shipwrecked... Deserted isolated beach, yacht abandoned, breaking up on a reef, on its hull & taking water, near Zuytdorp Cliffs (pronounced Zurtoff) between Steep Point & Kalbarri. Closest highway about 150kms east, Carnarvon 250kms north of that, Darwin 3200kms further north......
Swam ashore with my grab bag as the sun rose.
Paul at Steep Point sent me an update snap of the wreck on the beach, thanks mate.
When you consider the rubbish people watch on TV this story should be worth a movie.
the Western Australia cruising guide reckons "respite" can be taken at False Entrance, in view of the 100nm of coastal cliffs that come after that bay, dropping the pick and having a kip seemed like a good idea. Weather got progressively worse (0100) that night, realized later my anchor lines had snapped, the sound of something hitting rock was enough to encourage me to grab my grab bag and climb overboard. i could feel rock beneath me and swam/crawled ashore through the surf at first light 0615.
weather: several yachts had been waiting in the immediately previous safe port 'Denham' & further north 'Carnarvon' for up to a month for a good weather break to tackle this notorious piece of isolated coast heading south. the prevailing southerly wind was forecast to turn west and average 15-25knots for a 2 day window. i met friends in the immediately previous safe 'Shelter Bay' who had been waiting a week, the day i arrived there. they (a couple) left that night, i left the next morning. they later told me it was the roughest weather they had encountered in their circumnavigation.
steeppoint.com.au for a better idea of this part of the coast.
things that prevented my possible death:
my inflatable tender was secured to the yacht with two bow lines, they both broke and i later found it on the beach. had they not broke i would have got in the thing when the waves started breaking over the yacht at 0100 and ridden it ashore, i probably would have drowned doing that.
i was wearing a full survival suit which protected me whilst in the water and crossing the reef.
the grab bag FLOATED; it only contained 2flares, handheld vhf, phone, wallet, specs, muesli bar, 700ml water and medical supplies (incurable disease/physical disability etc).
I KEPT MY COOL, my home of 5 years was being destroyed about me, I couldnt change what was happening.
a 20l water container floated off the deck, partially filled, and ashore.
epirb? activating it didnt achieve anything, sea rescue was too late to save the yacht and the weather was too rough for them to take me off the beach. as sea rescue left to return to Denham, I met Andy, a touring fisherman who was good enough to take me back to his camp site for hot coffee & sanity.
insurance? didnt have it, always expected to die with the yacht.
future prevention? best advice head 5nm+ west to sea after Steep Point and keep going until conditions facilitate mooring at Port Gregory or further south, solo sailors heed this warning.
This notorious piece of the coast (+-100nm N S) has claimed at least 200lives in its recorded history.
