Geraldton to Jurien

Back into the anchorage at Champion Bay and now our attention turns to getting south. With the slight delay in getting out of the boat yard we missed a small weather window to Dongara, so now it is simply a case of watching and waiting. In the meantime, we complete a few of the outstanding jobs, get back into our daily swimming routine and enjoy a nice dinner and drinks at the Geraldton Yacht Club with some fellow cruisers.

We finally spy an approaching weather window - some easterly winds at last, so we start hatching some plans. A fellow cruiser, Jason, who is sailing solo on Maia Celeste, a 34foot mono hull yacht, is also heading south so we plan to travel together. At this stage, the weather looks good for three days so we decide that we will run all the way through to Rottnest - if the forecast holds!!

Tuesday arrives and we depart the anchorage just before dawn with a forecast south easterly as we travel the 40nm from the anchorage to Port Denison/Dongara. It is a lumpy sea and the first few hours are a bit uncomfortable as we make our way towards Cape Burney. A stiff south wind combined with a medium swell sees us motoring with the wind right on the nose - up to 17 knots. With the forecast winds going to be close to a headwind the whole way we had decided to not even raise our mainsail but simply motor, and, if possible, use the jib or screecher. Once south of Cape Burney the wind drops a little, but because of the angle of the coast we are directly into it still, however the seas are more comfortable. We have decided to track inshore of the outlying reef and are therefore about 2 miles off the coast.

With about 10 miles to run, the wind goes around to the south west and we have the jib out giving us a little extra speed; although you can’t go to quick or you just end up slamming into the chop and waves. This section of coast also has a lot of big seaweed clumps floating so we are trying to avoid the bigger sections where we can. Port Denison is in the distance and before long we are making our final approach into the marina. We are jumping on our friend Paul’s mooring, which is located not far from the marina entrance and we are soon secure to it. Nice to be in the safe confines of the marina and we tidy up the boat before a bight to eat. MaiaCeleste is a couple of hours behind us so we get the luxury of a little nap before we see Jason entering the marina. We are keen to stretch our legs so we call past and have a quick chat with Jason and then take Bob into the service jetty. A brisk walk around the marina to the coast and then down to the surf club and back via the back streets of Port Denison.

After a weather review we confer with Jason and decide on a 2am alarm and a 2.30am departure to take advantage of the easterly winds to get the 60nm passage to Jurien done before the southerly really kicks in after about 2pm. A little intimidating leaving Port Denison in the dark, but the swell is low and the wind forecast light - all we need to worry about now are cray pots in the dark!

Early to bed and before we know it the alarm has sounded and we are getting ready to depart. Kettle on for a cuppa, unzip the mainsail bag, stow all loose articles and lock the hatches! Jason takes the lead out of the marina and we follow, using the lead lights to guide us out through the maze of reefs, predominantly to the south side of the channel. Jason gives us a call on the radio alerting us to some cray pots on our port side and we successfully maneuver around these. Certainly a little unnerving in the dark, but just taking it easy, trusting the chart plotter and using the lead lights as another reference point allows us to make our way out past Leander Reef and into clear water. Pete likens the night passages to his flying experiences where you can be easily disoriented and so you need to trust your instruments and try to have a couple of reference points so your brain doesn’t trick you into going in somewhere you shouldn’t.

Before we know it the first glimpses of daylight are appearing and we are tracking south towards Jurien. We are running the mainsail and jib backed up with one engine just to maintain a good 6 to 7 knots. We have 60nm to cover and don’t want to be at the whim of the southerly late in the afternoon so a constant and decent speed over ground is important. We take turns to have a nap, although sometimes it feels like you are not really sleeping as the boat is banging and crashing about. At one point Pete is convinced we have snagged something as the boat feels sluggish and we after a stop and reverse of the sail drives we are back underway - think we had some seaweed along for the ride.

We are making great time and it is a fairly uneventful passage. We encounter a few pots around Leeman and a couple of boats working in that area, but other than that it is pretty much plain sailing. By 1pm we are at the northern entrance into Jurien Bay, with a plan to head into the marina and tie up at the service jetty for the night. We have a midnight departure planned so won’t be here for long.

About half a mile out of the marina we furl the jib and drop the mainsail and prepare to enter the marina. Quite a tight entrance and the water just inside is a milky colour giving you the impression that it is very shallow - when it is in fact about 4 metres deep. There is a decent southerly blowing now and we have some fun trying to get alongside the service jetty with some cursing coming from the Captain. We get alongside and take advantage of the access to water - the boat is covered in salt from the past two days so a quick clean off is welcomed so we can actually see out of our windows!

As we were coming in on the final approach to Jurien our holding tank alarm was sounding - which we thought was odd as the tank was open and should have been empty. So upon arrival at Jurien after 10 hours of sailing Pete is emptying the access locker to the holding tank to have look and see what’s going on. A quick look reveals it is blocked somewhere on the exit pipe. Into the water with the plumber’s snake and to the outlet, which is located under the waterline. Clear out the blockage, which was basically calcified poop from where we had dried out the holding tank over a few months - it had broken free and wedged itself in the pipe. Anyhow… all fixed now but something we didn’t really need at the end of the passage!!

Jason was a couple of hours behind us - sailing solo so we helped guide him into the marina and then onto the service jetty. He was happy to be in out of the wind also and we invited him over for an early dinner of pumpkin soup, chicken curry and flatbread, washed down with one beer. We checked the latest weather and decided that it was a midnight rise and departure, with a plan to sail all the way through to Rottnest - a distance of about 115nm. In to bed a 6pm to get some sleep before another all nighter!