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"SECOND INNINGS" KIMBERLEY CRUISES 2002 TO 2006
The intricate sandstone rock formations around Cape Domett at the western entrance to Cambridge Gulf (right), are a great welcome to the Kimberley coast. The open water behind Cape Across at the western side of the Cambridge Gulf, the Lyne Rarely does a cruiser pass through Koolama Bay (left) without spending a few After negotiating the notorious overfalls off Cape Londonderry, we head into the
Proceeding cautiously up the Prince Regent River on a rising tide, the first detour from the main stream is into Camp Creek. The next day we undertake the 2 mile dinghy trip upstream in Camp Creek to swim and wash at the old "camping area" before Five miles upstream of the Cascades we anchor at the mouth of a small side creek and spend several hours exploring Cathedral Falls (left) where few charter boats or yachties seem to venture. Further upstream there are more falls, but the river bed is shallow, rocky and treacherous. We spend two hours here before leaving on the falling tide and heading back to Camp Creek. The trip out of the Prince Regent River is pretty awesome, with over 6 knots of current and plenty of Around the corner at Sampson Inlet we spend some time exploring the campsite where Phil & Marion from Silvergull Creek had spent the cyclone season in about 1994. With both wind and tide in our favour, we have a quick sail south
We then spend time in the cosy anchorage at Crocodile Creek where t
While sailing along the coast ahead of the seasonal south-westerlies we have the opportunity to experience different anchorages on the return trip. Two of our favourites are Anjo Cove and Glycosmis Bay. We always take the time to cruise to the top of the Mitchell River on the way home, then spend some time in the Drysdale, King George and the Berkeley Rivers as well. On a couple of occasions we have ventured down the Cambridge Gulf to Wyndham, before getting the seasonal forecast of "variable winds less than 10 knots". Much to our surprise, however, the NW winds sometimes pipe in at 15 to 20 knots and we have our best sails of the 4 to 5 month Kimberley trip, covering the 180 miles to Fish Reef in 20 to 24 hours. Not too bad for a "slow old cruising boat" and a great way to conclude a Kimberley Cruise. |
This page was last updated 01 December, 2007 - download Second Innings Cruises '02 to '06.pdf |
Our cruises from Darwin to the Kimberley from 2002 to 2006 generally began in June with coast hopping down the west coast of the NT via overnight stops at Tapa Bay, Bare Sand Island, the Peron Islands, Cape Ford or the Little Moyle River. West coast sunsets over the Peron Islands (left) are awesome. 
Domett, combined with the strong tidal streams, however, makes for a lively anchorage in all but the lightest SE wind conditions. 
River provides some spectacular scenery for the cruising yachtie about 8 miles upstream (left) past the anchorage at the "T" junction. Next stop on the WA coast is usually the Berkeley River, where we 
found this very old NAMCO riveted aluminium dinghy stashed amongst the sand dunes at the mouth of the river. Further upstream, we explored the waterfalls and spent plenty of time around little nooks and crannies such as the spring fed falls near the head of the river (left). The fishing is usually good, and there are a few mud crabs around. The barra tend to bite better late in the year when the weather is warm!
days in the King George River. 
We generally climb the rope beside the eastern side creek falls and explore the lagoons and bradshaw paintings further up the creek. However, the rope had been removed in 2006. Moving further upstream, there is always the bar-b-q area (right) to enjoy before returning to the mouth of the river and lazing about with the crocs on the long sandy beach.
Drysdale River which offers superb anchorages with pleasant surroundings of low blocky sandstone cliffs topped by eucalypts. Fishing in the Drysdale is always good, with mangrove jacks, fingermark, as well as the odd barra around. The houseboat "Chausoleil" may even be in there! There are cruising risks in the Drysdale, including a number of big crocs, many sandbars and two dangerous rockbars.
Heading down Napier Broome Bay one can always spend a few pleasant days anchored in Honeymoon Bay or exploring the old Pago Mission site in Mission Cove. A visit to Kalumburu is a real eye-opener if you get the time! Back on the water, the winds and currents take cruisers west to West Bay and Truscott Airbase then on through Geranium Harbour, past Middle Rock and into Vansittart Bay. The highlights here are visits to the DC3 wreck (right), the relics at Kinganna, the rock art at Jar Island and a dip in the freshwater pools in the creek at Freshwater Bay.
Heading further north again towards Cape Bougainville, White Finger Bay is a great place for a lunch stop and to check out the eagles nest in a boab tree before sailing into the sunset past Hat Point (left) and on to a quiet anchorage in Parry Harbour. Oysters are the local seafood at Parry Harbour and the mackerel bite like crazy over the reefs around Fury Rock.
At his time of year (July) the south easterlies are well established and the morning sail down to the Osborne Islands is usually quite lively with gusty offshore winds. The Pearl Farm wraps around the high cliffy islands and just getting to an anchorage involves a lot of dodging longlines and mooring buoys. Once anchored, there are a couple of freshwater streams running into the southern part of the bay and some stunning aboriginal art in an amazing cave complex. 
Also in the Osborne Islands is the coral encrusted wreck of the steel ship the "SS Sunbeam". She was a 30m long steam powered lugger thought to have been beached after being holed in the 1890’s. Legend has it that the crew kidnapped some aboriginal women and the aboriginal men sunk the ship in retaliation. The next inlet to the west is Admiralty Gulf, which encloses One Tree Beach, Kimberley Coastal Camp, the Lawley River and two 4WD access points at Walsh Point and Crystal Creek.
