THE ABROLHOS - A HAYWIRE TRIP

March - April 2024

A 17 day trip up the WA coast from Fremantle to Geraldton, then out to the Abrolhos Islands for 5 days. Followed by a return to Pt Denison. Travelled on the good ship Haywire, a Benateau First 35 foot yacht, with good friends Lesley & Tony. Read more

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Traveler THE ABROLHOS - A HAYWIRE TRIP
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- Mar 21, 2024, 12:00pm
- ☀️ 27 °C
- Altitude: 32 m
- Australia Western Australia Peppermint Grove Cottesloe Grant-Marine Park -31.990364, 115.75435631°59’25” S 115°45’16” E
Introduction.
March 21 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
SAILING TO GERALDTON AND THE ABROHLOS ISLANDS - A HAYWIRE TRIP.

A 17 day trip up the West Australian coast from Fremantle to Geraldton, then out to the Abrolhos Islands for 5 days. Followed by a return to the mainland at Pt Denison.

Travelled on the good ship Haywire, a Benateau First 35 foot yacht, with good friends Lesley Scogna and Tony Davies. Also accompanied by Pete Sands on the Freo - Geraldton sector.

The Abrolhos Islands are most famous for the wreck of the “Batavia” in 1629. Which resulted in mutiny, murder and savagery and an amazing recovery.

Abrolhos translates loosely to “Look and sea”. No doubt coined by the Batavia crew!

Great background reading:

Batavia by Peter FitzSimon. Historical, with some fictional padding. A great read.

Also a book by Hugh Edwards: The Island of Angry Ghosts. Good historical backgrounding on a variety of shipwrecks including the Batavia and thereafter.Read more
Well Wal, no dinner menu that's refreshing! [Kimbo]
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Sounds fantastic Wal [Tim]
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Traveler THE ABROLHOS - A HAYWIRE TRIP
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- Mar 22, 2024
- 🌬 28 °C
- Altitude: 12 m
- Australia Western Australia City of Cockburn North Coogee James Rocks -32.102543, 115.76051332°6’9” S 115°45’38” E
Day 1
Fremantle Sailing Club.
March 22 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 28 °C
22 March, Friday.

Watched a good game of AFL at home then headed down to the Fremantle Sailing Club, where the good ship Haywire is berthed. I boarded at about 7:30 pm.

Tony and Lesley had gone down at about 5 pm with my gear and the last of the provisioning.

Pete Sands, a good mate of Tony’s had just preceded me.

Had a vino or two, a mini strategy conference and then turned in about 9:30 pm.Read more
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- Mar 23, 2024, 12:00pm
- 🌬 24 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Australia Western Australia Wanneroo Two Rocks Wreck Point -31.496593, 115.58219931°29’48” S 115°34’56” E
Day 2
Fremantle - Twin Rocks.
March 23 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 24 °C
23 March, Saturday.
0600-1200 Freo - Two Rocks 75km
E, 15-20kts. 2m swell

BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
L: Ham, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
D: Salmon, Sweet potato mash, broccoli

Up at 5:30 and away at 6am with first light. Pleasant Easterly of about 10 kts.
Sails up once we had cleared the harbour.
The varied lights of Fremantle gave way to a rather colourful dawn.
Easterly stayed in at about 12-15 kts , so a very easy broad reach up the coast.

Lancelin was going to be too far to complete in daylight. Not wanting to come into the anchorage in the dark as there is a lot of reef immediately offshore.

Berthed up at Two Rocks marina. Marina was built in the late 70’s/early 80’s to accomodate the Sun City development of Alan Bond. Sun City never got off the ground really, so as a consequence the marina is very much under-utilised.
We went up to the small IGA minimart and topped up on a couple of provisions and had an ice cream.

Lesley cooked up a very tasty dish of fried salmon, sweet potato mash and broccoli. Washed down with a beer and a vino.Read more
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- Mar 24, 2024, 1:15pm
- ☀️ 26 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Australia Western Australia Gingin Lancelin Lancelin Island -31.011175, 115.32470631°0’40” S 115°19’29” E
Day 3
Twin Rocks - Lancelin.
March 24 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
24 March, Sunday.
0700 - 1315 Two Rocks - Lancelin 62km
E: 15-20, G25. 1.5m
BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
Snack: Fruit loaf
L: Ham, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
D: Chicken curry (pre frozen) & rice

A slightly more leisurely start at 7 am after coffee, which Les religiously prepares each morning. Not a big day today either as we only have approximately 30 nm to cover to reach Lancelin.

No berth or moorings for us at Lancelin so we anchored up in about 8 metres of water.

A leisurely afternoon including a zizz.

A rather stunningly colourful sunset, followed by a near simultaneous full moon rise. Pretty unique.

Les has spent and amazing amount of effort preparing all the food. A large number of frozen meals that just keep on appearing. Tonight’s treat was chicken curry and rice.

We played dominoes after doing the dishes. I had not played for eons. Good easy fun.Read more
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- Mar 25, 2024, 3:00pm
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Australia Western Australia Dandaragan Jurien Bay Channel Rocks -30.284353, 115.02121730°17’4” S 115°1’16” E
Day 4
Lancelin - Jurien Bay
March 25 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
25 March, Monday.
0700 -1500. Lancelin - Jurien Bay 95 km
NE: 15 kts
Becalm: 0930-1100. Motored.
SW: 5, then 8 kts
BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
Snack: Brioche
Lunch: Ham, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
Dinner: Steak, mashed potato, carrots & Brussel Sprouts

A slightly longer day today. Sailed for a bit over two hours then we motored as the wind had dropped right out. A very light sea breeze was not enough to entice decent life out of the sails.

