Fremantle to Bunbury

After months of preparation the adventure begins. 

Leaving Fremantle 27 Oct 2017

After one nights sleep from a school reunion in NZ Mike is on watch

The sail to Bunbury was easy for the first 3/4 and then the wind built up. We came roaring into Bunbury harbour after dark, tired and a little beat up. We set the anchor, but not the anchor alarm, doh!

We dragged anchor and touched bottom at 3am, Mike raced forward while I put the motor in reverse. Our anchor and chain was caught up in a marker buoy. By the time Mike cut it free we were stuck on the bottom. We kedged out two anchors to try and pull us off with each wave. We called Sea Rescue to pull us off. They said since they have been taken over by the Government they have to get permission to rescue and permission was denied, even though we were close to rocks and in distress. We requested they ring again as at this stage we could be pulled off easily. Again we were denied as we had touched bottom they regarded it as salvage.

Sea Rescue gave us some other numbers to contact. The only boat used in Bunbury for this type of thing was in Queensland. The only ones that would help was Bunbury Harbour Services (BHS), but they could not stop their work in the harbour, so we waited 24 hours, by which time we had sunk more in the sand. An excavator was needed to dig a hole beside us to turn us and pull us out. The BHS boat needed 3.5M depth and it was 2M for approx 80M from us. They did a great job and got us out. The relief of floating again cannot be put into words.

We discovered the steering would not work. Oh no! not a good start.

The insurance company were very good all the way (TopSail). We had the boat lifted out which was just as scary as the grounding. after being shunted up some railway tracks the whole boat lurch forward, so we ran to the back. They took it back down and ensured the bottom was on 3 sleepers not 2. The damage:

Steering cable jumped off

Antifoul scraped off the bottom

The propeller had a ding 

The hull had a small ding

The total cost $10,000 for getting us off, lifter and repairs.

We have gone over what we did wrong and to try never to let this happen again.

Special Friends

We met up with our cruising companions Kylie and Craig in Bunbury and their support and friendship was amazing during this ordeal.

Craig

Kylie

We got in the local paper that did not interview us and almost all that was written was wrong.

Mikes dinghy and bowsprit in the making using mainly traditional tools

Preparations

A lot has been happening since Christmas!
The cruising plan is in full swing, I have retired and Mike has semi retired. We set sail first to Tasmania in late Oct 2017.
We rented the house out to our Daughter and Morgan then moved onto the boat on 14 Jan at Fremantle Sailing Club to see if we could put up with each other in a confined space.
We had a GME AIS B installed, which was rather exciting to see ships and other vessels near by.
We have to up grade our power system. We had one 100w solar panel which was fine for the weekend but any longer and we had to run the motor. This took some thinking and researching. I did a spreadsheet and calculated what we would use in harbour and at sea to understand what we needed. Then I went to several places for advice and became very confused. The end result is we purchased a 30 amp regulator and 3 x 100w semi flexible panels. There isn't enough room on the bimini for all 3, so 2 will be zipped on the bimini and one will be connected while at sea and positioned on the cabin top. Some people suggested we have a fixed Bimini and then we would not need the semi flexible solar panels, but I like the idea of being able to remove the whole bimini and solar panels when it really blows. Also I do not like making any radical changes, as the previous owners may have done it this way for a reason. Next we have to look at the batteries.
We are having a new bimini being made.
Mike is building a Shellback dinghy. He was inspired by Bluewater medallist Trevor Robertson and really wanted to complete a boat of his own. He started this at the house and is finishing on the boat. It will row and sail, but unlikely to have a motor. I have specified the rubber ducky and outboard will stay until the new dinghy proves itself.