Author: kerri

04 July 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Well, the wind didn\’t look all that bad to us this morning despite the forecast for gusts up to 30 knots. As we would be very inshore next to the \”continent\” vs. small narrow islands, we thought the winds would be lighter and indeed they were!

With two reefs in the main and the staysail, off we went straight downwind to Yabooma Island Estuary. THIS IS ABOUT AS REMOTE AS YOU CAN GET. The charts have vast areas which are \”inadequately surveyed\” or worse, \”unsurveyed\”. Sort of like sailing without a chart IF we went in the unsurveyed areas which WE DID NOT. The Aussies have done a great job charting perhaps the most difficult waterway area in the world. 2000 miles of reef, reef, reef! We had an uneventful sail and were even marginally underpowered with winds at only 16-20 knots. Interestingly, a bit erie!, the water turned a pea soup green when we were 10 miles from the island and it\’s convoluted waterway. After negotiating the entrance, my first plan had to be tossed out the window as the \”anchorage\” (side of the river) was open to the prevailing wind. It wasn\’t blowing hard, but we never like the shore behind us and it was a bit lumpy. So, we headed up river!

Here\’s where the fun begins. We pass what was listed as an aboriginal community on the shore and see one shack! That\’s it! Nikki thought she might have seen some additional infrastructure behind the mangroves. I didn\’t. We did soon however find what we thought would be a nice 20 foot spot to anchor. Every time we were convinced we\’d found \”the spot\”, the water would suddenly be 70 feet deep! The current was running at a knot and a half against the wind, not uncomfortable, but it made the direction to set the anchor not as obvious.

We struggled this way for an hour and a half. The problem of course is TIDE. We had a 6 foot plus tide, but at 0233 tomorrow morning, we\’ll have a 0 foot tide. This means that wherever we anchor, we need to watch for the tide which will give us 6 feet less water in the middle of the night.

NEXT, as we were about to make our pass for \”the spot\”, I lost the starboard engine! It was overheating and I quickly diagnosed a broken impeller. We did get the anchor down on one engine (imagine that my monohull friends!) and a good thing as the river current was running at nearly 2 knots by now. After we finally got settled, I was able to quickly change the impeller and the engine is back in action, beautifully pumping water away. I have a special \”speed seal\” cover for it and it removes and replaces in about a minute.

Unbelievably, we have good internet here as the Aussie infrastructure makes sure that outlying communities have wireless phone and internet. Our phones don\’t work, but the internet does! In the time it\’s taken me to write this, the tide has risen 3 feet and will be 16 feet positive at 7:30 tonight. The excitement then is to watch our bottom and make sure we\’ve at least 3 feet below the depth sounder mounted at the bottom of the hull. I think we\’ll be in 5-6 feet of water at low tide. Currently, we\’re in 16 feet.

So with a full moon in the estuary, no sign of anyone, we hope to be off out of this jungle cruise tomorrow, heading for Junction Bay and getting closer to Darwin by the day.

KIT, more soon, Scott and Nikki

3 July 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Last night, we anchored in 15 feet of water and did indeed check the tide at Refuge Bay. With the full moon, they are pretty big here. So we estimated that we\’d get down to 5 feet at around 1:30 a.m. Well, maybe my math  was off just a bit. We got down to 4.4 feet and did the mid night \”anchor drill\” with 20+ knots. Merely letting out some more chain to see if that would get us into deeper water. Well maybe it got us an additional  6 inches! So I watched to make sure we wouldn\’t touch (not good for sleep!) and we didn\’t! We did see 3.7 feet for a moment and then literally…..\”the tide turned\”. Just another sea story.

This morning, we left \”Refuge Bay\” (which was a refuge from the big winds) and headed for Howard Island where we knew from email our friends Paula and John aboard \”Mr. John VI\” would be.   As we lost our main circuit breaker on the generators electrical system yesterday, we\’ve been charging the batteries with the engines. So making water, doing the wash and charging were on the morning agenda.   We motored very close to the shore to keep away from the building seas in 25- 30 knots of wind and finally got to where the land blocked the wind better; \”setting sail\”.  I t was only blowing 20+ knots and with a double reefed main and staysail we had a nice three hour sail arriving here at Howard Bay with \”Mr. John VI\” and \”Silvergirl\” already at anchor. The tide tonight will be 16 feet! So, we had to do the calculations to make sure we don\’t find the bottom tonight (on the full moon). We should never get shallower than 7 feet tonight, it is currently 22 feet at high tide.

Despite the big wind forecast for tomorrow, (this anchorage is the calmest we\’ve seen since Gove), we\’ll most likely move on toward Darwin along the NT coast. We have also positioned ourselves nicely for the next sail to Yabooma Island which is effectively directly downwind and only 30 miles. So as \”Beach House\” loves 25+ on the stern, we\’ll most likely head off tomorrow on our planned 6-7 day tripping to Darwin. We do have some maintenance and repairs to attend to (as always!) and don\’t want > to be rushed for time when we arrive.  Stay tuned, more soon…

KIT, Scott and Nikki (Howard Island Anchorage)….nice and calm, full moon, cloudless skies.

