Fascine... ating

A restful night after yesterdays sleep deprivation. We woke to a beautiful cool morning still attached to the expensive pole that was our mooring for the night. The plan today was to explore Carnarvon and see if we could find some 'noodles' that we could use as fenders around the tinny to protect the hull from the occasional nudge as the winds changed.

Some wildlife from the pole mooring .

As the shore was close we decided to leave the outboard mounted on Moonshadow and use the oars to get to shore only a couple of hundred metres from said pricey pole. We learned that rowing a flat bottomed tinny with the oars designed for the inflatable dinghy was a bit trickier than we had imagined. The oars are just that much too short and we ended up rowing in circles like the proverbial drunken sailor. Eventually we made it to the little launching ramp and tied her securely, heading off in search of the promised cappuccino. There is a cafe just around the corner but alas it was closed so we headed north to investigate the possibilities in the metropolis.

Entrance to the refueling jetty in Carnarvon.

On the way we found a chandlery which was worth the visit as it was quite well stocked with very friendly staff and a beautiful red kelpie dog that had those really sad eyes that just reach out and say,
"Give me some love... I'm really cute."
Ok. We did.

He wouldn't let us go and we had to scratch his head for ages. Unfortunately, neither he nor the chandler could help us with noodles so we moved on with the advice to take the walk around the Fascine Channel, which leads past the Carnarvon Yacht Club and marina.

Eventually we found the Main Street in Carnarvon and even an open cafe offering the best cappucinos in town! We lashed out on breakfast and enjoyed the crisp morning air and reading yesterday's West Australian. We were soon joined by a man who introduced himself as a fellow 'yachtie' and had a chat about Carnarvon. The cafe proprietor came over and told us to be aware of our company as he was known as the barefoot cowboy and had a smooth line in banter. He did tell us that Macca from the yacht Top Cat was his best mate and was in town. Macca is a friend of ours from Fremantle Sailing Club and we asked the barefoot cowboy to say hi to Macca from us.

It was time to explore in the hunt for our noodles. Sports shop... no joy.
Target... Nada.
Woolworths... nilch.
Hmmm.
Toy shop... "Oh we just sold out."

I thought this would be easy but no noodles are to be had in Carnarvon. It is a noodle free zone apparently. Even the bike shop admitted to selling out a while ago and declaring that he would probably not stock them again as Woolies sells them cheaper than he can buy them. Believe it or not we found a noodle shop selling noodles, but unfortunately they were the edible Chinese variety.

Having had a look at the Fascine channel, we decided that it wasn't as scary as it looks on the navigation software and there are what is known here as 'courtesy buoys' available for free for 72 hours provided by the Department of Transport. With any luck, we could score a high tide and a free mooring. Consulting the trusty oracle (iPad Nav software) we were in luck as a high tide was due at 1445 hours, a good two hours away. Time enough to get back to Moonshadow and time a passage up the channel with a rising tide. Moonshadow has a draught of 1.8 metres and a high tide would give us a good margin to get in safely and secure one of five free mooring buoys. It seemed a better option than another $30 for a night on a pole!

Heading back we again passed the marina and we spied none other than Macca working on his boat, Top Cat. We stopped and had a chat, learning that he had moved up here permanently. As he was busy, we exchanged phone numbers and left him to sorting out his yacht.

Arriving back on Moonshadow, we prepared to leave and cast off the lines from the pole, heading down the track to the Teggs Channel so we could head around the corner to the Fascine. All was well, no wind and the passage was clearly marked with red and green pylons. What a doddle we thought!

Follow the markers and she'll be sweet, we thought...

Why are we not moving, we thought!

Oh shit! Stuck in the mud!

No problem, we thought, just reverse out and get back on track. Hmmm.

The mud had taken a shine to Moonshadow and wasn't going to let go, just like some kind of affectionate Red Kelpie with sad eyes...

Now when we were chatting to Macca, he had said,
"If you get stuck, give me a call and I'll come and pull you off, but you should be sweet with a high tide."
We decided to call and he said he would be there in half an hour so we sat and waited.
No other choice really. We secured the tinny as it was doing strange things sliding around the hull.

After about twenty minutes, Moonshadow started bumping up and down as the tide was still rising, and with one desperate last effort we were able to reverse out of the mud bank and steer to deeper water. Panic over. The rest of the ride up the Fascine was uneventful and we were able to follow the dredged channel all the way up to the buoy that we had selected on our morning walk. Margie pulled up the mooring lines and we were finally secured safely again. We had phoned Macca again, to thank him and cancel the rescue attempt.

Our view of Carnarvon from the Fascine mooring.

Another tinnie ride to the beach to celebrate with yet another cappucino was in order. These are getting addictive. After a bit of shopping for dinner we got back to Moonshadow and had a quiet night enjoying the peace and tranquility of this place.

Life is good!