Sunday - 28/07/2013
Up at first light getting a cup of tea before getting things
ready to sail. We hoisted the mainsail whilst on the mooring there was some
wind but it had not kicked in to what is predicted yet. Letting go the mooring
lines we motor sailed out of the anchorage and then set a course for south as
we did we unfurled the headsail and shut the engine down.
As we crossed the Broome Port entrance HMAS Huon a mine
hunter entered the port in front of us and there was also a large oil rig tug
coming in on our starboard side but passed behind us. We had a good sail down,
at times we were slow due to the wind dropping but we continued to sail until
the wind dropped right away and we had to motor sail the last few miles.
(HMAS Huon cutting
across in front of us as she heads into Broome)
Gourdon Bay has some pearl leasing area but it is marked and
there is plenty of room to go around the inside and ends of the area. We
anchored near the advised spot in the Fremantle Cruising Guide, I think we
could have gone in a lot closer to shore as the wind kicked in 15-20 knots
around 0130 hours and it made it a bumpy anchorage. We noticed another
catamaran anchored in the bottom SW corner of the bay just off the beach and I
think that this would have been the ideal anchorage. But I think we are going to have a few of
these on this WA coast. There appears to be a pattern in the weather that the
wind comes around 0130 - 0200 hours and cuts out around 1400 hours to near calm
conditions.
(Gourdon Bay
anchorage, this is where we anchored but the other catamaran anchored in the
corner near the 'l' in the word Saddle. The yellow dots are where the pearl
strings were).
(We had a great
sunset)
After anchoring we just relaxed and after dark I checked to
see where the pearl farm markers as the corners had lights flashing, not bright
but they did have lights, it indicated that there was a very wide area to go
passed on the southern end when we sail out in the morning.
Gourdon Bay to Lagrange Bay
Monday - 29/07/2013
Up again at first light, winds from SE around 18 knots, we
had a quick cup of tea and the weighed anchor, we first set the headsail as
going out of the bay the wind was directly behind us. As we turned south and
cleared the headland we furled the headsail turned into the wind and hoisted
the mainsail with two reefs in it, the winds now are 20 - 29 knots, after
setting course we unfurled a small section of the headsail and we were away at
8 - 9 knots. We kept as close to the coast as was safe to reduce the wind waves
and it was a good sail with only 25 NMS to go we should be there quite early.
Nancy cooked breakfast and I ate mine at the helm keeping an
eye out for whales, we saw whales yesterday and last night was treated to two
visiting whales in the bay just before sunset. This morning was no different we
saw some in the distance and one that dived off our port side you could see the
tale slide down into the water they are incredible to watch I never get sick of
seeing them but sometimes when they come so close to the boat without any
warning it puts your heart in your mouth.
(Whale tail)
(I am not sure what
this behaviour is but incredible to watch)
(This looks
interesting)
We anchored at Lagrange Bay in 4 metres of water as close as I felt safe from the beach which is a fair way as the beach shoals out, with the winds still blowing the anchorage was still lumpy so we will probably have the same again tonight.
(Anchorage at Lagrange
Bay, we found this spot better for the E and SE winds)
(The shore from our anchorage)
(Another nice sunset)
(Well I did work hard today, our backyard looks great)
We have about 200NMS to go to Port Hedland and the Eighty
Mile Beach between us so we are hoping to make some good miles over the next
two days as there is harsher weather coming on Friday and Saturday.
Lagrange Bay to the Eighty Mile Beach
Tuesday - 30/07/2013
Having 200NMS to go before we get to Port Hedland our
original plan was to do an overnight sail along Eighty Mile Beach due to the
fact that anchorages can only be made under certain conditions, very light
conditions. However, after seeing the amount of whales in the area we are
reluctant to sail at night for the fear of hitting one. Fortunately we have
picked the weather for sailing down this section of the coast with SE winds
being dominant. The unfortunate part about this wind is that it starts at
around 0130 hours and dies around 1330 hours. During the night hours it is
around 10 - 12 knots and because the shore shoals so far out that we get some
wind waves slapping the hull and some swell combined does not make for a
comfortable night.
We set sail under good winds from Lagrange Bay at first
light and taking note of the marine farm zones headed out to sea to clear them
to finding out that they are not actually there, these areas are only marked on
the up to date charts. They cannot be ignored as the further south we went we
found some very active.
When we weighed anchor we had already hoisted the mainsail
with two reefs in as the winds predicted were over 25 knots and as I have said
before it is easier to shake a reef out than put one in, so being basically
lazy that's what I do on a regular basis. Once we cleared the marine farm area
we set course on a close reach and we sailed well under the reefed conditions
with the headsail also reefed sailing at a comfortable 8 to 9 knots, we could
have taken a reef out and gone a little faster but it would not be comfortable,
we are cruisers not racers, not unless there is another boat ahead then we may
get a little competitive.