A calm anchorage at Jurien ensured a very pleasant dinner that Les cooked up. Steak and veggies. Went down very well, assisted by a white and a red.Read more
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- Mar 26, 2024, 10:30am
- ☀️ 26 °C
- Altitude: 8 m
- Australia Western Australia Coorow Green Head Dynamite Bay -30.066996, 114.96255830°4’1” S 114°57’45” E
Day 5
Jurien Bay - Green Head.
March 26 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
26 March, Tuesday.
0715 -1030 Jurien Bay - Green Head. 33km.
Drifting E - motored all the way
BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
Snack: Brioche.
Lunch: Chicken, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
Dinner: Ravioli & Bolognaise, Salad

A very short day today. Done and dusted by mid morning. Anchored up at Green Head It is a good safe haven and it was too far to have gone thru to Pt Denison.

Pasta and bolognaise, salad and vino, plus Toblerone for dessert. Another very satisfying meal.Read more
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- Mar 27, 2024, 3:45pm
- ☀️ 28 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Australia Western Australia Irwin Dongara Arurine Bay -29.273539, 114.91726429°16’25” S 114°55’2” E
Day 6
Green Head - Pt Denison.
March 27 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
27 March, Wednesday.
0545 - 1545 Green Head - Pt Denison 105km
Calm, motored all the way
BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
Snack: Fruit cake
Lunch: Chicken, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
Dinner: Pub Grub

An early start as this was another longish day.

Virtually no wind, so we motored all day, which was a little disappointing. We made it to Pt Denison in about 10 hours, which included manoeuvring via the marker buoys and leads at both Jurien and Pt Denison. Under motor Haywire makes about 6 kts and under sail an average of 4-6 kts, depending on wind direction and speed.

Berthed up at the supply jetty. Refuelled , connected to 240V power and topped up the water tanks.

Then off to Southerleys, the nearby watering hole. A cleansing ale, a vino or two and a pub grub meal ( actually very good food).Read more
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- Mar 28, 2024
- 🌬 27 °C
- Altitude: 6 m
- Australia Western Australia Irwin Dongara Irwin River -29.251272, 114.9332529°15’5” S 114°55’60” E
Day 7
Pt Denison - Layday.
March 28 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
28 March, Thursday.
Layday Pt Denison

Port Denison - Dongara is a twin town. Two towns which have grown over the the years and merged. Over an area about 5 km long with a fixed population of about 3000. A significant number of retirees live here. Nice town, good community facilities. Excellent marina and a good caravan park adjacent.
So we decided on a layday. A bit of supermarket shopping, some fishing tackle purchases at the local sports store and a coffee and cake at Poppies coffee shop. A swim and a shower were well appreciated too.
Les bought some oysters and prawns from the seafood outlet right on the marina, about 50m from the boat.
Dinner was oysters a la natural, and prawn risoni pasta and salad. Seriously delicious!Read more
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- Mar 29, 2024, 12:45pm
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Australia Western Australia Geraldton-Greenough Beresford Champion Bay Beach -28.766391, 114.61133228°45’59” S 114°36’41” E
Day 8
Pt Denison - Geraldton.
March 29 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
29 March, Friday.
0545 - 1245 Pt Denison - Geraldton. 78km

BF: Muesli, Yoghurt & Fruit
Snack: Fruit cake & Fruit
Lunch: Ham, lettuce, cheese and tomato sandwiches
Dinner: Chicken curry

A relatively short day. Negligible wind, so all motoring.

Arrived at Geraldton at lunchtime and had a cruisy afternoon, including a swim.

A very pleasant evening meal prepared by Lesley. Followed by another game or 3 of dominos.Read more
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- Mar 30, 2024, 12:00pm
- ☁️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Australia Western Australia Geraldton-Greenough Beresford Champion Bay Beach -28.766399, 114.61129828°45’59” S 114°36’41” E
Day 9
Geraldton - Lay day.
March 30 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
30 March, Saturday.
Lay-day Geraldton.

BF: Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Spag Bol & Salad

Pete had a taxi booked for about 6:30 to take him to the airport for an 8 am flight back to Perth. We said our farewells and agreed would definitely catch up either in Perth or the UK, as he and his wife Liz do a somewhat annual shuttle from Blighty.

Had breakfast then Les and I did a shop up at Coles and Liquorland. Only a five-minute walk (trolley push!) from the marina, which was very handy. Had a swim at a nice beach about 10 minutes walk away.

We pumped up the Zodiac runabout and made sure it was all ship shape. Also gave Haywire a good wash down.

After lunch, we went to the Geraldton Museum which was also only a 5-minute walk from the boat. Excellent display on the early maritime history of the region, especially focusing on the Batavia saga, which is fascinating. Plenty of wreck artifacts on display. Also a very good space exhibition, particularly relating to WA and Australia’s involvement in the Apollo lunar program. Only got about halfway around all the various sections as had not realised the museum closed at 3pm. Oh well, another day. A replica of the Batavia longboat that Pelsaert and a handful of his men sailed to Batavia (Jakarta) is moored in front of the museum. Amazing feat to have made that passage in such a small vessel and in only about 30 days.

Pete sent us a photo of Pt Denison taken as he flew overhead back to Perth. Took him about 7 minutes to travel what had taken us half a day sailing,

After a hearty meal of spag bol and salad we were in bed by 7 pm as we planned a 2330 wake up for a midnight departure for the Abrolhos.Read more
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