CapePeron

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Notmuchgoingonthismonth!

AboardSengoDAboardSengo December2017

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FremantletoRockinghamandback

Apipedream… 10

GoldfieldsWaterSupplyScheme

WillitbeBushForever?

Notmuchgoingon…We actually got some sailing done inDecember, even if it was less than 30nautical miles. We spent most of themonthfightingabugandsocializingwaskepttoaminimum.

SunsetatRockingham

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AboardSengo December2017

Wellperhapsmorethanjustcatsbutthatwouldhave spoiled the alliteration. On the oddoccasionwehadaccesstoacarwenoticed,thatgenerally, there seems to be little differencebetween Perth and Fremantle and theirsurrounding suburbs to other capital citieswe’vevisited:oldhousingestates;newhousingestates; and new industrial or homemakerareas. Some suburbs have quirkycoffee/restaurant, or quiet, local strips, andsomearebigtouristyareas.There isaplethoraof new housing estate land boards alongfreeways and major roads advertising which‘tree change’ estate you should buy into – thecatchofcourse is thatbythetimeyou’vestuckall the houses in, all the trees have been cutdown. What was very obvious however wasthattheestablishedsuburbsseemtohaveaveton every third corner and a substantial drivethroughcoffeeshoponeveryfourth(…ish).Canweofficiallycall thepeopleofPerthabunchofhyped-upanimallovers?

DoldrumsinDecember…

Andithadnothingtodowithlackofwind!Asan activity filled month, December was acompletefailure;wespentthebetterpartofthree weeks recovering from the dreadedlurgie. Reading the press, there seems tohave been a strain of the flu, labeled the‘Australian flu’, whichwas somewhatmorevirulent than the other strains that werecirculating.Whilstwehad initiallyblamedasmall child atadinnerpartywe’d attendedfor the ‘bug’weactuallyworked it out thatthe responsible culprits came from thecruise ship passengers we’d been in closequarterswithontheBlueCatwhenwehadvisitedtheArmyMuseuminNovember–nowondertheyweretalkingaboutthelackofapharmacy on the ship. I suppose we werefortunateweonly got the flu; news reportsontheinternetstatedthisparticularvisitingship was struck down with gastro afterleavingFremantle-anafflictiontheywouldallhavetoputupwithituntiltheirnextportofSydney.At the beginning of the month we weredockedattheFremantleSailingClub.Attheend of the month we were docked atFremantleSailingClub;thecoupleofweeksin between we were on a mooring atRockingham. There was no remote,romantic or nature-filled isolated coves forusthismonth.

Thelandofcatsandcoffee!

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AboardSengo December2017

1st December 2017. Question: What is morefrustrating than a bunch of noisy kids in amuseum?Answer.AbunchofClipperRaceOfficialsdraftingbriefingandmediareleasestatementsinalibrarythathasanoticeon thedoor inbig lettersstating‘QuietRoom.’Ihadpoppedintocheckoutthesailingclub library(becauseIhadbeentold itwasgood)–butdidn’t, as Iwouldhavehadtobestanding around the officials craftingdocumentationsothattheycoulddeflectquestionsintheupcomingmediaconferenceaboutthedeathofaraceparticipantonthepreviousleg.InsteadIsearched the bookshelf thatwas set aside for thebook exchange, putting 5 books together that Imightconsiderswappingfromthestockwehadonthe boat. I had already walked to the locallaunderette in the morning (and had had coffeewhilstIwaitedwithacrewmemberofftheClipperboat Dare to Lead from the previous leg…) andwouldendupwalkingtoWooliesintheafternoonto pick up some nibbles for snacks and sun-downers, as well as some throat lozenges, asAndrewhadcomedownwithsomesortofenergy-sapping (and muscle aching) lurgie and wasspendingthedayinbed.Iprobablywalkedaround5 kilometers during the day, got somewhat burntaroundtheneckinthehotsunandwasexhaustedbytheevening.

