A taste of Shark Bay
Leaving Shelter Bay, we motor for a few miles until the wind angle is right and then put up our ‘screecher’, which is our large light wind sail. In the sheltered waters of Shark Bay we are back to ‘champagne sailing’ as we effortlessly hit 7 knots making our way north, with Dirk Hartog Island to our west and Bellefin Prong, one of the many peninsulas in Shark Bay, to our east.
Clear, protected water and no swell means smooth sailing and we are on a high as we continue north, navigating the channel that leads into the wider Shark Bay. The brutal passage to Steep Point is forgotten as we both sit up on the tramp admiring the view and letting ‘Ray’, our autopilot, do all of the work.
We are heading to Useless Inlet, aptly named by Louis Freycinet, because of the many sandbars that cross its entrance. One of the advantages of being in a catamaran is that we have a shallow draft and therefore can poke our way into lots of shallower areas, particularly relevant in Shark Bay, where it is predominantly sand and weed bottom - minimal reef or rocks which is a refreshing change after spending so much time at the Abrolhos.
We are able to sail for about 10 miles with a light south easterly, before turning down into Useless Inlet. We are at mid tide and, like the Abrolhos, are doing a lot of navigating by eye, as the charts are only semi accurate, given the changing locations of the sand bars over time. It is not long and we arrive at a nice little anchorage on the western shores of the Heirisson Prong, about 3 miles north west of Useless Loop, which is on the opposite side of the prong.
We anchor up, only about 50 metres from a small rocky outcrop, with a small beach only metres to its north. The water is crystal clear but also cold, as the Leeuwin Current does not enter Shark Bay and so the water temperature is about 19 degrees - chilly!!
The next few days are typical of cruising life… exploratory walks on Heirisson Prong, dinghy exploration to crystal clear mangrove inlets with baby sharks and small turtles, across the inlet to the giant sand dunes where we join emu’s climbing high to get a great view of Dirk Hartog and South Passage, before being captivated by the baby sharks cruising on the waters edge amongst turtles and shovel nosed sharks. The protected waters here are a real nursery for the youngsters and because it is so lightly visited they are all out to play where you can watch them.
Cruising is way more social than we had expected. We spend a fair bit of time getting to know other cruisers by taking it in turns to share a sunset drink or two on the back deck of our respective floating homes. On this particular evening, we head over to our neighbours, Blue Yonder, for a pizza night. We all bring ingredients for the pizza toppings and Julia (who is very talented in the kitchen, we might add) has made sour dough pizza bases for each of us. Everyone has to make and name a pizza, cooking it in the bbq on the back deck, before sharing it out (six of us) over great conversation and a few drinks. We stay out until midnight… way past our normal in bed by 9 routine!
It’s now been nearly 4 weeks since we were at a shop, so we are getting low on the fresh stuff, including cheese, yoghurt and of course fruit and vegies. It is also an opportunity to dispose some rubbish and we do a quick collect from our cruising friends to lighten their load. Like all of our decisions, the weather dictates a quick trip into Denham before returning out to the Bay to sit out a cold front.
A lovely sail into Denham with a light east south easterly allowing us just to hoist the screecher and enjoy a smooth run. Having studied the inlet from high above in the dunes and hills, a perusal of the charts and with consideration to a rising tide, Pete decided he will cut the corner at the top of Heirisson Prong to head east to Denham. Soon, we are sailing in 1 metre of water, all sand below and committed! We see 0.8metres on the chart plotter, but no connection to mother earth and soon we are back in 10 metres of water, Pete playing it cool but sweating it no doubt!!
We make anchor in Denham, a quick orientation walk on the foreshore and then straight to the Shark Bay Hotel for a chicken parmi and a pint. After fours week on the boat it tastes SO good!
A big day of logistics follows with washing at the local caravan park (a great time to catch up via phone with family and friends), shopping and rubbish drops to be done before heading back to the boat. The next morning we are planning for a mid-morning departure so we head in for a quick walk around town, past the school (for Nicky’s benefit) and a quick drop in to the hardware store (for Pete’s benefit) before we make our way to the Shark Bay Discovery Centre.
Shark Bay Discovery Centre would have to be one of the best museums we have been to, with some fantastic interactive displays, as well as a lot of shipwreck pieces and stories. There is also an excellent section on HMAS Sydney, including a 3D film of it in its final resting place, some 110miles west of Shark Bay. A highlight was an art exhibition comprising of aerial photography of Shark Bay, perfectly capturing its vivid colours and contrasts. Really worth a look and we were glad we did!
Denham is a great little town, nothing happens fast but everything that you need is there. No doubt we will be back.
Next stop: Dirk Hartog Island