Sailing around Australia; Role playing

10/1/2014; Role Playing

Since there have been species on the earth, the different genders of each has had natural or instinctive roles that they fill.

For humans, it is usually the male that does the hunting and providing, the female usually does the nurturing and communal.

On our boat we have the usual type roles. Mine include watching the weather, navigating and looking after the mechanical side of things, where Leanne does things like food, is the safety officer and keeps the inside sorted.

Where we tend to go against the usual though, is when it comes to fishing. Leanne does 99% of the fishing on our boat. This is mainly because, as she often reminds me, her dad Geoff was in the Bunbury Angling club and when Leanne was an early teen they often used to go away with this club on fishing weekends.

I can only imagine Geoff’s delight when I started dating Leanne and he found out that I am not a fisherman at all. In fact, when I did go out with Geoff in his dinghy to the Bunbury Estuary it was probably only the second time I had been fishing and definitely the first time in a boat.  While Geoff casually reeled in a few whiting, I spent most of my time get a Blowie off my line and then trying to get Geoff’s best hand line untangled from around my feet.  At least I didn’t use too much of Geoff’s bait.

The best thing about Leanne doing the fishing is the mass excitement and the victory celebration she puts on when she actually does catch one. Leanne would put any soccer player to shame and boy, do they know how to celebrate when they score a goal. Leanne starts of with a high pitched shriek of “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” This is followed up with a couple of dozen yells of “YES!”. Then there is a little twirl or sort of a jig four or five times around in a little circle. Next is the “Steve, get the camera, get camera” and several photo’s are taken at different angles and poses to see which one makes the fish look biggest.

Next step in the celebration is to get on the phone to her dad, and her sister Sue. Once that is done it’s straight on to Facebook.

The last part of her ritual and perhaps the most curious, is when Leanne is gutting and filleting the fish, she apologises  to the fish over and over as she works.

Unfortunately on our trip Leanne hasn’t had as much luck with the fishing, but I am sure you all know that otherwise you would have got the emails.

To complete the role reversal I tried my hand at cooking. I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Brownie. In fact, as Leanne is feeling the benefits of being gluten free these were gluten free chocolate brownies.

I thought it would be handy to have them, in the fridge ready for the next long passage of our voyage.

Two things indicated that I had done all right. 1; was that it was all gone by the time we left the anchorage and 2; my mother in law, Betty, asked Leanne for the recipe.

Now Betty is a terrific cook, so to have her ask for my chocolate brownie recipe was high praise indeed. Recipes are carefully crafted and handed down to a select few, they are not really the sort of thing you give away willy nilly.

As it was my mother in law though and to keep the peace, I reluctantly handed it over.

As you are dedicated readers of my blog, I think I will offer you a reward too. I will divulge to you my special Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie recipe. But please keep it to yourself, we don’t want just everyone to know.

Steve’s Gluten free Brownies Recipe; Step 1 Go to Woolies, buy a box of Gluten Free Brownie Mix, 2 eggs and some butter.  Take it home, Open the box carefully, taking out the 2 packets. Melt the contents of packet A with the butter. Combine the eggs into the melted mixture along with the contents of Packet B. Cook in the oven for about ½ hour on 165 degrees. 

One of the other roles that Leanne has taken on onboard our boat is men’s Hairdresser. She suggested that I needed a “tidy up” and dragged out the hair trimmers. Unfortunately I had nowhere to hide so reluctantly agreed to a trim with the highest number trimmer a number 6. I know now that the awesome owner and the terrific girls at HOW SHIQUE Hair Studio in Bunbury have nothing to worry about.

It was a very windy day, so I sat out on the back of the boat in the wind so that the little bit of hair trimmed off would not get stuck to the white boat, while Leanne prepared. It wasn’t long before great wads of hair were landing all around me. I asked Leanne how much she was taking off but was told to shut up and hold still. Fearful of losing the lot, I asked again, Leanne huffed, then stopped and said "Oh my god, this is the number 2 not the number 6". Fortunately this means that I probably won’t need another haircut for at least six months. Fortunately also, is that it will probably take us that long to clean all my hair off the boat.  Unfortunately, my other sailing companions are now calling me Chopper, although I do still have my ears… I think.

Will the real Chopper Read please stand up...

