Dampier to Carnarvon

Tuesday 12^th August, 2008 at sea north of Cape Cuvier

Rough night. Wind was not particularly strong but sea was all over the place, swell from one direction, waves from another and wind from another resulting in a very confused and rough sea. Managed to maintain 5 knots throughout the night and the lights of Dampier Salt’s Cape Cuvier ship loader were clearly visible in the distance at sunrise.

Had another aerial flyby about 9am when this time a Customs Dornier 302 overflew us and asked for our details. Have not been able to work out the difference between coastwatch and customs they appear to be doing the same thing but identify themselves differently, probably a bureaucratic struggle going on between Customs and coastwatch over who is keeping our borders secure while the Australian taxpayer pays for this duplication of services.

The southeasterly is with us again and we have the outboards going, the mailsail and genoa up and we are maintaining 7 knots. The southeasterly died out late morning and we motored for a while. The Quobba Point lighthouse was approaching and as we rounded the point Barry set his last waypoint on the Raymarie box of tricks which would take us to the end of the 1 mile jetty.

The wind gods, (who had throw up a few obstacles along the way) were today on our side, as we altered course to the southsoutheast for Carnarvon a nice southwesterly breeze came up allowing us to hoist the sails for the last leg into Carnarvon. Again we were doing 7+ knots, in the distance a side on view of the OTC dish appeared, then slowly the rest of Carnarvon appeared on the horizon. We were off the end of the one mile jetty by about 3pm and then it was across to Teggs Channel and into the fascine arriving at the pen at 3:30pm.

Barry was hoping he could slip quietly into the pen at the yacht club but a phone call from Kay told us our movement along the Gascoyne coast had not gone un-noticed. The new owner of Barry & Kay’s old Spindrift works at Cape Cuvier and he had spotted us sailing past just after dawn. As a result a group of Carnarvon yachties were waiting for us at the pen.

3 months and 6 days after leaving Brisbane, Barry and Spindrift were home.

Well done Barry

Monday 11^th August, 2008 Tandabiddi

Nice quiet night on the anchor, up at 6am and prepared for a dawn departure. Sun rises at 6:51am today. The entrance to Tandabiddi is clearly marked with floating channel markers and difficult to see leads, channel markers also have lights on them, some of which are not working. We were sailing past the last of the channel markers as the sun came up. By now the southeasterly was piping at 20 plus knots, we set the mailsail and the staysail and set course for home.

Saw a lot of whales. They seemed to be gathered in small pods of 2 or 3 whales and these pods seemed to be part of a larger group of about 10 pods. One pod had 2 big adult whales and a juvenile who was jumping out of the water and putting on quite a show. After many failed attempts during the last 3 weeks I finally managed to get a reasonable whale photo of this juvenile. Also saw lots of flying fish, Spindrift slicing through the water at 7 knots must have looked like a threat so these flying fish launch themselves from the water and become flyers for 5 or 10 seconds as they glide up to 50 metres before settling back in the water and resume their lives as fish.

Big day for aviation. First off we had a flyby of two RAAF PC9’s in tight formation and later a Coastwatch aircraft did a pass again requesting the usual details. In the Kimberley we were buzzed almost daily by Coastwatch aircraft but this is the first one we have seen since departing Broome. The Australian Government must be throwing some money at border security. Today’s Coastwatch aircraft looked like a Dash 7, a rather extravagant aircraft for coast watch duties. Our daily Coastwatch buzz in the Kimberley was by a Reims 406 which looked like it would have a quarter of the operating cost of a Dash 7.

George trailed the new Halco lure he bought in Dampier all day and as soon as he went for an afternoon nap the lure hooked a fish so fishing duties fell to me. Much to our surprise we had a large Wahoo probably about 20 kg. He was a bit big for our evening meal so we released him.

Winds have been a mixed bag today. We set sail in the morning with a strong southeasterly wind, by mid morning this was replaced by a light northwesterly which steadily backed around to the west and eventually southwest. The sail wardrobe got plenty of use, in the southeasterly we used the main and staysail, then the main, staysail and genoa and then all afternoon we used the main and geniker. In the evening we went back to main and genoa and then to main only as the wind backed around to the southwest.

Barry is now onto the last of his 80 charts, home is not far away now.

Sunday 10^th August, 2008 Serrurier Island

Up just before sunrise, raised the mainsail while at anchor, then pulled up the pick and we were on our way. No harbour or anchorage to weave our way out of, it was anchor up and on course for North West Cape with a couple of minor course corrections to avoid the Murion Islands. The wind was from the south east which gave us a good off wind leg to NW Cape. We set the geniker again and managed to maintain 6 knots reaching NW Cape just after midday. A big swell is rolling in from the Indian Ocean natures way of reminding us we are moving into yet another different marine environment.

Saw a few whales again today all of which seem to be on a mission. Each time they surface they are heading north at a speed that makes a bow wave. It is often half a kilometer before you see them surface again, totally unlike the behavior we had seen up around Broome.

George managed to land a nice Tuna from the trailing lure. It was a bit large for our frying pan so we released it.

By the time we reached NW Cape the wind had backed around to NE which allowed us to carry the geniker all the way to the entrance of Tantabiddi which we reached at 2pm. Initially we tried anchoring in the NE part of the Tantabiddi anchorage but could not get the anchor to set, bottom looks like it is sand over coral so we motored down to the moorings near the boat ramp and anchored in a sandy hole. By the time we anchored the wind was coming from the NE at 20+ knots but this did not seem to be deterring the recreational fishermen. After anchoring there was a steady stream of boats coming back to the boat ramp, at times there were up to 5 boats lined up waiting for use of the boat ramp.

Phil Woods rang in the evening with the news that the 7 day forecast was showing a significant change to the weather pattern on next Friday when strong southerly winds are forecast between NW Cape and Carnarvon, just the wind we do not want. After some discussion amongst the crew the decision was made to make the most of the current easterly wind pattern and bypass Coral Bay and head straight for Carnarvon.

Saturday 9^th August, 2008 Onslow

Up just before sunrise to use the outgoing tide and the southeasterly to carry us further west.

Heavy overnight dew mixed with the iron ore dust of Dampier made the deck of Spindrift look a real mess so we had a busy bee on the deck to clean things up.

Managed to fly the genica for most of the journey to Serrurier Island and arrived just after lunch. We anchored in a nice protected corner of the island and launched the dinghy and went ashore. I went snorkeling across the reef and coral while Barry and George went for a walk on the island. Plenty of nice brain coral and lots of sponges but not many fish.

First time we have had to cook for ourselves for a while so resorted to an old favorite spaghetti bolognese .

