The Quobba Coast

As forecast, the winds for our run to Carnarvon were light and we didn’t even bother putting up the sails. Leaving pre-dawn, we got to experience another sunrise over the water with the sun rising across the Cape Peron Flats as we motored north.

A fairly uneventful sail, the highlight being the unbelievably glassy conditions as we made our way in for the last 8nm from Elbow Shoals through to the entrance of Carnarvon harbour. The water was so smooth you could see every tiny movement. Soon, we were passing amongst numerous pairs of dugongs who seem to prosper in this shallow area just southwest of Carnarvon. It is quite rare to have such calm conditions on this part of the coast, so we were enjoying the wildlife which was far more visible as a result. A decent pic of the elusive Dugong is still something we haven’t managed to capture as yet. We’re up for the challenge though :)

We had decided to take a pen for a few days at the Commercial harbour; basically the same spot as we stayed on the way home last year. Having power and water access allows you to get the boat back in shape before we head further north and walking all of your provisioning down the jetty is far easier than carting it out to the channel in your dinghy. Happy days!

It also gave us the opportunity to catch up with Nic and Heather on Zarfase, whom we had met at the Abrolhos, as well as Ray and Jackie on Solitaire who were taking the pen next door.

Of course, back in Carnarvon meant catching up with friends and family too. Kevin and Janie, formerly of Sojourn, have moved to Carnarvon and they popped down to say hello, armed with a couple of fresh yellowfin tuna steaks they had caught the day before out at the islands. Lovely people and great to catch up over a beer on Solitaire.

Drew and Gosia arrived and we had a quick beer on Solitaire before heading into town for a feed at the pub and a catch up on everything since we were last together. Drew had just returned to town after a few days camping and fishing up near Cape Cuvier, so we were comparing notes on that amazing part of the coast. Gosia’s Art programs / courses have been going from strength to strength with a range of community initiatives happening all at once. Such great opportunities for Gosia to share her talents whilst helping to inspire others to tap into their creative side.

We had a few days to do our usual run of chores and being able to access a vehicle made that task oh so much simpler – thanks Drew and Gosia! There was a lot of talk about Ladies Day at Carnarvon Races on Saturday (two days time) and we were keen based on the forecast of a probable Sunday departure to head north. Nic was straight into the local Op shop to pick up a couple of dress options whilst Pete prepped by washing the sand off his thongs.

We had a big day knocking off a heap of washing at the local caravan park, where we had three machines running at once with our bedsheets and a myarid of cushion covers (indoor and out), as well as the hardware store, provisioning, gas and fuel. A big day, but plenty was achieved thanks to access to a car.

Drew gave us a heads up that he had ‘heard’ they were catching squid off the Snapper jetty, adjacent to where we were penned. So, after an early dinner of Asian seared yellowfin tuna (Yum!!), we walked over to join Drew and a few mates on the squid hunt. We were a little dubious and turns out the ‘rumour’ was just a rumour as there were no squid to be had. The boys did, however, catch a heap of whiting which they were going to use as bait on their next fishing trip.

A review of the weather the next day, showed a couple of days of northerly wind, Monday and Tuesday next week. We had planned on leaving on Sunday which would mean we would have to sit out the northerlies at Red Bluff or Cape Cuvier with minimal protection. We had a team meeting on Solitaire with Ray & Jackie and Nic & Heather and decided we would change our departure date to Saturday. The plan was to head to Red Bluff for an overnighter and then sail straight into Warroora on Sunday.

With that decided, we had a few small jobs to finish off. First on the list was a walk into town to meet up with Greg, Jen and Liv Mickle who were on their way to Stephens, a campsite at Warroora just south of where we would anchor at Sandy Point. Oh, and of course, some dogggie cuddles with Western the super doodle! We had a coffee and catch up before saying our goodbyes and finishing our chores – which included dropping the dresses back to the Op Shop!!

We hung out with Drew and Gosia for a little while before they dropped us back to the boat and we got about getting ready for the early morning departure to Red Bluff. Top up the water tanks, Pete did an engine service (oil and filter change), and a final wash of everything whilst we had the water access.