Sailing Around Australia; What's in a Name?

8^th Jan 2014  What’s in a Name

Just arrived in Hopetoun on

our sailing around Australia adventure. Hopetoun is a  better named place than our last port of call, Doubtful Bay.

After crossing Bremer Bay to Peppermint Beach, in search of more protection from expected north easterlies, then sitting out hose winds for a day and a half we all turned our attention to the next port of call.

From the outset we were doubtful about the weather forecast that predicted  the north easterlies would drop off ready for a strong south westerly change in the early afternoon. What to do? The forecast promised us a few hours to get anchors up and travel the 10 or so nautical miles to a new anchorage at the dubiously named Doubtful bay.

We had a radio meeting, as the wind was far too strong to consider going anywhere by dinghy.

I thought that as there would not be enough time to get resettled any where else during the wind change, that we might be better off to stay where we were. Zofia’s crew, had decided that they would run the gauntlet of the wind change and Urchin had considered going back to John Cove on the other side of Bremer Bay, as we had been quite cosy in there during a south westerly wind.

This lead to a half hour or so of radio silence while various thoughts, ideas and strategies were cast about on Easy Tiger and I dare say, the other boats. Leanne made it clear that she was in favour of moving around to Doubtful Bay, but I was still, well, doubtful.

We referred to the Western Australian Cruising guide, re-reading the description of Doubtful Bay as a good anchorage in southwest winds. When we studied our compass (the right way around this time) it looked highly likely that we would be unprotected from the 20 to 30 knot southwesters predicted if we stayed put.

So we broke the radio silence to inform the other two boats of our decision to head to the new anchorage and found they had reached the same conclusion. it was agreed that when the northerlies die down enough to get our anchors up we will hoof it round to Doubtful bay in the morning.

Next morning around 8am, all felt the wind have abated enough to move. I was a little doubtful as to whether we had jumped the gun a bit, but knew we wouldn’t find out until around the point or headland to get a true indication of the conditions.

Luckily, the other boats left the anchorage first, as our anchor witch set Leanne and I off at each other once again. Yes that’s right it’s and anchor witch not switch or winch, because it’s performance casts a spell over the rest of our day.

Then we found out about the conditions. 3metre, steep swells off one bow and 20 knots of wind off the other bow. Yuck. It wasn’t long before Eva on Zofia fought her way down below to their radio. They were turning back. They would head for John Cove on the other side of Bremer Bay. Urchin crew suggested going back to where we started at peppermint beach, but Zofia was already on a bee line. The Easy Tiger crew weren’t on speaking terms yet, still under the spell of the anchor witch. Leanne was skippering and had the boat turned away from the onslaught in a flash.

Seems that none of us had twigged that the swell for the day was going to be easterly. We wanted to go east to Doubtful bay. It was like an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

With conditions now behind us, we sailed back towards John Cove at a leisurely pace and quite comfortably. Recovery all round. Zofia, who motored in to John Cove first, then came out as quickly as they went in. They reported that the massive swell in John Cove would make many a surfer happy.

We poked our bows in and also saw the big swell running right through the bay. We did see one corner that would have been ok to park in, but it was also a recipe for another spell from the anchor witch. So we agreed with Zofia’s crew that it was not for us.

So what to do? Motoring around the bay all day until the wind changed seemed like a very expensive option. We were headed away from Bremer Bay and it seemed that we could bear the heading that we were on, so continued on for a while. Then it hit me. We should head back to Doubtful Bay on a tolerable heading until the wind changed, which would push us there once it was from the south west.

As we made our way back towards Doubtful bay, the wind change did kick in. Just when we didn’t need it. We came through a gap between 2 islands, and WAM. 30 knots of now south west straight into the face. I was doubtful that we would be able to get the anchor on to the ground at all in this wind.

Also, where we needed to anchor was very shallow. This would be tricky as our anchor chain needs the weight of the anchor to pull it out of the locker. Here the anchor would be on the ground and therefore have no weight on it. I would have to man handle the chain out the front quickly in order for the anchor to have enough chain on it to set.

After a couple of attempts we got the anchor set. Without communication too, as I couldn’t hear a word Leanne was saying due to the wind, and didn’t think she could here me either. Also the anchor witch didn’t come out to play.

