Photos from Shark Bay

Limited internet and phone access at Steep Point prevented loading photos, so while we are in Carnarvon I'm loading a few.

 

One day the crews of Basanti and Tigress Too decided a walk to the lighthouse was in order.  Got us all off boats and exercising.  There are plenty of sand tracks to walk along, and we went up and down for hours before finally reaching the lighthouse.  What a disappointing little lighthouse...what a lonely little thing.

 

 The scenery was nice, brilliant blue ocean and bay and even spotted a few roos near the cliffs.

 We thought we'd never get here.

 

After the storms and big winds, we headed to Denham (written about in previous posts) and caught some fish!  Go Phil...yum!

 

Chris has to deal with the killing and filleting once Phil catches one.

 Once in Carnarvon is was time to relax.

 One day we went out to see the Museum of space and technology.  In the 1960's NASA had a tracking station here (just outside of Carnarvon).  It was a pretty large facility but shut down in the '80's and now becoming a museum.

 There are still a few huge antennae around the facility.

 

The weather is looking good next week for us to sail further along to the north.  We'll keep you posted.  Is anyone out there actually reading this??

Shark Bay

We finally have some phone coverage!  No fancy internet connection, but at least I can write a little update.

From Two Rocks we had two full days of sailing, including an overnight stop in Lancelin, to Jurien Bay which was another nice little town on the WA coast.  The humans explored the town a little and I kept track of things at the marina.

After a few days we had a window of reasonable weather for our sail up to Shark Bay.  Tuesday night we had a nice roast chicken dinner on board and we departed on a Wednesday morning after breakfast.  The conditions weren't too bad although there was consistently more wind than forecast.  We didn't carry too much sail as we didn't want to go around Steep Point in the dark, so slowing ourselves down was the trick...quite a different mentality to racing.

About 48 hours of sailing brought us to Steep Point and once across the little bar we were pretty happy sailors to see the beautiful flat blue waters in Shark Bay.  The only trouble we had on the trip up was a little encounter with a cray pot.

We really enjoyed relaxing for a few days.  The time we spent preparing Basanti in Fremantle was so busy and stressful.  Never seemed to be enough time to get everything done (and we didn't!) or see everyone we wanted to see before our departure.  We have actually managed to get a lot of the little jobs done on our trip north and test out all our new equipment.  So far, we have greatly appreciated all the changes we made to Basanti...the water maker is a real treat, but so is having all the wind and solar power to run everything with, and I could go on about the wonderful extras to the boat, but I won't.  Suffice to say, getting all that salt and stuff out of my fur is much easier than I'd anticipated.

Shark Bay is a pretty remote place.  We were anchored near a national park where folks come and set up a fishing camp for a week or so on the beach.  There is no power, water or rubbish disposal/collection.  If you walk to the top of one of the hills, you can occasionally pick up some phone coverage with Telstra, so we were pretty out of touch for the 10 days we were there.  Of course our friends on Tigress Too were anchored nearby and we hiked around the park to the lighthouse, the cliffs and up and down countless hills.  We'd occasionally talk to the fishermen and try and glean some info about where to catch something good, and one day we went to the rangers house.  Swimming didn't seem as popular with Chris as usual.  One morning a sea snake popped up right behind Basanti, and then all those sharks...the only swimming that happened was right off the beach.

Sunday night we had visitors.  How odd, to anchor in this remote location and actually run across folks you know.  Actually, not so odd.  Earlier this year was the Fremantle to Bali race and some of the boats are returning now to Fremantle, and some never quite got to Bali.  Walk on the Wildside anchored just off our stern, so we invited Garth and the delivery crew over for a pasta dinner.  They appreciated the hot food as much as we appreciated the news and gossip from Fremantle and our sailing community.  Poor Wildside lost her mast on the way to Bali.  Apparently the Longboat

We were thinking of going over to Dirk Hartog Island when the weather changed...we had thunderstorms for a couple of days and then the high winds set in for several more days.  The wind was just relentless...we were making so much power on Basanti we ran our water maker just to use some of it some days.  Finally, on Monday came a break in the wind and we were able to sail up to Denham.  It was time to find a few fresh tomatoes and things, as in the three weeks since we left Fremantle we've used most of our fresh things up.  On the way to Denham we were surprised to finally catch a nice big fish!!  A mackerel.  We had delicious fish burgers for lunch and Tuesday night had fish curry.  Jean, on Tigress Too, also had some luck with the fishing and Monday night we all had freshly caught dinner aboard Tigress Too.  Yum.