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3rdDecember2017.Thegentlerainwaswelcome.Ihaven’tenjoyedtheearthysmelloflightrainforsometime;gentlepatteringrainasopposedtotheharsh rain that comes with strong winds andstorms. Andrewhad spent the first three days ofDecember mostly in bed, and apart from myactivityof the1st,sohadI,havingalsopickedupthe affliction that had got Andrew’s musclesaching. Soaswedidn’t see thearrivalof the firstClippers(SeeNovember2017),wedidn’tseethemleaveon2ndDecembereither;theracestartwouldhavebeenaperfectopportunity topass the startline on the way across to Rottnest or down toGardenIsland.InsteadIwastryingtoridmyselfofthe background thump of a headache that hadinvaded my brain. The first three days ofDecemberwerealsohot,notgoodformeanyway,definitelynotgoodforuswithdepressedimmunesystems.

The Quiet Room that is (still) not so quiet!7th December 2017. The bug had not let go andapart from a small respite on themorning of the6thwherewegaveArabellaahandwiththeropesontotheservicejettyadjacent theslipwayatFSC,wehadspenttherestofthepreviousweek,ifnotinbed, thenveryquietly in frontof thetelevision(whereAndrewwasabletowatchthelastdaysofthetest…[ouraerialnotbeinghappywithplanesorhelicopterspassingoverheadmadethisslightlyfrustrating])andbasicallyquarantiningourselvesfrom the locals outside. Today had a perfectlygood wind gap to leave, except that yesterdaymorning hadwornme out andwhilstmy overallenergy had returned, I had developed thesymptoms that Andrew had been suffering thepreviousfewdays;ared-rawsorethroat.Iwasnotwell enough to leave today, so instead I sleptthroughmost of it and was happy to feel by theevening’sendthat Imight justbegettingthroughthis persistent little virus. Andrew on the otherhand said he felt better but was still coughingprofusely.ResolvingtoleaveonthemorrowIgavetheplantsalatewatering,Andrewputsomemorewaterinthetanksandbroughtinthehose,ItidiedthehelmstationasmuchasIcouldandafteralasttriptotheshowers(afewminuteswalkaway)weheadedofftothelibrarytoswapoversomebooksfor thepile Ihad leftaweekbeforebuthadbeenunabletogetbackto.

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AboardSengo December2017

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8thDecember.2017.Bythetimewegotupallbuttheclubboatsanduswere lefton theCollector Jetty.Weknew therewasanevent coming on the weekend and we knew that officialswantedSengomoved, ifnot toanotherpartoftheclubthenatleastbacktowardtheclubhousesowewouldbeoutofthewayoftheMediterraneanmooringlinesthataresetupontheoceanend of the jetty. Whist not feeling perfectly healthy we didhowever thismorning feelwell enough to leave, and thewindwas calm enough, to finally alight from the concrete structureandheadoutintotheblueyonder.

PriortoleavingIventuredintothe librarytofinallyswapoverthebooks,aftercheckingthealarmwouldn’tgooffagain(Note:asatJanuarynoticeoflibraryhoursisnowonthedoorandthealarmhasbeenfixed).

Thesailwasthefirstwe’dhadforoveramonth,andwhilstourspeedrangedfromjustunderaknottosixknotswearehappytosaythatwemadeourwaydowntoRockinghamwithouttheuseoftheironsail;thatis,wedidn’tputthemotoron.Seabirds

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Therewas at the time no notification on the Library door butclearlytherewassomeunwrittenruleaboutaccesstimes-andwewereoutsideit.AssoonasIpushedthedooropenIsentthescreaming alarm off and ignited the blue flashing light on themain building. Andrewwas not amused so I let himback intothemarinapenareawherehecouldanonymouslyheadbacktoSengoandIwentbacktositonthestepinfrontofthelibraryto‘await the constabulary’. None came. Even after the alarmstopped, none came. Someone even emerged from the mainbuilding some minutes after this (the AGM had finished uparound thirty minutes before) but he didn’t look my way.EventuallyIgaveup.Iwaspreparedtotakeresponsibility,andwasalmostdisappointed thatno securityorpolicehad turnedup, but sitting on the cold step exposed outside to the windwhen one is recovering from a persistent cold/flu is just notsmart.My thoughtswere to notify the office in themorning. Ifound out later that the harbor masters can see the camera’sremotely, had realised what had happened and turned thesystemoff…thatdidn’thelpmewithacoldseat!