My only stress then was that I was sure we had anchored on what looked like rock. I spent the night awake, becoming more and more doubtful about whether we would be able to retrieve the anchor, or whether I would have to dive down and get it away from the rocks.

Our 5.am departure time could not come around quickly enough. Fortunately it was an impeccable anchor retrieval and a lovely brisk sale through to Hopetoun. Leanne even managed to catch 2 Bluefin tuna along the way. One didn’t quite make it on board, but the other was filleted and in the freezer in a flash.

I “hope” this destination will be very pleasurable for us. We “hope” that the weather will be in our favour on Monday to make a big jump to Esperance.

So what’s in a name?  After our Doubtful Bay adventures, I look forward to giving  Cape Catastrophe a wide berth, avoiding Point Avoid and never going near Shipwreck Bay.

Dusk at Doubtful Bay  

Sailing Around Australia; Real Rural People

5/1/2014 Real Rural People

The highlight of our stay on anchor in John Cove Bremer Bay, was brought to us by facebook. No sooner had Leanne announced on her page that we had relocated from Dillon bay to Bremer Bay, than she got a reply to go to the third caravan from the end of the grass, to find Heather. Heather has been a lifelong friend of Leanne’s. In fact, they were in the Narrogin labour ward together as new borns, started Primary School together, shared a unit in Como for a few years and were each other’s bridesmaids.

Employment and other factors has lead them off into different geographical locations making catching up with each other more difficult and seldom.

Heather and her husband Peter have a permanent caravan and annexe set up  on the edge of the caravan park. This proved not only a very convenient meeting point, but also granted us access to the washing machine and clothes lines. That was very handy after three weeks at sea.

While visiting Heather and Peter, I kept wondering why they kept waving at the flies. I hadn’t seen or felt any flies near us. Then I remembered. We are back in real rural country now. They were actually waving at other people going by.

It wasn’t long before Heather’s sister Jill and her husband Bill joined us for a chat. They were on their way to the hardware shop. I don’t think they made it but in true holiday style it didn’t matter. They could do it tomorrow or not.

It was decided that we would all go to the local pub for tea. This is an uncommon thing to do while on holidays in Bremer. That is because it involves moving away from the camp fire, and having to wear something other than boardshorts, thongs and a t shirt. But it was a chance for the Dad’s to wear the shirt they had been so lovingly given for Christmas.

Heather and Peter’s  friends Peter and Chris joined us at the Pub for dinner. Peter or “Repeat” as they call him may well be a handy contact later on in our trip as he originates from Arno Bay north of Port Lincoln and will have some knowledge of places to visit in the Spencer’s Gulf.

The Bremer Bay pub put on a good meal. It was a very busy place, with lots of “How ya going…, what are you doing here” type greetings being shouted out across the bar as real rural people recognised others  (often their neighbours) across the room. It was also where I was once again glad to be now tea total. Bill bought the first jug and thought that all the taps across the bar contained beer. He liked the sound of Dirty Grannys. No one will know why. Unfortunately much to the 2 Pete’s disgust and distaste Bill soon discovered that Dirty Granny’s is actually apple cider.  They manly carried on though and nearly finished the jug. The pain on their faces every sip was enough to make me glad I wasn’t in on the round.

Brain (B2) and Eva also had a happy encounter with some Bremer holiday makers.  In fact pretty much as soon as they got out of their dinghy on the beach. As terrific rural people do, these holidaymakers offered for all of us to refill all our water containers from the rainwater tank at the couples holiday shack.

 Bill and Jill, as well as Heather and Peter offered us the use of their vehicles. In fact Bill said if it is parked up there you can take it, the keys will be in it. Oh yes that’s right real rural people can leave their keys in their vehicles. That’s because they all know each another and live in a world of trusting each other. Anyone stealing a car would be quickly found out, especially if they didn’t wave at the vehicles going in the opposite direction.

So Day 2 Bremer Bay was top up the water supply and ferry a dozen jerry cans to the beach in dinghys (doubling now as landing barges).

As we accumulated them and carefully stacked the Jerry’s into Heathers car we were discussing where the street was. A young girl about 16 was walking by. She stopped and excused herself for interrupting and then gave faultless instructions on how to find the street. Then with a “no worries” carried on her way. That’s just what real rural people do.