It was a 0415 alarm with a plan to be out of the pen by 0500. We have our early morning pre-passage routine pretty sorted and generally just get organised and going, with brekky and a cuppa once we are underway. The routine is really going around the boat and securing all of the hatches, unzipping the mainsail, securing everything inside, turning on chartplotter/radio/nav lights and, of course, life jackets and harnesses on.

We had sailed out of Carnarvon in the dark before, but it is always a bit tricky and requires full concentration as you look at the maze of flashing navigation lights ahead of you. This departure needs to be done by eyeball, not by looking at the chart plotter. Navionics is not accurate here and one set of navigation markers are shown about 80metres from where they actually are. Follow the markers not the chart!!

A nice south easterly wind kicked in, and, after hoisting our mainsail, we made course for Point Quobba from where we would turn north and run up the coast to Red Bluff. It is about 60nm to Red Bluff from Carnarvon, so a fair day’s sailing, but easily achievable.

We had a great run up the coast, regularly exceeding 10knts before the wind started to die off around Cape Cuvier. Early in the piece we had a lure out and hooked something, but we were just going too fast to get it into the boat – fortunately it got off and we didn’t lose another lure!

As soon as the wind dropped off, Pete put the big rapala lure on and we continued on our way north, sitting up on the rooftop admiring the awesome views of Cape Cuvier and the Quobba Coast. This was soon interrupted with the scream of the reel – fish on!! Nicky was onto it and soon the battle ensued – looked like a decent fish and after about 10 minutes of pump and wind we were getting it close to the boat. Pete armed himself with the gaff and soon we had a big Spanish mackerel sitting safely on the back step. All this whilst slowing the boat a little by changing course, but also trying to keep an eye on sails and direction!   

And wasn’t he a beauty!!

We have a small rope which Pete spliced up that we secure around the tail of big pelagics like this one to secure it to the boat. This allows the fish to be bled and processed without worrying about dropping it or it sliding off the back step. Things get slimy and messy, so this is a good method for avoiding the disaster of losing the catch overboard, particularly after the mammoth effort of landing it. Filleting this big boy was a bit of a challenge, but soon it was sorted into bags for giveaways and freezing. We were super stoked, as this fish would keep us well fed at Warroora and take the pressure off of the need to forage everyday – which meant more time for surfing!!

We arrived and anchored at Red Bluff – always a favourite place to visit, but not a long term anchorage. No waves today, but nice conditions to have a swim and we launched Bob and dropped off some fresh Macky fillets to Solitaire and Zafarse. We undertook Nicky’s folly, a ritual we do on every visit to the Bluff. This involves Nicky wanting to go to shore even though there is always a big shore break making it dangerous, in fact almost impossible to land Bob on the beach without risking a swamping. Off we went…. and soon returned to the boat after the skipper wisely declined to proceed to the beach. Hardly any swell, but enough to cause grief. Next time!

Anchoring at the Bluff is like sitting in a giant amphitheatre, particularly special at night with all of the campfires and camp lights surrounding you. It is very cool and gives us a completely different perspective compared to when we used to look out from our campsite on the land. We had an early night with another pre-dawn start to get the 50nm to Warroora before a forecast northerly kicked in about lunchtime.

A real shame to not sail this part of the coast in the daylight, as we love cruising past Turtles and Gnaraloo, where we have spent so much time. We watched the sunrise as we were abeam Gnaraloo Bay and then enjoyed the views into Cape Farquhar, which we visited last year, and was the inspiration for naming our spinnaker, ‘Shrek.’

Soon, the wind started to head around onto the nose and from the north, so it was engines on to cover the last 15nm into Sandy Point. We slowed down to await Solitaire in order to allow them to follow us into the lagoon as they had not previously been here. We remember that nervous feeling from when we came in with Nic and Julia as our guides on our first trip last year.

With a low swell and a northerly, it was not too tricky; just a bit of tide and wind chop, and, before we knew it, we were inside the lagoon and tracking south down to our anchorage. Arabella and 42, a couple of yachts that we know were already in the anchorage. In no time, we were dropping the anchor in about 2 metres of crystal-clear water.  As we were going to be here for a month, we let out 40 metres of chain knowing that would keep us nice and secure for the duration of our stay, regardless of wind strength/direction.

Great to be back in the familiar and loved environment of Sandy Point, Warroora.