The Kimberley with the D'Cruz's
Yampi Sound
Myridi Bay
Friday July 8 - Saturday 10 5nm, 1hr
Friday July 8 - Saturday 10 5nm, 1hr
Thursday returning to Myridi Bay we were surprised to have it to ourselves, given the number of boats in here last time. The sunset afternoon sun again lit up the rockface in blazing red, and coloured the clouds in pastel pinks and yellows, and there was no sound other than the occasional bird calls. Simply sublime.
Friday Colin’s family arrived just after 1100 hours following a scenic flight from Broome over Horizontal Falls to Cockatoo Island, where they were transferred to us via dinghy. Welcome Jenny, Jeff and Ellen.
Photos by Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Friday Colin’s family arrived just after 1100 hours following a scenic flight from Broome over Horizontal Falls to Cockatoo Island, where they were transferred to us via dinghy. Welcome Jenny, Jeff and Ellen.
Photos by Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Silver Gull Creek
Saturday July 10 - Sunday 11 6nm, 1.5hrs
Saturday July 10 - Sunday 11 6nm, 1.5hrs
Saturday, at Silver Gull Creek, we explored the old camp site inhabited by Phil and Marion, and swam in the fresh-water tank they’d erected. Now that was a treat. Especially the cute little frogs. I’d been told they hop onto your shoulders, but not this day unfortunately.
We hadn’t had any luck trolling so Colin tried fishing with a popper from the boat. He had juvenile sharks chasing the lure but no strikes either from them or any other fish.
Photos by Jeff, Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
We hadn’t had any luck trolling so Colin tried fishing with a popper from the boat. He had juvenile sharks chasing the lure but no strikes either from them or any other fish.
Photos by Jeff, Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Collier Bay
Dugong Bay
Sunday July 11 - Monday 12 25nm, 5hrs
Sunday July 11 - Monday 12 25nm, 5hrs
Sunday, to have the tides working for us, we set off for Dugong Bay at 0530 hours. The eddies and whirlpools were very exciting, and Colin was wearing his brown corduroy pants in anticipation of some turbulence. The current knocked us around a little going through the channel between Koolan Island and the mainland, but the skipper retained control of the vessel, and his bodily functions. The strangest thing - garfish skipping across the surface of the water, propelling themselves along with their tails. Amazing!
Arriving at 1030 hours the five of us jumped in the dinghy and headed to what is described in the Cruising Guide as “Spectacular Falls”. I thought this was the name of them, but apparently not. It’s Banyon Falls.
Colin and Ellen did a reccie in the dinghy later to see if they could find other falls, and trolled on the way, but had no luck with either mission.
Knowing there are tawny nurse sharks in the area we expected a visit and were not disappointed. One shark returned to the boat repeatedly and swum under the duck board close enough to touch. I LOVE those sharks.
Monday, not to be deterred by yesterday’s effort, Colin and Ellen took off fishing at first light and came back triumphant, each having caught a skipjack using poppers. Ellen made very tasty ‘nammas’ with the smaller fish, which was eaten with lunch before heading back to Silver Gull Creek at 1230 hours - high water.
Click images to enlarge
Arriving at 1030 hours the five of us jumped in the dinghy and headed to what is described in the Cruising Guide as “Spectacular Falls”. I thought this was the name of them, but apparently not. It’s Banyon Falls.
Colin and Ellen did a reccie in the dinghy later to see if they could find other falls, and trolled on the way, but had no luck with either mission.
Knowing there are tawny nurse sharks in the area we expected a visit and were not disappointed. One shark returned to the boat repeatedly and swum under the duck board close enough to touch. I LOVE those sharks.
Monday, not to be deterred by yesterday’s effort, Colin and Ellen took off fishing at first light and came back triumphant, each having caught a skipjack using poppers. Ellen made very tasty ‘nammas’ with the smaller fish, which was eaten with lunch before heading back to Silver Gull Creek at 1230 hours - high water.
