A flying visit to Carnarvon
We were woken from our slumber in the tranquil waters of Shelter Bay by the passing of the Dirk Hartog Barge which was running campers in their 4 x 4’s to and from the Island, the passage here being only about 2 miles from beach to beach.
Our plan was to get going and take advantage of a nice south easterly wind to get ourselves to Cape Peron, a distance of about 46nm. With mainsail up and then anchor up, we headed over to navigate Blind Strait, a passage of water than provides access into Shark Bay itself, with Dirk Hartog to the west and the western most peninsula of Shark Bay, Bellefin Prong, to the east. We love this passage as it is such a contrast to where you have come from…. no swell, amazing scenery and wildlife, and always a feeling of calm as you make your way north into Shark Bay.
It was a nice sail with the wind dying out after lunch, so we ran one motor with sails up to get to our destination. We anchored right in on the Cape, a spot we had been before – with mixed outcomes! It was prone to tide vs wind if the conditions weren’t quite right and, yes, we copped it with a rolly old night, forcing Pete to head to the couch for some respite.
Saturday morning, May 4th and we were up early to take advantage of a decent south easterly. The forecast was for 15 – 20knots before going south at the same speed. We got all of that wind, along with some lumpy sea which had us back surfing down the waves, but the bonus was we knocked off the 40nm to Carnarvon in about 5 hours with an average speed of 7.3 knots. You beauty!
We were excited to come into Carnarvon this time around, as we would finally be able to safely navigate into the Fascine, which had recently been dredged and a new channel marked out. After dropping our sails, always a lumpy affair in gusty winds, just outside the channel we motored our way into the Fascine, carefully navigating through the channel. The Carnarvon Yacht Club had been holding a regatta that day so there were quite a few yachts out on the water and we were greeted by Ted and Tina on their cat, On the Double, who also had our cruising buddies Kevin and Janie on board.
After a quick g’day, we made our way right to the bottom end of the Fascine. We hooked up to one of the courtesy moorings which was located directly opposite the end of the main street. How convenient!
Looking at the weather forecast, we only planned a few days in Carnarvon so we could take advantage of good winds on Wednesday and Thursday to get to Warroora where a week of calm conditions had been forecast.
As well as Drew and Gosia, we now have a few friends in Carnarvon so it was a social few days. After settling in, which included a quick run to the shops for some basic fridge essentials, we headed to the Yacht Club for catch ups with all the crew, including Sid, with whom we had sailed this coast southwards last season.
Sunday was spent catching up with Drew and Gosia over a bite of lunch. Whilst there, we managed to give their washing machine a good workout with plenty of salty towels etc.. that were long overdue for a wash. Then, it was back to the boat for a quiet night, with a big day of provisioning planned for Monday pending our departure on Tuesday.
We decided to take a pen in the commercial harbour for a night in order to desalt the boat and get things back in order before we headed up the coast. With all the rough weather sailing, Singularity was well and truly in need of a bath, so first thing Monday morning we navigated our way out of the Fascine and into our pen.
After a rinse, it was off to complete our list of tasks… gas refill, fuel, fruit and veg run out to the farms, Woolies for some final provisioning and then sorting and packing everything away in their allocated spots. Amongst all this, we fitted in a visit from a couple who we met at the Yacht Club and who are in the early stages of planning their cruising adventures. It was great to give them a look over our boat, and share a few stories to inspire them.
That evening, we headed over to Ted and Tina’s beautiful house where we met Kevin and Janie and talked all things Kimberley. Kevin and Janie have spent nearly ten seasons in the Kimberley and are an absolute wealth of knowledge, so we were able to pick their brains about lots of different aspects of cruising in that region. Ted and Tina will be departing Carnarvon around June 1st so we will be catching up with them up the coast somewhere and heading on the Kimberley adventure together. Very exciting!
After dropping off the car to Drew and Gosia (thanks again, guys!!), we headed back to Singularity with an early start on our minds, as we had some 60nm to sail to reach Red Bluff, our planned destination for the night.