For those travelling down to Esperance for the State Titles at Easter, here are a few last minute notices:

• If you need your sails measured for the States, and would like to have them measured before Easter, contact Neil White on 0401 927 202 to arrange a time and place for getting this done.
• If you will be requiring lunch during the regatta and haven't yet placed your lunch orders with the Esperance Bay Yacht Club, please do so immediately or you will miss out.  Details are in the Notice of Race.
• Similarly, if you are planning to eat at the Yacht Club on Thursday evening, you will need to book this in advance with Stuart Mathews of Saltwater Catering on 0439 711 653.
• The “autumnal chill” has arrived in Esperance this week with the evenings turning quite cool. You are advised to bring a warm jacket, particularly as the fish barbecue on Friday night is outdoors.

There are several alternative routes from Perth to Esperance:

• the no brainer way is Albany Hwy to Arthur River where you turn L & go Wagin, Dumbleyung, Lake Grace, Newdegate, Lake King (Stop & admire the pristine Lake), Ravensthorpe, Esperance (click on "more options" in the map below to go to Google Maps where you can download the detailed directions).

• Swannie's preferred way is to turn off the Albany highway at Williams, thru Narrogin ( turn R at the Albert Facey motel as you hit town, L a few hundred metres down the hill & thru the stop sign) & head for Harrismith. 49kms out of Narrogin turn R at the T, & 20 kms on you hit Harrismith. If thirsty, have a schooner at the Oasis Hotel. (Don’t use the public toilets). Out of Harrismith, (5kms I think), rumble strips announce the impending presence of a T junction. Turn R. 3km’s on turn L. (This is the only turn you might miss) Follow your nose to the Tarin Rock wheat bin, where you turn L & head for Lake Grace. From there it is Newdegate, Lake King, Ravensthorpe, Munglinup (excellent cappuccino) Esperance (click on "more options" in the map below to go to Google Maps where you can download the detailed directions)..

• Alternatively, (if Albany Highway before public holidays can sometimes be a parking lot) you can take Welshpool Road East up and over Lesmurdie Hill. Turn right at the T Junction where Welshpool Road East meets Canning Road and follow Canning Road to Karragullen, (don’t miss the right hand turn where Canning Road meets Pickering Brook Road and veers right – sign posted for Karragullen) turn left onto Brookton Highway and go through Brookton, Corrigin, Kondinin, Hyden (good bakery/cafe in the Hyden shopping centre on the left hand side just past the oval and pool as you drive through with a large gravelled shady parking area opposite the shopping centre). Turn right a couple of kilometres outside of Hyden onto to Hyden Lake King Road and follow that to the T junction with South Coast Highway. Turn left onto South Coast Highway, through Ravensthorpe (BP and Shell servo’s available), Munglinup to Esperance (click on "more options" in the map below to go to Google Maps where you can download the detailed directions)..