Friday 8^th August, 2008 at sea Mary Anne Passage

Had a good night at sea. Started the night with full main sail and geona, with a strengthening southerly wind the first watch change reefed the main and furled the genoa and the staysail put into action. The Moon is now approaching half phase so the first half of the night had some light to see by. Around midnight we passed Cape Preston which apparently the site of a new iron ore shipping facility, we were well out to sea and in the darkness could not see much but the place was ablaze with lights.

We maintained 4.5 knots all night at sunrise our old friend the southeasterly returned but this time in a moderated form which allowed us to go back to full sails and 6 knots. By mid morning the breeze died out and it was time to turn to the iron spinnaker (the motors) to help us on our way.

George was a happy lad, news from the farm tell him the crop is going well bar some diamond back moth infestation in one of his canola crops and to top the day off George has managed to solve the 5 star suduko in yesterday’s newspaper.

Did some research on Onslow and decided to use a mooring in Beadon Creek. The “mooring” turned out to be a maze of pylons designed for sheltering 20 to 30 metre fishing boats and oil field work boats in a cyclone. Getting Spindrift secured safely for the night required some innovation but we eventually found a suitable solution. We went ashore in the dinghy and called a taxi to take us the 2 kms to town. Laurie the taxi driver dropped us at the Onslow Town Garage where we filled up our fuel containers and then went for a walk around town. A visit to Onslow is not complete without a visit to the Beadon Hotel which we did and had a beer while looking over some of the old photos of Onslow hung on the walls.

Back at Spindrift the midgies proved to be a problem but Barry was up to the challenge with a good stock of mosquito coils and soon two were burning, one each side of the door which seemed to take care of the problem.

Thursday 7^th August, 2008 Dampier

Woke to relatively calm conditions but again as predicted by the weather bureau the southeasterly sprang up early morning and blew hard with gusts exceeding 30knots at times. The forecast is also for moderating winds in the next few days so we made preparations for the next leg of our journey down to Onslow. Beaty & Charlie Mutard, Kay’s cousins, dropped off some wet weather gear which was stored in Barry’s shed in Carnarvon. As we have moved south the weather has become steadily cooler, gone are the warm tropical conditions we experienced in the Kimberleys. The local ABC breakfast program reported temperatures of only 7 deg C overnight in Carnarvon, I will have to go and buy some warmer clothes in Onslow.

In the early afternoon the southeasterly had abated and swung to a northeasterly, it was time to hit the road. Barry called Damper Port Communications on the radio who cleared us to move out of Hampton Harbour. We pulled up the anchor at 2:30pm and were reaching down Mermaid strait by about 3pm. We were on our way to Onslow.

Broome to Dampier

Wednesday 5^th August, 2008 Dampier

The southeasterly blew hard in the morning so we stayed put on Sprindrift not wanting to get soaking wet in the dinghy going ashore. After lunch the wind had died down enough to get ashore and have a hot shower, and wash some clothes at the Hampton Harbour Boat & Sailing Club. Once ashore we met Brad Beamount a school colleague of mine at Carnarvon 40 years ago. Brad invited us to dinner at the HHBSC which we gladly accepted. Brad is a local authority on William Dampier who sailed through the area twice the second time as captain of the Roebuck in 1699. Whenever the names of Australian navigators and explorers are mention the name William Dampier is rarely if ever mentioned. The brief history Brad gave us of William Dampier was very interesting and clearly significant achievements for their time which history does not seem to have much credit to.

Tuesday 4^th August, 2008 Dampier

Late start to the day. After 4 days and 3 nights of sailing from Broome the crew was tired and hit the sack early I stayed up an hour longer for blogging duties and by about 9pm the snores coming from the bunks in both hulls was probably keeping the crews of adjacent boats awake.

Did some housekeeping during the morning, cleaned the boat up (a bit) and cleaned up the spark plugs on the two Yamaha outboards.

After lunch Narrelle Dale, Phil Wood’s daughter, picked up the Spindrift crew and took us into Karratha where she gave us the use of her car for a couple of hours so we could do our shopping. Narrelle and her husband Stu put on tasty evening meal before Stu returned us to Hampton Harbour with our fuel cans full.

Karratha is one crazy place at the moment, gas developments and iron ore mining expansion have Karratha busting at the seams with new houses going up everywhere trying to keep up with the demand for housing. House rents are $2,000.00 per week and caravans at the local caravan park are costing $400.00 per week!

Monday 3^rd August, 2008 at sea east of Cape Lambert

Motor sailed through the night. With the predicted strong wind warning we put a reef in the mainsail and as has now become customary took down the genoa and put up the staysail for our night sailing. The night itself went smoothly we passed two other vessels which were probably trawlers but with the moon only 3 days old it was again another very black night so there was no way of determining what the vessels were. Dawn saw us approaching the Cape Lambert iron ore ship loading facilities. Business is booming in the iron ore business and Cape Lambert is no doubt cashing in on record prices for iron ore. They had two bulk carriers tied up to their shiploader and were constructing an extension to the shiploader to allow the berthing of another two bulk carriers.

The southeasterly wind arrived early morning as predicted so we made our way to the old port of Cossack. Only one problem, the entrance to the creek which leads to Cossack has a sandbar across it and we arrived at low tide and touched the bottom well before crossing the sandbar forcing us to abandon our plans for Cossack. By now the southeasterly was piping and the next best option was to head for Flying Foam Passage. It was a dead run to Flying Foam and we covered the 27 plus nautical miles in less than 4 hours which set us up to transit Flying Foam Passage just after the full tide. The Fremantle Sailing Club’s Cruising the Western Australia Cruising book, (the bible of WA cruising yachies) had plenty of warnings about Flying Foam, strong tidal movement, pearling leases to avoid, shallow water and rocky outcrops. The recommendation was to use the passage at ebb tide. We arrived at the entrance to the passage just after full tide and with the wind behind us we choose to shoot the Flying Foam Passage. And shoot the passage we did, with a reef in the main, and the genoa set and a strong SE wind, and the tide behind us we maintained 7 knots and on a couple of occasions reached 11knots. Barry kept an eye on his Raymarine box of tricks and shouting out headings, George an eye on the depth sounder and I was on the helm. In 45 minutes we were down Foaming Passage and in the harbour of Dampier. Barry gave Dampier Port Communications a call on the radio who cleared us to travel to the Hampton Boat Harbour. The trip down through the port of Dampier was a sightseeing tour of Australia’s resource exports. Out to sea was a big oil rig, we passed by the LNG plant as a LNG tanker ship was being berthed with the help of 4 red tugs, then came a small jack up rig which looked like it was part of a small scale on shore oil or gas processing plant, then came the general cargo jetty, and next the star attraction was Hamersley Iron’s Parker Point iron ore ship loaders, one ship the Boasteel Elevation was loaded to the gunwals and ready to sail, another three bulk carriers were taking on ore as we sailed past. In the distance we could see Hamersley’s East Intercourse ship loader and slightly further on was Dampier Salt’s shiploader.

