A cruise south
Early November 2019, Blow Fish was launched for a cruise along the south coast of WA. Having anchored at Quindalup in Geograph Bay, we set off to round Cape Leeuwin. After bashing back and forth for a couple of days in strong winds just south west of the cape and getting nowhere we back tracked a little way to Hamlin Bay for a breather. The picture shows Blow Fish anchored in Hamlin Bay with Hamlin Island visible in the background along with a commercial fishing boat operating from the bay.
A couple of days later we made another attempt at Cape Leeuwin and rounded without problems in perfect sailing conditions. That little blob on the horizon is Cape Leeuwin. I had checked the forecast which foretold of some minor fronts associated with a low passing further south were due in a few days and we could expect 30 knot westerly winds. Since we were heading east this was likely to be helpful... so I thought. Somehow by the time we were nearing Albany, the 30 knot winds had changed into a full gale. We lay hove to about 40 miles to the south west of Albany for 24 hours. Eventually conditions moderated enough to resume sailing under heavily reduced canvas. In the big seas I actively steered Blow Fish throughout the night and the first light of dawn found us sailing past Eclipse Island as we entered King George Sound.
After two nights anchored at Whalers Beach, we moved into Johnson's Cove in Oyster Harbour where there are some public moorings available for short term stays. It was like a mill pond in there. What a luxury after all that constant movement at sea. While in Johnson's Cove the green pool toy dingy was inflated allowing a couple of trips ashore to grocery stores, and also to take on more fresh water. Later I was getting the urge to sail, so we took a brief side trip to Two peoples Bay.
Blow Fish anchored in Two People's Bay.
View from below at Two People's Bay.
Overlooking Two People's bay is Mount Many Peaks, providing a stunning vista. However, stunning as it was, not far from Two People's Bay is Waychinicup River, which is navigable for a short way in. So of course, curiosity lead to sails and anchor up once again.
Approaching Waychinicup River, and below, anchored a short way inside, just around the first bend. There is not much room in Waychinicup. Just a couple of meters astern where weedy shallows. Some have raised questions about the holding, but my plough anchor dug well in. Sailing into Waychinicup with a strong following wind was a bit intimidating, but went without a problem. To get out, there seemed two possibilities. Paddle out during a complete calm, or wait until the wind blew from the north, or at least north east, in the hope that it would be steady enough through the winding river to get us out. However, the next morning was absolutely calm, and therefore we attempted the paddling option. All ok until getting nearer the entrance where the never ending south westerly swell creates odd currents and washing machine seas. Without any breeze in the sails to steady them, I was trying to paddle while holding onto a wildly bucking Blow Fish, all the while being beaten without mercy by the boom. Well eventually we made it out, but should I be crazy enough to visit again with no engine, I will patiently wait until the wind is ready to blow us back out.
After being in Johnson's Cove for a few days a bloke came sailing past in a very nice looking carvel planked boat of classic lines. I stood in Blow Fish's hatch and had a brief conversation with said bloke while he sailed circles around us. A week or so later after having been at Two Peoples Bay and elsewhere, I once again went to Johnson's Cove. Soon after, the bloke, turns up, picks up a nearby mooring, then sculls his dinghy against a strong breeze in my direction. His name is Ian. I am invited aboard his boat, Maid Marion, for a cup of tea, and tea turns into dinner as we exchange stories and all the details of our respective boats. The next day Ian planned to sail into town and invited me to join him which is how I happened to take the picture shown here while Ian sat at the helm, very much relaxed in his beautiful boat.
It turns out Ian is a pretty popular character and he has introduced me to at least half the population of Albany. One of those people is the owner of this captivating boat named Baudin. Baudin despite having a very long history, including time as a work boat up in the Abrolhos Islands, is immaculate, and beautifully fitted. This is not surprising since Baudin's owner, Darren, is the shipwright who owns and operates Albany Shipwrights. To my great joy I was later invited for a twilight sail aboard Baudin. She is a big girl of around 18 tonnes which was most apparent when I climbed up, way up, from Blow Fish's deck onto Baudin's deck.
Maid Marion and Blow Fish crossed tracks at the entrance to Princess Royal Harbour, and this is how Blow Fish appeared from the deck of Maid Marion. Blow Fish is only carrying her main since we are not going very far and with much tacking expected this is an easy way to do some local exploring. Thanks for the picture Ian! The first I have seen of Blow Fish under sail from somewhere other than her hatch.
