"SPINDRIFT III" 1982 KIMBERLEY CRUISE
Our cruise through the Kimberley in 1982 comprised the final leg of our trip from Fremantle to Darwin aboard our "home built" little cruiser Spindrift III. This leg started from Broome where we had spent a pleasant week alternatively floating and drying out in Dampier Creek, held vertical by a pair of spinnaker poles (left). One advantage of being in the creek was that there were plenty of mud crabs (right) under a nearby refugee boat for the kids to scoop out with the boat hook or a gaff.
The creek was also well protected from the strong south-easterly winds which blow relentlessly across Roebuck Bay during the dry season, pushing many a fine sailing ship up onto the rocky beach at high tide (left). Few pearling luggers were left in Broome in 1982. Although the B6, "Buccleuch" (right) was still anchored in Roebuck Bay.
Leaving Broome on 19 July, we travelled north to Beagle Bay, Cape Leveque, One Arm Point, Deepwater Point and across King Sound to Cone Bay and Strickland Bay. At the 
head of Strickland Bay we topped up with fresh water in the south-westernern arm of the Kyalgum River (left) before continuing north via The Graveyard and Whirlpool Pass to Yampi Sound.
Crocodile Creek (right) was a favourite anchorage and camping site for locals in these 
early days. At low tide the scene (left) leaves no doubt about the dangers to be faced in the Kimberley. This was all a bit scary, because in 1982 there were no charts of this area and no Cruising Guides; all navigation was by feel, by eye and by good luck!
Before departing Yampi Sound we visited Silvergull Creek to wash the boat under the freshwater 
continuously gushing from the pipe at the steel jetty. We left Yampi Sound in the late afternoon to sail north around Montgomery Reef, giving the "The Breakwater" on the north western tip of the reef a wide berth during the night. Landfall was made next morning in Deception Bay. Sailing further north, we visited Sampson Inlet before turning east into Brecknock Harbour. We were surprised to see the human activity in Kuri Bay (right) where a few Japanese supervisors and over 70 Torres Strait Islanders were operating the pearl farm.
Like many cruising yachtsmen in the Kimberley, we had allowed too little time to explore all of the interesting bays and rivers. However, we did have time to appreciate the stunning views of Mt Trafalgar and Mt Waterloo at sunset (left) while anchored in St George Basin waiting for a suitable tide to travel up the Prince Regent River.
When we arrived at Camp Creek (right), the camp furniture was still in "as new" condition. 
Nothing had prepared us for the trip upriver to Kings Cascades, pushed along by a swift incoming current past rapidly submerging reefs and sandbars. It was at these falls (left) that we saw a 3m crocodile jump up and grab a flying-fox out of a mangrove tree only several feet away from where we were standing on a rock ledge. Was it any wonder then, that Ginger Meadows was taken by (possibly the same croc) less than 5 years later, while swimming to shore from a power boat anchored in this muddy waterhole?
After a week in the Prince Regent River we sailed north then east to 
Careening Bay to see the "Mermaid Tree" (left) then on to Ivy Cove to see the "Ivy Tree"; both boabs with the names of ships from the 19th Century. The next river we visited was the Hunter River, which is overlooked by an awesome rock formation on the northern bank at the mouth of the river (right). About 9 miles upstream from the mouth, the 90m high Hunter Falls plunge down from the plateau above.
Several days later, 
after brief stopovers at the Anderton Islands, Bigge Island, and the Prudhoe Islands, we anchored in the almost landlocked bay between Murrungingi Island and the mainland (left), a few miles south of Cape Voltaire. Just to the east of Cape Voltaire is Krait Bay, where the sharks bite on anything. This monster shark, nearly 2m long, was caught on a silver spoon lure that we were trailing behind Spindrift III for mackerel.
From Krait Bay we cruised east through the Institut Islands, 
south to Port Warrender for a couple of quiet days, then north again through the Osborne Islands and on to Parry Harbour. In Parry Harbour we met "Banyandah" (right), in early September, only the second cruising 
yacht we had seen in over 7 weeks since leaving Broome. Two days later we sailed around Cape Bougainville and into Freshwater Bay where the kids rigged up Banyandah's aluminium dinghy (left) and sailed around the bay. Note the snub bow, gaff rig, plastic sail, leeboard and a sweep oar for a rudder in this very stable pram dinghy.
The next major stopover was in West Bay on the western side of Napier Broome Bay, where we rounded up sufficient 
energy to walk the 20+ kilometre return trip along the bitumen road to Truscott Airbase. We found all sorts of vehicles and other war relics along the access road, and many more relics around the airstrip. (Please visit the Truscott page for more photos). None of the abandoned vehicles were in running order. However, a serviceable wheelbarrow (left) was used to wheel dad part of the way 
back to West Bay.
On the eastern side of Napier Broome Bay we explored the ruins of the old Pago Mission (previously known as Drysdale River Mission), which was abandoned in 1937 and moved to the current site on the King Edward River at Kalumburu. This photo (right) shows the remains of the two storey building in which the monks lived at Pago. There was a stone-pitched well, a bakers oven and a mechanical grass cutter nearby.
Following the tidal race north and east around Cape Londonderry, we entered the spectacular King George River and tied up between the cliffs adjacent to the rock ledge 
below the eastern falls. The photo is of Spindrift III taken from the top of the 90 metre cliffs above the anchorage. The photo right was the part of the line-up for haircuts for anyone that had hair. Sadly, the weather was beginning to heat up in early October, so we reluctantly bypassed the Berkeley and Lyne Rivers, then sailed down Cambridge Gulf before a strong northerly seabreeze, to anchor at Wyndham Port for a few days.
The end of our Kimberley cruise was nigh! After three days at Cape Domett, and two more at Port Keats, we finally sailed north past the Peron Islands and into Darwin harbour on 12 October 1982. We had spent 12 weeks and 2 days cruising the Kimberley without charts, without a GPS, without a fridge and had seen only three other cruising yachts and one charter boat in that whole time.
This page was last updated 01 December, 2007 - download Spindrift III 1982 Cruise.pdf