Well it is Sunday now and we are still in Coral Bay. We expect to get the lock nut for the prop tomorrow, hopefully and maybe get on our way late tomorrow or early Tuesday. The wind has been consistently blowing 15-25kns from the east to north east and further up past NW Cape this has been reaching 30kns east-NE so we probably would have parked up in Exmouth anyway. A southerly change is coming through on Tuesday evening so we may have to make like we have a porpoise and get our passage making shoes on to get up to Broome taking advantage of those winds while they last. We still have about 600 odd miles to cover and only about a week and a half left to do it (on a good 24 hrs sailing we can do about 140miles so some serious sailing ahead of us) We will still need to make a stopover in Exmouth to resupply. So if we can get away on Monday and do our Exmouth stopover on Tuesday that would be ideal - but of course requires Aus Post to come to the party.

While stuck here we have done a bit of supping and fishing and snorkelling, but the constant wind and waves has made it a bit uncomfortable on the boat - we have definitely got our sea-legs! Still no luck fishing, Nic did catch a snook when we were trolling from the dinghy a few days back but we put it back because I wasn't sure if it was size (it was we discovered). The next evening we fished using baited lines, but with no real bait we used salami and bread. Not a single bite and we ended up eating the salami and bread as we motored back to the boat - we haven't tried fishing again, although there are some rather large squid hanging around the boat taunting us that they are in a no fishing zone - very very tempting!!

The wind does tend to ease a bit in the evening for a short while, but last night the tide against wind pushed us side on to the waves and drifted us over the mooring lines right in the middle of cooking dinner. Very annoying! I used the dinghy to pull us away from the mooring lines and then put out a stern anchor to hold us into the waves and off the mooring  - problem solved and a reasonably comfortable night.

Today we are going for a long walk on dry land to get over cabin fever, and then will watch the Dockers game this arvo on the iPad - I downloaded the AFL app as the tele has no reception (I know it is tough this cruising life!) Go Dockers!

The title to this blog is a Bob Dylan song. And a vague tangential reference to the fact we have found ourselves stuck in Coral Bay on the boat - but maybe not really down about that!

We were all ready to head off to Exmouth from here at about midday. Nic was on the helm and I was up the front letting off as I normally do. I spent a lot longer than normal letting off - because the large mooring line was stuck under the bow cleat. Finally I got it free, but in the mean time the boat had sort of drifted up and over mooring ball. I told Nic a few minutes earlier to make sure we were in neutral to avoid any chance of wrapping the prop. 

I came to the back of the boat and decided to jump in with a mask and snorkel to make sure we weren't caught up. No probs except there was no propeller on the prop shaft.  I quickly grabbed the mooring line and passed it back up to Nic so we could hook back up again. I then went in search of the prop. It was easily found on a clear sand bottom, along with the key way pin. 

I thought we must have reversed over the line and this is what has knocked the prop off. So I went in search of the locknut and washer that should be lying around. 1/2hr on snorkel Nic and me combined - 1/2hr on power dive hookah - lunch - 1/2 hr on snorkel again and Nic and me combined 1/2 hr on hookah in an under water systematic search using a set rope from the mooring. No luck.

We'll never know, but it is possible the lock nut came off a while back, and we were just very lucky that the prop decided to drop off here and now. I have taken some measurements and underwater  pics to send back to my propeller man in Perth, so he can send us a nut and washer. We will have to stay put for a while, perfecting our fishing techniques.

We had a great dive yesterday over at Asho's Gap - totally awesome coral and not a bad place to get stuck - so we don't have the Memphis Blues again!

We made our way out of "Gnarly" Gnaraloo Bay just after 8am on Sunday morning. I found out what a cable was, but we stuck to our pre sounded track which was close into the beach at about 2.5-3m depth. This was fine until we got about half way along the bay to the line out that we had come in on, then it started getting a bit shallow. I edged the boat out into deeper water with Nic keeping a watch, but we gently bumped the bottom at one stage. Full steam in reverse, a bit of heart pumping, and very very carefully picked our way back to the track we had on the chart plotter from the other day. Some very nervous moments, but as the depth started getting up to much nicer 5's 10's and then Phew 20m I began to relax. On restudying again Google Earth and the charts and the Freo cruising guide, I think I finally worked out we had probably gone in a lot further than the guide intended. In fact on close inspection of Google Earth you can see a boat anchored in a lovely sand patch about a cable off the beach - probably where we should a been all the time - oh well.

