low pressure area that would wreak havoc on most of the coast of Western Australia, and inland in the southern region. After a night in Albany Waterfront Marina for shopping, showers and laundry, we headed to Oyster Harbour to hunker down in readiness for the storm.

Luckily we found the perfect sheltered spot

Not so sheltered now!

The wind blew hard and the rain pelted down. There was a fair bit of storm damage on the west coast and many power outages, but we were fine on our mooring. We were cold and Jeremy was glad he’d bought a thermal jacket when we were in Albany.

How to avoid being cold

We’re still waiting for my parcel from the UK. It has been in Melbourne for two weeks now. When the storm had passed, we went ashore near the Lower King River and broke a dinghy oar in the shallows. We found the local grocery store and filling station about 400m from the river. There’s a bottle shop and a cooking gas filling station there as well.

Dry ski run?

I’ve become a Zoom user and was able to join my church is Suffolk, England for virtual services. It was lovely to see friends from home.

Happy birthday to sister in law, Eileen.

We found this main road bridge made of matchsticks.

Tomorrow, Phase Three starts and almost all the internal borders in WA will be open again. We can now travel to Shark Bay, where it is warmer, once my parcel arrives and the weather calms down. But for now there’s another strong wind warning out. Anyone would think it was winter.

Lockdown lift up

Steep Green Island Road

Phase 1 of the lifting of coronavirus restrictions is coming to and end. Phase 2 starts on Monday. Cases of Covid-19 have continued to be low in Western Australia with only two new cases in two weeks. Yesterday, the last person in hospital due to Covid-19 was discharged. More shops will open from Monday along with libraries, churches, pubs serving food and cafes, as long as numbers are no more than 20 and social distancing is maintained. Some internal borders will be open. WA has been divided into four chunks. We have to stay in the southern part but we can travel as far as Freemantle/Perth. All this is good news.

Sunrise from our pen

So how have we spent Phase 1? The golf club office re-opened and we were told “there are no public hiking paths on the golf course”. Even though we had permission, we felt we should keep a low profile, so we have mainly walked on the public footpaths that are just outside the perimeter of the golf course. Most days we go for walks of at least 10,000 steps and have found several off road short cuts and have even walked some of the national Bibbulmun Trail that stretches from Albany to Perth.

Rob's birthday lunch

We’ve had a fair amount of paperwork to attend to. Our Australian Medicare was coming to an end as we were expecting to be in the UK at the end of April. Re-enrolment meant completing a 13 page form and providing evidence of visas and passports. The office that usually processes this was unable to do so, due to staff working from home, so we had to do it online. We applied for a refund for our flights to San Francisco, which were booked for the end of May. We might hear in 21 days if we’ve been approved for a refund! Then there was the travel and health insurance, which is multi trip, but our current trip runs out at the end of May. We have an extension of 21 days before we have to take out a new, Covid excluded policy.

Out and about again

Socially, we’ve been busy. After 6 weeks of no socialising, we had two engagements on the same day. Fortunately, we were able to bring one of them forward and met Geoff and Lorna for sundowners in the BBQ area of Princess Royal Sailing Club. Geoff sailed from Albany to Cyprus via the Suez Canal in the 1990’s. It was fascinating to hear of his adventures and compare them with ours.

Bad weather approaching

The next day we met British couple, Barbara and Rob, for a walk and picnic lunch. It was Rob’s birthday so we had bubbles, candles and chocolate cake as well as sandwiches and snacks. Barbara and Rob then moved into a cottage on a station about an hour’s drive inland, which had been offered to them by friends of sailors they met in New Zealand. They delayed their departure by a few days as we had the first of the damaging winter storms, which occur only two or three times a year.

Sampling the local beer

While they sheltered aboard their boat ashore, we were advised by locals to get out of our pen at the sailing club and go as far north as possible. We’d heard about the north westerly gales, which blast across Princess Royal Bay, so we left and motored north to Oyster Harbour. We found the northern DoT mooring, tied to it and waited in calm, sunny weather. There was a coastal warning for storm force winds and they arrived at teatime, along with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Geoff phoned us to make sure we were all right and so did Jason. We were fine. There was no swell and only a short reach for the wind waves, so it was a good place to be. Lots of people asked after us when we returned to the sailing club, so it was like a homecoming.