After gathering water, we headed in search of the pies that Bill and Jill had told us were well worth it. By now I am starting to realize that with B2 it is not a circumnavigation of Australia at all. It is as tour of local bakeries that we are on. I think he is doing another PHD on Sausage rolls, pasties and the like.

 We invited the gang on to Easy Tiger in the afternoon. B2 kindly offered his landing barge (now reverted back to Dinghy status) to ferry our guests out. B1 and Marie joined in a really nice afternoon of happy chatter, exchange of tall stories and few laughs. B1’s eyes certainly lit up when he realised that these property owners may provide him with the means to a gun license.

I couldn’t say that our friends enjoyed the trip to shore as much as the wind had whipped up and apparently made it pretty cold and wet in the front seat of our dinghy. I made sure I had 2 people windward of me at all times. Skippers can do that.

This morning, we reluctantly departed John Cove to cross the bay and re anchor in Peppermint Beach. This is to be ready for some strong winds from a different direction forecast for tomorrow. After that we will possibly venture to our friends suggestion of Point Ann, but it would not take much for Leanne to turn back to the friendly people at Bremer Bay. Leanne said that she felt that she had been reunited with part of her family.

I think that the other five of our sailing family also very much enjoyed the instant familiarity that you get with real rural people.

 

The dinghy was converted to a landing barge to load water , washing and wallet .

Sailing Around Australia; Ok, Nature is here.

02/01/2014 Sailing around Australia; OK, there you are.

After writing in our blog yesterday about the fact that we haven’t seen any sign of sea life since we left Mandurah, we made up for it today. OK so it seems nature is here after all.

This morning the 2 other boats decided that they had put up with enough rock n roll at Dillon bay, so they up anchored and motored off towards Bremer Bay. We had seen various forms of weather forecasting suggesting 30knot winds from the southwest in the afternoon. I thought we would be OK where we were but the disappearance of our comrades brought on the nagging doubt. The books and internet sites that we use as guides, seemed to suggest that Dillon bay (where we were) was a better anchorage for Southwest winds than the other bays where the swell can make it very rough to “park”.

I could understand B2 wanting to find somewhere without swell. He has put up with so much rockin and rollin that I was calling him Chuck Berry,

As I was still quite anxious, Leanne suggested we get in touch with a local named Craig who runs the Bremer dive shop. We had been told Craig a full bottle on the various anchorages and fishing boat harbour around Bremer Bay.

While we were waiting for an appropriate time to ring Craig and there being no wind at all, I thought it was a good time to fix the furler and sheet ropes on our multi purpose sail.

 I got the ropes, the rope clutches, the winch and the various other parts of the task ready and then had Leanne hang on to the end of the sail.  As I started to rethread the desired rope through, a gang of about 30 to 40 dolphins decided to carry on their fish wrangling activities around our boat.

I was very nervous that as Leanne watched the dolphins any gust of wind would grab the sail and fling her overboard or just about as bad, power the boat forwards straight over our anchor. But fortunately the dolphin activity only lasted about five minutes and the wind held off.

So with sail repaired and ready for rapid deployment, armed with information from the local source and camera now ready for our next brush with nature we fired up and headed for Bremer bay.

During our transit we could hear Urchin and Zofia crews discussing that the recommended anchorage and that they were going to check out John Cove.

Just as I was trying to listen to their conversation we were greeted with a welcoming party of dolphins as we motored along through the most beautiful blue water. Not wanting to miss the photo opportunity I left the radio station and dashed up to the bow camera already running. I have uploaded a couple of photos, following.

After anchoring in John Cove Bremer bay  (the worst place to anchor according to the book), we got securely anchored and the girls went shopping while the guys battened down for the strong winds expected amid a constant stream of Bremer bay locals coming by on jetskis, boats and kayaks to say gidday.

 Eva stepped up (or as it happens, off) as our next Awesome Award recipient after falling off the stern of her yacht while chatting with some locals who paddled by on their kayaks.

Later in the afternoon as the wind was absolutely howling around us and as I was still marveling at my dolphin photo’s, Leanne shrieked that there was a seal near our anchor marker bouy. I tried to eject the camera card out of the computer and get it into the camera but all too slow.

So mother nature, apologies for the last blog. Nature is here, now can we just get the timing right.