Looking for the weather windows along the coast

Those photos in the previous post surely turned out weird.  If Phil and Chris take me somewhere with a good internet connection perhaps I can fix them.  Today I won't try to deal with photos...just a little update.

Two Rocks was an enjoyable stop, but we had a little window of sailing weather so we departed Two Rocks on Friday morning and had a fairly uncomfortable sail up to Lancelin.  We anchored just behind the little island at Lancelin for the night and it was so rolly we were happy to depart early Saturday and sail north.  We arrived in the little marina at Jurien Bay in the late afternoon on Saturday...just in time to catch a lift into the pub for dinner with our friends from Tigress Too.

Sunday was sunny and very pleasant...the calm before the storm and we got a number of jobs done on the boat before the winds and rain arrived that night.  Monday was a rainy day but we intrepid yachties walked into town for fish and chips and a couple of errands.  Today, Tuesday, the weather was sunny and warm again, so we'll head out and continue north again tomorrow.  We plan to make the approximately 260 mile sail up to Steep Point.  Sadly, we'll miss catching some fish at the Abrolhos Islands, but we've been told to throw a lure in the water north of Geraldton.  Hopefully in my next post I can sort out the photography problems AND post a photo of a recently landed fish.  Talk to you later...Buster.

Underway...cruising begins

The months of preparations finally culminated in a quiet departure from Fremantle Sailing Club on Sunday afternoon and a leisurely motor sail up to Hillarys Marina.  We took a few photos for the archives and started to work out some of the new electronic goodies on board. 

 

We took turns at the wheel before engaging our autopilot which we had to learn how to do through the new plotter at the helm.

Wonder when we'll see this landmark again??

Phil has made a Lumberjack cake already which we enjoyed with our cruising buddies aboard Tigress Too.

We spent a couple of nights enjoying the hospitality of Hillarys Yacht Club, where they have great views and good happy hour prices in the club bar.

Tuesday morning the weather was perfect for a sail.  We departed HYC and sailed up to Two Rocks Marina in perfect conditions.  Once again the crews of Basanti and Tigress Too explored the little town for a couple of days while we wait for the weather to take us north.  Boat jobs keep us busy for part of the days, walks and reading occupy a bit more and we've enjoyed happy hours, cards and a few meals with our friends from Tigress Too.

Note:  I'm having some problems with the photo uploads and will check again (another day) to see if they are here.  Be patient...Buster is out of practice.

Preparations for our next adventure

Hello again!  Phil and Chris have been keen for me to do some work on the blog, but life has been very busy and chaotic lately.  New cruising equipment has been added to Basanti, the boat has been out of the water for new bottom paint and a few thru hull fittings and things were really stressful for a while.

Chris painted the propeller and polished the hull.

Phil doing some wiring for our wind generator.

Lots and lots of work has been done on the boat, the crew are all fairly exhausted and ready to sail away.  Last week the weather was terrible...not at all suitable for cruising, so we had a few extra days to do some last minute jobs and shopping.  We still probably don't have everything, but Basanti is full.  Today we have a break in the weather and plan to sail up to another marina north of the city for tonight.

We hope to ease ourselves into the cruising lifestyle with some daysails up the coast, but the weather has to cooperate and we'll try and let everyone know where we are when we can get internet.

Ready or not...here we go.