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were minimal on the way but wedid hear penguins, and anunidentified lump in the seaturned out to be a basking seal.One small monohull provided achallenge. It had been passing usbut was making a bee-line toRockingham with its motors on.Perhapsitdecidedthatasweweresailing it might sail as well. Itsmotors went off and we almostcaughtitandthentackedbehindit,tacked again and almost caught itand then tacked again. In the endwe were technically in front butit was heading for a differentmooring location. We did this inlightwinds(itwasamuchsmallerboat)andhadthetripbeenlongerand straighter, we would havebeenmuch further ahead. Pickingup a mooring was as straight-forward as it should be, andsomethingwehaven’tdoneinovera year. Completed without walky-talkies and no yelling it was aprettysuccessfulday.9th – 15th December 2017. Clearlywe were not over the bug yet, aswhile the sail to Rockinghamwassuccessfulandrelativelycalmwhatlittleeffortthatwasexpendedwasenough to send us both back toexhaustion and the next two dayswerespentinrecoverymode.Thiswasapattern.OntheMondayaftera short visit to town and a quickshop, and a short visit to anotherboatforcoffeeintheafternoonwe

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AboardSengo December2017

Tigerhasfinallybeenallowedoutsideonhisownalthoughhis‘explores’areonlybriefbeforeheheadsbackinsideforafeedoraseep.

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repeated the two-day recoveryprogram. On Thursday weventured out again, catching thebus to themajorshoppingcentreand after a couple of hourswalking around, and filling ourtrolley(andgratefullyacceptingalift back by Arabella) we wereagain exhausted, spendinganotherdayandahalfrecoveringourenergy.Saturdayprovedtobemore social than we expected,firstchattingtoapowerboatwhohas just bought a 45 lagoon andthentoanindividualwhoI’dmetayearagoinDarwinwhenhewas

Andthentherainscame….Thisphotoisthroughthefrontwindow–itwasfartoowettogooutside….

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partofBackbeat’sdeliverycrew.Thentherewasaquicktriptotown (I knew if we didn’t get off Sengo in the morning, wewouldn’tgetoffforafewdays)andanunexpectedgatheringofsixonSengoforcoffeeintheafternoon.Againattheendofthedaywefeltabitwornout.Butwemustbegettingbetter–wewerenowhereasbadaswehadbeenbefore.

ThejettyatRockinghamhasfuelandwateravailability.

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AboardSengo December2017

Theonlythingtodointheseconditionsis….snooze

StrongWinds&Gales.16th–18thDecember2017.Whilstthe ‘norm’ for this part of thecoast is15-20knots,especially inthe afternoon, a low pressuresystem expected to hit the coastover the Sunday/Monday periodwassettobringwindsthelikesofwhichwehavebeenabletoavoidforavery longtime,decent rains(which I was hoping wouldactually wash the dirt off thedecks) and temperatures thatwere expected to be ten degreesbelow the summer average.Whilst the mooring we were onwas rated to cover most of theforecast, a check of the updatedbom.gov.au website on Sundayevening suggested possible 55knot squalls overnightand in themorning.Wewouldbeonanchorwatch; not only for the ability ofthemooring tohold (ifnecessarywe would drop the mooring andput down the anchor but wedidn’treallywanttodothisinthedark) but also for the myriad ofboats to the southof us – havingbeen been told by locals that thelocalmoorings have a reputationof letting go and the odd boatdoeswashuponthe leebeach insimilar weather We were verywaryofpotentialcollisions.