01 July 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

We felt in no rush to leave Gove today as we decided to just go to Elizabeth Bay and stay the night, planning to arrive at Hole in the Wall at the morning slack low tide. We got the expected wind however and decided to press on to catch the late afternoon slack at 5:30 p.m. This is not a preferred time for me NOT to be anchored in dubiously charted and unknown areas to Skipper Scott. However, everyone advised us that the anchorage at Raragala (where I am writing from) was a very easy entry which it was. Also, the winds which are 20-25 knots now are predicted to be up to 25-30 tomorrow. Better to get through \”The Hole\” before the wind really kicks up. One nice thing is that the islands we are in, the Wessel Group, knocks out the sea, so no big waves and not too uncomfortable at all.

The Gugari Rip: (AKA: The Hole In the Wall) The Rip is known locally as \”The Hole In the Wall\” and truly has an side cut (the actual HOLE) in the side of the wall where it looked extremely calm. The rip is between two islands, Raragala and Guluwuru (Aboriginal names). These are both required to have a permit to go ashore as they are Aboriginal lands. We can see no one anywhere along the coast, fyi. I doubt that more than a handful of people live on either island (if any!) and they are each about 7 miles long.

The flood tide goes from west to east and we were sailing east to west with 22-25 knots of wind right behind us as we entered the mile and half long by 150 foot wide channel. At about 3 miles from the entrance, the ripping current going against the wind was causing very steep waves and I was a bit trepidous of what might lie ahead. Once commited to this trip, there is no \”plan B\”. You\’d have to go 7 miles with a beam sea on a lee shore to get around the islands. NO FUN as the seas against the windward side of the islands looked like the North Sea to Nikki.

As we timed it to arrive JUST BEFORE the high slack tide, only the entrance was a bit boisterous, the rest of it not bad at all. We briefly saw a 4 knot head current, but it average about 2-3 knots against us. Our timing was pretty good. Apparently, the current has been clocked at 9 knots in a full flood on spring tides. Our tide was only 6 feet (2 meters), so \”not so bad\”. The entire trip through the rip took 15 minutes. It\’s kind of like a Disneyland ride.

We got spit out of the west end and came into the windy but calm anchorage here at Raragala. Anchored next to \”Obsession II\” who went all the way around the island.

We think we\’ll \”day hop\” from here to Darwin as I feel comfortable about the lightly surveyed, but adequate charts. Most cruising areas have pretty thorough \”guides\”, this area does not. \”Mr. John VI\” gave us a copy of some information that makes it look like a nice adventure. This should be interesting as truly, this is perhaps the most remote area in all of Australia.

More tomorrow, KIT, Scott and Nikki

30 June 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Today we were able to get a \”hire car\” as they are called here. A beat up Toyota Hilux. These types of vehicles are referred to in \”OZ\” as \”Utes\”. That\’s for Utility Vehicle. Ours wasn\’t a \”Mine Spec UTE\” according to Nikki (actually is was a beater!), but it sufficed for our needs for the day. Cars here aren\’t cheap. 100.00 cash (and oh btw), we weren\’t even required to fill out a single piece of paper work. I didn\’t even show anyone my license.

So off we went. First stop, the town. Population around 3,000. I think it\’s the second most populated city in the entire northern tier of Australia. Darwin has some 30,000 people. Here, for the first time, we were in the distinct minority amidst the local aboriginal communities to whom of course this is \”home\”. We went to the local petrol station, got a map and found directions to the local Aboriginal Art Center. Nikki bought a few nice carvings and I got a good deal on a genuine, Arnhemland \”Yadaki\”. Up here, a Didgeridoo is known as a Yadaki. I\’ve been taken with these and only buy \”concert quality\” instruments. This one was 225.00 plus 80 shipping to the US! Nice! I now have 7! Yes, I\’m learning to play.

We learned a fair amount about the local Yaraki Village and that the Aboriginal peoples are actually very different around Australia. These people are not nomadic, and call themselves the people of the saltwater. The ocean is as important to them as the land. Some of the artwork was gorgeous, but amazingly at art gallery prices in the big city. We also learned a great deal about how the land as late as the 1970\’s was simply taken for use by European descended Aussies without the slightest bit of consultation from the locals. This has turned around 180 degrees and now the government goes the way extra mile to make sure that Aboriginal lands are protected and property rights respected.

Afterward, we tried to find out about a tour of the Bauxite mine which is owned by Alcan (Rio Tinto), but they no longer do the tours.

We also went to a very nice beach with the crocodile warning signs and a beautiful lookout from a ceremonial area that is allowed to be visited. We later learned, that we were supposed to have a permit to wander about, but no one seemed to care and we left without a trace.

At night, we went to listen to the band at the Gove Yacht Club (pretty good, but they need a vocalist) and had dinner there. Tomorrow, we\’ll be off for either Elizabeth Bay or directly to Raragla Island going through the famous \”Hole In The Wall\” at Gugari Rip! It\’s a ripper mate! From here to Darwin is perhaps the most remote area in all of Australia.

KIT, more soon, Scott and Nikki