Had a light south easter in the morning to push us up to Mauds Landing near Coral Bay, but we had to motor sail to make the speed we needed to arrive in daylight. It was easy conditions and we finally decided to try our luck at fishing. I dropped a line out on the rod and tightened the brake on the reel enough to make sure it ran if a big fish got on. After the nervous moments of getting out of Gnarly Gnaraloo, I decided to take a nap. About an hour later I was rudely awakened from a deep slumber with Nic yelling "Fish, fish!!". I jumped up on deck and immediately put the motor into neutral, and then dived for the rod that had the reel screaming out at a rate of knots. Just as I was about to tighten the brake the line ran out, pinged off the reel, and that was that! Bye bye fishy.

Not to be dissuaded, I rewound some new line onto the reel, set up another lure and started again. Getting a bit greedy we also put out the whale shark catching indestructible hand reel.  About an hour later the rod started whirring again. I got to it this time and eased the brake on, but no good, the line went slack again. As I reeled in the line, it started feeling heavy, and I thought, oh maybe I have got something. But the harsh reality became clear as we saw the hand reel line coming in at the same time. 

I am amazed how twisted two fishing lines can become in a few short minutes. I have been told there is an algorithm that can be used to resolve any tangle or knot ever. I don't think even Steven Hawkins could have worked this one out. I'm sure he would have said, just as I did after about an hour of trying to untangle the lines - "some things in this Universe can not be resolved in our lifetime - cut the line Nic". Any fish that gets caught by us is going to be the unluckiest fish in the world!

The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to the Dockers beat the Bulldogs and slowly trucking closer to Mauds landing. We arrived at about 5pm and pulled up on one of the DoT courtesy moorings about 2miles north of the Coral Bay township. We played around in the evening on the HF radio trying to make contact with Deb and Andrew Hill on their boat down at Rotto. We could hear them faintly, but apparently they could hear us loud and clear. The simpler solution while Andrew and I were playing on the radio was Nic rang Deb on the mobile and the girls had a good catch up chat.

This morning we had an early visit from the DoE guys who were very friendly and helpful. We then jumped in the dinghy and headed down towards CB. There is a vessel exclusion zone that starts about a mile and a half out of town, so we parked the dinghy there and walked into the settlement. I have a little safety grab bag I take in the dinghy, which is water proof. I carry a hand held VHF radio, a personal EPIRB and some flares. On this occasion, I also put in my mobile phone, my wallet and a water bottle. Nic suggested just as we were leaving that we put soda water in our water bottles as it was a nice refreshing sparkly drink and already cold in the fridge. Good idea I thought.

When we were walking along the beach into town, Nic noticed that her water bottle was leaking because of the soda, it was fizzing out the top. I paid no heed. When we got to the shops and went to pay for all the replacement fishing lures I reached into my safety dry bag only to find about a litre of water in the bottom. My water bottle seal had blown out under the pressure of the soda. Flares were OK, VHF radio water proof and fine, EPIRB water proof and fine. Wallet - OK a bit wet. Finally in the bottom of the bag - my iPhone - Oh dear!!! So people will need to contact Nic on her iPhone from now on as I am incommunicado for a bit!

Apologies this is a long Blog as I haven't had time to update for a few days.

We spent yesterday morning SUPing at Gerrittsen cove, while making water. Had lunch and then departed at 1345 hrs to head up to Quoin Bluff South. This trip takes you up through the shallow channels at the south end of Shark Bay. It was a gorgeous day with a light south westerly to start that picked up to about 10kns. With motor this pushed us along at 6-7.5kns for the 17 odd miles up to QBS. The track took us close in against Dirk Hartog Island at some points and some great scenery. I had the fishing rod out trolling, but also took the opportunity to bake my first loaf of bread for the trip. As the bread was starting to smell cooked, we were also entering the most narrow part of the channel, so I decided to reel in the line in case I caught something (my excuse and am sticking to it!)

We arrived at QBS at 1730 hrs, 2 other yachts in the bay as we had been told by ACRM Base on the radio at Denham. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset with a "glass off" in the bay.

This morning we dropped in the SUPs for a bit of morning exercise, and SUPed across the bay to the Bluff and then down the beach, before jumping off and going for a longer stroll along the beach. On the way back we SUPed up to say hello to our neighbours, only to discover it was Ben and Belle on "Ocean Jaywalker" on the first boat. 

