2nd September 2013
Coral Bay to Alcaro
Bay 11o 17.400S 131o 48.099E
Bit rough getting out of Port Essington. The first time I’ve ever had a wave break in
the cockpit and I was soaked. The
Mustang was not looking too good and had to have a lie down. I could tell she was breathing because of the
snoring. I think she has gone soft after
her day at the resort.
We’ll get up early and nip through Dundas Straight if the
wind drops off. Quite an interesting
little bay and creek…
Alcaro bay
3rd and 4th September 2013
Alcaro Bay to Darwin – Fannie Bay 12o 26.585S 130o
49.520E
Knight’s Cruising Guide isn’t much help with most of the
currents and tide references. Most of
them are well out of date and just can’t be relied on at all. In reference to Dundas Straight he says that “…
it is a treacherous channel which should not be attempted by small boats”. After discussing it all with another cruiser
we decided it would actually probably be “a doddle”.
Following Knight’s instructions we entered the channel four
and a half hours after high tide at Darwin at three am, but we were actually two
hours too late. We pushed on, and were
almost through the channel when the current changed. By six AM we were going backwards at half a
knot, and attempting to punch into a 30 knot wind. While we were drifting backwards towards
Melville Island, we knew we must have mistimed it as the tankers were all
coming the other way with the current.
Passing tanker while we drift off the channel
The Mustang was not happy (although I wasn’t very impressed
either) and I almost turned around and went back out the other way. We slowed our drift until about 9 o’clock
when we were finally able to pinch some wind and point in the right direction,
albeit at two knots. This was going to
take longer than we anticipated! By midday
the current had turned with us again, and we were finally making good headway
and heading in the right direction both at the same time. We would have arrived where we were heading
at night, so I decided that we should push on through the night and just get to
Darwin where it would be easier to find a reasonable anchorage. It was actually quite a pleasant sail from then
on.
Calmer sailing
into the night…
It took us 22 hours to do 100 nautical miles, so overall not
that bad, but I wouldn’t recommend following Knight’s instructions if you want
to get through this passage. Navionics gave
us a better prediction, but was still not really ideal – it was about an hour
behind. If we were to do it again we
would probably go around Melville Island instead of attempting the passage, but
we’re sure it can be done if you can time the currents to go with you
correctly. You probably need a boat that
can sit comfortably at about eight knots minimum to get through without too
much hassle and get through in one tide.
Ten knots or more would be ideal.
We arrived at Darwin and anchored at Fannie Bay just after one o’clock
AM. As an anchorage location it’s not
the smoothest, but everything you need is there including full facilities at
the Darwin Sailing Club. There are shops
up the road (walking distance) and you’re only a $2 bus ride from town.
Sunset at
Fannie Bay
Low tide at Fannie Bay means a long walk to
the dinghy
We hired a car and spent the first day checking out where to
put Charisma for six months. There are
very limited (and very expensive) berths available at this time of year, and
very few moorings. Obviously you have to
book in early to get somewhere here, and have to budget for it as well. We got lucky while walking the docks and met
a local shipwright called James. He told
us we’d be buggered to find anything suitable, but he got on his phone and rang
a mate called Tony at Global Marine. They
had been thinking of offering a dry stand service. We made a beeline for his office and
convinced him that this was a good business idea. We even offered to be guinea pigs for
him. He was as excited as we were. Charisma will be locked up behind gates and
safe for the cyclone season. Tony even
lives on site, although I’m not sure if we’re supposed to tell anyone that
bit.
After solving all our problems in the first day we searched
for the highlights of Darwin. Their signwriters
must have a sense of humour…
Yes that is the prison in the background
Pull the chain
and you’ll be flush with attention
NT Newspaper headlines
are a laugh a day… and we thought The West was bad…
I’ve seen some
strange names for boats. I don’t get this one.
Unfortunately
we’re going to miss the Booty Shakin' Competition – I think I would have done well
Monday 9th September 2013
Time to put the boat away for the season – time to take a sabbatical
from our sabbatical. I’ll have for the next
six months now to pay for next year’s sabbatical.
Things didn’t go exactly as planned today. Got up at sunrise for a quick coffee and then
to drop the Mustang at the boat ramp where we’d left the hire car. Pulling away from the boat ramp I hit a rock
and couldn’t get any drive from Merv’s motor.
The Mustang had already left and I was stranded a good kilometer away
from where I was supposed to be putting the boat up on the wharf. Spent about 20 minutes trying to fix it, but
Merv’s donk now has a fatal flaw inside the gearbox. Started to row – what else could I do? Meanwhile at Global Marine the crane had
turned up and was waiting with engines running.
Six workers were waiting plus the owner and the Mustang, who eventually
arranged for the guys to rescue me. Something
had to go wrong, it would have been too easy otherwise.
Merv being
towed back to Global marine. An ignominious end to the cruise for “Mr Reliable”
Merv.
Finally got Charisma
aside the wharf and the debate about how to lift him up commenced. The crane driver wasn’t happy – he had been
given to understand he would be lifting a twelve foot boat that weighed nine
tonnes. We wonder what that sort of boat
would look like – mostly concrete we reckon…
Tim, the leading hand from Global Marine took charge and had the slings
arranged before the crane drivers could change their minds and leave.
Tony, Tim and
I put on the slings…
Once convinced that it would work … it did! All went relatively smoothly – actually,
really smoothly considering we were really a new experiment for the company’s
owners. So now they have a new business
pulling boats out and storing them for the wet for others who need such a
service. At about half the price of a
mooring or a marina – we can really recommend them to anyone needing to get
their craft out of the wet for the season.
… out of the
water…
…across the
wharf…
…the first
yacht parked in the yard.
Merv’s donk was diagnosed with a blown gearbox, so it was
donated to one of the workers there, and now we have a great reason to get the
ten HP we always wanted. Then it was time to prepare for an extended
stay on the hard. The Mustang took control of trying to deal with moisture
build up inside the boat. She has
buckets of cat litter throughout the boat as well as open boxes of bi-carb for
the cupboards.
A Bi-carb tea
bag (patent pending).
…to protect
the all important ‘Bill shirts’ and flannies.
Well it’s back to reality for a
few months…
Coming soon….
“The Bogun’s tour of the Kimberley
– A Cruising Guide”
