Geraldton
Monday March 29 - Thursday April 1 235nm, 36hrs
Sunday, and it’s time for some SERIOUS sailing. Leaving Thomson Bay at 0640hrs we headed north.
Malfunction #1: Colin’s alarm didn’t go off. No matter, we only departed 10 minutes later than planned.
Malfunction #2: Believing the “Predict Wind” estimation of 32 hrs to get to the Abrolhos
Malfunction #3: Pushing the motor to meet that estimation, and motor sailing the entire time
Malfunction #4: A blasted cold, gifted to me by my dearly beloved, determined though I was not to catch it
Malfunction #5: Someone (not the captain) losing precious time going off course during a night shift before realising and correcting (I blame the cold).
You know the saying “Man makes his plans and God laughs”? Well guess who’s enjoying a great joke? We’ve been thwarted once again in our attempts to get to the Abrolhos. Seems this happened last time, the culprit being the anchor winch, this time it’s the alternator due to Malfunction #3 above. Alas, to Geraldton we go. Such is cruising, aka ‘boat maintenance in exotic locations’ (thanks Andrew).
The captain says this is what a ‘shakedown cruise’ is all about, which raises the question of what he spent a week down south doing with his little brother. Best not to ask I suspect.
Fabulous thing #1: Flying fish hitting their stride. I’m always amazed how long they can stay out of the water
Fabulous thing #2: A following breeze, necessitating a ‘goosewing’ sail setting by the captain
Fabulous thing #3: Ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner, made from Rottnest bakery sourdough
Fabulous thing #3: A bird taking refuge on the boat overnight
Fabulous thing #5: A full moon to sail by
Fabulous thing #6: Being able to redeem myself for Malfunction #5 by unwinding a cray pot line from the prop after running over it
Fabulous thing #7: Seeing a shark on the surface AFTER I’d untangled the cray pot
Fabulous thing #8: Safe harbour in Geraldton Marina, who kindly squeezed us in despite heavy bookings
Fabulous thing #9: A stunning sunset
Fabulous thing #10: Finding a jaffle shop. As kids we had a jaffle maker and it took me right back! Mind you, I'm pretty sure we didn't have fillings of mushroom, pesto and egg back then.
Fabulous thing #11: Ocean-themed man-hole covers and bollards
I find in life there is always way more fabulous!!
Click images to enlarge
Malfunction #1: Colin’s alarm didn’t go off. No matter, we only departed 10 minutes later than planned.
Malfunction #2: Believing the “Predict Wind” estimation of 32 hrs to get to the Abrolhos
Malfunction #3: Pushing the motor to meet that estimation, and motor sailing the entire time
Malfunction #4: A blasted cold, gifted to me by my dearly beloved, determined though I was not to catch it
Malfunction #5: Someone (not the captain) losing precious time going off course during a night shift before realising and correcting (I blame the cold).
You know the saying “Man makes his plans and God laughs”? Well guess who’s enjoying a great joke? We’ve been thwarted once again in our attempts to get to the Abrolhos. Seems this happened last time, the culprit being the anchor winch, this time it’s the alternator due to Malfunction #3 above. Alas, to Geraldton we go. Such is cruising, aka ‘boat maintenance in exotic locations’ (thanks Andrew).
The captain says this is what a ‘shakedown cruise’ is all about, which raises the question of what he spent a week down south doing with his little brother. Best not to ask I suspect.
Fabulous thing #1: Flying fish hitting their stride. I’m always amazed how long they can stay out of the water
Fabulous thing #2: A following breeze, necessitating a ‘goosewing’ sail setting by the captain
Fabulous thing #3: Ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner, made from Rottnest bakery sourdough
Fabulous thing #3: A bird taking refuge on the boat overnight
Fabulous thing #5: A full moon to sail by
Fabulous thing #6: Being able to redeem myself for Malfunction #5 by unwinding a cray pot line from the prop after running over it
Fabulous thing #7: Seeing a shark on the surface AFTER I’d untangled the cray pot
Fabulous thing #8: Safe harbour in Geraldton Marina, who kindly squeezed us in despite heavy bookings
Fabulous thing #9: A stunning sunset
Fabulous thing #10: Finding a jaffle shop. As kids we had a jaffle maker and it took me right back! Mind you, I'm pretty sure we didn't have fillings of mushroom, pesto and egg back then.
Fabulous thing #11: Ocean-themed man-hole covers and bollards
I find in life there is always way more fabulous!!
Click images to enlarge