Geraldton
Wednesday April 7 - Wednesday 14 43nm, 7.5hrs
Back Wednesday, car rented, and on our way to Perth Thursday. As we leave the jetty the OLAS 'Man Overboard' alarm in Colin's pocket is sounding. He keeps walking, wondering what the noise is, until I suggest he turns it off.
Whilst home for the funeral we pick up a few necessities, such as a washing machine, spare high pressure hoses and filters for the water-maker, spare fuel filters for the engine, and another 100m of rope to tie up the boat like a Christmas turkey.
Mum and Dad look after us wonderfully while we stay with them, and send us on our way with home-made sandwiches, biscotti and shortbread ❤️
Whilst home for the funeral we pick up a few necessities, such as a washing machine, spare high pressure hoses and filters for the water-maker, spare fuel filters for the engine, and another 100m of rope to tie up the boat like a Christmas turkey.
Mum and Dad look after us wonderfully while we stay with them, and send us on our way with home-made sandwiches, biscotti and shortbread ❤️
Back at the Geraldton Yacht Club we are greeted by Sue and Florrie from Tigress, who returned from the Abrolhos on Thursday on the advice of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Wise move by the sounds of it, since certain death and destruction seem imminent with cyclone Seroja having been upgraded to Category 3!
Halving the rope we put on extra lines, from the bow to the main jetty and the stern to the pylons, to bypass reliance on the finger jetty which I’m sure is going to rip out at the slightest provocation. Many boat owners have been doing the same, and apparently the fishing co-op has run out of rope! Also in preparation Colin tied up the bimini and wind generator, wrapped the jib sheets and jib and spinnaker halyards around the jib, tied extra rope around the main sail boom bag after closing it, and put on brown underpants. And now we wait... Click images to enlarge |
Sunday evening the barometer dropped quickly to 975 millibar, indicating a cyclone, and each time Colin looked at it I anxiously asked “Is it going up yet?”
The breeze picked up around 1900hrs and peaked around 2030 with gusts of 60kns screaming through the rigging. I had to turn the telly up REALLY loud during those blasts!
The scariest and most surprising part, even for Colin, was the storm surge, and we were alarmed to see the water rise more than two feet above the jetties. Right in the eye of the cyclone we went outside to check the lines, which were under considerable strain and drum tight. We could hear ropes and cleats groaning all around the marina, and Colin loosened ours so they wouldn’t snap or rip a cleat out, or rip the jetty pylons out, or hold the boat underwater. It’s hard to know what would have happened! It was eerie being in dead calm between two shifts of violent wind.
Ten minutes later it was like someone pulled the plug out (as Florrie put it). The water levels were back to normal and Colin was out tightening the ropes again!
Throughout the whole affair the boat hardly moved, so tightly bound was she. A credit to the captain that she held so steady and that we felt safe and secure enough to go to bed at 2300hrs.
Click images to enlarge
The breeze picked up around 1900hrs and peaked around 2030 with gusts of 60kns screaming through the rigging. I had to turn the telly up REALLY loud during those blasts!
The scariest and most surprising part, even for Colin, was the storm surge, and we were alarmed to see the water rise more than two feet above the jetties. Right in the eye of the cyclone we went outside to check the lines, which were under considerable strain and drum tight. We could hear ropes and cleats groaning all around the marina, and Colin loosened ours so they wouldn’t snap or rip a cleat out, or rip the jetty pylons out, or hold the boat underwater. It’s hard to know what would have happened! It was eerie being in dead calm between two shifts of violent wind.
Ten minutes later it was like someone pulled the plug out (as Florrie put it). The water levels were back to normal and Colin was out tightening the ropes again!
Throughout the whole affair the boat hardly moved, so tightly bound was she. A credit to the captain that she held so steady and that we felt safe and secure enough to go to bed at 2300hrs.
Click images to enlarge
Monday’s news described the cyclone as unprecedented, and a 'one in a hundred year' event. Unfortunately those terms are becoming all too familiar. We are truly grateful for coming through the cyclone unscathed, both us and the boat. Another thing to tick off I can tick my bucket list, that and my first rope burn letting the jib sheet go on the sail back. Ahh, the joys of cruising.
I love that Marine Rescue Geraldton found it necessary to broadcast a warning that boats stay put today. We certainly didn't need to be told.
We caught up with Sue and Florrie who had also come through intact, though they were on higher alert than us, being tied to the main jetty with only fenders between them and the pylons, and Florrie waist deep in water on the jetty wondering at what point their catamaran would just drift on over it! We were also watching for when our ropes might rise on up and over the pylons we were lashed to.
The town remained without power and the wind continued to blow. Colin and I visited the HMAS Sydney memorial, and on the way passed two bushes teeming with butterflies that fluttered around us as we walked by. Storm induced or coincidental I know not, but definitely magical.
Click images to enlarge
I love that Marine Rescue Geraldton found it necessary to broadcast a warning that boats stay put today. We certainly didn't need to be told.
We caught up with Sue and Florrie who had also come through intact, though they were on higher alert than us, being tied to the main jetty with only fenders between them and the pylons, and Florrie waist deep in water on the jetty wondering at what point their catamaran would just drift on over it! We were also watching for when our ropes might rise on up and over the pylons we were lashed to.
The town remained without power and the wind continued to blow. Colin and I visited the HMAS Sydney memorial, and on the way passed two bushes teeming with butterflies that fluttered around us as we walked by. Storm induced or coincidental I know not, but definitely magical.
Click images to enlarge
Tuesday and Geraldton is like a ghost town. Betting on Coles having a generator we ventured up to shopping centre, but the line looked way too long to stand in, with a long line out the front of the store. We later found out that line was for cigarettes!
Guessing Bunnings would also have a generator we trekked out of town to find it, and were not disappointed.
The swollen marina slowly resumed its regular ebb and flow.
Click images to enlarge
Guessing Bunnings would also have a generator we trekked out of town to find it, and were not disappointed.
The swollen marina slowly resumed its regular ebb and flow.
Click images to enlarge