There was a little bit of movement at anchor in Shelter Bay last night which we expected. It was actually gentle enough to rock us to sleep and enjoy the sound of surf on the beach. After rounding Steep Point, the most westerly extremity of mainland Australia we headed offshore to give us some distance from the Zuytdorp Cliffs. These 160m cliffs run South for 110 miles to Kalbarri and deflect waves rather than absorb them like a beach. The result is a backwash slop that creates a very uncomfortable sea.

As it turned out we were pleasantly surpised with a 20 kt Easterly once back outside in the Indian Ocean sending us South at a good 7 kt clip. The seas were not that bumpy or confused. As usual the wind dropped out in the afternoon and we motorsailed into the night. There was a full moon up there somewhere but we couldn’t see it because it was overcast. It did make for a much warmer night though for which we were grateful.

At midnight we were abeam of Kalbarri and were in phone range again. Daybreak saw us abeam of Port Gregory with 45 nm left to get to Geraldton. Mid morning we passed Hutt River where ‘Prince Leonard’ tried to secede his farm from the Commonwealth to avoid taxes and bypass wheat quotas by creating his own principality. We are seeing a lot of humpback whales heading North. Arrived at Geraldton at 1.30pm and moored in the Batavia Coast Marina.

Geraldton had a good feel about it with considerable prime real estate from the old rail yards and docklands being redeveloped near the waterfront. Steak diane at the Breakers Hotel was excellent but the marina had a lot of surge so the mooring lines groaned all night.