3rd August 2013
Elizabeth Bay 11o
54.318S 136o 33.921E
I spent just over two weeks in Gove. The yacht club locals were friendly and made
the time pass quickly while I day visited the hospital and waited for the
Mustang to fly in. Met most of the characters who inhabit the bay in various
forms. They’re definitely an eclectic
mix.
Gove Yacht Club
The yacht club
view
Dr Colin gave me a head like a cricket ball (six stitches)
when he cut a growth from my jaw. Only
took a few days to heal and I can’t even see a scar – even with my glasses on. I won’t have any problem renewing the
modeling contract. Even he said, “Bloody
good aren’t I?”
When the Mustang arrived we hired a car and took in the
sights.
The lookout on
the only hill.
The refinery
The run off
from the refinery. Fancy a swim?
The conveyor
belt
The cement
factory.
There has been so much to do that we were just exhausted each
night as we took in the view of the sunset over the refinery across the bay.
Refinery sunset
Night light for
those afraid of the dark – Refinery by night
Actually I enjoyed my time at Gove. All the boat jobs went according to plan. The anchorage is good and the facilities are
basic but very welcoming. Woolworths got
a hammering for provisions in the last couple of days and we should want for
nothing over the next month or so.
A huge Banyan
tree at the Yacht club
One of the locals at Gove
Congratulations to Glen and the Bear!
It was an interesting day getting to Elizabeth Bay with a
bit of everything happening. There was no
wind to start with so we motored along, and then the wind picked up to just
under 30 knots as we entered the overfalls around Cape Wilberforce. Just where we didn’t want it, but Navionics
shows overfalls there where the depth goes from 31m to 20m east of Point
William, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
The washing machine motion only lasted about an hour, but felt like more
because it got progressively worse.
Initial watch
position…
The Mustang went from lounging on the front deck to a watch
position in the cabin. I don’t think she
was enjoying it much around then. We
caught a tuna about 2 hours out as the wind picked up. Just as I was trying to re-set the sails to
the opposite tack – nice timing. He
didn’t want to join us on board, but I eventually got him with the gaff and
dragged him in.
The Mustang has limited experience taking fish
photos. Creative composition used here…
To get into Elizabeth Bay we went around Point William and
ducked between that and the small un-named island to the northwest of the
point. Once around the Point we tracked
southeast towards the sandy section of the cove. This was going directly into the wind, so we
could only get up to 3.7 knots, even with the motor at full speed. We anchored about 200m from shore as it gets
very shallow very quickly in there.
Depth where we anchored is about 7m but within 20m it drops to 4m and
less, so those of you with deeper keels will need to watch the gauges to get it
right. Note also that we were only in
two metres of water at low tide, having initially anchored at 4m at high tide. We were right on the eastern side of the
Pearl Farm if you need a marker. NOTE:
Take care when anchoring at Elizabeth Bay – we stayed a few days and must have
dragged anchor a bit because by the time we left the chain had wrapped itself
around the rocks. Eventually it was a
hacksaw job to cut the chain and lose the anchor to get out. So it might be safer to anchor out at about
300-350m from shore just to avoid this hazard, never mind the shallower depths
at low tide.
Filleting
table at Elizabeth Bay
Once at anchor we dropped Merv into the water and took a
trip to shore. The wind was still quite
blowy and we were facing directly into it.
We took the tuna ashore to fillet on the rocks - he weighed about 8 kgs,
and when we filleted him we only took about three kgs of meat off him. There’s only so much fish you can eat, so we
wasted a lot. Anyway we’ve got lots of
fish and crab bait for the next two days, and buried the remains behind the
rocks.
Despite the maps showing a land height of 26m it was still
quite windy on the beach, so we just took a short walk along the beach and did
only one hour’s sun bathing before heading back to the boat. We found some crocodile tracks going towards
and away from the beach, as well as some bullock tracks. The croc tracks were made by a small croc,
only about 6-7 feet.
Let’s not
follow these tracks…
There weren’t any sand flies that we came across, but a
couple of March flies made their presence known. Apart from that it was very pleasant to lie
on the beach with nobody there but each other.
The Mustang thinks she could get very used to this.
4th August 2013
Wigram Island 11o
46.690S 136o 33.428E
We were delayed leaving Elizabeth Bay as the anchor was
stuck (see above). Eventually had to cut
the chain as it was too deep to dive on. I’ve attached a release rope to the remaining
anchor as we won’t be able to get a spare until Darwin. It’s going to be a bit of a pain retrieving
from now on with the almost certain tangles to come.
Had some more overfalls coming in behind the island but an
otherwise pleasant short hop. We have
come further north to the next anchorage just past the pearl lines and made a
bit of a camp on the beach. We just
followed the dolphins through the gaps in the lines.
Wigram Island
beach camp
The Mustang read and dozed the day away while I explored. We both got out to the point for a bit of an
explore…
The point at
the entrance to the bay
We’re not that old and neither of us are looking at the
moment but, we still kept on finding fossils. Who would have thought that the
bay would contain so many prehistoric fossilized remains…
Dino foot
prints!!!
A fossilized
Diplodocus brain!!!
Captain
Atom-borough demonstrates how these Sabre tooth tiger claw marks were left…
What we actually found was a dumping ground for the pearl
farm’s anchors, rope and buoys – otherwise known as scavenger treasure. We now have a spare anchor and rode. Actually I had to go back and get another one
after dropping this one over the side before tying it on. I call it practice… the Mustang just laughed…
Treasure! A
spare anchor replaced within two days of losing one.
The wind is still blowing however and we will stay here
until there’s a suitable break to cross to the rip.
The Mustang
lands her first fish of the trip.
A respectable
little black tip that survived the process.
You will notice that this picture has both the full fish and human
within the frame…
8th August 2013
Still Wigram Island
11o 46.51S 136o 32.012E
Captain
Mustang…
Takes control by
gender alone…
The Mustang took us around to the southernmost Bay where we might
have some phone reception but, it doesn’t look like we do. We went ashore and looked around an abandoned
house and then went for a walk up the hill where we did get some reception
(Telstra only and you have to stand directly beneath the tower).
The condition
of this cement mixer gives an indication of how long this place has been
abandoned.
Used drum
salesman
Oh what a
feeling…
Telephone reception at the top of the hill…
Yes that is a
boat in the middle ground. Could this be
Mount Etna? Where’s Noah? In the background you will see the Telstra tower
complete with nests…
Over the hill there is an airstrip…
The Mustang
waits at the airport security gate.
The view from
the top back to the boat.
Last sunset at
Wigram Island
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