svbeachhouse

Category: Voyages

  • Gove tour and Aboriginal Art Center….

    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

  • Gove tour and Aboriginal Art Center….

    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

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/07/01 09:07 LATITUDE: 11-33.59S LONGITUDE: 136-21.08E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 25 WIND_DIR: ESE CLOUDS: 70% VISIBILITY: 5 BARO: 1014.7 AIR_TEMP: 25.0C COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Raragla Island, Just beyond \”Hole In the Wall\”…

  • Arrival at Gove, Northern Territory, Australia

    29 June 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

    Dear F&F,

    We just arrived in Gove, Northern Territory. The \”NT\” is so remote, it\’s not yet a state! (They\’re working on it!). We are truly in the \”B of B\” (back of beyond) up here. I suspect there are less than 30,000 people (except for Darwin which has 30,000 people) in the entire northern 1/4th of the country. Think if only 60,000 people lived in a line between Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Oregon north to the Canadian border!

    The aside small world story is that as we arrived, we saw six boats heading out, most of whom are in the \”Sail Indonesia Rally\” leaving from Darwin in three weeks. One of them hailed me and told me he was a former patient! Amazing!

    Most of the land here is \”Aboriginal Lands\” and cannot be legally gone onto with prior permission. It\’s so remote, I\’m not sure how many visit stops I\’d want to make in any event. The entirety of Australia from 150 miles north of Brisbane all the way past Darwin for several hundred miles is crocodile country. That\’s like from Washington D.C. to Washington State, OVER the top of the USA! You can\’t really swim and so far, the water in the entire GBR (Great Barrier Reef) has been pretty murky.

    I have internet for the moment, so I\’m taking advantage of it.

    Gove is a bauxite mining town. It\’s the basic material for Aluminum. There are possibly 3,000 people here and this is one of the largest towns in the NT. It may even be the second largest to only Darwin!

    It\’s hot and lovely, the crossing was bumpy which was expected across the Gulf of Carpinteria (Yep, same name as the Beach House). We were \”buzzed\” by Aussie Customs and they radioed us by name. They are constantly on the lookout for people from Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea trying to enter the country illegally. Drugs too I suspect.

    The AIS system we have is like an airplane transponder and gives details to those with a receiver about our boat. It\’s especially handy for identifying big ships so we don\’t go \”bump in the night\”….:-)

    Next we\’ll report our shoreside endeavors and soon we\’ll head to the famous \”Hole in the Wall\” experience; a very narrow pass with lots of current that gets us from one side of the Wessel Islands to the other. As we were given a pretty good copy of a cruising guide for the \”NT\”, we may do some day trips to Darwin instead of just sailing on through. The rally doesn\’t leave till the 28th of July, so we have plenty of time.

    The tides and currents up here can be huge. Second only in range to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Darwin can see 7.5 meter (24 foot!) tidal ranges. Fortunately, looking ahead only shows 3-5 meter tides. That\’s still 10 to 16 feet. It will make anchoring out and dinghy-ing in quite a challenge.

    Stay tuned, more soon… Scott and Nikki

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES

    TIME: 2012/06/29 01:23

    LATITUDE: 12-11.99S

    LONGITUDE: 136-42.20E

    MARINE: NO

    WIND_SPEED: 4

    WIND_DIR: 160T

    CLOUDS: 50%

    VISIBILITY: 20

    BARO: 1014.6

    AIR_TEMP: 27.8C COMMENT:

    Beach House – ANCHORED – Gove Yacht Club, 356 nm/2 days 2 hours… Hot and calm here.

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/06/28 23:14 LATITUDE: 12-05.65S LONGITUDE: 136-43.13E COURSE: 222T SPEED: 6.7 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 4 WIND_DIR: 160T CLOUDS: 50% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1015 AIR_TEMP: 28.3C COMMENT: Beach House – Enroute – Nhullaby Bay, Gove in 2 hours…. now motoring

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/06/28 05:31 LATITUDE: 11-43.41S LONGITUDE: 138-00.35E COURSE: 222T SPEED: 6.7 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 15 WIND_DIR: SSE SWELL_DIR: S SWELL_HT: 1.0M SWELL_PER: 6 CLOUDS: 65% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1014 AIR_TEMP: 23.9C COMMENT: Beach House – Enroute – Gove, Expect A.M. arrival……Seas calming

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/06/28 03:35 LATITUDE: 11-31.41S LONGITUDE: 138-55.96E COURSE: 259T SPEED: 7.4 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 15 WIND_DIR: SSE SWELL_DIR: S SWELL_HT: 1.0M SWELL_PER: 6 CLOUDS: 75% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1013 AIR_TEMP: 27.8C COMMENT: Beach House – Enroute – Gove, sailing since last night.. Should arrive tomorrow early a.m. A bit bumpy out here….

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/06/27 10:03 LATITUDE: 11-03.90S LONGITUDE: 141-00.18E COURSE: 256T SPEED: 5.3 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 10 WIND_DIR: S SWELL_DIR: SSW SWELL_HT: 1.0M SWELL_PER: 6 CLOUDS: 85% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1013.9 AIR_TEMP: 25.6C COMMENT: Beach House – Enroute – Gove, Northern Territory – Australia. Just started sailing… \”on the wind\”…..

  • POSITION REPORT

    YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2012/06/27 03:44 LATITUDE: 10-53.65S LONGITUDE: 141-45.35E COURSE: 257T SPEED: 8.1 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 3 WIND_DIR: SE SWELL_DIR: SSW SWELL_HT: 0.5M SWELL_PER: 5 CLOUDS: 50% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1013.5 AIR_TEMP: 30.6C COMMENT: Beach House – ENROUTE – Gove, NT – Australia…Motoring, no wind…..

    At this speed, 40 hours to go. Hoping for wind….