Finally at the end of all of this was Hampton Harbour, we motored in to the anchorage and dropped the pick at 3:30pm. We had arrived in Dampier.

Sunday 3^rd August, 2008 at sea east of Turtle Island

Sailed through the night again using our 1 hour on 2 hours off roster. The southerly sprang up in the late evening and together with some short sharp seas we had an un-comfortable couple of hours when our speed dropped to only 3 knots. The turning of the tide around midnight leveled things out and our speed slowly increased. By mid morning a light southeasterly helped us along but this was gone by lunch time. In the early afternoon a northwesterly came in and along with a favorable tide and plenty of help from our motors we managed to maintain 6 plus knots for the afternoon.

Our plan for the day was to pass Port Hedland during daylight so that we could see (and avoid) the shipping associated with the iron ore mining of the Pilbara region. We passed Port Hedland about 15 miles out to sea at 4:30pm. Nine bulk carriers were anchored waiting for their payload.

Saw many humpback whales again. They were either jumping vertically almost full length out of the water often twisting and flopping back first into the water making one huge splash or swimming in pairs with one whale lifting a flipper high out of the water and repeatedly slapping it back down on the water.

A phone call from Kay warned us of strong wind warning for tomorrow morning when 20/30 SE winds are expected. Time to start looking for an anchorage protected from the southeasterly.

Saturday 2^nd August, 2008 at sea off eighty mile beach

A good night running a 1 hour on 2 hour off watch roster. Barry set a waypoint the previous night 95 miles ahead and each of us took it in turns to keep the boat on track and avoid any other maritime traffic. The moon is in it’s new moon phase. It was a very black night so the Raymarine box of tricks with its radar overlay on the GPS map was a useful tool.

A gentle southerly wind blew all night. We sailed on the main and staysail . At dawn the every reliable southeastly wind burst into life, we unfurled the genoa and gave the engines a rest as we sailed on at 6 knots.

By mid morning the southeasterly died out and we raised the genica and started one of the engines to keep Spindrift moving along.

As we crossed 122 deg longitude we started using charts loaned to Spindrift by Gary Wescott. All through the Kimberley we used a set of beautifully laminated charts loaned by Phil Woods the one and same who crewed Spindrift with his wife Silvia to Darwin. Ray Ellis has also been kind enough to lend us some charts. Charts are an expensive item each one costing about $32.00 more it you want them laminated. We use roughly one chart each day, so loaned charts for this one way trip is much appreciated.

1^st August, 2008 Broome

Up at sunrise and launched the dinghy and took Kim to the beach so that he could go into town and pick up George Barnetson. George had taken the Greyhound bus from his hometown of Nabawa just east of Geraldton to Broome a 26 hour journey which had landed him in Broome at 7pm the night before. George had spent the night in a motel.

George and Kim returned to the beach at 7am and soon both were onboard and we had breakfast together. At 8 30am I returned Kim to the beach for the last time. Kim went off and returned the Mini Moke to it’s owner and then flew back to Perth.

At 9am we raised the anchor and with a strong south easterly wind were on our way south towards La Grange. Just off Gantheaume Point we encountered some rough tide versus wind water but once across the deep water channeling into Roebuck Bay this flattened out. With the SE wind we were for a time making 7 knots but as the SE wind died out and so did our speed. For a short period we had to down sails and motor until a westerly wind arrived and gave us some assistance. The arrival of the westerly wind caused us to re-assess our destination as La Grange Bay is very exposed to a west wind, we chose instead to sail on through the night. In the late afternoon George caught a small mackerel on the lure we were trailing and this became a tasty meal for dinner.

Another day of hectic whale activity, just out of Broome a large whale and tiny calf surfaced within about 30 metres of Spindrift, in other places there were groups of 2 or 3 whales jumping out of the water and making huge splashes as they re-entered the water. We will keep at least one motor running at night in the hope whales will hear us coming and get out of the way.

Hunter River to Broome

Thursday 31st July, 2008 Broome

Crew change tomorrow, Kim flys back to Perth and following is Kim's contribution to the blog.

Peter has put a lot of effort into the blog and now as we await the arrival of my old mate George Barnetson as the new crewman it’s my turn to fire off some words.

The blog so far has talked a lot about the journey, but now it’s time to talk about THE MAN. At 78 years old, many of our senior citizens are working out which motorised wheelchair to purchase, but not so our great leader, Barry Scott. He travels to Queensland, purchases a catamaran, spends months bringing it up to his standard and then sails it home to Carnarvon.

Sailing with Barry is like sailing with a cross between David Attenborough, Captain Bligh and Tom Sawyer all packaged into the wizard like body of Ghandi.

Every day he teaches his followers new lessons. We listen carefully to the instructions, but he always leaves out one critical piece of information in order that we are encouraged to think on our own and learn from our mistakes. He introduced us to the dark art of bread making. Kirrily had kindly left us a fresh loaf to welcome us on board. At the time the significance of this gesture was not fully appreciated by the new crew until we were prepared by our captain for the baking ritual. The cabin was closed up to ensure the correct temperature and voices were lowered as we kneaded the dough in the instructed manner. Once covered, the dough could not be viewed until ready, less it sour and so the lessons continued. As neophytes, our bread making efforts were ‘nearly as good’ as Kirrily’s but after carefully reviewing comparative photos, we thought she may have been receiving favoured treatment.

In all his spare moments, he caresses his Raymarine C80 crystal ball and mutters sweet nothings to it as he coaxes the information he needs to guide us through the treacherous waters expected the next day. Ancient charts are spread on the table and dividers painstakingly measure out distances and layout the course. (He’s needed to buy, borrow, beg or steal more than 80 charts to follow from Queensland to Shark Bay)

With Barry there are no grey areas, it’s either: black or white, right or wrong. This includes cooking. The veges are either ‘perfect’ (mushy and unable to be picked up with tongs) or ‘inedible’ (crisp, colourful and nutricius)

‘Spindrift’ is fully equipped like “Dr Who’s Tardis”. It’s a 37’ “Snell Easy” constructed from ply and West System epoxy coated. If you are looking for that impossible item (an eggplant for example) Barry disappears into his warren on the starboard side of the boat and like a magician, produces the required item from a place most of us would view as chaos.

As always in a ‘parting shot’ there must be suggestions for improvement. Will someone please buy Barry a new CD for Christmas (we are so sick of John Denver) or better still an I-Pod. Extensive singing lessons would also be useful.

