Our trips to the Gascoynes and Pilbara so often prove to be a battle with the weather. This year, we have endured both rain and wind, with very few days when the winds have dropped to pleasant levels. We seem to spend much of the day huddled inside the yacht, outside being too bleak to soak up any sunshine. Neither it is just us. Everywhere we go, the locals are also complaining about the temperatures and the radio reports things like frost in Newman and 6 degrees in Broome.The plus side is that the country is green. In the case of the Shark Bay area, I don’t think I have ever seen it better. Despite this, we drove all the way from the Murchison River to Exmouth and didn’t see ANY livestock until a flock of sheep near Learmonth. I guess the stations were so dry before this year they had de-stocked and haven’t got back up to speed yet.
We managed a 9 day sail out of Denham, going North to Cape Lesueur then across Denham Sound to Dirk Hartog Island. After a couple of lovely days, we had to hole up in a sheltered anchorage to hide from the wind and rain. This was followed by more strong winds. We managed to inch our way along the island and eventually work our way back to Denham. In typical fashion, the weather had turned idyllic as we hauled the boat out of the water but after 9 days we needed to restock on a few supplies anyway.
I can’t say we went hungry out in the boat. The fish turned it on as usual, we found some lovely fresh oysters along the way and even managed a little bit of crab. Christine has perfected the art of bread making on board, using a Coleman stove-top oven. The good thing is that the physical work involved with sailing uses up all the calories and a few more.
From Denham, we stopped in a Hamelin Telegraph Station for a night. Having not been there since 1979 when it was still a working Post Office, I was thrilled to see the way in which the old buildings have been preserved. It is hard to believe the place dates from 1884 and I suspect that the high calcium levels in the surrounds have somehow preserved the timbers. We found the old water-cooled shade-house that we sat in on a hot February day with John Sellanger and Derek Blackman. It had walls made of two layers of chicken wire, filled with tamarisk tree needles, and drip fed with bore water. The whole effect was amazing. It still existed, although it needed some more tamarisk needle packing to restore it. We explained to the maintenance guy how it worked and he appeared keen to take it on as a project. We had a wonderful tour of the old telegraph station itself and even went and said “hello” to the stromatolites. They seemed to accept us as living fossils.
At Exmouth, we gave up on the weather, there being no apparent end to the howling Easterlies. We had exactly the same experience in 2009 and found the same solution. We left and drove East (into the wind) to Point Samson and set up in the delightful Cove Caravan Park. This is relatively new and is very well appointed.At Point Samson, we did managed a 3 day sail, exploring Delambre Island, Port Robinson, Port Walcott and Dixon Island. The seas around here can be much bigger than we are used to, the huge tidal surges pushing up some large swells and generating some ugly waters at times. At other times, when the tide is lower and in the lee of an island, the corals and life in the water makes it worthwhile.
Delambre is a beautiful place, full of nesting turtles, corals, oysters and fish. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset in glassy calm conditions, later drying out totally as the tide fell. We even talked about staying for 3 or 4 days in paradise. By 11pm, the tide was in, all 5 metres of it, and the tidal flow held us broadside to the swell. We rolled terribly. Sleep was impossible. Even moving around the boat was a chore. This lasted about 4 hours until the tide had fallen again so at least by morning, we were calm again, if not tired. Another couple in a similar sized yacht had elected to anchor out on a mooring so they just rolled all night. We stayed around for the morning fishing before sailing back to the mainland and the shelter of Port Robinson for a much better night’s sleep. With yet another strong wind warning in sight, we headed in early. The sail back was comfortable, although keeping well clear of the shipping around Cape Lambert kept us vigilant. The work boats and tugs in this part of the World seem to delight in running down recreational vessels and the bow wave from an ocean going tug is not to be laughed at.
From here, it is on to Broome to store Sandpiper for a while and a spot of work (there’s that word) in One Arm Point.
The next week was incredible. Given that we had given up on sailing in Exmouth Gulf on our way North 3 months earlier, the week that followed of almost no wind was an amazing contrast. We sailed and motored approximatley 20 nautical miles across the Gulf to the Eastern side and explored the many islands making up the Rivoli group. These are mostly coral atolls and abound in fishing, snorkelling and beach combing opportunities. We ate like kings from the sea and enjoyed some wonderful snorkelling over some of the best coral we have encountered anywhere. Ningaloo Reef, Whale Sharks and big game fishing seems to get all the publicity up this way but the unheralded champion is Exmouth Gulf itself. It is a paradise.
We followed the Eastern coastline South then crossed the Gulf again to the well-named Bay of Rest, a large mangrove inlet that provides excellent protection against almost any breeze. One evening, while walking the tidal pools, I came across the biggest mud crab I’d yet seen. It was destined for the pot and fed us for two meals.
The humpback whales amused us during most sails we had in the Gulf. We saw them performing full breaches, where they leap from the water and crash down, apparently to rid themselves of parasites. At other times, they would swim on their sides and flap a fin across the water, throwing spray everywhere. Some show-offs preferred to stand on their head and “tail slap” the water, making a gunshot sound that could be heard for 3 or 4 miles away. We generally kept a bit of distance but one pod came within 150m and put on a fantastic display for us.
