Around Australia by power boat - this instalment finds Ian Reynolds approaching halfway on his epic voyage

After nearly a month away from Investigator IV, berthed safely in Adelaide, the crew reassembled at Holdfast Shores for the first part of their important leg across to Perth. Ian Reynolds was joined by trusty first mate Keith Hanson and Grahame Henderson from the Gold Coast.

The 1,500 nautical mile trip included the ultimate challenge of the Great Australian Bight. They planned one single 480 nautical run from Ceduna in Western South Australia to Israelite Bay in Western Australia, then another 200 on to Esperance — a distance in total of about 680 nautical miles, with no fuel stops in between! In the end, they changed their plans and went past Israelite and stopped at Middle Island, 130 nautical miles further on.

With many of these waters off Western Australia totally uncharted, the sophisticated Raymarine sonar system aboard Investigator IV was put to maximum use.

They cast off about nine in the morning on a bright sunny day and crossed the Gulf of St Vincent to stop overnight before continuing in near gal-force winds to Port Lincoln.

They met local Riviera owner Ron Forster who took them out fishing at a tuna farm, where they moored and began fishing for blue fin tuna that presumably had escaped from the farm. They baited up and, in no time, had six, which is the boat limit. Ian caught two and had a great time landing them. These fish were between 30 and 40 lbs in weight.

Tuesday was their Great White Shark adventure at Neptune Island. Keith and Grahame were looking forward to getting into the shark cage… up close and personal. They rafted up to the shark cruise boat and had a nice lunch before descending into the cage. The sharks included a big Mako about three metres long and a four-metre female Great White. It was a great spectacle.

According to Ian, "Keith actually touched the Great White and did not wash his hand for three days!"

The next day they all went ashore at Memory Cove (so named by Matthew Flinders) and looked for the replica of the tablet left by Flinders in February 1802. The tablet commemorates the tragic loss of eight members of Investigator's crew, including the Sailing Master John Thistle. They lost their lives returning to Investigator in the ship's cutter after being on a trip searching for water.

Next stop was Coffin Bay, then Flinders Island, with a lunch stop at Pearson Island.

A full day run from Flinders to Ceduna saw them arrive for their final refuelling before the Bight. This was the start of the longest single leg of the entire voyage — the major reason for equipping Investigator IV with the additional fuel tank. They were about to head west — 680 nautical miles before the next fuel stop and nothing much else between there and Esperance if they got into trouble.

In fact, the crossing went without incident. They logged in with marine authority AUSREP every 24 hours on their journey. Travelling at an average of little more than 10 knots, the only sign of life they saw was a very large seal sleeping on the surface, front fins crossed over his chest. They and he were 60 nautical miles offshore and 150 nautical miles from Ceduna.

They arrived at their changed destination of Middle Island early in the morning after a 52.5 hour journey from Ceduna. Middle Island was named by the French explorer D'Entrecasteaux in 1792.

After exploring the island for a day, they made the short trip to Esperance and waited only long enough to refuel. With the weather closing in, the crew decided to leave as soon as possible, setting out at 20 knots for Albany in an attempt to get there before the cold front hit. As it happened, they had a good run and anchored in Frenchman's Bay 12 hours later.

As Ian commented, "We had done it again… missed the bad stuff!"

After a day visiting the sights, including the Brig Amity, the whaling station and The Gap, they departed for Geographe Bay at two o'clock on Monday morning in order to dodge any wind changes around Cape Leeuwin. But the weather was fine and sunny again and the trip around the great Cape was very calm. Two more days had them tucked up at the local Riviera Dealer's marina in Fremantle.

On this part of the voyage, Ian, in particular, was greatly aware of the exploits and work of Matthew Flinders.

"These areas continually provide fascinating stories of his journey 206 years ago," said Ian.