Not going to try and upload any photos now, so you'll have to wait for the photographic proof of the fish and of course of the cakes and things we've been making.  Hope to be in touch a bit more now that we've move on from Steep Point.

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.

LIfe in Fremantle

Just thought we'd check in...

I've managed to escape the polishing by promising to update the blog.  I also thought that if I sat close to the bar, someone would take pity on a poor and dirty bear and provide alcoholic beverage.  No luck thus far.

Perth has such terrific weather.  I mentioned this in our previous post, but every day is so pleasant here.  Obviously if you are a plant, you'd be best adapted to longish periods of drought, but the sun just keeps on shining.  Yesterday we went to Dwellingup to find a few more things in the shed and give the young fruit trees a drink.  It hasn't rained since we've been home, just over a month now.

Speaking of plants, Chris is attempting to garden on Basanti.  Not the Bonsai this time, he is being well looked after by Phil's mum.  We now have basil, corriander, dill and parsley growing, and the basil is doing so well that it is a frequent addition to our meals.  Perhaps she should try something really useful, like grapes or sugar cane.

We are still all in a state of shock at Perth prices.  A couple of friends from Melbourne visited this week, and they too commented on how expensive everything is here.  Much to my chagrin, Chris and Phil are limiting my red wine consumption...citing not only a few embarassing incidents with a tipsy bear, but the cost of my favourite vice as well.  Gone are the good old days...

We have spent a couple of weeks over at Rottnest Island which is just brilliant.  Crystal clear water, lots of sun (of course) and some like minded friends made for interesting morning teas, animated happy hours and some intense card games late into the evenings.  We are really happy to be back on our boat.  Thought I had some photos but they seem to be currently unavailable...will have to add them at a later time.

I was going to finish off this post with some examples of Perth prices for things, but maybe I should compile a better list...or maybe I just shouldn't.  Don't want to discourage visitors...

Return to Fremantle

By this time you probably know that we made our way back to Fremantle on January 11.

What an epic adventure we've had in the US and a little bit of Canada thrown in as well.  We drove 34,000 miles through 38 states and 2 provinces and I am so glad we posted this blog if for no other reason than having an ongoing pictoral record of our many activities.

Since our previous post in December, we spent Christmas with friends and family in Florida.  Next we drove up to Annapolis, Maryland and stayed in our friend's beach house which was a real treat.  We celebrated the New Year with family and friends there and then headed back to Culpeper, Virginia.

Our last week in Culpeper was hectic.  We were trying to sell our lovely RV, phone or visit people for last minute catch ups and pack all our things for the flights home.  Where did all that stuff come from??!   When we were packed up and ready to fly home in June 2012, our four checked bags were all under 50 lbs each (50 lbs or 23 kg is the limit).  This time we had two additional bags and when we first weighed them all, several needed lightening.  Believe it or not, we even left quite a bit of stuff behind, kindly being stored by Pat.  There seemed to be some questions regarding me!  Was I even going to be included in the trip home??  Eventually they stuffed me into my little bag with some cutlery and odd items and honestly, I guess I was kind of relieved.  Uncomfortable as hell, but relieved.

At Dulles airport, we loaded our 6 bags totalling 300 lbs (138 kg) of checked baggage onto the scale at the Emirates check in.  Chris explained to the ticketing agent that we had some difficulty choosing our seats (economy) on the website.  When we were through with all the formalities, and she handed our boarding passes to us, she'd upgraded Phil and Chris to Business Class for the flight from Washington DC to Dubai.  Thirteen hours of pure bliss...pass the Moet please. 

We arrived at Perth airport and artfully arranged all those bags in the small rental car and then drove to our boat, Basanti.  Good to be home...really nice in fact.  Fremantle is blessed with awesome weather...hot, sunny and dry and we are lapping it up.  We've caught up with so many friends and family.  We spent a couple of days with family near Busselton and we've sailed over to Rottnest Island for week.

Basanti was surprisingly clean and tidy but needs some TLC.  Already we've spent hours polishing stainless steel, varnishing, cleaning out storage lockers and polishing the deck and topsides, but now she is looking sharp and when she gets her new dodger and mainsail cover fitted she'll glow.  We'll keep you all up to date on our plans and our next adventure.

It has taken me a while to recover from my remarkably uncomfortable flights home.  I seemed to have a fork digging into my thigh most of the time and someones huge Samsonite settled on my neck there in the baggage section.  Glad Phil and Chris enjoyed their fully reclining seats, pillows and mattresses for 13 hours.  I have a few more posts from our last travels along the east coast of the US, and if they ever stop using me to polish the boat, I'll get those done.