But more importantly, the man needs to record his memoirs, so that all the little stories can be preserved for future generation of his family and friends.

It has been an honour to serve at the feet of the great man and enjoy a couple of weeks sailing in the Kimberleys and I wish Barry, Kay and all future crews of ‘Spindrift’ the very best and safe sailing for the future.

Kim Cramer

Woke to heavy fog again, could not even see the boat anchored next to us. Kim made some scones which were backed in the barbecue. Morning tea was had with scones jam and whipped cream Today was to be our Broome tourist day. By 11 the fog lifted and we went ashore, had lunch at Cable Beach and had a sightseeing drive around town eventually finishing up at the Broome Historical Museum. Spent an hour there before heading off to the shopping centre to buy our provisions for the next leg of our journey. Returned to Gantheaume Point (where Spindrift was anchored) at 4pm to find the dinghy we had pulled clear of the water at 11am was now about 200 meters from the water. The rented Mini Moke proved useful in towing the dingy back to the water. A light north westerly wind was now blowing onto the beach bringing with it some small waves which were breaking on the shore. Getting the dinghy back through the waves to Spindrift without getting wet proved to be a challenge.

Tomorrow we head off to La Grange Bay not sure when our next blog update will be.

Wednesday 30^th July, 2008 Broome

Spent the day doing boat chores, filled all the water tanks and water bottles, did the same with the fuel and gas cylinders.

Tuesday 29th July, 2008 Broome

Kim rang a friend in Broome and rented a mini moke. Barry went to town to get haircut and the visited the local laundromat to take care of our laundry, had lunch at subway, I went to the Post Office and picked up my glasses camera charger I had left behind in Perth and then went to the local Broome visitors centre. In front of the visitors centre there was sign summarizing the occupancy of all the local caravan parks, there were about 10 in all and all were full. Clearly July is peak season for tourism in Broome.

At the visitors centre we picked up a free copy of Welcome 2 Australia, Australian Tourist Times Newspaper. On the front page covering two thirds of the page is a Tourism WA photo of two young people presumably models walking hand in hand from the crystal clear water on the Silica Beach at Hidden Island. This is no doubt a picture that has convinced thousands to visit the Kimberley. I wonder if the two models would be so graceful if they had seen the crocodile we had seen at Silica Beach a few days ago?

When anchored at Silver Gull several days ago we met a fellow sailor who had had his RIB dinghy munched by a crocodile when anchored at Silica Beach. A couple of days following that we anchored at Silica beach and used a trip line on our anchor which we had marked with a buoy. After dark we had located the buoy with a spot light and were surprised to find just behind the buoy two 2 red lights, a little like a the distant tail lights of a small car, these were the eyes of a big crocodile probably the same guy who had munched the dinghy a week or so previously.

Monday 28th July, 2008 Beagle Bay



Broome was 75 nautical miles away with no known good anchorages in between so it was a 4 am start with the plan to maintain 6 knots and reach the anchorage in Broome before sunset. It was a dark night at 4 am so the Raymarine radar was very useful for finding our way out of Beagle Bay. Again we saw many humpback whales, some in pods up to 5 animals and then the occasional solo giant one of whom flicked his tail out of the water as he dived 50 metres from Spindrift.
Light winds all day so we motor sailed the whole way to Broome maintaining 5.5 to 6.5 knots with us reaching the Broome anchorage at 5pm.
Back to the rat race, radio stations, mobile phone coverage, internet connection, and about 40 other boats in the Broome anchorage.



Sunday 27th July, 2008 Thomas Bay


Kim roused the crew at 6am and we were under way shortly after. Light winds again so it was a motor sail. Saw a seagull today, one thing the Kimberley coast did lack was bird life we saw the occasional osprey, grey cranes and turns but no seagulls or shags so the sight of a common seagull was a surprise and a sign we are moving into a different environment. We also saw several pods of humpback whales many jumping full length out of the water. Not sure if this was feeding, mating or just having fun but it was impressive.
Kim launched the dinghy and went off to the rocks to try his hand at fishing. Nothing doing so it was spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.
Spent the night at Beagle Bay.


Saturday 26th July, 2008 Silica Beach, Hidden Island

Got away at 4:15am to beat the incoming tide. Barry fired up the Raymarine radar which overlays on the GPS map, a great piece of gear, in this part of the world there are islands, rocks, deep water here, shallow water there, tides going in various directions so all the electronic help is much appreciated. We crossed King Sound which goes all the way to Derby 65 miles away. Today Derby has a 10 metre high tide so there is a huge volume of water flowing out of King Sound. At one stage we had a compass heading of 180 deg and the GPS was showing a course of 240 degress. Crazy stuff.
Finally got some action on the trailing leure the clearer ocean water must have made the leure easier to see. In the space of 1 hour we caught a nice sized queen fish and a Spanish mackerel. The queen fish became bait and the Spanish mackerel became dinner.
We rounded Cape Levique at 9:30am and much to our surprise we had 3G mobile phone coverage. This was the first time Spindrift has seen mobile phone coverage since Darwin. We pushed on to Thomas Bay about 7 miles south of Cape Levique and anchored for the night. The Lombadina Mission is nearby.

Friday 25th July, 2008 Crocodile Creek

It is 6:30am, we are having another easy day today, having decided last night to stay here in the pool until the next high tide before venturing down the shallower waters of Crocodile Creek. It is now about 3 hours off peak tide and the waterfall, about 20 metres behind the stern of the boat, is about 3 metres high giving us a picture postcard view complete waterfall sound effects. As we saw last night when the tide is fully out the waterfall is about 8 metres high which we will see again at about 9am today .
The bakery bread we bought from Broome ran out yesterday so it was time to give bread baking a go. Barry gave the directions and Kim did the mixing and kneading. The barbecue served as an oven and about 2 hours later we had our first boat baked loaf of bread, just in time for lunch.
Yesterday when positioning the boat in this pool we dropped anchor in shallower water and dropped back into deeper water. When the tide is fully out we can see our anchor perched up on a muddy bank about 3 metres out of the water!
At 12:30 the tide had risen high enough for us to leave the creek. Once outside we set course for Silica Beach on Hidden Island. The course required several heading changes as we dodged in and out of islands and reefs. We arrived at Silica Beach at the top of the tide, the best we place we could find to anchor was in 14 metres of water, the tide will have a fall of 9 metres!
Before joining Spindrift at the Hunter River Barry had asked me to bring a SSB (Single Side Band) radio to pick up the weather information. As it was I own a 20 year old Sony ICF7600 radio which has a SSB capability so I bought that along. After a couple of refinements including using a stay wire as an aerial, and turning off all other electronic equipment we found the weather forecast comes in well at 8:30pm each day on 6233kHz. The weather information has been very accurate and useful.

