WIIN Leaving Canarvon

We waved goodbye to Carnarvon, and headed up the coast. First up was an overnight sail to Mauds landing – lumpy and windy (consistently up around 25-30 knots) - but we made good time and arrived at Coral Bay mid-morning the following day. Another yacht “Nowa Days” travelled at the same time and having arrived ahead of us invited us over for a big brekkie which was fantastic after the long night sail. Fully recharged we started to explore the area, taking the dinghies to Coral Bay, soon realising why it had been so named as we weaved our way through the many bommies. Coral Bay is also in the middle of a fish sanctuary zone and the fish seemed to know it with Spangled Emperors swimming along the shore and around the dinghy, so close you could reach out and touch them. There were a couple of tourist shops and cafes, and we saw a large lizard (bung arrow) ambling across the path. At the Calm office we were told about a shark nursery in the next bay, so we kept an eye out on the return trip, but no luck, didn’t see any. We celebrated Stephen’s birthday the following day with chocolate cake (baked onboard), a nice meal and a lazy day relaxing (just like most other days).

Our next stop was Norwegian Bay, a day sail up the coast. It was the site of a whaling station which closed in 1957. We wandered amongst the ruins, which are now all rusting away. Other than this the coast is very baron with sand dunes and low scrub. The water was really warm and there was great snorkelling near the reef, we saw dozens of turtles, reef fish, and coral. A highlight (in an odd sort of way) is the first shark sighting while snorkelling (for Selena) – first a black tipped reef shark, and then a lemon shark nestled amongst the reef (disconcertingly, these become a common sight!). Sail Away Too caught up with us here and we spent a few days’ snorkelling, fishing, swimming and exploring the area, and then moved on to Yardie Creek.
We had a great sail under spinnaker (MPS) with light winds and calm seas, while reading and fishing (one tuna found its way on board).
Yardie Creek was a great place to stop for a couple of days, lots of good snorkelling , more turtles, small sharks and even a few crayfish, fish ing was okay but most of the Ningaloo reef is a fishing reserve so limited where we could fish. Yardie Creek Gorge is spectacular, and we walked along the track at the top of the gorge.
Yardie Creek to Tantabiddi was another sail under spinnaker (MPS) 8 to 21 knots from the south east and 1.5 metre swell made for a great day. It was also the day that we passed the 1000 nautical mile mark since leaving Fremantle. Then just before arriving at the gap in the reef, we had a fantastic hook up, which caused mayhem, drop the MPS, turn out to sea and fight a nice 2 metre sail fish. After about 30 minutes and some great tail walking we had him at Westward’s side, now what to do, too big to bring aboard for a photo and how do we release him while keeping him alive and retrieve our last large squid lure. The decision was made for us as 2 large sharks darted around the yacht, so Selena leant as close as she could and cut the trace. Vin (Sail Away Too) caught a nice mackerel not long after so we had some edible fish for tea.
Tantabiddi was a rollie uncomfortable anchorage and getting into Exmouth was a hassle, so while the winds were favourable we made an early start the next day, heading for Serrurier (Long) Island around 60Nm north of us, making a quick stop at the Lighthouse caravan park to get some more petrol for the outboards. This was one of the best sails we have had since leaving Freo, 18 to 25 knots from south east, which gave a great reach, we averaged 7Kns for 6 hours, resulting in a great days sailing.
At Serrurier Island we finally caught up with Eloise again, also Quattro, who we had been speaking to on VHF over the last few days. Serrurier Island was a seafood paradise with lots of nice big fighting fish and crayfish just walking around the sea floor at a small island next door. We eat like Kings! Also, one of the few times this year that the eagle flag has flown high on the mast!
After spending a few days there we headed for Onslow, to replenish our fresh fruit and veg, do some washing, the caravan park laundry didn’t have a drier so WestwardII looked like a Chinese laundry, welcome to the cruising world. The caravan park was very hospitable allowing us to use the washing machines and showers. Going to Onslow also gave us a better angle to sail out to Pasco Island on the south end of Barrow Island (more about that next WIIN).

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