Sunset and Sal Darago

When the weather improved, Jason invited us to his house for a BBQ. We looked at each other's charts and discussed the benefits of sailing north to Shark Bay, where it is much warmer. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for Phase 3 before that can happen. Meanwhile, we’re waiting for my medication to arrive from the UK. It’s been 3 weeks in the post already, but we’re all used to delays in these unprecedented times, so no worries. When the meds arrive, we’ll decide whether to sail as far as Freemantle. Now that we can move about locally, we’ve decided to leave the sailing club on Friday and return to our nomadic lifestyle. Just recently Jeremy has written a report for Noonsite. You can read it here:

https://www.noonsite.com/report/australia-wa-albany-covid19-field-report/

Torndirrup National Park

Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday and sent greetings. I had a great day. It was hot and sunny. Jeremy prepared a roast chicken lunch which we washed down with white wine. He also prepared smoked salmon for supper and, yes, we had cake and candles!

Birthday lunch in the cockpit

 

Greetings from Little Grove

We are still based at Princess Royal Sailing Club in Little Grove near Albany, Western Australia.

Walking alongside the golf course

We were contacted by our travel agents, Flight Centre, and, as expected, there was not an option to have our money refunded. We accepted travel vouchers, which have conditions attached: we have to use the vouchers on Malaysian Airlines; we have to leave from Australia to any destination; we have to book by 31/12/20; we have to travel by 30/06/21.

Kangaroos close to our path

On the same day, Jeremy checked his bank card balance and discovered that his credit card had been hacked. After one hour and fifteen minutes on hold (annoying music and inane announcements), he got through to the call centre. His card was cancelled and a new one issued. Nine transactions originated from Mexico and almost two weeks later, only one of these fraudulent withdrawals had been cleared from his account.

Becalmed

We have developed a routine for shopping. Once a week we motor the two miles across the bay to Albany and use the free short-stay visitors’ pontoon. We shop at the IGA supermarket and return to the sailing club. Once a fortnight, we stay the night in the marina at Albany, use the laundry facilities and go shopping.

Name the tree?

We continue to enjoy walks around the public golf course and on other off-road tracks. Jeremy occasionally swims round the marina. I swim if the wind is light and the sun is shining (that is...rarely).

One of our longer walks!

Last week our neighbour, Jason, was working on his boat. We heard a loud yell and rushed outside. Jason had been drilling and had slipped. Sharp metal had cut right through the centre of his finger nail and it was bleeding. He was in a lot of pain. Jeremy stemmed the blood and I passed him material for a makeshift dressing, which he wrapped round tightly with Micropore. Social distancing was set aside for the moment. Jason’s girlfriend, an Emergency Room nurse, was able to take him to hospital. He had two fractures in his index finger as well as a severed nail. After a few days’ rest, he was back on his boat.

Spot the skipper

The weather has been changeable as autumn arrives. Last week we had two gales and two days of strong wind warnings. The lowest temperature was 6C and the highest 25C, with plenty of rain showers. We have been fine in our pen, shaken but not disturbed.

Ah, there he is

Many friendly people have offered to get supplies for us from Albany. A local sailor, Geoff, wants to share a bottle of wine with us while maintaining social distancing. One or two have viewed us with suspicion as an overseas visitor who might just have sneaked into Albany from abroad.

The Australian Government wants all foreign nationals who can’t support themselves to go home. Our visas expire in December, so we don’t have to leave yet. We keep in touch with the British High Commission and monitor the UK Foreign and Commonwealth website. There are still Malaysian Airlines’ flights to London, but currently the costs are three times the amount of our travel vouchers and would require a six day stay in Kuala Lumpur airport. We’re staying here for the time being.

One day's steps on our new App

Some Covid-19 restrictions are beginning to be lifted in WA. Schools are open to all children from tomorrow (Wednesday 29^th April) and groups of up to 10 can meet as long as social distancing is observed. Leisure boating is allowed once again, but only locally. No regional borders have been opened and state borders remain closed. Of the 9 Covid-19 cases in our region, all have recovered. There are very few new cases in all of Australia.

Our new hi-fi

Jobs on SD continue to be done. Jeremy has fitted a new hi-fi system in the stern cabin, so we can listen to CD’s once more. New hardwood steps have replaced old, cracked ones on the stern and new bungee has been put on one of the horseshoe lifebuoys. A gentleman strolled along the walkway, looking for his octopus trap. Jeremy owned up that he had used it as a securing weight. He found an alternative weight and returned the trap with apologies. I have checked all our tins of food for rust and cleaned out the lockers. Both sails have been washed and scrubbed to free them of salt and sand. The leak from the hot water tank has been sorted. It occurred where a plastic pipe met a metal one.

Snack time

This weekend Australia has been celebrating ANZAC day. Here in Albany, maroons went off in King George Sound at 0600, wreaths were laid and a flypast marked the beginning of a minute’s silence followed by bugles playing the Last Post. For the first time ever, there were no parades and no crowds.

In the meantime, avoid drinking disinfectant, take care and keep safe.