Photo: Crocodile, Port Essington. Anyone for a swim!!!!
09:30 Tuesday 5th June we had the anchor down in Two Island Bay, Wessel Islands, after a 48hr broad reach sail across the Gulf of Carpentaria, 320 nm in a straight line, beam seas made it a bit lumpy but overall not too bad. On the second evening we were buzzed by the Australian Maritime Patrol aircraft that flew alongside and called us on the VHF wanting to know the name of the vessel, her port of registration, last and next port of call. After we replied, they wished us a safe trip and flew off. Wayne and Allie, ‘Blue Heeler’, and Steve and Anne, ‘Recluse’, were in the bay with a couple of other boats. After breakfast, a cleanup of the boat and a relaxing day, we all went over to ‘Rachael’, a converted fishing boat for sundowners. The following day we all went for walks ashore at various stages, some saw crocodiles on the beaches, we didn’t. The island feels isolated, but is picturesque with several beaches and interesting rock formations. As we went ashore, Brian launched the dinghy but forgot to put the bung in the hole, ooops, we quickly pulled it up again, emptied it of water, put the bung in and re-launched it; blame it on Venus transiting the sun at the time.
Our next stop was further down the Wessel Islands in Hopeful Bay. The bay had the potential for great walks along its long sandy beach and sand dunes; unfortunately we saw several crocodile tracks on the beach and decided to leave the beach to them. It may be different if you are a local and used to co-habiting with crocodiles occupying the bays but we tend to be conservative and not go ashore if there are any tracks. Sunday 10th June we lifted the anchor at 07:45 for an overnight sail to Mullet Bay, Gouldburn Island, 185 nm away.
Mullet Bay was a lovely bay which felt isolated even though it was only 17 miles off the mainland and we did have phone and internet access. We baked bread, caught up on sleep and enjoyed afternoon drinks with Steve and Anne, ‘Recluse’. Steve has taken a liking to the card game, ‘Five Crowns’ and regular challenges are taken up. Fishing was again useless, none caught since we left Townsville.
After 2 nights in Mullet Bay we left early for a gentle, slow gennaker sail to Malay Bay, Cape Cockburn, for an overnight stop before heading further east to Sommerville Bay, Cape Crocker for another overnight stop. Both bays were pleasant, very calm and secure but the bays and landscape have been very similar since leaving Cape York, very flat, no hills, sand dunes and Australian bush, we are looking for some variety as along with cloudless blue skies, sun and the ever present smoke and smell from bush fires it is getting too repetitive and one day merges with the next. On the way to Sommerville, Steve ‘Recluse’ managed to catch a fish and we were invited to dinner to share the treat.
Next day it was off to Port Essington, probably the best gennaker sail we have had since we left Auckland two and a half years ago, we even had a pod of 5 very playful dolphins for company. Port Essington is an inlet 18nm in length with many anchorages and opportunities to get ashore for walks. We dropped anchor at Black Point in time for lunch. After lunch we went ashore to the Rangers Station and had a long chat to Alan, the Park Ranger followed by a walk around the Cultural Centre and then a 1 hr walk along a wetlands trail. The following morning we went ashore with Steve and Anne and walked along the beaches to Smith Point Monument and back along the service road to the Rangers station, then sailed 5nm further into Port Essington, anchoring in Berkeley Bay. We stayed 2 nights in Berkeley, Steve and Brian went fishing each day but always came back with stories of the ones that got away and the crocodiles they came across on the beaches. On the second day we were invited for afternoon tea with Wayne and Rozzie on ‘Vaya Con Dios’, an 11mtr catamaran. The following day we all upped anchor with the intention of re-anchoring in Barrow Bay further up the inlet. Unfortunately the bay was very shallow and the decision was made to head across the harbour to Knocker Bay, a good choice, although ‘Vaya Con Dios’ chose to carry on to Kennedy Bay.
Thursday 21st June we left Knocker Bay at 07:30 and sailed 5.5nm further down Port Essington to the Victorian Settlement Ruins. The settlement was colonized by the British in 1838 but due to illness, lack of water, poor vegetation and lack of trade and supplies the colony was abandoned in 1849. The 3.7km walk around what remains of the settlement took us a couple of hours with a stop along the way to watch a very large crocodile basking and moving around in the shallows, we estimated him or her to be 15 to 16 feet in length. Lucky for us we were watching from up above on a hill. After the walk around the settlement we sailed back up Port Essington and anchored in Kennedy Bay.
We next moved to Coral Bay, closer to the exit of Port Essington on Saturday 23rd June, we were now looking for the weather window for the final couple of anchorages into Darwin. We stayed in Coral Bay outside the Seven Spirits Bay Resort for 3 days, paid $25 and enjoyed their facilities, mainly the pool; it’s been a while since we were able to swim. Dinner at the resort was also a treat, along with walks around the bays and beaches. Several other yachts entered the bay and sundowners ashore or on board another yacht were very social. It’s always interesting listening to other peoples experiences and plans for the future.
Tuesday morning at first light we left Coral Bay and sailed or motor sailed around to Alcora Bay, Cape Don. After lunch we went ashore with Steve and Anne, ‘Recluse’ and walked 5-6kms along a service track to Cape Don Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1916; there were also several houses with bunkrooms and workshops that must have been used as an accommodation for 4wd tours. The houses, although empty looked like people had just walked away whilst doing the dishes, there was even a tin with the tin opener still attached, even though the last entry in the visitors book was 6 months previous. On the way back to Dol, we saw two large manta rays in the bay and followed them for a while, an unexpected treat.
It was up before the larks the next morning and in pitch darkness we left Cape Don just after low tide and with the rising tide headed for Cape Holtham, picking up the reverse tide to help us into Adam Bay. The tides in this area can run at up to 6knots so travelling is planned to maximise its assistance to us.
Finally, anchor down Fannie Bay, Darwin at 16:30 Thursday 28th June. We left Adam Bay at 09:30, again using the tides and currents to get maximum assistance. Fannie Bay is a popular place to anchor in Darwin, some stay there all the time and others, like us, use it as a transit stop before moving into a marina. For Overseas vessels, Northern Territory has a strict requirement for underwater inspections and a water treatment for all internal salt water systems before entering marinas. This is carried out professionally with the only restriction being not using those internal salt systems for 14 hours whilst tied up at the inspection pier. We managed to get ours all done within 24 hours or arriving in Darwin and made our way into Tipperary Waters Marina on Saturday morning the 30th June. This was to be our first experience of negotiating through a lock. It was not the lock that was a worry it was more the dog leg of very shallow water to negotiate before entering the lock.
We will be here for a month before we leave for Indonesia and will update the blog again before we leave.