Hi from Western Australia

[Tim88]

After several years of occasionally logging on I have finally decided to come aboard and contribute where I can. I currenly cruise and race on the WA coast but have cruised on the east and north coast. Last year I sailed my little yacht from Darwin to Perth, 4 months of challenging sailing through remote and beautiful islands and bays. For now its just coastal cruising with my two boys, but there is always another cruise planned.

[john connell]

Welcome Tim,

Good to see the Aussie contigent growing on the forum.
Sounds like you have had a real good 4 months.
How old are your boys ?
I am planning a similar length "time out" in end of 2009 if possible or mid 2010.
A training run for the longer "walkabout" a few years later.

You will enjoy this forum I'm sure.

Regards
John

[mickmul]

Hi Tim and welcome from Ireland! Love WA, got married on the Swan River in '95. I'm sure you'll make some great friends here!!

[Wotname]

G'day Tim,
Welcome from Perth, there are few sand groppers of CF by now.
How did you get the boat to Darwin or did you buy it there (and what design is she)?

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Tim,
Welcome aboard! There are quite a lot of your countrymen on the forum. Looks like you've found a few.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[capcook]

Originally Posted by Tim88

Darwin to Perth, 4 months of challenging sailing through remote and beautiful islands and bays. .

Tim, Greetings from Atlanta, GA..

As a novice I love to hear about the sailing conditions in different regions of the world as I hope to experience them first hand someday, so if I may ask, what makes sailing from Darwin to Perth Challenging...

Cheers

[Tim88]

Thanks for the welcome messages, hope I can contribute in some way.

Now for a response to the questions.

Capcook - what makes sailing from Darwin to Perth so challenging.

This area is really remote, for the first 650 NM I saw vertually no one. There is no phone, radio or ports of call. No where to pick up fuel or food etc and the tides are up to 8 meters (26ft). There are miles of islands and headlands and the although the area has charts there are large areas of uncharted waters. Basically your on your own in very challenging navigation areas. The other issue was I was single handed so, no shipping lanes but lots of navigation etc. Check out my site if you want to have a look at some of the areas.

Wotname - what yacht is it and did I purchase it in Darwin

I sold my Santana 30 in Perth prior to starting a work contract up there. Whilst there I spotted a SS27 that needed some loving. These are great WA yachts, built well and ideal for our coast. I spent some time up there fixing her up and when I saw the cost of trucking her down (around 20K) I thought I needed 4 months off and some time off along the WA coast.

John Connell

My boys are 10 and 11 and have been sailing since around 6yrs old. We head up and down the coast but they didn't do the trip down from Darwin. They both cope with sailing well and I love the extra responsibilties they take on. As for safety, they have learnt well, if you want more details on our approach to safety with 2 kids and one dad just ask. As for my wife, she believes its a man thing and is happy to let us go and have fun together.

Tim

[emmo]

Hi Tim,
Welcome.
I am based on the Swan, but Mandurah is one of my favorite stop overs.
Now the 'Fotpath is back on the water I hope to overnite there in the next few weeks.
Cheers Emmo

[Crak]

Hi Tim,

Welcome aboard. I am planning a Kimberly trip some time so we must talk some time. Will keep an eye out for you on the water.

Crak

[Oldfield]

Hi Tim,

We recently purchaed out boat and are also in Mandurah, public marina. Look us up next time you are around. Love to hear about the sailing on our coast.

[cooper]

Hi Tim,
and welcome. I think that a lot of overseas members of this site (as well as Australian) would love to hear more of your Darwin down trip. To be blunt it may leave a few people "surprised'. Throw in a croc warning for good measure ! ( to others reading...this is no bull !)

cheers.

[swagman]

G'Day Tim,
Also Sandgroper now in EU for 11 years.
Glad to see you've joined the site and I'm sure our US cousins would love to hear more about the trip.
Cheers
JOHN

[Tim88]

I had a blog going for my trip down so that my two sons in Mandurah could see my progress and see what I was up to. I would love to tell the whole story but it would take up too much space!!

Attached is photo of Sea Urchin II in King George River after crossing the Gulf out of Darwin, spent several days in here waiting for a strong wind warning to die down before rounding Cape Londonderry, this place has a bad reputation and this proved to be true for me as well.

[Clipperbird]

Hi Tim,

I'm a former long time Darwinian...Done a few trips from Darwin to Perth, or vice versa, with Trawlers and various yacht deliveries back and forth over the years.
The Kimberleys are absolutely magnificent cruising country, though the storms can get a bit savage during the wet.
Did you ever get down to the Dinah Beach Yacht Club at all?

Johnno

Clipperbird

[Whimsical]

Good to see some more West Aussies here.

Mike