Click images to enlarge
Yampi Sound
Silver Gull Creek 25nm, 5hrs
Monday July 12 - Tuesday 13
Monday July 12 - Tuesday 13
Colin was a touch nervous about squeezing through the pinch on entering the channel and being overwhelmed by the current - the gap being only 100m wide - but he cruised through with no dramas.Entering Silver Gull Creek in the evening light, it looked like a completely different bay. The sun was lighting up parts we hadn’t noticed when hidden in shade, and to add to the magic we saw bioluminescence in the water whilst bucketing down in the dark.
Click images to enlarge
Click images to enlarge
Crocodile Creek via Dog Leg Creek
Tuesday July 13 - Wednesday 14 7nm, 2hrs
Tuesday July 13 - Wednesday 14 7nm, 2hrs
Tuesday started with another early fishing expedition by the dedicated captain and Ellen, returning with a barracuda. Go team!
After radioing Mick at Dog Leg Creek – the only fuel station in the Kimberley - we headed over to fill up. Mick was very friendly, and happy to have a chat, give us tips on where to find oysters, take our rubbish, and give us fuel. Our timing was perfect to be out of there and into Crocodile Creek by 1130 hours, a little over two hours before high water. Discovery One was just leaving the entrance as we approached, and I was amazed to again find nobody in the basin when we arrived. We were tied up and settled just as a dinghy came in with three people aboard who climbed what remained of the ladder for a quick swim. This was a spring tide, not neaps like last time we were here, and I was just about to rush over for a swim myself when the others said I probably had only 10 minutes before the water level was above the ladder. I settled for a bucket down, and I don’t even think it took 10 minutes before the water was flowing into the falls instead of out of it. This meant, of course, that the resident reptile could swim in and take a bite of an unsuspecting tourist. Not us though. Ellen said you just can’t trust crocodiles, so we stayed on the boat and waited for someone else to get eaten. After all, crocs are like camels; there is barely one in a hundred you would trust with your life. (I stole this from a book I read, though the original quote was about men). Colin and I had seen a croc in the basin on our previous visit, and apparently it has been spotted lurking at the ladder waiting for people to return to their boats. I’ve learned from Ellen that crocs will stake out an area and observe the habits of the visitors, and you just don’t know when they might decide it’s dinner time.
Seemingly unaware of the cunning of the crocodile, we watched two other boatloads of people spend the afternoon in the lower pool where crocs could now easily swim in for a bite of lunch. Luckily, they all lived to tell the tale.
After our post-prandial nap (Elizabeth George’s fancy way of saying ‘after lunch’) and the water was once again flowing out of the falls, we climbed to the upper fresh-water pool for a dip. We felt safe swimming, knowing it would have to be a very agile rock-climbing croc to make it up there, and they were all at the Tokyo Olympics.
During the afternoon we had a few wasps enter and leave the boat. What we didn’t realise was that one of them had found a nice place to live and started building a nest. We didn’t wait long before putting up a screen to stop the visits, but later I found what looked like a bit of mud on the dish drainer. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how mud could get there, then Colin found the beginnings of a wasp nest on top of the barometer, that hangs just above the dish drainer of course. If only we could find builders that work that fast at home!
It was one thing to know the spring tides rose above the lower falls, but another altogether to see it happening. Whoever told us you could get a boat in there at high spring water was not exaggerating! Then to watch the water drain out until we were landlocked was something else. The crashing sound of the waterfall at low tide compared to the complete silence at high water was also remarkable. The marvels of nature at work once again.
Wednesday morning Ellen and Jeff tried their luck fishing in the outer bay. They left in the wee small hours to make it back before low water and not get marooned on the other side of the mud bank. Apparently it was touch and go but they made it.
A morning fresh-water swim and exploration in the upper pool was the perfect end to our overnighter in this unique and spectacular place, and we beat a hasty retreat just at the beginning of peak hour traffic.
