Passage North: Hillarys-Jurien-Port Denison

With the changing of the seasons, it was time to start making our way north. Whilst we had cut our teeth around Rottnest Island and Geographe Bay, we understood that our first passage - overnight and over 100nm to Jurien Bay - was going to be our first real test of seamanship.

We had a week at Hillarys to catch up with family and friends and complete a few boat and general admin tasks. With the boat all prepped it was a case of putting an eye across the weather to find a nice window for the passage to Jurien. The southerly wind stream is still predominant so it was more a case of finding a window where it was not going to be howling into the evening….. wishful thinking?

Tuesday saw us depart Hillarys with a send off from Ian and Jen Taylor at the lighthouse and we tracked towards Three Mile reef from where we would start to head both further offshore and northwards. We had departed Hillarys at 1100hrs, knowing that the planned passage was about 18 hours. We didn’t want to arrive at Jurien in the dark and then have to hang about awaiting first light.

Our passage plan had determined that an 1100hrs departure should have us at Jurien around 0600 - 0700hrs on Wednesday. We were also aware of the large numbers of craypots that dot the coast between Perth and Jurien and so had planned so sail about 8 miles offshore to try and avoid the majority of these. At 8 miles offshore we were generally far enough outside to avoid the recreational pots and coastal hazards, but inside Direction Bank where the pros like to drop their pots.

Like most passages, we had a mixed bag of wind. It was slow to start with before the South Easterly filled in and we had several hours of really nice sailing; 12 knots of breeze with screecher and mainsail and running on a nice downwind angle. The screecher is manageable to about 15 knots and then it is time to furl it away and unfurl the jib. Furling the screecher has taken some refining, but we have it down pat pretty much now, running off downwind using the mainsail to block the wind as we furl it in by hand. Always a team effort, but having all of the sheets (ropes) clear and prepared and a clear communicated plan helps ensure we don’t have any mishaps.

Soon it is late afternoon and the southerly has kicked in to 20 knots and we are preparing the boat to sail in the dark. About this time Nicky, who is down in the galley prepping dinner, just casually mentions that the bilge with the food in it has water in it!! That’s enough to send me straight to my hands and knees and soon I work out that something has spilled in there - it’s not water from the ocean and we are going to be OK!! Panic over. One important lesson from this trip was the need to prepare meals prior to a long passage. Deciding to whip up a lasagne at the last minute was not such a great idea. In the rough and tumble conditions we were experiencing, this was a surefire way to bring on the dreaded sea sickness. Needless to say, the planned lasagna turned into something not quite so appetising as Nicky headed straight for the helm for some fresh air. Luckily, this did the trick and any major form of sea sickness was held at bay. It was also lucky that Pete was up for heading down into the galley to make sure we had some pasta to go with pasta sauce. With dinner sorted and before darkness set in, we put a reef in the mainsail (reduce sail) in order to make the boat more manageable in the darkness. We were ahead of schedule and anticipated to be abeam Lancelin at about 2015hrs.

By the time we are abeam Lancelin we have consistent wind in the mid 20 knot range - and are surfing down waves at 10 knots!! Not a great feeling in the dark and so we reduce sail again - including furling in the jib in order to bring us back to the 6 - 8 knot range. We have a good moon, but it is still a little unnerving as the wind continues to rise.

Our course over ground (COG) is being significantly affected by the wind and current and we find that we are well west of our planned route. Great - in that we know we are well clear of the coastal reefs and bommies that are spread all along this coast - and all of the shipwrecks marked on the chart remind you of this!! - but it also means we are more exposed to the wind, sea and swell.

Well West of our planned route….

Nicky and I rotate watch, initially over two hour windows, but then push that out to 3 hours. When you’re rocking and rolling the whole way, the sleep (if that’s what you want to call it) you get whilst off watch is pretty minimal. It’s very hard to ignore the constant creaking and groaning of the boat as you try to relax into some sort of slumber. Staying awake for consecutive hours during the night sounds like it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but it’s not easy. Some of our longer passages down the track will be interesting, but hopefully with more experience, we’ll well and truly be up for it.