Our aim was to hug the coast to reduce wave effect with the
strong winds and that is what we tried to do one thing though is that the WA
coast shoals out quite a distance so you cannot get too close and the fact that
the depths beneath do not equate to what the paper and electronic charts
indicate it is safer to be a little further off the coast. We sailed in waters
with depth of 5 to 6 metres and located some 6NMS off the coastline.
There are also unsurveyed waters along this coastline that
you do not want to be sailing at good speeds with uncertain depths.
The wind died out mid afternoon and changed direction to
being on the nose so a slight change in course and start one of the iron sails
and motor sailed until near sunset having sailed 61NMS for the day it was time
to drop the pick and have a beer.
We nosed into the coast with consideration of time of tide
and what low tide would be tonight, I headed for an area that showed a datum of
2 metres this would give plenty below us at low tide, with a 3 metre tide
difference we anchored at near high tide in 5.5 metres of water, at low tide we
had a depth of 1.7 metres, so the datum is a little bit out or the chart is or
both. We draw 1.4 metres so we had 300mm below us.
Considering we are actually at the edge of the Indian Ocean
the seas were flat and calm when we anchored it was only the wind from the land
that set up the wind waves and the fact that the anchorage was 2.7NMS off the
shore because the depths we could not get closer that it became uncomfortable
at 0130 hours in the morning.
(First anchorage off Eighty Mile Beach)
We soldiered on through the night trying to sleep without
much success, I did toy with the idea of sailing then thought of the safety
with all the whales around, by 0300 hours we got up and had a cup of tea and
waited for first light so we could get underway. Nanna naps later in the day
will be had.
Eighty Mile Beach - anchorage one to anchorage two
Wednesday - 31/07/2013
Getting underway at first light which is around 0540 hours
(WST) we set the full mainsail as winds were around 15 knots, weighed anchor
and set the headsail and headed out from the anchorage. To the south of us
charts indicate a finger of sand around 1.6 metres at half tide that should not
be a problem but again we have proved the charts wrong already, so I went out a
little and skirted the contours and crossed the 1.6 metres at 12 metres deep.
Does not give one faith in charts on this coast. Yesterday we sailed along for
many hours in varying depths keeping as close to the shore as to be safe and
the depth hardly varied from around 6 - 8 metres.
We had a very good sail up to 1330 hours and the wind just
dropped to nothing and the iron sail came into play, we needed to get along
this stretch of coast as Fridays wind are up around the 25-30 knots which we
will be sailing in but hopefully just the last distance into Port Hedland.
With all these things I talk about the days have been
magical with the whale sightings as they breach the water or roll over and play
with their young many not being captured on camera, because as soon as you get
the camera they stop doing what they were doing or they are now too far away.
We have also had magical moments with dolphins and turtles.
This sea life does not appear to be used to sea traffic like
us, today I passed four turtles close by floating on the surface and they look
at you as though they are seeing this type of thing for the first time. On the east coast they look from a distance and dive.
(Calm afternoons means
iron sail as well as the rag)
So the day has been good we have sailed another 61NMS as we
did yesterday, we finished a little earlier today choosing the anchorage that
is on the chart and was entertained by a couple of whales nearby, Tonight we
are only 1.5NMS off the coast.
Anchorage
19⁰ 50.835' S - 120⁰ 19.381' E
(Our second
anchorage on Eighty Mile Beach)
(The blown sand hills
on the beach)
We also saw quite a few cars on the beach today within about
14NMS either side of the Wallal Downs Caravan Park which is located
approximately half way between Port Hedland and Broome not far off the beach.
It appears to be a good stop for the grey nomads on the around Australia route.
It was another big day but a pleasant one with another big
day tomorrow, we had our sundowners then dinner and early to bed.
Thursday - 01/08/2013
We were underway by 0600 hours and under sail until midday,
the weather most days brings SE winds around 0130 hours and it drops away
around midday then the SW sea breeze comes in around 1500 hours so it is motor
sailing from midday on. The coastline looks basically the same long beach and
small sand hills.
Again we saw many whales, dolphins, turtles and even sea
snakes. The whales putting on a show at times breaching out of the water or
waving a flipper out of the water but mostly too far away for a decent photo.
(Some of the antics the whales get up to, for the distance the photos turned out better than expected)
We had to burn a bit of diesel towards the end of the day
because we needed to get to the anchorage before the dark set in so mid
afternoon we ran both engines to get there and we dropped anchor with very
little light left and even then we anchored short of our targeted spot. We did
manage to get fairly close to land around 1.5NMS, so we knew when the wind
kicked in at around 0130 hours we would get some wind waves slapping on the
hull.
