Having a walk with Sea Leaf Crew Tilly the Dog
A big day sail rounding both Londonderry Cape and Cape Talbot as we headed for Napier Broom Bay (which is no where near Broome). At Cape Londonderry, tides that go more or less Horizontally backwards and forwards from Cape Talbot meeting the tides coming across from the Bonaparte Gulf. Creating very turbulent waters filled with sand mushrooming from the depths seemingly to look sand bars, very challenging waters.
We also experience on this passage a "Glass Out" no wind
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| Where did the wind go? |
Needing to get some miles we had a brisk sail traversing from the eastern coast of the Kimberly to the western side of the WA Coast in to Napier Broome Bay until the wind dropped.
Napier Broome Bay is a large body of shallow waters at the mouth of the Drysdale River with Governor Islands, Sir Graham Moore Island and Mission Bay/Honeymoon Bay as recommended cruising stops.
Sir Graham Moore Island was a complete contrast to the last couple of weeks of rivers and bays surrounded by red rocky cliffs. The islands have coral sand beaches, aqua clear blue water and sandstone rock features along the shoreline that were very sculptural.
Sea Leaf joined us a day latter and we spent 3 days”
having a holiday” as Sandra from Sea Leaf announced, which made us both giggle.
You may think we are a little mad proclaiming a “holiday” but whilst we are exploring the remarkable Kimberly coast region our sailing adventure is a lifestyle choice and living on a boat is, UM ……..……………………………….just very busy.
Lots of chores to do,
waste management, food stores, menu planning, power and engine checks to name
just a few of the jobs on a daily basis to keep our yacht ship shape for any
weather or sea state that may be unfavorable and ensure our safety at all
times. Capt Teza checking weather, charts, tides and currents constantly, so
our anchorages are safe and calm and our passage making is comfortable.
A few days at Sir Graham Moore Islands with perfect weather we all got “unbusy “, we played. Fishing, exploring, fires on the beach, read books, a few sketches drawn and relaxed before the next leg of our journey.
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| Capt Teza on Croc Watch while I Have a swim |
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| Sandra's first Fish Caught she was delighted |
I managed to get a small quick dip
at a beautiful beach on the other side of the island with no visible signs of
Crocodiles ……………………or so I thought!
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| Named by Me the Hawthorn Bug |
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| Capt Teza and Sea leaf Crew Tilly |
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| Jelly Fish |
The next morning Capt Teza was having a fish off the tender
near some mangroves, I stayed on Board and did some baking. As per our safety practices we carry portable
radios when away from the yacht and keep a lookout on each other and our
surrounds. Heading for Capt Teza was the
largest croc I have ever seen, it was black, ancient and 6m long. I was frantically trying to call Teza to warn
him and also Brian on Sea Leaf who was walking his dog Tilly on the
beach. After a few radio calls Capt Teza
answered and made way back to the boat but then the motor on the tender all of
a sudden stop…………………some anxious moments later the motor got started and Capt Teza
was safe.
I was later told when we got to Honeymoon Bay by the
campsite manager that they all heard my very anxious and stressed calls on the
radio. They told me that this Croc is a
local identity and is indeed one of the largest known Crocodiles in the
Kimberly, he is very old, hence his dark colour . He frequents Honeymoon Bay regularly
from the Island 12NM away to mate with his
girlfriend a crocodile of 5m that lives at Honeymoon bay. Isn’t love
Grand! This information was not on the cruising guides.
So just when you think it might be safe to go into the
beautiful aqua clear waters…………………….it’s not!
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| Stock photo |
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| I needed this after the close contact with the well known aggressive Croc. |
Honeymoon Bay
Our passage to Honeymoon bay Capt Teza landed another big Mackerel which I processed whilst under way.
The winds picked up and we could not get safe anchorage so we ducked into another small bay for comfort until the morning when we made our way again back to Honeymoon bay.
At honey moon Bay we were able
to get some fresh supplies as well as a top up on fuel and gas. We could not go into the mission community of
Kalumuru some 25klms away due to Covid restrictions for Aboriginal Communities
however the campsite Manager Jo for a fee goes into the mission and gets your
list of supplies.
We made phone calls from the public telephone box to our love ones. Currently during this Covid outbreak all public telephones in regional and remote areas are free calls. It was very busy at the telephone box.
We also could purchase WI FI time so I managed to get a FB Post of some photos, messaging, catch up
with emails and news.
The campsite is rustic, basic with Tin Structures that you
can hire for communal group campers and at
the time we arrived it was very busy with Camper trailers and Vans of all
shapes and sizes departing and arriving.
Some of the campers that we got chatting with are return guests staying
for the dry season for the next 3 to 6 months.
Many of the campers had small tinnies that went on the roof of the van ,
camper or 4WD. Indeed, a fisherman's paradise with Barra, mackerel and reef
species in abundance.
We will return here on our way back. We also got advised that
a niece of a dear friend of mine is teaching at the Kalumuru Mission and we
hope to catch up with her on our return.
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