Once in Royal Princess Harbour we continued on to the new marina right in front of town where we tied up at the visitor's dock. It is only permitted to remain alongside for a short time, but this is very convenient for dashing into town to stock up on provisions and for hefting on board an admiralty anchor which has turned out to be the anchor of choice on the south coast.
Blow Fish anchored at scenic Whaler's Beach. It was from here we raised sail and put well out to sea bound for Esperance, just over two hundred miles to the east of Albany.
The sailing to Esperance went with ease for the first one hundred and fifty miles as the light southerly allowed us to reach along at hull speed with the exception of a few calms. However, just as I was getting excited about possibly being anchored in Esperance on Christmas Day, the wind turned east in the whee small hours of Christmas morning. That wind built, so Blow Fish took in sail, but the wind built more, so we took in more sail, etc etc, until we were copping a fair pasting. Is this the wind that the Albany locals refer to as the black easterly? Well later in the day I see on the horizon an island, named Figure Eight Island. We continued bashing and pounding and finally late in the afternoon we gained the lee of Figure Eight Island dropping the pick in thirty metres on a rode not nearly long enough for such a deep anchorage... but she held.
Another view from our Figure Eight anchorage. Now Figure Eight is not the best anchorage. Apart from being very deep with an unknown bottom (probably rock) the island is very steep to such that the considerable south west swell entering the anchorage rebounds in all directions. A washing machine anchorage! However, given the alternative was heading back out to sea to lie hove to until the wind moderated, Blow Fish and I considered Figure Eight anchorage to be a very fine Christmas Present indeed. The weather gods did seem hell bent on giving us a hard time though, as the next evening we were forced to leave due to a suspected strong westerly (and we were anchored to the west of Figure Eight). I had no access to a weather forecast, but the barometre had been falling all day and the swell had been getting bigger the whole time we were anchored. Of course being suddenly keen to leave the anchorage, I could not budge the anchor. Lucky for me Blow Fish has a lot more grunt than me and she was able to sail it out by sailing in the opposite direction to which the anchor had been set. Thanks Blow Fish!
As it turned out the westerly hit with a vengeance, and so we did spend a night hove to after all. Happily it was short lived and so at dawn the next day we were once again bound for Esperance. Finally the hook was dropped right next to the Esperance Yacht Club which is inside the Port of Esperance depicted.
Being now into the Archipelago of the Recherche, Blow Fish had much exploring to do. The archipelago extends well off shore and for well over one hundred miles of coast, so it was too much to explore everything in detail, but we took in a sample of islands and coast.
Having already anchored at figure eight island, our next island at which to drop the hook was Sandy Hook Island, and the 'sandy' part is visible in the photo.
Having already anchored at figure eight island, our next island at which to drop the hook was Sandy Hook Island, and the 'sandy' part is visible in the photo.
However, most of Sandy Hook is not sandy at all. This is another view from our anchorage.
Blow Fish next anchored in Lucky Bay. This cave was observed on the way in. As our cruise continued it became evident that these sorts of rock formations are common in the islands and coast line. I was terribly curious about the origin of these rocks and caves but haven't an ounce of geological knowledge.
Further along the coast we anchored at Hammer Head. There were some big bush fires at the time, which partly explains the haze in the sky, but there was also some nasty weather on the way, so the next day we moved around to Duke of Orleans Bay shown below. We stayed here a few days until after some strong westerly winds associated with a passing low had done their worst.
We remained at Middle Island for a few days. Middle Island is quite large compared to most in the archipelago and also unlike most includes some extensive beaches. Reportedly there is fresh water on the island which may be one of the reasons why pirate Black Jack Anderson was based here. Anderson controlled the archipelago and beyond for a period of ten years in the early 1800s before finally being knocked off by his crew.
Middle Island has been the demise of a number of ships of which some wreckage can still be seen. In the background Cape Arid is visible.
In the 1830s to 1840s the island was used for sealing and whaling activities. The ruins ashore are thought to be related to that activity.
And to complete comments regarding Middle Island, check out this pink lake just a short distance in from the beach. One walks off the beach along a track, over a large granite rock, through a thicket of scrub and trees, to finally emerge at this amazing lake. Blow Fish's visit is now recorded in the visitors book there.
After Middle Island Blow Fish commenced the homeward bound stage of her cruise anchoring in various places including this anchorage near Cape Le Grand about fifteen miles out of Esperance. Just look at that. I've heard many times that Western Australia is no good for cruising and that one really has to go to the east cost for good cruising grounds. Really!?! Well that myth suits Blow Fish. You can see here how much competition she had for the best spot in the anchorage.