By 0300 we are approaching Cervantes and have a stiff south easterly pushing us along. At this stage, we are quietly hoping that the wind does not get any stronger or we are going to be at Jurien way too early. Negotiating North Passage in the dark is not something we are keen on.

Pretty soon we can see the flashing white light that signifies Jurien, although it is very hard to visually determine the distance when you have no horizon and are bobbing up, down and sideways!! A little unnerving as you must at this point trust your instruments despite thinking “Gee, that light is close!!”

As we bounce along, the boat creaking and groaning as it gets hit by chop, we remind ourselves that it is always darkest right before dawn. At this point, we are vectoring back into the coast and we are trying to reassure ourselves that we are well clear of the many reef and island systems that lie off Jurien. We are listening to ABC radio and just having that connection to an outside voice was comforting for us both - perhaps a sense of normality in what is quite a foreign world when you are sailing at night. Before we know it, the pre-dawn light breaks and we (well Pete really, as Nicky’s eyes don’t work quite as well when it comes to things way off in the distance) start to make out the hills to the north of Jurien. We are bang on course for our approach to North Passage and start to make good for the lead lights that indicate safe passage into Jurien Bay.

We make our way into Jurien Bay, drop our sails and motor into the easterly wind, finding anchorage just south of the jetty. It is amazing how good it feels to drop the anchor and take a deep breath - that was intense!! Talk about getting outside of your comfort zone… whilst we never felt unsafe, it sure was a little nerve wracking. I’m pretty sure we were both on edge for most of the passage. Good to be alive eh!!

A quiet day on anchor at Jurien with a well-earned nanna nap post-brekkie.
The weather looks good for passage to Dongara tomorrow - another 65 miles!

Day sail to Dongara means dawn start and we are greeted with a fresh easterly to push us along. We have sailed this route previously (whilst on our training sail with Adventure Bay Sailing), so we felt comfortable and recognised many of the marker points along the way. Conscious of our COG errors on our overnight passage, we make plenty of adjustment for the wind to ensure we are on track.

Again, complete mixed bag of wind. At one point we have a 12 knot south easterly and we were doing 8.5knots with the boat just running beautifully downwind. With Nicky on watch, Pete took the opportunity to lie on the tramp and just soak up the sound of the ocean as we surfed along.

That was great for a few hours and then we had a horrible few hours where the wind went dead easterly and gusting to 20+ knots - nothing in the forecast about this as usual. With the wind beam on (side on) the boat is getting slapped a lot by the chop, plus we had quite a confused sea, meaning the swell was coming one way, wind chop the other, and us trying to make way through the middle!! Definitely not an example of ‘Champagne Sailing.’

As predicted, the wind drops out almost completely - at this stage we can just see the gas platform south west of Port Denison, but flop around waiting for the southerly to kick in. Before we know it, we have put in a couple of tacks and with a 20+ knot southerly are on the leads heading into Denison. Nicky is on the helm and wrestling Singularity as we have the wind and swell beam on - with no choice as we need to stay lined up on the leads to avoid reef both north and south.

We arrive at Port Denison and are soon safely secured to our mate Paul Willison’s mooring, where he leaves his catamaran ‘Queirmarla’ over winter. Paul is at the Abrolhos and has kindly let us use it for our stay. Thanks Paul, we owe you a rum or two!

Pulling into Port Denison, we reflect on the fact that exactly this time in 2021 we were with Paul on Queirmarla, having just completed a five day sail as part of our process of determining if cruising was for us. Here we are 12 months on in our own catamaran ‘Singularity’ with a little over 800 miles already under our belts, and well and truly into our journey - talk about executing a plan!!

After a couple of big days, a few quiet drinks and some cheese and bickies were just what the doctor ordered.

Simple, but oh so satisfying!

We were content to sit in each other’s arms, reflect on our sailing accomplishments so far, and be grateful for the opportunity that we have been given. Life is good!