Note: The BBQ site was used in the past by boating people from Cockatoo and Koolan Islands
Photos by Jenny, Jeff, Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
After radioing Mick at Dog Leg Creek – the only fuel station in the Kimberley - we headed over to fill up. Mick was very friendly, and happy to have a chat, give us tips on where to find oysters, take our rubbish, and give us fuel. Our timing was perfect to be out of there and into Crocodile Creek by 1130 hours, a little over two hours before high water. Discovery One was just leaving the entrance as we approached, and I was amazed to again find nobody in the basin when we arrived. We were tied up and settled just as a dinghy came in with three people aboard who climbed what remained of the ladder for a quick swim. This was a spring tide, not neaps like last time we were here, and I was just about to rush over for a swim myself when the others said I probably had only 10 minutes before the water level was above the ladder. I settled for a bucket down, and I don’t even think it took 10 minutes before the water was flowing into the falls instead of out of it. This meant, of course, that the resident reptile could swim in and take a bite of an unsuspecting tourist. Not us though. Ellen said you just can’t trust crocodiles, so we stayed on the boat and waited for someone else to get eaten. After all, crocs are like camels; there is barely one in a hundred you would trust with your life. (I stole this from a book I read, though the original quote was about men). Colin and I had seen a croc in the basin on our previous visit, and apparently it has been spotted lurking at the ladder waiting for people to return to their boats. I’ve learned from Ellen that crocs will stake out an area and observe the habits of the visitors, and you just don’t know when they might decide it’s dinner time.
Seemingly unaware of the cunning of the crocodile, we watched two other boatloads of people spend the afternoon in the lower pool where crocs could now easily swim in for a bite of lunch. Luckily, they all lived to tell the tale.
After our post-prandial nap (Elizabeth George’s fancy way of saying ‘after lunch’) and the water was once again flowing out of the falls, we climbed to the upper fresh-water pool for a dip. We felt safe swimming, knowing it would have to be a very agile rock-climbing croc to make it up there, and they were all at the Tokyo Olympics.
During the afternoon we had a few wasps enter and leave the boat. What we didn’t realise was that one of them had found a nice place to live and started building a nest. We didn’t wait long before putting up a screen to stop the visits, but later I found what looked like a bit of mud on the dish drainer. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how mud could get there, then Colin found the beginnings of a wasp nest on top of the barometer, that hangs just above the dish drainer of course. If only we could find builders that work that fast at home!
It was one thing to know the spring tides rose above the lower falls, but another altogether to see it happening. Whoever told us you could get a boat in there at high spring water was not exaggerating! Then to watch the water drain out until we were landlocked was something else. The crashing sound of the waterfall at low tide compared to the complete silence at high water was also remarkable. The marvels of nature at work once again.
Wednesday morning Ellen and Jeff tried their luck fishing in the outer bay. They left in the wee small hours to make it back before low water and not get marooned on the other side of the mud bank. Apparently it was touch and go but they made it.
A morning fresh-water swim and exploration in the upper pool was the perfect end to our overnighter in this unique and spectacular place, and we beat a hasty retreat just at the beginning of peak hour traffic.
Note: The BBQ site was used in the past by boating people from Cockatoo and Koolan Islands
Photos by Jenny, Jeff, Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Spring Tides at Crocodile Creek
Coppermine Creek and return to Broome
Wednesday July 14 - Saturday 17 10nm, 2hrs
Wednesday July 14 - Saturday 17 10nm, 2hrs
Back in Coppermine Creek once more, the family of hunter gatherers went out in the dinghy, returning with oysters, though the fish once again escaped their lure.
Thursday the plan to move to Silica Beach on Hidden Island was thwarted by a strong wind warning, so we spent a day relaxing and fishing. Colin lost his last popper to a Spanish mackerel that snapped the line right at the duckboard. There was much lamenting and gnashing of teeth, especially as I was standing ready with the net. From previous catches, however, we were still able to dine on fish that evening.
Friday, since the wind was still blowing, we decided to stay with the known versus the unknown and potentially uncomfortable, and stayed the night in Coppermine Creek again.
Saturday we were on our way by 0430 hours. Colin used the tides coming out of King Sound to ferry glide across at up to 10 knots, demonstrating how strong they were as we were travelling at 45 degrees to the current.
The ride to Cape Leveque and beyond was reasonably boisterous, but settled in the afternoon, only to pick up again in the evening and we alternately sailed and motored throughout the night to arrive in Broome around 1045. Jeff joined me for a short while during one of my shifts and got to see the bioluminescence in the waves and the mass of stars visible with all the lights off.
