The Denham Social
We departed Three Bays Island at sunrise. A good stiff south easterly meant a nice downwind run to Denham, and being inside the bay meant no swell, so smooth sailing. It was a 40nm passage so we had plenty of time to sit and reflect on our past week down in Henri Freycinet Harbour – we will definitely be back!
Before long, the town of Denham appeared in view, however, such is the landscape here, we had to sail almost past it and then turn east in order to pass a shallow sandbar. We were able to sail right into the anchorage and as we were almost upon the moorings, we turned the engines on, turned the boat into wind and dropped the sails.
We made our way to the inside of the moorings and after one aborted attempt at anchoring, we were happy with where we were lying and that the anchor was snug in the sand. Always love a day like today – travelled 40nm with less than an hour on the engines – pretty much just used to up and down anchor.
All of the usual chores were ahead of us – laundry, fuel and grocery resupply. The list wasn’t too onerous, as we didn’t have a huge amount of washing, only needed 20litres of unleaded for Bob, and a small restock in the fruit and veg department.
We did, however,, have a big social calendar planned for our short stay in Denham. After a walk to stretch the legs, it was back to the boat for a shower and then we were heading to the Denham Caravan Park to catch up with some of our old Police mates. John Raphael, who is the aviation manager for police, and Ray Briggs, partner in crime at Hedland and Broome and always good for a beer and a laugh, were up fishing with a few mates. The boys picked us up from the jetty after a short dinghy ride in and, after a quick stop at the ‘bottlo,’ we were making ourselves comfortable in the camp chairs at the caravan park. Turned out another old work mate Kev Jones was also there as part of the boys trip – this group were on their annual fishing pilgrimage – although they did assure us that bag limits were never an issue!
So, over a couple of beers there was plenty of chat, followed up by Briggsy’s butter chicken, which after an almost total fish diet for the previous weeks was great! A good night and good catch up; followed up with a walk back down to the jetty and preparation for a wet ride home. The easterly had kicked in, so it was on with the spray jackets and off into the darkness. Wet it was, but we survived after being cheered on by the boys on a large stink boat tied off on the jetty. The boys had just returned from the pub and were a little amused to see us off into the rough and tumble of the darkness.
The next morning, it was straight into the washing, courtesy of the seafront caravan park and then down to IGA for some fuel and groceries. A well-stocked IGA and busy… but it was just a quick in and out for us. Then back to Singularity and the fun bit – packing everything away. This is a bit painful, but needs to be done carefully to make sure everything lasts as long as possible and that you are eating the older foodstuffs first.
There is also the logistics of juggling fuel – in this instance no diesel required – just dinghy fuel, but it means a transfer of fuel on hand into a smaller container, which is easier to use to top up the generator, as well as topping up Bob so we can add as much fuel as we can take when we go to the servo.
We were looking forward to catching up with the man, the mystery, the myth that is Steve Reynolds. Steve and Catriona moved up to Denham at the end of last year and Steve is working for Parks as a Ranger having done a complete career change from teaching. Old surf club buddies and great people, so we were keen to see how they were enjoying their new life in Denham.
The afternoon arrived with a complete glass off, so we invited Steve and Cat out to Singularity for a pre-dinner drink. After a dinghy pick up from the main jetty, a quick run back to the boat and we just had time for a couple of drinks before sunset. We’d organised to head to the pub for dinner, so we all piled into Bob and made it back to the jetty before dark. Without getting wet!
After a quick stopover to check out their house, including a quick ‘zoomies’ session with their groodle (dog whose name eludes us), it was off to the pub for a meal and more chat. Having spent some time down in the Gulf, we were able to exchange some good information about the bay and it was awesome just to catch up.
Another dinghy ride into the darkness – not as wet as the night before!
Our plan was to leave for Dirk Hartog Island today (Saturday) but, not before another catch up; this one over breakfast and with another old policing buddy Deb Beswick. Deb was previously in Exmouth, but had moved to Denham in September last year – lucky eh!! Deb was in South Hedland all those years ago and is sister to Steve (and Heather), some of our Geraldton mates. A nice breakfast, gate crashed by Briggsy and the lads on their way out of town, but the more the merrier.
It was exciting to chat with Deb who is also about to undertake a career change after 30+ years with WAPOL into Parks, where she will be working alongside Steve. Nice synergy, eh! After eggs and coffee it was a quick walk to pick up a couple of last minute items and then back to Singularity. Deb, we didn’t get a photo! Let’s catch up again on our way back down. Excited to hear how your new job is going.
It is only 11nm west, across the Denham flats to Quoin Bluff South at Dirk Hartog Island, so it was sail up and off we went. The winds were still light – quite exceptional for this part of the world – so we had the mainsail up but we were also motoring to maintain an acceptable level of speed. We love sailing, but, let’s be real, we also want to get from A to B in a reasonable amount of time. As we got about halfway, you could see whitecaps ahead and although completely glassy where we were, we knew the wind was coming. And so it did – soon we had 15 plus knots on the beam and enjoyed a quick run for the last 5 miles into the Bluff.
We took up anchorage on the northern side and as per usual the place was deserted. Just how we like it :)