SV True North

We woke to another beautiful day in the Abrolhos Islands.  Breakfast was crepes, bacon, fruit and maple syrup. A delicious breakfast! After breakfast we jumped into the dinghy to go for a walk on Pelsaert Island. Arriving on Plesaert Island We left the dinghy beside the derelict guano jetty which is just off the right of the picture above.  Also at this location were the ruins of an old shelter and of the old tram railway used to bring bird guano from the island to the jetty for shipment to the mainland. Shelter ruins with True North moored in the background The hike took us a couple hundred metres across the island to the ocean side where we finally found crayfish (or parts thereof).  We hope to find some live ones for dinner soon! The first crayfish evidence we have discovered so far The walk continued around a pond which we thought might be fresh water.  Alas on testing it we found the water to be very salty. The pond contained seawater As we continued around the ...

Pelsaert Island day 2 The day dawned calm and warm with deep blue cloudless skies and turquoise water.  We decided to take a dinghy trip to see the large waves breaking on the reef protecting us from the ocean swells.  After loading up the dingy with a full fuel tank, spare gas, snorkelling gear and fishing gear we set out.  There was a very large shallow coral reef extending into the lagoon from the backside of the ocean reef so we were not able to get close to the ocean waves.  We continued around to the very southern end of Pelsaert Island where we landed on a beautiful looking beach.  It turned out the beach was completely made up of small shells.  I had not brought shoes so we could not walk on the beach. The beach turned out to be made of small shells A closeup of the beach Fran tossed some handfuls of shells into the air for a photo opportunity. We continued motoring around the shore and came up on a sea lion sunning itself on the beach. He was not p...

 Pelsaert Island Anchorage  We moved about 6 miles south from the Middle Island anchorage to Pelsaert Island anchorage.  The new anchorage is very similar to a large atoll with a miles long reef blocking the ocean waves on south and west sides and Pelsaert Island to the east. Pelsaert Island from our mooring The view southwest towards the reef from our mooring The weather was perfect with sun and light winds so we set off to snorkel on two of the extensive coral reefs in the atoll.  Besides admiring the reefs, we had a goal of capturing some crayfish (Australian name for lobster) for dinner.  Alas not a cray was to be seen even though we spent the last week dodging what seems like thousands of cray pot floats.  On the way back to True North, an 8 foot tiger shark casually swam past us and continued to cruise around the anchorage.  We warned a couple other boats but everyone seemed to know about the shark who apparently frequents the area.  No one ...

 Middle Island - South Abrolhos Group We arrived at the Middle Island anchorage about 09:00 and were lucky to find a boat leaving one of the two moorings.  It was blowing about 23 knots so there was a bit of struggle keeping True North still while grabbing the mooring line and cleating it off.  Once safely tied up, we had breakfast and retired for a well deserved nap. The anchorage - it you look carefully, you can see the island. When we got up around noon, we found the anchorage had filled with several other boats. Many boats arrived while we were resting The wind had died so we had a swim off the boat.  John and I spent quite a while cleaning True North’s hull.  After swimming, John and Fran took the dinghy to visit another couple they had last seen in Panama.  We had barbecued burgers cooked on the new Weber for dinner.  A very satisfying day!

 Green Head We spent the day yesterday at Green Head where we anchored in Anchorage Bay. The bay is protected by reefs just offshore which block much of the ocean wave swell. A picture of the anchorage with the waves breaking on the reef is below. Some swell still crosses the reef, especially at high tide so we roll around a bit. We took a walk on shore.  The community has built an excellent shoreline trail with lots of scenery and lookouts. If you look closely, you can see True North out by the reef at the left side of the photo. The two towers are the leads we line up to follow the lead line through the reefs when entering the anchorage. Today we will head out for an overnight passage to Middle Island in the southern Abrolhos group.  The Abrolhos Islands are offshore of Geraldton.  We should arrive after sunrise and the winds look good for our sail.

 We departed from the Fremantle Sailing Club at 08:30 and enjoyed a 12 knot Northeast wind heading out the 11 miles to Rottnest Island.  Unfortunately the wind dropped and switched to the west a couple miles before arriving at Rottnest so we had to drop the sails and motor the final distance. After anchoring, we went ashore and had a snack of meat pies and pastries at the bakery. Sustenance before our hike After our snack we took a short hike to the “blinky” Bathurst lighthouse.  There are two lighthouses on the island, one blinks and the other sweeps. Tomorrow we head continue north approximately 65 miles to Lancelin.

 Still on the dock at Fremantle Sailing Club We arrived at the Fremantle Sailing Club Friday April 7 2023 after a good sail north from Mandurah.  We docked at the fuel dock, topped up our diesel tanks and placed a call to the harbourmaster to see if they had a dock available for the night.  Jason, the harbourmaster came out to True North and told us the docks were all full but he would works something out.  Eventually we were accommodated at the shore end of the fuel dock.  We stayed on the fuel dock 2 nights and after looking at the weather reports determined that we should stay at dock for the upcoming week.  The weather showed two bouts of high winds with 5 metre swells accompanying the second blow. Jason found us a slip where we tied up True North tightly with many lines.  The forecast turned out to be accurate with winds up to 44.8 knots during the first blow and 47.4 knots during the second.  We felt very comfortable at the dock and kept bus...