Unfortunately, this idyllic anchorage was also where I just briefly received some signal on my phone long enough to get some text messages. One message from my partner said that my friend had reported me overdue to police. My jaw hit the ground. He did WHAT!?! Then I saw that there were also messages from police asking me to contact them urgently. Well to cut a long story short, we eventually got back to Esperance where I was able to start clearing up the drama. It didn't help that when Fremantle Water Police had heard from me via my partner and formally closed the case, that Esperance Police were continuing their search four days later not realising the case was closed. They eventually turned up on the beach and I was able to swim ashore and have a yarn with them. Out of the kindness of their hearts they sent the Department of Transport inspector to check my boat and make sure I was 'safe'. After tying up to Blow Fish's chainplate (yes, her chainplate, which is now bent) he asked to see my flares, which of course were out of date. I was given a stern talking to and told not to dare move Blow Fish anywhere until I had a new set of offshore flares on board, and that if he caught me doing otherwise a fine would be issued (at least he did not fine me there and then, he was relatively kind considering he was a government inspector). Well, being thoroughly annoyed about having my cruise interrupted in this fashion I went ashore, made a ten kilometre round trip on foot to a shop for flares, coughed up one hundred and eighty utterly wasted dollars, and stowed the bastards in the bilge along with a pile of other old flares. Then being thoroughly jaded with Esperance we made all ready before dark, weighed anchor at dawn, and sailed with reduced canvas into strong winds bang on the nose.
Unfortunately, this idyllic anchorage was also where I just briefly received some signal on my phone long enough to get some text messages. One message from my partner said that my friend had reported me overdue to police. My jaw hit the ground. He did WHAT!?! Then I saw that there were also messages from police asking me to contact them urgently. Well to cut a long story short, we eventually got back to Esperance where I was able to start clearing up the drama. It didn't help that when Fremantle Water Police had heard from me via my partner and formally closed the case, that Esperance Police were continuing their search four days later not realising the case was closed. They eventually turned up on the beach and I was able to swim ashore and have a yarn with them. Out of the kindness of their hearts they sent the Department of Transport inspector to check my boat and make sure I was 'safe'. After tying up to Blow Fish's chainplate (yes, her chainplate, which is now bent) he asked to see my flares, which of course were out of date. I was given a stern talking to and told not to dare move Blow Fish anywhere until I had a new set of offshore flares on board, and that if he caught me doing otherwise a fine would be issued (at least he did not fine me there and then, he was relatively kind considering he was a government inspector). Well, being thoroughly annoyed about having my cruise interrupted in this fashion I went ashore, made a ten kilometre round trip on foot to a shop for flares, coughed up one hundred and eighty utterly wasted dollars, and stowed the bastards in the bilge along with a pile of other old flares. Then being thoroughly jaded with Esperance we made all ready before dark, weighed anchor at dawn, and sailed with reduced canvas into strong winds bang on the nose.
From Esperance Blow Fish sailed to Investigator Island, a really creepy anchorage in a U-shaped island in the middle of the ocean with no other land in sight. Then we continued to Bremer Bay for a couple of days, onward to the west rounding Bald Island shown in the picture, and down into Two Peoples Bay again for a couple of days, and finally we returned to Albany. However, enough of islands and bays for a moment. Let me show you something else.
Alien visitors from another planet! Well not quite, this is Paul, another member of The Cruising Yacht Club who happens to be visiting Albany. Paul tied up astern of Blow Fish and came aboard for a cup of tea and a yarn. Now I had been feeling pretty bummed out about the whole police episode back in Esperance. Getting away from Esperance helped a bit, but having a friend come aboard for a visit really helped snap me out of my gloom. I enjoyed seeing Paul and his micro trimaran (which is available for hire, by the way).
Then the next day Ian turned up aboard Maid Marion, and he was hotly pursued by Mauice in his highly modified Etchell 30.
Some people think that my choice of anchors for Blow Fish are a bit overly big, but one never knows when there will unexpectedly be two thirty something foot boats tied up behind one's seventeen and a quarter foot boat. Blow Fish's twelve kilo admiralty held all three of us without dragging while we all convened on Maid Marion (centre boat) for a cup of tea. Ok, this was fun and these guys are great company. I was really starting to get back into the cruising frame of mind now. Maurice is a retired rigger, and owner of lots of sailing boats. He was interested in the details of Blow Fish and said many nice things about her. He even made comments of approval regarding her fully served synthetic standing rig... what a compliment! Thanks Maurice.