Ferry gliding (a new term to me): The art of using the flow of water or wind past your boat to move it sideways across that flow. Traditionally used by ferries to cross fast-flowing rivers.
Photos by Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Thursday the plan to move to Silica Beach on Hidden Island was thwarted by a strong wind warning, so we spent a day relaxing and fishing. Colin lost his last popper to a Spanish mackerel that snapped the line right at the duckboard. There was much lamenting and gnashing of teeth, especially as I was standing ready with the net. From previous catches, however, we were still able to dine on fish that evening.
Friday, since the wind was still blowing, we decided to stay with the known versus the unknown and potentially uncomfortable, and stayed the night in Coppermine Creek again.
Saturday we were on our way by 0430 hours. Colin used the tides coming out of King Sound to ferry glide across at up to 10 knots, demonstrating how strong they were as we were travelling at 45 degrees to the current.
The ride to Cape Leveque and beyond was reasonably boisterous, but settled in the afternoon, only to pick up again in the evening and we alternately sailed and motored throughout the night to arrive in Broome around 1045. Jeff joined me for a short while during one of my shifts and got to see the bioluminescence in the waves and the mass of stars visible with all the lights off.
Ferry gliding (a new term to me): The art of using the flow of water or wind past your boat to move it sideways across that flow. Traditionally used by ferries to cross fast-flowing rivers.
Photos by Ellen and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Broome
Sunday July 18 - Tuesday 20 160nm, 30hrs
Broome was a flying visit to drop off our guests and provision for the next leg of our trip. Jenny and Jeff stayed the night with Ellen in her digs, and kindly lent us their rental car the next morning to do our shopping. Not before buying us breakfast at Mabu Mayi café firstly though. Sadly we didn’t get to catch up with Maxine and Arnhem as they were in transit from Derby.
We’d been able to pick up one of Zorba’s moorings again, and later in the day he popped over to the boat to collect the fees. He had stories of when Phil and Marion lived at Silver Gull Creek and had “out of control” parties for any reason at all – birthdays, holidays, days ending in ‘Y’, any ol’ reason! He said you’d go into the water tank for some drinks and still be sitting there 24 hours later. Forty of you or more! He asked if Phil still greeted people in a pair of jocks and nothing else (which he does, though he also had a shirt on the day we met him. It is winter after all), and confirmed our suspicions he has a still on board. That’s why he said "More sugar, I'm always after sugar" When asked via radio if he needed any supplies, and the penny then dropped as to why boats give him so many potatoes! Perhaps it was because he had run out of sugar that he was giving away spuds. We’d heard him saying he’d asked someone to bring him ten kilos of sugar but they’d only brought four.
Zorba also told us Snow Goose, who we’d seen in Silver Gull Creek, had lost their dinghy to a croc. A mine of information was Zorba!
Before leaving Broome we found another reason, along with sharks and crocs, to be careful swimming at Cable Beach - a massive sea snake beside the boat. Unfortunately it took a big breath and went under before I could get a photo.
Click images to enlarge
We’d been able to pick up one of Zorba’s moorings again, and later in the day he popped over to the boat to collect the fees. He had stories of when Phil and Marion lived at Silver Gull Creek and had “out of control” parties for any reason at all – birthdays, holidays, days ending in ‘Y’, any ol’ reason! He said you’d go into the water tank for some drinks and still be sitting there 24 hours later. Forty of you or more! He asked if Phil still greeted people in a pair of jocks and nothing else (which he does, though he also had a shirt on the day we met him. It is winter after all), and confirmed our suspicions he has a still on board. That’s why he said "More sugar, I'm always after sugar" When asked via radio if he needed any supplies, and the penny then dropped as to why boats give him so many potatoes! Perhaps it was because he had run out of sugar that he was giving away spuds. We’d heard him saying he’d asked someone to bring him ten kilos of sugar but they’d only brought four.
Zorba also told us Snow Goose, who we’d seen in Silver Gull Creek, had lost their dinghy to a croc. A mine of information was Zorba!
Before leaving Broome we found another reason, along with sharks and crocs, to be careful swimming at Cable Beach - a massive sea snake beside the boat. Unfortunately it took a big breath and went under before I could get a photo.
Click images to enlarge