BEAGLE BAY

Beagle Bay was discovered and named in 1838 by captain Wickham and John Lort Stokes after their ship H.M.S. Beagle.  The bay was used as a secure anchorage for the pearling fleet which operated from the Robinson and Norman pearling camp at the mouth of Alligator Creek (or Norman Creek) south of Tooker Point.  The Beagle Bay Mission was also supplied by vessels anchoring in the bay, until the 1935 cyclone wiped out the pearlers and the Mission vessel HMC.  The photo (right) showing the remains of the moorings at the old lugger camp was taken by the WA Museum in 1978 and the photo showing an anchor lying on the sand flats at the camp  (left) was taken by the author in 1982.  All sorts of pearling related "relics" lie on the upper beach and in the sparse bush above the high water mark at the mouth of Norman Creek.

Beagle Bay is wide open to the northwest.  However, there are protected anchorages from the prevailing south-easterlies off the sandy beaches and fringing reef on the eastern side of the bay south of Cliff Point at 16^o 51.98'S, 122^o 32.78'E.  Alternative  anchorages on the southern side of the bay off Tooker Point and Ledge Point are tenable up to about 15 knots of easterly wind. The morning easterly wind is usually replaced by a light seabreeze in the afternoon during the July to September cruising season.

When we sailed in to Beagle Bay in Spindrift III  in 1982, Steve Arrow was setting up a cultured pearl farm using the old style rafts made from 44 gallon drums and mangrove saplings lashed together with stainless steel wire.  This was back-breaking work in the tropical sun, as can be seen in the photo left.

A small launch (right) was used to transport men and equipment between the shore camp at Tooker Point and the rafts in the bay. The Broome lugger "D.McD" was the supply ship. 

By 2002, rafts had disappeared from Beagle Bay, only to be replaced by the ubiquitous black buoys moored in the well marked central area of the bay.  The camp at Tooker Point has been upgraded to a large shed, aluminium workboats are used for tending the pearls, and supplies are shipped in on the large cat "DMB" shown (left) on the beach in Broome in early 2005.

The Catholic Mission at Beagle Bay was established by the French Trappist Monks in the late 1800's and was subsequently taken over by the Pallottine Monks in the early 1900's.  The church (left & right) was built from bricks made from local clay mixed with mud.  The mortar was manufactured by burning shells and oysters to make lime, which was mixed with water to form mortar for bonding bricks and facing the walls. 

A unique feature of the Beagle Bay church is the altar and tabernacle (left & right) which are ornately decorated with local pearl shells.  More information on the history of the mission and the construction of the church can be obtained from the Pallottine web site.

      PENDER BAY            

A short cruise north of Beagle Bay past two small, shallow and exposed bays, named Trappers Inlet and Middle Lagoon, is the large open Pender Bay.  The southern shores are divided into two unnamed rather shallow bays, one either side of Bell Point.  The western bay is a reasonable anchorage in moderate winds, although the north west swell can be a problem for keel boats. 

Weedon (or Weedong) Lagoon is located in the southern part of the eastern bay and is renowned for the appearance of small stone aboriginal relics exposed by the shifting sands (left) and the fragile freshwater ecosystem which supports unique plant and animal life (right).

      Acknowledgments

The text and photos for this page were pieced together from a number of sources.  Published sources included "Kimberley - Dreaming to Diamonds" by Hugh Edwards, "A Guide to the Kimberley Coast" by Len Zell, the 1978 WINC Report by Scott Sledge of the WA Maritime Museum, and the Pallottine web site.  Information was also collected from personal communication with staff at the Beagle Bay Pearl Farm in 1982 and 2003.