Carnarvon re-visited

We leave Warroora just after sunrise – having given Riley and Claudia an early wake up and departure. We have a forecast east south easterly which will give us a nice run down the coast to Red Bluff, a distance of about 50nm.

We make our way safely through the passage – the swell is small and the tide is high, so this makes for an uneventful departure, and we are soon zipping along at 8 knots with the main and screecher flying.

As we close on Cape Farquhar, the wind is fading out but becoming more downwind. Pete is keen to try out the asymmetrical spinnaker which we have not been brave enough to fly yet – based on our experience level. However, we feel confident in our abilities now, and, after the dry run at Yardie Creek, we know exactly what we need to do. This sail is for downwind light conditions up to about 12 knots – it can also be flown in conjunction with the mainsail if the wind angle is right.

Pete brings it up on deck and we prepare by bringing in the screecher and setting up the spinnaker. We need to run it up the mast on a separate halyard and then attach both the tack and clew of the sail, the tack going to a rope that sits on the end of our prodder pole on the front of the boat, and the clew has a rope attached and then run through a block and to a winch at the back of the boat. A lot of technical terms in there but essentially setting the sail so that it wont catch or foul on anything once we fly it.

The asymmetrical spinnaker is housed on a sock, so once we are ready to go, Nicky, standing on the trampoline, starts pulling down on the rope which simultaneously lifts the sock up the sail, allowing it to open and fly. With some trepidation, we watch as the spinnaker unfurls from the sock and sets itself with the wind with Pete trimming it on the winch. High fives all round and we look on proudly as it casts its shadow over the boat, looking impressive with all of its colours boldly showing. We play around with different angles and trim and enjoy the view.

For us, it feels like we are real sailors now as the asymmetrical spinnaker is probably the most technical of all sails and our confidence and abilities have finally collaborated to make it happen. We are buzzing!!

We only fly the spinnaker for about 40 minutes before the wind becomes unsuitable, but we are stoked that we have ticked it off. We like to give things names and, so, as we launched the spinnaker for the first time as we passed Cape Farquhar, we decided that the name shall be ‘Shrek’. Those of you who are Shrek fans should be able to work out the connection here. So, when you hear the cry ‘Bring out Shrek!’ you know we are in for some spinnaker time.  

Once again, we enjoy sailing down the coast past Gnaraloo and then onto Red Bluff - which will be our anchorage for the night. Karl and his salty crew on Eureka IV have joined us and nudge ahead in the last few miles to Red Bluff. The swell is small, so we anchor right off the surf break which is nudging 2 feet with a light westerly on it. Having spent a lot of time at the Bluff, it is great to be back and looking at it from a different perspective - back onto the shore - which is almost like a large amphitheatre with an assortment of campers, tents, eco huts and of course the famous Bluff shop. We head over to Eureka for a couple of beers on the front deck and chew the fat with Karl and his crew. Karl is from Yallingup and whilst his wife, Alice, and two kids are back at school, Karl is hitting the seas with a bunch of assorted mates as crew, as he makes his way back south.

It is another dawn rise as we prepare for the 50nm into Carnarvon. Pete is up early and picks up on a consistent noise coming from down the bay and thinks that it is the sea smashing up against the rocks to the area north of the main camp. Watching for a while, he soon realises it is actually a humpback about 100metres offshore slapping the surface with his pectoral fin! One way to wake up the campers!

We sail out of the Bluff and turn south, with Cape Cuvier, the next key landmark, to pass on our port bow. We have a light easterly wind that is due to swing to the north west - still light - which should give us a nice run into Carnarvon. We are running a couple of lures but, constant snagging on ribbon weed is frustrating - no sooner you pull it in and clear it, it is fouled again.

We have an enjoyable downwind sail in fluky conditions which means we end up running one engine - otherwise we will never get there! Late in the afternoon we arrive at the entrance to Tegg’s Channel and make our way to our known anchor spot. The forecast is for howling southerlies so it will be an interesting time getting into and out of town in Bob. In the days preceding, Pete had been chatting with the local Dept of Transport office about getting a berth in the Carnarvon Boat Harbour. Unfortunately, it is a full moon so all the trawlers were in, leaving no room for anyone else. We inquired about the newly opened floating pens which have been built for the Carnarvon Yacht Club, but were advised that they were all allocated and unavailable. Pete had a sneaky suspicion that they would be mostly empty and this proved to be the case when we went into the harbour in Bob.