Thursday 24th July, 2008 Silver Gull Creek

Had a sleep in today. By about 9am five of the other yachts anchored in Silver Gull Creek were on their way leaving us by ourselves. At 11am we motored up the creek further to Phil and Marion’s squatters arms camp. Phil and Marion have built themselves a camp next to an abandoned BHP fresh water facility which they have lived in for the last 13years. We all joined the Squatters Arms Boat Club, life membership was $10.00 with proceeds going to charities of Marion’s choosing. Kim used a hose from the old BHP jetty to fill all the available water bottles aboard Spindrift and then we all took a swim in the water tank which had warm presumably artesian water flowing into it.
About 2pm we motored back out of Silver Gull Creek and around to Crocodile Creek. What a revelation Crocodile Creek is. At the end of the creek there is a small pool area at the bottom of a fresh water waterfall. We spend some time anchoring Spindrift with the anchor and two stern lines keeping her safely positioned in the middle of the pool.


Wednesday 23rd July, 2008 Red Cone Hill Creek

We weighed anchor early and were under way at 5:45am. We used the outgoing tide to our advantage leaving the creek and crossing Doubtful Bay. A good SE wind was blowing and we were able to shut down the motors and sail at time reaching 9 knots. Once we reached the Ceasar Channel the tide was going against us which slowed our GPS speed to 3knots in places. By early afternoon we reached the aptly named “canal”. This is a narrow body of water separating Koolan Island from the mainland. Barry gave the Dogleg Creek fuel barge a call and was delighted to find we could buy some unleaded petrol.
At 3:30pm we arrived at the fuel barge. What a sight, it was like something from Tom Sawyer novel. Anchored in the creek is an old fuel barge which had seen better days with 2 guys and a girl living aboard. They told us to tie up to a pontoon which in turn was tied up to the barge. One of the guys hand pumped our fuel from a 44 gallon drum and 20 minutes later we on our way with 100 litres of fuel in Barry red plastic jerry cans.
We motored around to Silver Gull Creek and anchored for the night along with 6 other yachts.


Tuesday 22nd July 2008 Deception Bay

Got away early again we were able to sail for the first couple of hours but eventually had to down sails and motor the last 5 miles to Raft Point arriving at midday. Barry & I went ashore to view the rock art., while Kim remained aboard Spindrift. The climb up the hill in the midday sun was not easy but well worth the trouble. The aboriginal rock art was really impressive. In the afternoon we sailed across Doubtful Bay and into Red Cone Hill Creek. At the end of the creek there was supposed to be a waterfall attraction but the available information was a bit sketchy on where it was. We lowered the dinghy and Kim went off on a exploratory trip to find the elusive waterfall. He returned about 40 minutes later reporting he had found the waterfall about 3 miles upstream. Barry was not interested in viewing the waterfall so I went off in the dingy by myself. One up in the dingy allows it to plane and travel at about 20 knots so after about 15 minutes I was at the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight, a 10 metre high water drop to a pool and then a tumble along some rock to join the creek. The trip up the creek was quite spooky, the creek looked like idea crocodile territory and I was in a small dinghy. I never did see a croc in the dinghy but later that night we saw a big croc float past Spindrift on the outgoing tide.
The Kimberleys make even the usually simple task of anchoring for the night a challenge. We choose our place mid afternoon when the tide had already receded 3 metres, when we anchored the echo sounder showed there was 7.5 metres of water below us. By about 8:30pm there was only 1.2 metres showing on the echo sounder, total tide movement for the day 9 metres.
Shortly after anchoring I threw over a line only to hook yet another shark, this time a 1.5 metre hammerhead shark.




Monday 21st July 2008

The available reading for the Samson Inlet area referred that to an oasis and fresh water which we had been unable to find the previous day so we tried one last creek and sure enough there was water. We filled all our available water bottles and each of us had a bucket shower in the fresh water trickling away from the oasis. Barry managed to find some Bradshaw aboriginal rock art.
Our destination today was to take us south to Raft Point. A strong southerly wind and a 2kt opposing tide made very slow progress going south so we decided to take cover in Deception Bay. Coast Watch overflew us and again requested our port of registration, last port of call and next port of call.

Sunday 20th July, 2008 Hanover Bay

We got away at sunrise to beat the incoming tide. We had trailed a lure all day yesterday with no reward so decided to change lures today. We sailed through Roger’s Straight at the peak of the incoming tide, the water was like a giant tub of boiling water, there was movement in all directions. We reached Sheep Island just before midday and went ashore to see the grave of Mary Pascoe who died aged 30 years. A commemorative plaque nailed to a boab tree also informed us that Constable Gee a member of the Scholl Expedition is also buried on the island. The tour boat K20 which we have seen on several occasions during the last couple of days also arrived at the island with their passenger coming ashore in a couple of robust dinghys.

From Sheep Island we sailed north along Brecknock Harbour passing the small pearling settlement of Kuri Bay. The settlement was larger that I expected with a number of boat of various shapes and sizes anchored in the bay. The settlement even had its own slipway and boat shed. We rounded Battery Point mid afternoon and overnighted at Samson Inlet. During a reconnaissance trip in the dinghy I hooked a large barracuda using a small rod from the dinghy it was so large we had to swim the barracuda back to Spindrift to unhook and release it. Later I threw over the heavy duty hand line and again hooked a shark, this time it was about 2 metres long, it eventually bite through the line and released itself.


Saturday 19th July, 2008 Careening Bay

Got away at sunrise and set sail for the St George Basin. The St George Basin feeds the Prince Regent River and a large estuary. We arrived at the peak flow of a spring tide, we saw some amazing water movements. Water was welling up in places like some huge spring was pushing water to the surface. In another place we saw three eddies where the water was going round in circles. We were going with the tide and the GPS was giving us 10 knots while the boat speed was no more than 4 knots . We anchored for lunch near Gap Island. I threw a line over but only managed to hook a 1 metre shark which we cut loose. The same Customs plane over flew us and this time called us by name requesting our position. That seemed a bit strange but I guess he was required to positively identify us. In the afternoon we sailed around to Hanover Bay. We launched the dingy and Kim & I motored up Hanover Bay inlet looking for fresh water which we managed to find tickling down one side of the rust coloured sandstone cliffs which bordered both sides of the creek. It took us about an hour to fill the water bottles and during that time the tide receded more than a 1 metre which left us with a very muddy return to the dingy. I did some more fishing and again caught a 1 metre shark which we again cut loose. We overnighted at Hanover Bay


