Week 25

Foreword: It would appear that the blog has got a little bit out of control.  We seem to have gathered about 4000 followers most of whom seem to be yachties who are planning to pass this way.  What started out as letters to home seems to have struck a chord with others who seem to also share a twisted sense of humour.  With that in mind we have been a bit more accurate with anchorage descriptions. However, we offer no guarantee that you will encounter the same conditions.

For those who are just interested in the logistics of sailing this area, get a copy of the Fremantle Sailing Club cruising guide and ignore the next two posts.

To the family and friends ( and those who should know better) who have been following so far here is the next update…

Week 25

12^th May 2014

Darwin - East Arm Point

We’ve been busy over our sabbatical from the sabbatical.  The Mustang has signed up for the full tour (they haven’t diagnosed the problem yet, but we believe the bad jokes are a symptom).  She has also bought along her long term companion, but more on that later.  Here’s a quick review of the sabbatical for the non yachties...

Camping with the Derby brothers. The best camp fire I’ve ever been at.  Used telegraph poles piled six high for firewood.

A wedding.  If you weren’t there you would know…

… a couple of new grandkids…

 And make-a-da wine….

 A few weeks in Thailand…

 …and then finally the road trip up.  Loaded up the Mustang’s Pajero with about a tonne of boat stuff and camping gear and headed North.

We look like we know what we are doing here as well, but it took us an hour to set up camp the first night.  We got quicker as the trip progressed – down to under five minutes, including the time it took to put the kettle on!  We devised our own setup instructions:

F is for front .

 Saw lots of different wildlife on the road. Most of it alive. Echidnas to snakes we saw it all wiggling and wobbling.  Some not so well off...

This parrot is dead, deceased, extinct. It is a late parrot, an ex parrot...

Introducing Buffy the Barra Slayer.  She is the oldest (in human years) on the journey but still seems to get excited at the most stupid things. Just like us…  

Are we there yet?

Speaking of stupid things. The Mustang spotted this on the way into Derby and had to turn around to take a photo…

What the?

The longest cattle trough in the world … Derby (where else?)

You drink first!

Onto the Gibb River Road…

Collecting boab nuts to go with the other three nuts in the car. We had big plans of carving them during our journey on any occasions when we might be bored, but eventually threw them out as unnecessary.

 Would you buy this car?

Stopped at Fitzroy Crossing and reenacted the only reported fresh water croc attack on a human.  Apparently the guy got drunk at the Crossing Arms and then went down to the cruise jetty and fell asleep with his foot hanging over the water.  The still have the photo of his injury up on the wall at the entrance to the jetty.  You can go and have a look if you’re passing that way… BTW, it’s a national park, so they don’t let dogs in, but we decided that Buffy the Barra Slayer is actually a bilby (dogs have tails don’t they?).

Croc attack

Russian Jack is memorialized in Halls Creek for pushing his sick mate the 400km to Wyndham in a wheelbarrow.  They made ‘em tough in those days.  The Mustang hitches a lift…

Halls Creek

Then it was off to Kununurra to catch up with the Navigator and to see if the Mustang could lose her Barra virginity.  We headed out to the Keep River where they even have a sign now to tell you which side you can drink and drive on…

The long way around

The first injury occurred here when the Mustang lost her footing in the river and tumbled onto the rocks.  Fortunately a bit of gaffa tape covered it well enough to keep the flies off.

The only Barramundi we saw at the Keep River were the five in the throw net.  We threw them back so they could grow up a bit for next time. All were about this size or smaller…

Keep River barra

It was a nice overnighter even though there was no action on the fishing scene.  We even left the live baits overnight and left this guy watching the rods while we sat along the river and just enjoyed the place.

Dragon-fly fishing!

The baits were returned to their home alive the next morning and we left fishless….  To make up for it the Navigator took us up the river in his flash boat for a BBQ at his secret spot.

 The Navigator cooks up a storm

The Mustang welcomes the neighbours to our secret spot

We left Kununurra well rested and the best fed of the whole trip.  Thanks Nav… And the sightseeing continued…

 Argyle Dam

We had intended to stop of at a few more spots (Litchfield Park especially), but the lure of Charisma beckoned and by this time we were a bit over the road trip, so we drove straight through and made it to Darwin.

Back at the boat at last

Charisma had faired pretty well over the wet season apart from leaking water through a hatch (I knew it leaked but forgot to fix it before we left Charisma for the season – my fault entirely). The mustang wrote that bit...  We were welcomed by mouldy pillows, mouldy carpet and a couple of other casualties, as well as lovely black growth on all the walls and ceilings.  It took two days to get the mould out and another three for the smell of Exit Mould to disappear. We organized a welder for the busted bowsprit and then it was down to a week of cleaning, sanding and painting… Buffy the Barra Slayer even settled well into her new home aboard the boat – and this while it was on dry land! She tolerated (barely) the trip up the ladder every night and on one occasion decided she wanted to join the fun on the ground and took a giant leap of about 2 metres to join me while I was painting.  Fortunately no injuries occurred, but she must have felt something because she didn’t try that again.

Down to work

The Mustang did a great job with the inside of Charisma, cleaning and throwing out old gear we weren’t going to need, while I was busy sanding, grinding and painting. We managed to just about fill a skip bin that was handy at the yard…

The anti-foul paint is a notoriously messy job, so I came prepared this time…

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Condom-man!

 Bored supervisor

Last minute touch ups to the keel before the lift back into the water.