Evening rain. Whist the 55knot squalls didn’t come wegotaverygooddousing.

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AboardSengo December2017

CapePeron20th December 2017. Wefinallyfoundadaywheretheweather was good enough,andwefeltstrongenough,togettoshoreandgoformorethan a quick shopping trip.We hadn’t done any decentexercise in weeks, whichwas not helping our cause.Peron Pointwas just to oursouthandatinnieridetothebeach just before thecauseway (there is a boatrampontheotherside)andwalk got us into the PeronPoint Regional Park. Therewere a few visitors around,including several walkingtheir dogs but the mostobvious individuals (fromtheir ‘strenuations’)was thelocal fire brigade who wereclearly on a fitness trainingexercise. Thewalk from thesouthcarparkuptothegunemplacement is up steepsteps and these guys wererunning up this (andfurther) as well as doingpushup drills in between.Firies are typically fitindividuals. Iwas exhaustedjustwatchingthem.

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PeronPointRegionalPark,adjacentthe Shoalwater Marine Park iscurrently part of the RockinghamLakesRegionalPark(established in1977). The park is popular forswimming, snorkeling and there issome spearfishing allowed (rulesapply). Transferred fromCommonwealth to State ownershipin1964 the landwasdesignated in1968 to recreation reserve and notto be used for private industrial,commercial or residentialdevelopment. In 2000 much of theland at Cape Peron was classifiedBush Forever by the WAGovernment and in 2011 theCommonwealth governmentconfirmed its expectations that theland will be managed as such,howevertherehavebeenproposalsfor urban development and amarina complex. The locals areconcerned that the McGowanGovernment will ignore previousdecisions and are fighting theseproposals (note: PremierMcGowan

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(2017) lives a couple ofkilometers away andapparently (according tothe font of all knowledge -the internet) does notobject to development onthepeninsula).

Despite future potentialownership the placecurrently belongs tohoneyeaters. There weremany birds sitting on theshore but flying above usalong the shore and inexposed areas were awhistling kite, an osprey,andseveralterns. Twittingaroundthedunevegetationinland on the walk backwhere an enormousnumber of honeyeaters,(none of which stayed stillenough for properidentification), willywagtails (where wewatched one delightfulacrobatic show during thecaptureofawhitemothformorning tea) and laughingdoves, an African importthat is newer than my oldbirdbook.

OverlookingManglesBayfromPeronPointRegionalPark.Sengoisinthebackground.

Birdwatching

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AboardSengo December2017

On21stDecemberwemadeourwaybackatFSC(amixtureofsailingandmotoring)tositoutthesillyseason.

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DuringWordWar II, particularly (according to the interps board) in 1942,gunemplacementswereplacedaroundCapePeron(knownasKBattery)aspartofAustralia’sdefenseandtoprotectthe(secretpresenceof)US,BritishandDutchsubmarinersstationedatFremantle.

FromadistanceIthoughtthesewerelargeseals…turnsouttheyarejustthebiggestsandbagsIhaveeverseen!

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The most obviousemplacementisat thetopof the stairs up from thesouth car park. A trackleads past one of the gunsites (where the interpsboard is) but the otherobvious construction isclearlyfallingofftheduneand hazard signs areplaced at the start of theadjacenttrack

The Peron Point RestorationProject is looking for funding tohelp save the war-time historyhere.Seepprp.com.au.

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AboardSengo December2017

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We spent the27thDecemberon ‘Perth’s famousWineCruise’ taken because it was the furthest up riverwecouldgetonaboattourwithinterstatevisitorsandnotbecause it had anything to dowithwine.Having saidthatabitoftastingwasenjoyedbysomeofusaswell.Wegothometodiscoverthatacyclonehadcrossedthecoast at Broome and our thoughts were with thoseboaties we had met this pastseason who call that part ofAustraliahome.