Friday 18th July 2008 Hunter River

We got under way at first light hoping to avoid the incoming tide as we went north up Prince Frederich Harbour on our way to Careening Bay where Capt Philip Parker King surveyed the area in 1820, (9 years before Perth was settled) aboard the His Majestis’s Cutter the Mermaid. We fought the incoming tide travelling north out of Prince Frederich Harbour finally rounding Cape Torrens around midday. A Customs aeroplane overflew us and made a radio requested of our details. There were only light winds so it was a motor sail the whole way finally arriving at Careening Bay mid afternoon.
We launched the dinghy and went ashore to see Kings engraving on the boab tree left during his stay here to make repairs to the HMC Mermaid. CALM have installed three information plaques along with a copy of a sketch King made of theirof their boat on beached at Careening bay for repairs. By the look of the picture the MSC Mermaid was not much bigger than a pearling lugger. With the colony of Perth still 9 years away from being founded the trip all the way from Sydney in such small vessel must have been quite an achievement.
This area is heavily vegetated with lots of largish trees and vines. There is long dry grass every where most of it head high. A small fresh water creek flows down through a small ravine. We collected a bucket of fresh water and then had a short swim in the sea, while keeping a watchfully eye out for crocodiles, and then used the fresh water to rinse off. Great feeling. While all this was going on the tide was receding, actually receding is not the right word to describe tidal movement in the Kimberley, racing out probably better describes the situation. In the hour we were on the beach the 1 metre drop in tide meant we had to carry the dingy about 100 metres back to the water. A check of the tide tables revealed today’s tidal movement was 6 metres. We overnighted at Careening Bay.



17th July, 2008 Naturalist Beach

Darren and Kirrily departed Spindrift today and Kim Cramer and I arrived with me taking over the blogging duties. The way Kim & I reached Spindrift is probably worth a mention. Kim Cramer and I met for the first time at Perth Airport yesterday while waiting for our Qantas flight to Broome. Once in Broome we rented a car, had a quick look around town and then checked in with Broome Aviation and were introduced to Edwin who was to be our pilot the following day on our flight to Mitchell Plateau. The Cessna 210 flight to Mitchell Plateau allowed us a pay load of 360kg . Kim and I and our bags weighed about 180 kg which left us another 180kg we could for use for supplies. Off to Coles we went and proceeded to fill up the little rental car with all the essentials we thought Spindrift would require over the next 2 weeks. Broome Aviation was kind enough let us use their fridge and freezer to store perishables overnight.
Kim & I got started early and at Broome Airport Edwin was waiting for us with the 210 warmed up and ready to go. We weighed all our bags, comfortably fitting under the 360kg limit, and just after 6am were in the air and on our way to Mitchell Plateau airfield a 2 hour trip north east of Broome. About an hour into the flight we overflew the horizontal waterfall attraction, just south of Koolan Island. It was only 7am but there was already a Cessna Caravan with floats doing a water landing, a local pearl farm operator doing a fly by in a seaplane on it’s way to one of the local pearl farms and us at 9500 ft with another 210 behind us taking the same track to Mitchell Plateau to give you some idea of the air traffic at the time.
We arrived at the Mitchell Plateau airstrip at 8:15am and had a short wait until our helicopter arrived to take us to Naturalist Beach where we would meet Barry and the departing crew. The Bell Jet Ranger arrived as booked and we departed for Naturalist Beach at 9:10am. On the way we flew past Mitchell Falls which looked quite spectacular. It has been 6 months since the last wet season so I wonder when all the water comes from, everything else is dusty and dry.
The pilot of the helicopters whose name I never got, gave us a briefing on the land we were flying over, pointing out the Porosus Creek which has a reputation for the biggest crocodiles in the world. A little further on we popped over a rocky outcrop and there below us was Spindrift anchored at the mouth of the Hunter River. Even before we landed we were to get a taste of what the Kimberley had in store for us. As he was setting up his approach for landing on the beach the pilot spotted a huge crocodile swimming no more than 100 metres offshore. We did an orbit of the crocodile before landing, even the pilot seemed to be impressed by size of this animal.
On the beach Barry, Darren and Kirraly were waiting for us. It was the first time I have seen Darren for a couple of years and like the last time it was a quick hello and goodbye, the last time being a Spindrift crew change at Shark Bay airport. The helicopter left his engine running so it was a quick unload of all our supplies and the helicopter with Darren & Kirraly was on its way back to Mitchell Plateau and the waiting 210 which took them back to Broome.
Once onboard we got to see the new Spindrift up close, she is a big leap forward in comfort and technology from the old Spindrift which Barry and Kay had owned for 26 years, a vessel I had happily spent many week long trips on during Barry’s Shark Bay trip each year when he would base Spindrift at Denham and do a variety of trips ranging from day trips to week long trips which over the years took him to every nook and cranny of Shark Bay.
Anyway back to the present. Once settled in we up anchored and motored up Hunter River and into the Porosus Creek and anchored while we had some lunch. This creek is bordered by mangroves and as the tide receded exposed muddy banks and true to the creeks reputation a crocodile slowly approached the boat from the rear. It was not a big animal probably about 3 metres, but I guess we must have been on his “patch”. Initially it stayed back about 30 metres but in the space of about 40 minutes it moved to within 5metres, close enough for us to throw it some of the left over roast chicken. Unless we landed the chicken scrap within a metre of it’s head it did not seem to be interested in our offerings. In mid afternoon we moved back to the Hunter River to a known good anchorage were we were to spend the night.
We launched the dingy and headed off up stream in the Hunter River in the shade of the steep rocky cliff that makes the bank of the river. The cliff was an iron stained red colour speckled with lush green tropical plants a spectacular sight, as we chugged along in the dinghy Barry trawled a lure and managed to hook and land a 2.5kg Queen fish. After dinner we cut off a couple of strips off the queen fish for bait and tethered the remains of the fish behind the boat on a small rope. By now it was dark with an almost full moon, during the first hour nothing happened, then we had a couple of small sharks showing some interest but later the real action started. I was sitting in the cabin when a dorsal fin cruised past the stern of Spindrift. It was like something from a jaws movie. The dorsal fin was sticking about a foot (30cm) out of the water this was one seriously big shark. He made several passes eventually making a lunge for the remains of the queen fish which resulted in the body of the shark breaking water within about 3 metres of the stern of the boat. In front of us was one huge tiger shark. How long was it? Kim thought about 12ft, Barry 16ft who knows for sure but it was easily the biggest shark I have ever seen.