After a good yarn and Maurice's inspection of Blow Fish, Blow Fish's visitors got up sail and headed off. This picture shows Maurice's modified Etchell 30 having just let go from Maid Marion and beginning to get sail up. Notice she has a cabin, and a Navik self steering gear astern. Maurice sailed this boat from Bunbury to Albany, and like Blow Fish, also encountered gale force winds along the way. Unlike Blow Fish, who hove to, Maurice kept his boat sailing right throughout the gale.
Blow Fish wore her ensign on Australia Day while anchored at Geake Point in Princess Royal Harbour (near Camp Quaranup). The photo below shows the view of Port of Albany from the same location.
Eventually it was time to leave Albany continuing West. Blow Fish anchored at Torbay Head, which proved to be an ok anchorage, and from there sailed for Chatham Island. Chatham Island, however, turned out to be a terrible place to anchor in strong easterly winds and south westerly swell. Having sailed right in close with jib pulled down, all halyards ready to run, fore hatch dogs released, and anchor free of its lashings, we were obliged to once again make all ready for sea. About this time the wind was really picking up and we'd no sooner got the second reef in when it was time to get in a third. We sailed bound for Cape Leeuwin, but made only ten miles before heaving to and taking a break. Next day we made good progress, but the wind and seas were still building. Only five miles short of rounding the cape Blow Fish was pretty much out of control and needed to either reduce sail further, which would mean dropping the main entirely, or to heave to. At this point the GPS receiver recorded her surfing at 10.5 knots! I finally accepted that today was not the day we would round the cape and hove to. Blow Fish shivered from stem to stern in the gale force wind. Fortunately the winds were short lived and by the wee small hours it had dropped back down to around 30 knots, so we began sailing, and finally anchored back in Hamlin Bay.
In Hamlin Bay we met some of the locals, including professional cray fisherman Graeme (centre), and his deckie Rocky (right). Rocky has spent much of his life as an abalone diver, a risky occupation in which he has had some close shaves with monsters of the deep. The bloke to the left is Gerard who runs a shoreside tourist accommodation business. The picture is aboard Graeme's boat 'Boranup Beach' and the first cray pot for the day is about to come aboard. Rocky stands by to run the cray pot line around the capstan winch.
Gerard displays a sample of the many crays pulled on this day.
For the few days Blow Fish remained in Hamlin Bay I was treated to more crayfish than I have eaten in the whole rest of my life, and being of generous disposition Graeme even cooked some of them for me!
It was seriously tempting to stay in Hamlin Bay for ever... but I am not really a stay in one place kind of person, so, onwards, to the North.
For the few days Blow Fish remained in Hamlin Bay I was treated to more crayfish than I have eaten in the whole rest of my life, and being of generous disposition Graeme even cooked some of them for me!
It was seriously tempting to stay in Hamlin Bay for ever... but I am not really a stay in one place kind of person, so, onwards, to the North.
The sail up the coast was mostly pleasant, though a front did overtake us before getting around Cape Naturaliste. The final two hours getting around the cape and beating into Bunker Bay was done in 37 knots of wind and with rain squalls just to add to the enjoyment. Bunker Bay proved a rather rolly anchorage and after a couple of days we sailed a bit further to Quindalup shown in this picture. Quindalup is a popular anchorage. Many of the boats shown in the picture have cruising folk living on board and dinghys are coming and going between boats and the beach all day. Evenings generally see many people out on deck, including me lounging around on Blow Fish's cabin top with boom for a backrest. A nice place to enjoy dinner and a cup of tea, or occasionally something a little more potent (but for some reason the rum is always gone).
We made the final sail for this cruise from Quindalup direct to Mangles Bay which took just over 24 hours. Once we finally had some wind (we sat becalmed for hours soon after weighing anchor) we had a fair wind all the way. The photo shows the approach from the south towards the bridge connecting Garden Island to the mainland. The naval base is just north of the bridge to port, and Mangles Bay (where lies TCYC) is just north of the bridge to starboard. Fortunately there is plenty of clearance under the bridge for small to moderately sized sailing vessels.
Having anchored at the boat ramp and waded ashore to fetch the club tractor and Blow Fish's jinker, I found awaiting us, an out of action tractor. Those who have read my commentary from Blow Fish's Geraldton cruise may notice what appears to be a disturbing trend developing with the end of our cruises.