We parked Bob at the Snapper Jetty and enjoyed the walk into town to catch up with Drew and Gosia and Ian and Jen for a coffee at the Old Post Office. Always great to catch up and also pick up some mail and assorted bits and pieces. We ran into Karl who let us know he had talked his way into a berth at the harbour, so, in no time, we were down at the DOT office with Pete putting on his best charm. The result was positive and after some discussion it was agreed to allow us to berth at one of the new pens. We only needed a few nights and we knew that the tide wouldn’t allow anyone to come from the Yacht Club to the pens anyway - so happy days. Straight back to the boat and in we went. It was absolute luxury to be tied to a brand new floating pen - with power and water and knowing we could just walk off - not try and mount Bob and take on the chop and tides of Teggs Creek. Try taking a dinghy load of stores out to a boat in 20+ knots of wind - not pretty!! It is a shame that there doesn’t seem to have been any allocation of a couple of pens for casual users - which would be very popular. The local by-election was on whilst we were there and one of the election topics was sorting out the fascine - so fingers crossed.

We were fortunate to have access to Gosia’s car, which is very distinctive, to run our errands around town. Quite regularly, we would receive a nod or a wave from locals who recognised the car, only to be disappointed (or totally confused) that it wasn’t Gosia at the wheel. The usuals - hardware shop, gas, fuel, alcohol, laundry, food, post office were all on our agenda over the coming few days. We even found ‘Monopoly Deal’ in the local toy shop! Stocking up on Drew’s collection of mangoes, garlic and lemons which have become a staple in our lives since our first visit was appreciated.

More importantly, we had time to catch up with family - so some casual lunches (testing out Drew’s new pizza oven - maybe inspired by Warroora pizzas?), dinner at the Port Hotel and hosting everyone for lasagne onboard Singularity in our nice cosy pen!! A big night of Uno was had with the usual hilarity that happens when family get together and have a few drinks and a laugh. Priceless! Nicky and her mum also got to tap into their creative side and attend one of Gosia’s art classes which provided a few laughs - especially when reviewing their completed masterpieces. Gosia is doing a great job of providing opportunities for community members to become involved in various art projects within the town of Carnarvon. Check out what she has been doing on inst @at_g_stop.

With the ever present southerlies blowing, we had a window to get south to Cape Peron looming, so it was the last minute rush to complete our chores. For Pete this involved carrying out a 100hour service of the engines - which means pumping out the oil and replacing it, replacing oil and fuel filters and general tidy up of the engine bays etc. A couple of hours work down in the engine bays to keep things ticking along. We have a 20 litre jerry can for waste oil and fuel onboard and Carnarvon harbour has a number of oil drop off points where we can safely and properly dispose of it. Much better than it ending up in the ocean or poured out behind a sand dune somewhere; not something we would do, but, believe it or not, does happen! We also do a quick farm run for some produce and of course Morels! We go a bit crazy and buy some choc coated mango, dragon fruit and black sapote for the freezer. Yum! Black sapote is known as the ‘chocolate pudding fruit’ - if you ever get the chance, have a crack!

And, finally, we have been wanting to get to the Space Museum up at the old dish for sometime and so set aside a few hours to get into the history and connections that the Carnarvon dish has with moon exploration, in particular, the first moon landing in 1969. The Tracking Station supported all unmanned and manned Apollo missions from Jan 1967 - Dec 1972 and was used to monitor astronaut health and to monitor and control spacecraft performance. It was home to the most precise radar in world during the time it operated in Carnarvon, and, being the only one in the southern hemisphere, it supported almost everything that was launched from the USA.

Let’s just say Nicky was straight back into teacher mode - it was like an excursion!! Only fair, given that she spent a whole year immersing her Year 5 class in all things Earth and Space to tie in with the 50th Anniversary of the first Moon landing. Not practical, given its location, and certainly not affordable given the meagre budgets schools are asked to operate on these days, but an excursion to the museum would have capped off a fun year of learning just beautifully!

Soon it was time to say goodbye yet again. Ian and Jen were driving south with the caravan to finish their northern winter, Drew was back on night shift and Gosia was flat out with her gallery and art programs, and we were headed south. Always hard saying goodbye, but happy knowing we can do it all again next year!

Time to head south, back to the bay - Shark Bay!