(Larrey Point
anchorage, good holding in mud sand bottom)
So today we had a late sundowners before dinner and after
dinner I went out of the cockpit to see if we could see the glow in the sky
from Port Hedland and I was totally surprised as when I looked in the southerly
direction I could see the lights very clear and I could also see the lights of
the ships anchored out from the port. I called Nancy and she was as surprised
as I was, our anchorage is 32NMS in a straight line to Port Hedland it was as
though the port was only a few miles away showing the clear orange lights of
the port docks and streets..
I went inside and looked at the charts to see if there is
another town closer to us, nothing showed so I got the road atlas out and again
there was no place other than Port Hedland. Then two hours later all you could
see was the glow in the sky the lights we had seen were no longer there. This had
us totally confused. No I had not had too much to drink I had only had two
beers.
Some days later after meeting Glen and Nigel on 'Banyandah'
in Port Hedland I mentioned our experience with the lights and they were
anchored in the same bay but a couple of
miles closer to the port than us and they had the same experience.
The only thing that we could put it down to is that at that
time the sea was mirror flat and the air was very damp with a heavy dew
dropping in, this combined with the dust from the loading ships could have
caused mirrored images which is very similar to the min min lights.
Port Hedland
Friday - 02/08/2013
Up early and underway before first light, the wind had
kicked in as we thought it would during the night and now around 20-25 knots from
the SE. It was a 42NM sail to Port Hedland needless to say we were reefed down
and sailing at around 8 knots in a lumpy sea. It was quite a distance before we
saw the anchored ships and the port structures which made it more confusing
about the lights we had seen the night before.
As we neared the port I brought up the live ships website,
(AIS), and checked what ships were nearby and what was moving, it identified a
ship entering port for loading and it was steaming at 4 knots we were at 8
knots and we were entering the channel just outside the shallow waters so I had
to change course so I did not go in front of the cargo ship. We called up the
port authority on the radio and they gave permission for us to enter, they did
request that we stay on the left hand edge of the channel as there was another
ship coming in behind us, we did this although we were out of the channel prior
to the ship getting near to us.
(She is a little
chilly but with the rough seas it is better outside, knitting a beanie)
Nancy had contacted the Yacht Club caretaker to ask for
local information regarding anchoring as the guide book suggest local knowledge
would benefit. He said we could pick up a mooring, when Nancy asked which one
he said to contact the port authority. Well we just headed for a suitable
mooring picked it up and then called the port authority to say that we were out
of the channel and had picked up a mooring. The lady asked Nancy to ring her on
the phone which she did, she said that the moorings belonged to people not the
yacht club and if the person came in we would have to vacate, she was very nice
about it and we found out later that she is a yacht club member. I said to
Nancy with the amount of growth on the mooring line which I washed off I don't
think that mooring has been used for a long time.
(Ships in the channel
are close to the anchorage)
(These are the outer
loading docks they continue for about another 6 to 8 ships in the port.)
(They did give us a
great sunset maybe due to the dust)
Port Hedland is one of the busiest ports on the coast it is
not unusual to have ten large ship movements in one day in daylight hours and
they also do movements through the night, this with the four tugs going out to
bring a ship in or coming back after taking a ship out is a lot of movements
and a lot of wash, this wash carries right through the anchorage so there is a
bit of rolling from time to time. Reminded me of being moored at Balboa Yacht
Club at the Pacific side inlet to the Panama Canal.
(The arrow points to where we picked up a mooring anchorage is to the right)
Later in the day we thought we may head ashore and visit the
yacht club but just before we was to head off I noticed a yacht that was
anchored had people returning on board, I had seen the yacht in Broome
'Banyandah' from Tasmania. We went over in the dinghy to have a chat and get
any information about the place that they had. Glen introduced himself and told
us that they had gone to the club the night before and that it is not that easy
to get to. The beach is a gritty soft sand and is hard to pull the dinghy up
even with wheels they dig in, also there are four wheel motor bikes that race
up and down the beach after dark. We asked about getting fuel and water as we
believed there was a dock in the port that you could get both items from. Well
the port authority tries to discourage that because of the busy port. Glen said
don't let me spoil it for you give it a go and see what you reckon. He said
that they had booked with the port authority to leave at at 0600 hours and was
told that they would not be able to leave after this time as they have ten ship
movements and the channel will be closed for those movements.
Nancy and I left and went and had a look at getting ashore,
Glen was right and the other thing was that the club looked as though it was on
the beachfront from the boat but it is not, it is a fair distance and actually
over the other side of the roadway. The motorbikes had already started going up
and down the beach so we gave it a miss. We got back on board and phoned the
port authority and asked if we could leave behind 'Banyandah' in the morning,
they thanked us for calling and seemed quite pleased with our decision.
We had dinner on board rather than the club had a couple of
drinks before heading to bed.
Cheers.
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