Fortunately, one of the other club members kindly offered to help us with his Land Cruiser. I was skeptical that the vehicle would have enough grunt, but as it turned out the Land Cruiser seemed to manage the job rather more easily than the Massey. When choosing a design to build, one of my criteria was the potential to tow the boat with a normal sized car. The silver lining to this haul out experience is that I now see for certain that with a decent road trailer, Blow Fish is small and light enough to be easily towed. The only barrier present would be the need to make the rig easier to lower, but that doesn't seem too problematic. An on board A-frame for lifting the mast would be the main requirement.
Fortunately, one of the other club members kindly offered to help us with his Land Cruiser. I was skeptical that the vehicle would have enough grunt, but as it turned out the Land Cruiser seemed to manage the job rather more easily than the Massey. When choosing a design to build, one of my criteria was the potential to tow the boat with a normal sized car. The silver lining to this haul out experience is that I now see for certain that with a decent road trailer, Blow Fish is small and light enough to be easily towed. The only barrier present would be the need to make the rig easier to lower, but that doesn't seem too problematic. An on board A-frame for lifting the mast would be the main requirement.
The end of a cruise is a good time to reflect on what worked and what didn't. The photo shows Blow Fish and I anchored in Bunker Bay doing some reflecting...
Blow Fish has continued to prove herself an exceptionally seaworthy design. She lay hove to in a full gale for 24hrs in the vicinity of Albany. There were several occasions in which she sailed during winds in the mid to high thirties, and was still able to make useful progress to windward. I have no regrets about having beefed up her mast scantlings from approximately 83mm specified in the design to around 95mm. I would definitely recommend the heavier mast (she could tolerate an even heavier mast section, say 105mm) to anyone building with high latitudes in mind. There are three reefs in the main and I am undecided as to whether a fourth reef would be worth the disadvantage of the additional rigging required to use it. Certainly she could have done with less sail up at times.
The space below has been quite adequate for comfortable living for this three and a half month cruise, and I would have had no hesitation to remain aboard for the entire year were it not for shoreside commitments. Of course what constitutes adequate space is a subjective matter, so future builders will have to decide for themselves how small a boat they can be happy with. Blow Fish has come nowhere near to being loaded to capacity and could easily take in a lot more provisions that what we carried. Additional water tanks are on the projects list. We had plenty of water for this cruise, but if she can carry more that gives us even more potential to remain at sea for lengthy periods, so there is no harm in building in additional tanks.
Some kind of dink is really a necessity for longer cruises, particularly if one wants to avoid marinas. This presents quite a tricky problem on very small cruisers. Blow Fish carried a cheap inflatable dinghy such as might be used for a pool toy. It was awful to row or paddle, and not surprisingly was soon shredded beyond repair on the beaches around Albany. Getting ashore thereafter required swimming. A bit tricky for getting provisions aboard, or a set of dry clothes ashore... not to mention those swimmy bighty things one hopes never to encounter while in the water. The cheap inflatable showed that inflatables are an ok option which stow very compactly, but obviously need to be much more durable than what Blow Fish carried. The dink dilemma is on the projects list to be completed before the next cruise.
Blow Fish makes fast passages. Given plenty of fair winds with no calms, Blow Fish will consistently make well more than 100 miles a day. In areas where one might encounter calms for a few hours she might still make 90. For day sailing we managed on several occasions to cover 65 miles starting at dawn and dropping the pick before night fall when the wind was fair. 30 miles is about the limit for day sailing if the passage is primarily to windward.
For thrill seekers, it turns out that Blow Fish will get up and surf, perhaps a bit more easily than I would like, though having an exaggerated drag to her keel, as well as a large rudder, she has so far only displayed slight inclination to broach which has been controllable to date. Doing this deliberately is not good seamanship, but it is nice to know she is forgiving in such conditions. Of course dropping the main entirely would slow her down as well as moving the centre of effort forward which would allow her to run in even bigger seas than she has so far encountered, and which hopefully will never be put to the test, at least not by this sailor.
Finally, this cruise saw Blow Fish at anchor in many places with very heavy weed coverage over limestone, weed over sand so compact it may as well have been rock, rock, shallow anchorages, rough anchorages, very deep anchorages, and so on. Sometimes she needed to be on a short scope. Most of the time she used a 12kg (about 26 pounds) admiralty anchor, which is the biggest she can easily carry. Her rode was 7m of 8mm chain, and the rest 12mm nylon three strand. She did not drag at all in any anchorage, despite anchoring in some appalling conditions. I dived on the anchor whenever the opportunity presented and found it always well set when a reasonable load had been applied by wind and wave action. On the south coast of WA, anchorages with sandy areas are extremely rare. If you plan to cruise on this coast, an admiralty anchor is recommended.