We departed the Montebello Islands and set sail for Exmouth 120nm south. After using the bulk of our $5,200 in diesel since departing Broome, Salt Lines and Silver Fern needed to top up fuel tanks before heading down the West Australian Coast. After our Broome refuel experience, it was hard to know what new challenges lay head, despite the cruising guides providing some peace of mind.

We departed the Montebello Group late afternoon and faced light head winds once again for the trek south to Exmouth. You can sail in these conditions, but when you have tide against you, it pushes you bow off another 10-20 degrees and kills any chance of VMG. Essentially, just sail sideways. So on with the motor once again and into the night we went.

There are offshore rigs everywhere and we sail with a working channel of VHF 09 in place to make it easy for communication between Silver Fern and Salt Lines. We seemed to have stumbled across a gas rig, safety checkin system. Every so often (maybe hourly) the VHF radio crackles to life with; “Jim on 1” then “Mike on 2”, “Munter on 3” and so on through 5-6 levels. Nothing else is said, just a name and a number and thats it. Then an hour later, we hear the sequence all over again. We must have heard this 30+ times in the last 3 days and it just randomly pops into our day.

The sun came up on another cloudless day on the Indian Ocean. The night was easy on watch with not a lot happening and the crew were in good shape after our 24 hour stop. More whales appeared, one breached within 100m of us and the conditions were once again charming. With no rain for a few weeks now, the atmosphere is hazy. It’s full of dust and smoke and it’s a harsh, hot environment to live in, if you rely on rainfall.

Ken Dobler peaked early for the day, landing another big blue fin tuna about 70cm long. It was the most incredible deep blue colour. (Tuna curry was on the menu tonight). Eventually after some lazy motor-sailing, with the jib unfurled, we entered the Exmouth marina around 1600 hours.

With 2m tidal ranges and plenty of mining money in town, this was one classy joint. Nice big boulder breakwaters, a marina full of yachts, launches and fishing trawlers and some good looking buildings, made this stop look like a great choice.

The next task while motoring slowly through the marina was to find the fuel dock. Most marinas tuck this away in a hard to find spot and then use minimal signage, so it can’t be read by a visiting boat trying to locate it from afar. Ken Thomas was on the helm and the crew were all looking for the “blue boxes” described in the guide. We passed them without realising and ended up down a dead-end residential canal, having to do a three point turn in the 16 knot breeze to escape.

Once we back tracked, we realised we had come straight past it on the way in. Ken T rounded us up into the breeze and tucked us in against the wharf fairly nicely. Ken D, Freya and Jo had hatched a plan to head into the town of Exmouth (5km away) and pick up some essential supplies. The list started with coffee pods and then ice cream, shallots, cooking oil, ground coffee and other “essentials” were added to it.

Ken had found a local brewery online, that also made pizza’s. So our plan was complete; fill up with fuel and water, dispose of rubbish and waste oil, gather essential provisions and have fresh hot pizza for dinner, ice cream and fresh fruit salad for dessert. Salt Lines were conserving fuel, so arrived 4 hours after Silver Fern at around 8:15pm. Rather than move off the fuel dock and find somewhere to tie up or anchor while we waited for them, we suggested they raft up beside us (Michael’s idea), so we could share some pizza with them too.

As accustomed as we are to rafting up in all circumstances, this was going to be fairly straightforward. Jess was on the helm of Salt Lines and approached cautiously from our starboard side. With a light 9 knot breeze blowing off the dock, Salt Lines were pushed away from us before getting close enough to throw lines. Jess gunned the motor and they completed a gentle 360 inside the marina basin and came in a second time. This time, Jess was on point, and we were reattached to our siamese twin, once again..

We jumped into action, helping the Salt Lines crew transfer 15 bags of rubbish to the dock and getting refuelling lines and a water hose set up. By the time they were topped up and sorted it was after 10pm and we were ready to start the final 750nm leg down the west coast to Perth. Ningaloo Reef was our goal for the next morning, with swimming and snorkelling on the agenda. Unfortunately we got within 1nm of the reef anchorage and there were 2m seas being driven by 22 knot winds and no chance of safely getting anywhere near there.

We conferred with Matt on Salt Lines and their crew had already assumed the stop was unlikely in these conditions. We downloaded the updated forecast from PredictWind and set a course for Perth 730nm to the SE. It’s going to be a long slog with 20-35 knot winds on the nose, over the first 48 hours. We spent 3 hours this morning, untangling a furling line, locked tight and wrapped 8 times round the base of the jib furler, followed by launching the staysail and going to a second reef in the main.

Today we have sailed the majority of the day in 20-30 knots and building 2-3m seas. We are working our way upwind at 65 degrees. It’s hard to point any higher without falling off the back of the hollow waves, with a free fall followed by a crash, as our stomachs go through the floor. We sailed backwards for 8nm this morning while fixing our problems and ended up 12nm behind Salt Lines. Tonight we’ll aim to close the gap, while we wait for the breeze to go left and drag us from heading for Sri Lanka, to heading for South Africa instead!

With expected weather changes in the next 2 days, we should be able to alter course and eventually head towards Perth. We are now in heavy weather mode and everything is harder to do. After weeks of flat water and sunshine, Jo, Mike, Ange and Freya were caught out, when their hatch was not closed correctly and 2 bunks were soaked over night. The problem was solved this morning and mattresses put out in the sun to dry.

It’s been a solid day and the crew are handling it well.

David