We spent 6 nights in the Dampier Archipelago, visiting a myriad of islands and secluded coves. The Archipelago is extensive and we really only explored the Western half, sailing out as far as Rosemary Island to the North. We experienced dead calms, fresh breezes and all points in between. Only one day was overall too windy to sail much and even that was spent in a wonderful bay that saw us catch plenty of fish and squid. The beauty of the area is somewhat spoilt by the profusion of ships in the area. A great many of the vessels are strange looking beasts, straight out of some futuristic movie. They no doubt service some aspect of the off-shore oil and gas fields but we could only speculate on the exact purpose they serve.
There are many wonderful bays out amongst the islands. Some of these harbour “beach shacks”, elaborate affairs with lots of rubber matting pathways, incredibly creative out-houses and decorated with lots of seashells, floats and bits of old rope. We got to see some of these get-ways in action because we were sailing over the June long weekend and the Karratha locals came out in force to frolic on the clear sands, consume the amounts of alcohol that the Pilbara demands of people and show off the sort of boats only mine workers can afford. It was heartening to see so many people having so much fun that was inclusive of the whole family unit.
We spent 3 weeks working at Derby District High School. I was a fill-in administrator because they were going through a period with numerous absences from the administration team. I took on responsibility for overseeing the Primary School Reporting process, despite the fact that it was only last December that I swore to myself that I would never again have to do reporting. Christine worked as a paid teacher about half the time. The other half, we worked together on our “2 for the price of one” deal. Christine found herself out at Birdwood Downs station on a couple of Thursdays with a group of senior high school boys who are doing a TAFE course on horse management and general cattle station duties. It seemed to be hard work but she enjoyed the experience. I got to drive a bus load of Year 2,3 and 4 students to Broome to tour Malcolm Douglas’s Croc Farm. The speed and power of the huge beasts he looks after is awesome and very scary. They seem to delight in chewing up the large black plastic floats the workers throw at them.
Eventually, we pulled the boat out of the water and headed off North, stopping overnight at Bush Bay, about 40 km South of Carnarvon. Then it was on to Exmouth, where we settled in to a caravan park for a few days. Depending on the weather, we will stay on land for a bit then head out and do some motor sailing. It still looks like the main sail is 4 or 5 days away so we may have to do without for a while.
pushed on, resigned to even worse fuel economy than usual without the overdrive. The other point of interest was the price of supplies at Nanutarra. Fuel was a disgusting $1.75 a litre. We decided to make life easy and buy some lunch but when we saw that a basic ham sandwich was $6.50 we backed off and ate nuts and Cruskits as we drove. On reaching Cleaverville, we found that our favourite camp site was vacant so we set up in wonderful calm balmy conditions. The flies proved numerous so we set up the full annex and extra shade enclosure. As the sun set, the flies went to bed and the sandflies emerged in force. By the time we realised they had arrived, we were both badly bitten. Life here will mean a strict regimen of “Rid” and “Aerogard”.
On Saturday the wind had dropped right away so we headed out to sea towards a nearby island. It proved to be surrounded by some beautiful reef and spectacular corals. Drifting across it, I soon hooked up a nice blue lined emperor. as it came to the surface, two large cod appeared behind it. One grabbed the emperor but couldn’t quite fit the whole thing in its mouth. I wrenched it back and decided that I’d take the emperor for tea rather than try to wrestle with the cod. I got a good sized flag to go with it and lost a couple of terrific fish before the wind sprung up and we headed back to the safety of the creek. We had a wonderful meal of snapper that night. The crabbing is really poor at present. We got one huge mud crab in our first effort but that has been it. We cooked it by just laying it in the hot coals, producing the very best crab I have ever tasted.
Tuesday 15 May 2007
This was Whale Shark Day. The trip it self was OK, with a 60′ boat taking off from Tantabiddi, stopping for a snorkel on some lovely corals with lots of fish in residence before wandering outside the reef to meander up and down waiting for a whale shark to appear. It actually took from 10am to 2:30pm to conjure up the right beast and when we came across it we had to wait our turn as four other boats loaded with divers annoyed, harassed and befuddled the poor creature. It was only a small shark at around 3.5metres (they grow to 17 metres) but it was worth seeing. Once the shark is found, all the passengers don fins and mask (having spent most of the day in wetsuits in anticipation) while the boat races into position alongside but slightly in front of the whale shark.
On command, everyone jumps in and immediately struggles to keep up with the “Dive Master” who races off pointing to the shark. Everyone is very mindful of the briefing commands about not touching the animal or getting in front of it. Unfortunately, the whale shark was not present for the briefing and it frequently changes direction, causing the poor swimmers to scatter before it.
Despite the chaos, everyone got a great view of this magnificent creature, surrounded by an attendant army of remoras, pilot fish and small trevally. We managed four swims with the shark before it finally sounded for good. All in all, an experience worth having.
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