We meet Ben and Belle at Quindalup in January on Paul and Sue Burlinson's yacht "Osborne Star" for dinner one night. They had said then they were planning a trip north.  They have been here for a couple of days and are staying on for a few more. Looking forward to hopefully catching up with them again later in the trip and have arranged to try a regular sched on the HF radio. Nic and I are planning to sail over to Carnarvon tonight, leaving at about 2000hrs to get there about 08-0900 hrs in the morning. The idea being to enjoy the days in the bays and make the miles at night if it works. It also puts us in Carnarvon at a favourable time to take advantage of the tides to attempt getting into the Fascine and yacht club marina - something that is new since last time I was up here in the 90's

After discussing our fishing successes, Ben gave us a huge spanish mackerel fillet for dinner (seems like the best way for me to get fish - i.e. be a crap fisherman and rely on the good will of others!). We then paddled over to meet Scott on the yacht "Angel", Scott has single handed up from Quindalup also and is a mate of Ben and Belles. He is heading up as far as Exmouth, and hanging up around the Coral Bay area for a while. It is likely we will catch up with him on our way back. 

This is a magical anchorage, great to share it with some like minded yachties.

Safely anchored in Gerritsen Cove at Steep Point southern end of Shark Bay. It took us 30hrs to get here leaving at 0945hrs on Saturday and arriving at 1500hrs today (Sunday) pretty much as predicted. But it was a rocky and rolly uncomfortable trip with a westerly swell 3-5m exacerbated by a rebound swell off the Zuytdorp cliffs this morning. The breeze when we left the Abrolhos was 20-25kns gusting to 30kns in squalls providing some interesting experience for Nic as the wind would go from easily manageable 20kns to 30kns in a couple of minutes and then die down again after 10-15 mins to about 15kns. Some quick hands on the furling heady and we pulled the mainsail down early on to make sail handling easier in the conditions. 

Well the good news yesterday was that Nic's ribs are not broken, so within 10 minutes of getting that news "fishgirl" was in the water with the hookah and we dived the point reef again. This gave Nic a chance to use her new underwater camera too. I was a bit disappointed because I had the GoPro all set to take some underwater pics and vids of my own, but it was completely dead when I went to turn it on. Seems the battery has died - oh well - something to replace in Carnarvon maybe.

We had another lovely dive and then came back to the boat to settle in for lunch and afternoon activities (sleeping and reading!). The weather as expected started to turn a bit nasty as the evening set in. We were snuggled up below cooking marinated chicken in the oven as the wind started howling stronger and stronger. I went up after dinner to wash out a pan, and just as I got onto the back deck I noticed one of the SUPs starting to drift away from the back of the boat. A quick rescue mission was launched in the dinghy and saved the SUP from ending up in Kalbarri probably.

Nic was pestering me to take the PowerDive out of the dinghy to stow it safely, but I assured her it would be fine. The wind blew up to between 25-30kns during the night but we were safe and snug on the mooring. I woke at about 3am to check everything was OK, but to my dismay the dive flag (air filter tube) on the PowerDive had been snapped off by a flying SUP - oh oh, will wait until the morning coffee to tell Nic about that!  It was easily fixed, but reminded me I probably need to be a bit more vigilant about stowing things - and of course follow the girlfriend's advice!

This morning the wind persisted, so dive plans further afield were cancelled and I cleaned the bottom of the boat which was resembling some of the surrounding reefs, while Nic tided up and cleaned inside. We have decided to make the most of the breezes over the next day or so (15-20kn westerly) to head up to Shark Bay. The swell is going to get bigger, but after Monday the breeze dies out all together for a few days and I am sick of motoring everywhere.

We figure we will return to the Abrolhos for sure, but won't have as much time to enjoy some of the spots further North if we hang here for too much longer. So we are packed up and ready for a getaway around 8am tomorrow for about a 30hr sail to Steep Point.

We arrived at the beautiful Abrolhos Islands at about midday on Tuesday after leaving Geraldton in the wee small hours of the morning (3.30am after refuelling). Again we had to motor all the way with very light westerly winds. We came to Morley Island in the Easter group and picked up a mooring. Our neighbours on one of the courtesy moorings came over and provided us with a huge fillet of fish for dinner! So my promise of fish for Nic came true without even having to drop a line in. John, Brian and Kevin came on board for a beer and a chat a bit later, and it turned out that John used to own "Fremantle Doctor" a well known racing yacht that I sailed against a few times when I crewed for Graham Bishop on "INXS"… small world etc. John gets over here quite regularly and said the moorings were good and safe with the weather expected to blow up a bit on Thursday.

We launched the dinghy and blew up the SUPs on Wednesday and finally got the PowerDive hookah going. Nic can't dive until she knows if she has broken her ribs, so I got to do the first dive while she snorkelled on the surface. Masses of finger corals in the shallow areas and then as we worked our way out to the point the reef walls and drops off to about 20m. Nic was excited to see a big yellow nudibranch - last time she yelled at me when we were diving at Rotto it was because she saw a shark, so I was a bit nervous when I heard her yell and point this time, only to find it was a bright yellow slug!!