Darwin to Hunter River

[Each day has been top-posted so it reads from the bottom of this section]

Careening Bay to Hunter River, 13; Hunter River 14 - 17 July
The Hunter is the end of the journey for Kirrily and Darren, where they will get picked up by helicopter and Peter and Kim dropped off, along with fresh supplies. That’s not until the 17th, but given the vagaries of the weather, we elect to head there a few days early and to spend some time exploring the area. Regrettably, heading back in the opposite direction to yesterday, we again have a headwind. Motor sailed in, past Naturalist Beach where the helicopter will land and anchored in Porosis Creek. Happily, we have the whole place to ourselves, except for a couple of crocks, who slide over from the bank to visit. One takes a shine to the float on our anchor trip line, repeatedly trying to drag it back to the bank. Great entertainment for the sundowner drinks.



Next day we move up the Creek and troll and cast for some fish, none of which eventuate. Not sure what the go is with this barra fishing, but Shark Bay fishing is certainly poor training for the patience required for it. Kirrily and Dad bake a ripping loaf of bread. Late that afternoon we drift back down the creek to our anchorage for the night.



Up again and this time up the Hunter River to the shallows before boarding the dingy for another few miles upstream looking for some aboriginal art that Dad found eight years ago. Unfortunately it is elusive and we drift back down doing a bit of trolling. Good sized croc on the bank and in the water. With three in the dingy there is about 100mm of freeboard…







Kirrily manages to land two nice esturine cod which will do for dinner. Dad is a bit jumpy filleting them on the back step, but no problems in the end. We stay another night and the croc line is taken over by another hammerhead, making off with the cod carcass at about 20 knots.




Early in the morning a charter boat arrives, think this is the one that we are taking a crew member off tomorrow morning when we fly out. We head back over to have a go at getting up to some caves that we spied on the way in, but the going is dense and we have to hack our way up the slope with a machete (Darren soon to resemble a spanner crab from all the swinging). However, it was worth it, as we get to a seldom visited spot with middens and art, and a great view.





The helicopter / plane arrangements worked like clockwork. Peter and Kim brought in the full set of supplies and Darren and Kirrily flew out the rubbish from the past three weeks, as well as a letter to Kay, written on the beach while waiting for the chopper.

All in all a great trip in a magnificent part of the country.




















Bigge Island to Careening Bay, 12 July
Our favourable winds have deserted us, and the trip to Careening Bay is into the tide and the wind, light though it is. We spend the whole day on one motor at about 4 knots, conserving the fuel supply for the next part of the trip to Broome. 240 litres left.

A Customs vessel takes an interest in us for a while, but realizing that we are not smugglers, moves on. Later we catch up with them in Careening Bay, where we anchor for the night, but not before going ashore to see the boab tree that HMC Mermaid carved her name in 1820. Amazing that it is still there.



Inland we find some fresh water and take a few buckets back to the boat. Spag bol and red wine for dinner, must get back to that fishing thing sometime.



Krait Bay to Bigge Island, 11 July
Sailed off the anchor at 6:30am, light Easterly breeze. A long morning sail to Wary Bay on Bigge Island to view the rock art. Lots of interesting pieces, but don’t manage to find the off the beaten track examples that Dad discovered eight years ago. More time required, and shoes better than thongs are required in the hinterland. And we have to beat the sun down at the next bay to find an anchorage. In the evening there is a fantastic sunset, complete with the glint of sunlight of B747 wings heading to Dubai.

Parry Harbour to Krait Bay, 10 July
Today we wait for the wind to ease before we start, aiming for a crossing of Admiralty Gulf in the middle of the day. Turns out to be a great day to sneak down the narrow Voltaire Passage and around to Krait Bay for the night, arriving at a much more respectable 3pm. Krait Bay is named after the WWII vessel that snuck up to Singapore to mine Japanese shipping. An amazing feeling to sail into the bay that has such significant history, can almost feel the ghosts. The Queenfish carcass hanging over the side attracts a large hammerhead shark at sundown for some entertainment; the shark wins in the end. Kirrily has a shower up an extra step tonight. Off to Bigge Island tomorrow.



Freshwater Bay to Parry Harbour, 9 July
We were hoping to get around Cape Bougainville before the wind came up, but it was in by 8am (~30 knots) so we ducked into another bay until it eased off a bit. Caught a small bronze whaler off the back of the boat, but gave up fishing after a few more lost hooks, too many sharks. Have got the baitcaster untangled though, and now, after some technique adjustment, could be considered proficient. The wind eased at lunchtime so we continued on around the cape and into Parry Harbour by (about) sundown(well, maybe a little later).



Near Jar Island to Freshwater Bay 8th July
Up early to search for a crashed DC3 on shore, but despite extensive bush bashing, it remained unfound. Geoff’s forecast indicated that today might have some wind and he was right. A howling South Easter sees us running under staysail only up to Freshwater Bay, the last freshwater for the next two weeks. Bottomless mud in the bay so end up tied to a mangrove tree as well, wind bullets dying out by the afternoon. There is a beautiful freshwater spring to fill waterbottles and to do some spring cleaning.



Governor Island to Vansitartt Gulf (near Jar Island) 7th July
Late start today (7am), but it doesn’t matter, the tide is with us and we make a steady 12 – 13knots into the gulf, despite light winds (boat speed over the water about 6 knots…). This is the way to travel. Down to Jar Island where there are some good examples of Bradshaw style rock art. A bit of an adventure getting back over the rugged ground to where the boat is anchored. The sea breeze prevents us getting up to Freshwater Bay for the night so we stay near Jar Island, sitting on the sand for a couple of hours at the bottom of the tide. Nice fish for tea, at the price of some lost tackle. Barry rings Peter Merett with a shopping list for the next leg of the journey, including some more hooks.



King George River to Governor Island 6th July
Another early start, we left the river mouth before six, about 15 minutes before another cat that was also heading north, we must have started a procession as three other boat soon headed out of the river. The Orion (a boat that Geoff and Alison cruised the Kimberly on) was just arriving. A nice run with the tide up the cape, where there are some spectacular tidal overfalls. The other cat doesn’t wing the jib, stays out to sea too long, jibes too early at the cape, and consequently is a couple of hours behind at the end of the day. We make it into Circular Cove a couple of minutes after sunset. Thankfully Phil has left his FSC book on the Kimberlies, which steers us straight to the anchorage. Don’t know where the other cat spends the night, it isn’t seen again.
Berkley River to King George River



The South Easterlies are back, making the bar crossing at the mouth of the Berkley a little uncomfortable. We left as early as the light would allow, but it was a long way down river. Called past Seaplane Bay, where a couple of German aviators crashed in 1932, would have been a lonely spot then, and it’s not too different today. Onwards to Koolama Bay and the King George River. Going against the tide for the last part of the day, resulting in some large steep waves to surf down. Magnificent cliffs all the way up the river to the waterfalls, which we backed right up to just for the hell of it, and then found a spot in the line of boats for the night. Fresh water showers again. Next day Kirrily and Darren went for a climb to the top of the waterfall, meeting some bushwalkers that had legged in from Faraway Bay, a hell of a walk. In the afternoon we sailed back down to the mouth preparing for an early start. Kirrily caught a nice Tailor just before dark. A SatPhone call to Kirrily’s parents (Geoff and Alison) for a much needed weather forecast shows that tomorrow is a good day to go around Cape Londonderry. Special thanks to Barry Edwards for the loan of the phone and for Phil for organizing it!, yesterday we rang Mum (Kay) to give a position report.