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25thDecember2017.Themorningofthe25thDecemberwasquiet.Whereas usual activity around the Sailing Club can start at firstlight, and there are definitely people about by 0630, nothing(barring thedepartureofWalkon theWildSide very quietly at0545 from the dock adjacent us) stirred until around 0830. Mymorning consisted of two long birthday conversations andAndrew’sconsistedofquietreadingtime.

Bycircumstancewehadendeduponthebackdog-legoftheVIPberthoutsidetheclubbuilding,twentymetersorsobygrassawayfrom the ‘sundeck’ area where the bbq’s are; ultimately ourrequirementforChristmaslunch.Thesundeckwasactuallyfullofpeople utilising the bbq’s this day, so it was probably fortunatethatwedidn’twant tousethetablesandseatingaswell (asanyother dock option for our boatwould have involved a 5minutewalkandwalkingthemeatbackforthattimewouldhavemeantacoldmeal).

The26thDecemberwassimilarlyaquietday,sunnyandcalm,butonthe27thDecemberthewindcameback.Ourinstrumentswerereading34knotsatapproximatelythesametimeRottnestIslandreadingsonbom.gov.auwerereading37knots. OurupgradetoourRaymarinesystemmaynothaveofficiallyrecalibratedtheinstruments…butIdon’tthinktheyarereadinglowanymore.

UpperreachesSwanRiver

SandalfordWineryUpperreachesSwanRiver

UpperreachesSwanRiver SandalfordWinerySandalfordWinery

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AboardSengo December2017

420Class

Fremantle Sailing Clubwas host to the Nationaland World 420Championships from the26thDecembertothe3rdJanuary.Itwasbecauseofthe influx of competitiveboatsandtheirassociatedsupport inflatables thatwe ended up outside theClub Building rather thanon the Collector Jetty.Competitors were out onthe water usually by midmorning (in severaldivisions) excepting thedaytheracegotcancelleddue to the strong winds(this is Fremantle; mostdays have strong winds).At the end of the day’sracing thedebrief sessionwas held on the sundeckarea adjacent the clubhouse so we could havefollowed the results hadwewanted to. For officialdetails visitwww.aus420class.org.au

ThelastcoupleofdaysofDecemberwereoccupiedbytouristythingswithinterstatevisitors;themostinterestingofwhichwastheNumberOnePumpStationof theGoldfieldsWaterSupplyScheme.Thispumpstation was the first of eight such units from Mandurang to theCoolgardie goldfields completed in 1903. The designer was C YO’Connor,anIrishmanwhohadcometoAustralia fromNewZealand.Considered a grand scheme it had the support of the incumbentpremierofthestatewhenitwasdesignedbutwhenanewleaderwaselectedpoliticalturmoilensued.Tocutalongstoryshort,theassumedexplanation is that due to inordinate political pressure C YO’Connortook his own life with a revolver whilst riding his horse in SouthFremantle,beforethefirstwatereverflowedthroughthesystem.TheBeachnamedinhishonourhasamemorialstatueto themanandhishorse.

There are now 23 pump stations along this line of pipes and theyextend toKalgoolie/Boulder; the older oneswere upgraded over theyears to diesel and were eventually phased out with new electricfacilities.TheheightoftheoriginaldamatMandurangwas30meters.Sometimeafteritsconstructiontheheightwasincreasedto40metersto stop the overflow of the contained water during peak season.Unfortunatelytheclimatehaschanged;therehasnotbeena‘goodrain’for at least twenty years and the damwill apparently never hold asmuch again. Thereare currentlyworks underway to reduce thedamheightback to30m.This in turnwill reduce the sizeof the reservoirshould it fill and this in turn, with a smaller surface will reduceevaporativewaterresourcelosstotheatmosphere.ThePumpStationbuildingismanagedbytheNationalTrustandshorttoursofthepumpstation/museumareheldonweekends.Seewww.nationaltrust.org.au

GoldfieldsWaterSupplyScheme