Lunch time and a nap and then I relocated our 3/4G boost aerial by hoisting it up the mast on a rope - hence the coverage and my ability to update this blog! We went for a SUP over the reefs near the Island as the sun started to set - absolutely amazing scenery - I will post some pics in the next day or so. A few stink boats came in as the sun went down. We finished off John's fish for dinner and then started to plan the days ahead. A bit of a blow coming tonight (Thursday) so we think we will stay put and play around here, and then go and dive Anemone Lump on Saturday and go over to White Bank. Then up to the Wallabi group and maybe make our way up to Shark Bay on Sunday or Monday although light winds still predicted all next week after the blow tonight.

Yes it is very tempting to dip into double entendre's on this post, but I will refrain. If you see a double entendre, feel free to whip it out!

I spent the day servicing the anchor winch, pulled the cover off the electric motor and cleaned the brushes and the commuter, both in need of a fine sandpapering. I also went for a "short walk" from the Batavia Marina, where we are moored - across to the Geraldton Fisherman's Co-op Boat Store to get some oil and  other bits and pieces. It took me about an hour to walk there! But success, as I got the SAE 90 oil I needed for the anchor winch and a fish landing net (always the optimist!) and some in date flares (hope DoT people aren't reading this). 

I forgot to mention that Nic had gone to the hospital while I was doing this, to check if she had broken her ribs while we were at Rotto. She fell heavily while trying to get into the dinghy from swimming the other day, based on a technique I recommended. IE just slip up over the side "it is easy", she slipped up, then got up on all fours and then fell back on her ribs. We will find out in a few days if she has actually broken them - not much you can do in terms of healing except the right dose of sympathy from the boyfriend, (she still hasn't told me who he is), but it is important NOT to go diving - there in lies the serious side.

That aside - I got the bits I needed to finish servicing the winch, taxied back to the marina with a taxi driver who had been in Gero for 10 days. He has to live 2 years in regional WA to get a permanent residents visa. Immigrated from India and qualified in Commerce and Accountancy. Interesting.

I changed the oil, cleverly decanting the old treacle like substance from the winch into a handy 1litre container I had bought from bunnings for just this unforeseen purpose. I then decanted the brown treacly like substance into a 1litre milk container with a cap so I could dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner. While this was happening, I started testing the newly serviced anchor winch. To my joy it worked beautifully up and down and back up again a few times with out a hiccup. Then I turned to see my 1litre Milk/Oil container tipped and treacling gluggy oil in a slow ooze down the deck. I said to myself "damn" and walked slowly back to the cockpit and asked Nic if she could find me some paper towel, because there had been a bit of an accident…. (well something like that).

Onwards and upwards - we are setting the alarm for 0200hrs to go over and fuel up at the Fisherman's Wharf and then make our way back to the Easter Group of the Abrolhos (apologies for earlier spelling misteaks) again to arrive lunchtimeish. I have promised Nic fish for dinner tomorrow night so the pressure is on! 

Well we had another easy leg from Jurien to the Pelsaert group of Islands at the Abrohlos. We departed Jurien at 1400hrs on Saturday and arrived just off Post Office Island in Coronation Bay at 1030hrs Sunday. A lot of motoring with just 2-3hrs of sailing during the mid to late evening. Listened to the Dockers beat Geelong on ABC radio streaming over the web, as the TV couldn't pick up a signal, and my 3/4G boost aerial provided just enough to let us listen to the game while sailing about 15miles off the coast. The aerial on our normal radio doesn't exist - something to look at maybe one day when we are stuck in port!!

 I had hoped to pick up a mooring at the Abrohlos that appeared on one of the electronic charts I have, but it didn't exist in reality and may have just been a recommended anchoring area. We carefully anchored in about 20m of water on arrival, but I thought we were a bit too close to the island and rapidly shelving coral reefs for comfort. We lifted the anchor to try and anchor out a bit further. In doing this the winch started labouring as it hauled in the 40-50metres of chain and eventually "click-clicked" on the up button refusing to lift any further. Hmmmm, lucky there was only about 5m of chain and anchor left to lift and also lucky there was no wind at all - complete glass off.

I figured the last place you want to be with a dodgy anchor winch is the Abrohlos, so decided to head to Geraldton (5-6hrs) to get the problem sorted. I had another go at using the anchor after an hour or so on the way to Geraldton. It seemed to work all right for a bit, but then got hot and did the same as before. Suggests needs an oil change and maybe electric motor brushes cleaning? I'll pull it apart tomorrow. Kicking myself that I didn't service the anchor winch before we left, but it had never caused any problems before - oh well. The weather window at the Abrohlos is looking great this week, so hope we don't get held up for too long, but will just have to go with the flow.