Darwin to Berkley River
Left Darwin on the 30th, one day before fireworks were legal to purchase and set off. Considered delaying departure but with the light winds, we needed all the days we could get. Despite forecasts of 15-20 knot SE’s, we wafted across the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf on a zephyr and a Yamaha. Forty eight long hours later we made landfall at the mouth of the Berkley River, and having found a great anchorage, sorted the fridge out, had lunch, we promptly went to sleep. Did some trial casts with the new baitcaster with the braid line in the afternoon, and will probably get around to fixing the birdsnest next week. Two other boats in the River, one was an ex Windrush sailor, amazing who you meet in unlikely spots. Kirrily did a good job on watch over the past two nights, including rousing crew to make more sail when the wind changed. Might stay here another night, just to have another waterfall shower.

Darwin 18th to 30th June
The Tipperary Marina has been a good home for our stay in Darwin, being central to the town and its essential services. Took a bit of fending to get through the lock but well worth it to avoid the tides. We spent the whole week getting the boat ready for the next leg to Broome, being the longest and most remote.

Kirrily and Darren arrived on the 28th and did some sight-seeing (WWII tunnels, museum), but amongst getting over the jetlag (30 min time change) and buying stores, there wasn’t much time to spare. Next stop is the Berkley River and then coast hopping around to the Hunter River. Peter and Kim will fly into an island in the mouth of the river, where the boat will meet them and Darren and Kirrily will fly out, connecting with a Cessna at the Mitchell Plateau. Spindrift will be out of reach for a while so the next blog probably wont be published until around the 20th of July, flown out by chopper.

aggressive! The muddy made a delicious meal for dinner that night...

We left GulawinKU for Boucaut Bay, near Cape Stewart running before a strong S/E wind with poled out genoa, ( thankfully we are not going the other way, this wind would be monotonous if we tacking into it) the in this area the wind changes to E/N/E around midday, sometimes with a surprised jibe of the mainsail.

Next day sailing to Cuthbert Bay, S/E wind again, surprised to be receiving phone signals from our mast mounted antenna, so I rang Kay to keep in touch, lots of the Aboriginal Settlements along this coast seem to have mobile and broadband, we went ashore when we arrived at Cuthbert Bay a lot of the beach here is covered with pumice stone and volcanic rock, must have been lots of upheavals here a couple of million years ago, Phil caught another mackerel so Sylvie made a mackerel mornay, not bad at all.

Short run today to North Goulburn Island to stay the night at Mullet Bay, sounds alright, but we didn’t see any mullet, lots of mackerel and tuna chasing sardines, had a walk ashore found a bogged Suzuki, looks like it had been there for 10 years. We were invited aboard “Jemimah” (a mono we have been travelling with since crossing the Gulf) for an evening meal. Rosy had made a delicious chicken curry followed by sticky date pudding and thickened cream…yummy to say the least. A couple of nights earlier Mike & Rosy had a treat of bangers and mash aboard Spindrift (quality meal at short notice)!!


On Saturday we left for Malay Bay running with a poled out genoa again. A strong wind warning was issued for today however it did not seem to eventuate (approx 20 kns). When we arrived at Malay Bay Phil and Barry went ashore. Being the hunters and gatherers of the crew they managed to seek out an unlucky mud crab. The resourceful pair found a rope on the beach and back at the crab hole Phil says “put the rope around his claws”. “What a good idea” says Barry as the crab tries to take the end off his finger!!! The Northern Territory mud crabs seem to be particularly aggressive! The muddy made a delicious meal for dinner that night.

Next morning we sailed onto Cobourn Peninsula and to Port Essington. We visited the aboriginal museum at Black Point (near the end of the Peninsular). Alcraro Bay is the next anchorage approx 25 nm from Port Essington. After Alcaro bay we sailed on passed Cape Don and into some tide rips and on to Cape Hotham, and spent the night in the mouth of the Adelaide River. On Wednesday morning the tide coming out of the Adelaide River gave us a sling shot that carried us all the way to Darwin, now anchored outside the Darwin Sailing Club, then into Tipperary Waters Marina, going through the lock was a bit hairy, but we didn’t lose any fiberglass coming through. Phil and Sylvie leave the boat here in Darwin and fly home, Spindrift will miss them.

From here we go with Darren and Kirilly, to the Berkley & King Georg Rivers, and then on through the Kimberley

Thanks for the comments from Sandy & Tom and Stu & Narelle, also Phil and Belinda, Liked your comments, Phil , leaving memories not dreams, pity you’re so far away in Sydney, you could have fitted in one of the legs

7 - 10 June, Gove to the Wessel Islands

Hi to all our BLOG readers, thanks to Lloyd , Mick & Coleen, for their comments, might have a spot later on Mike.

We had a great sail to Elizabeth Bay had a 3/4 run all the way, where we caught up with a couple sailing a 38ft mono “Jemimah” , and invited them over for a beer, nice couple, we arrived at the bay about 1600, a lot of tide rip on the end of Cape Wilberforce, this made her dance around a bit.

Next morning we set off to the Hole in the Wall, also known a Gugari Rip, this is the pass between two of the Wessel Islands, Rip indeed, if you don’t hit the gap at the right time, you could well need a change of under pants by the time you get to the other end. We timed the tide right and had a great run through, although it was very turbulent at the entrance. Anchored at Raragala Island for the night, and “Jemimah” invited us over for a sundowners. We went ashore here and Sylvie saw some wallabies in the bush, they must have been cut off from the mainland some 9000 years ago, still surviving well today.

Next morning we set off for a short run to Elcho Island the Western Island of the Wessel group, rounding Stevens Island we encountered some heavy tide rips, we sailed through wthis with a poled out jib, and got thrown around a bit as you can see from the attached photo, picked down at Refuge bay, where we sat and watched, Ryan’s video of the World Super 18 Champs.

Next day we had another short run to Galinwinku, a small town, on the Southern end of Elcho Island with a population of about 3000. Nice people, the photo of Phil taking some of the kids for a ride in the dinghy, was hilarious, they wouldn’t let him go. We also saw our first croc today.

That’s all from the crew of ‘Spindrift’ for now, heading for Cape Stewart tomorrow.