Ten miles further west is the magnificent Mitchell River, where some of the larger barra are up to 107 cm and 16 kg. However, the crocs are also pretty large. It is not unusual for a 14 footer like this one to be lurking on the bank waiting for an unsuspecting person to step ashore or catch a fish for him/her. One of our early morning barra "catch and release" sessions in the Mitchell River was terminated rapidly when a similarly large (14 ft) croc appeared from nowhere and snapped up a barra as it was about to be lifted into the inflatable dinghy to be unhooked and released. Two months later, the same large croc was spotted at the same place, dispensing any thoughts of fishing from the dinghy in this area. He/she has been named "The Tax Collector" and the creek named TC Creek.
The Mitchell River has several other interesting side creeks to fish and explore, as well as a tidal rockbar and freshwater falls 20 miles upstream from the mouth. A challenging walk across and around large boulders leads upstream to the three sets of falls which lie between 1 km and 3km above the anchorage at the tidal rockbar. The photo above right is the middle set of falls flowing strongly in July 2006.
Leaving the Mitchell River on a high tide, we sail north through Walmsley Bay before turning north-west around Bigge Point and cruising on past Lavoisier Island and Cape 
Voltaire which is easily identified by the black columns of basalt. Turning left again we head south into Swifts Bay to look at some fascinating 
Heading west again we visit the rock art on the eastern side of Bigge Island before spending a few days based in Shelter Bay at Prudhoe Island while walking these islands and doing a day trip out to the East and West Montalivet Islands. On the western side of Bigge Island are the Wary Bay art galleries to explore before spending a couple of quiet nights at Rainforest Ravine (left) and the Anderdon Islands on our way through Prince Frederick Harbour to Naturalist Island and the Hunter River.
We then continue west to the Coronation Islands, first visiting the "Mermaid Tree" at Careening Cove before sailing back north to anchor off the "Ivy Tree" in Ivy Cove. The imposing Bat Island is stunning in the early morning sunrise as we sail on west to enter the Prince Regent River through Whirlpool Pass and St George Basin. Mt Trafalgar and Mt Waterloo lie at the head of Spitfire Creek in the north-eastern corner of the basin. After anchoring under the imposing Mt Trafalgar in Hurricane Creek, we go fishing and crabbing before heading up the Prince Regent River to Purulba Creek.
tackling the walk to the intermediate falls and on to the upper falls. Three days later, we nose out of Camp Creek to catch the incoming tide and weave through the rockbars and islands on our way to the Kings Cascades a further 8 miles upstream.
whirlpools around Strong Tide Point and through Whirlpool Pass. Leaving the Prince Regent River via Munster Water and Treachery Head, the next stopover is in Hanover Bay. A couple of days later we motor sail west around High Bluff then south through the beautiful Port George IV and the dangerous Rogers Strait into Camden Harbour. We first visited the grave beside the boab tree at Sheep Island in 1982 and sailed past Kuri Bay (right) at the eastern entrance to Brecknock Harbour.
past Deception Bay to Prior Point Inlet where we spend another couple of days exploring this deep, narrow inlet. The sail further south past Freshwater Cove to Raft Point is also brisk with a fresh 
easterly breeze. This area around Raft Point is worth a few days spent checking out the rock art and exploring the spectacular Steep Island (left). From Raft Point we are able to take advantage of the low spring tides in the early morning to visit Montgomery Reef and experience the scenes of water cascading off the exposed reef into the gutters and lagoons around the edge of the reef (right).
The Sale River is magic place to spend a few days. In the lower reaches of the river the Kimberley Rose blooms on the banks. Water depth is important in the upper reaches. Low tide lasts for at least 4 hours 
at the head of the river, so it is possible to walk 4 miles downstream from the upper anchorage at low tide without getting your feet wet. Just the usual caution – Beware of Crocodiles. Our next stop could be at Red Cone Inlet for a swim at Ruby Falls or Sapphire Falls. It was in Red Cone Inlet where the first mate caught her first barra in 2002 and spends many hours watching the crocodiles float past on the current (right) caused by the 12m rise and fall in the tides in this inlet. 
By August, the morning easterlies are becoming lighter so we may have a quiet sail across Collier Bay to Talbot Bay where we spend a few days experiencing the 
power of the Horizontal Waterfalls before dropping in to Dugong Bay then motoring past Koolan Island in to Yampi Sound. Here we catch up with yachties travelling east and west and enjoy a swim in the tank and a beer at the table with Phil & Marion almost every day. 
here are many clever bits and pieces of paraphenalia hanging under the shelter beside the falls. This new addition in 2005 was a little out of the ordinary and rather well done we thought!! The next decision is whether to head to Broome to resupply or spend a week cruising around the northern end of King Sound before retracing our steps to Darwin. 
While heading into King Sound, Silica beach on the northern end of Hidden Island is worth a stop before tackling the turbulent waters of Whirlpool Pass. Next, there are some incredible shaped rocks on Edeline Island in Strickland Bay. Two graves with inscribed headstones are accessible on the southern side of the island and to the north of Edeline Island is The Graveyard where many pearl divers were killed in the 1890’s. A few miles to the east is Kyulgam River with good fishing and fresh water falls. 
By late August it is time to think about heading back to Darwin and pick up a late season mackerel or two along the way.