Recomend me a cruising guide, NT Australia

[Dave_S]

I'm planning a trip from Brisbane to the Kimberley's for 2019 or more likely 2020. I have the WA Guide which is fantastic reading (available free now from FSC.com.au) and joined Kimberly Coast Cruising Yacht Club, also fantastic information.

I have great guides for Qld coast up to Cairns, which leaves a gap from Cairns to Darwin. I'd like to run down through the gulf as well to below and around Groote Eylandt.

There are a couple of guides that I know of, just wondering which is the best for me. I looked at one which talks in cables, a bit old school for me.

Any other info, sailing/wind tips, pictures or destinations from Brisbane to Broome worth a visit would be great.


We prefer the more out of the way places.

[RaymondR]

Yep, well you are going to experience a fair few out of the way places once you leave Cairns.

There is not much available for the NT coast and I suspect the most extensive is the one which speaks in cables by John Knight which is still usable but poorly organised.

I found that reading my way through it with a high lighter then finding and marking the anchorages with an anchorage waypoint on the OpenCPN chart then downloading an image from Google Earth and attaching it to the waypoint worked fairly well.

One needs to remain fairly suspicious of charted depths in a lot of the NT.

[nzldude]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Yep, well you are going to experience a fair few out of the way places once you leave Cairns.

There is not much available for the NT coast and I suspect the most extensive is the one which speaks in cables by John Knight which is still usable but poorly organised.

I found that reading my way through it with a high lighter then finding and marking the anchorages with an anchorage waypoint on the OpenCPN chart then downloading an image from Google Earth and attaching it to the waypoint worked fairly well.

One needs to remain fairly suspicious of charted depths in a lot of the NT.

Hi RaymoundR,
When you sailed around the Kimberley coast did you have to purchase the 2 permits of landing ashore? Seems confusing which ones are required?? I'm about to head into the Kimberley in the next few days
Cheers
Gareth

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by nzldude

Hi RaymoundR,
When you sailed around the Kimberley coast did you have to purchase the 2 permits of landing ashore? Seems confusing which ones are required?? I'm about to head into the Kimberley in the next few days
Cheers
Gareth

I did not have any permits on the first trip in 2002 and never went ashore where there were aboriginal communities except for Cape Levique in WA in 2002, Gove in the NT and Seisia in Qld in 2002, 2012 and 2013 where permits were not required. Having grown up and extensively traveled west of the range I'm fairly familiar with the social circumstances of the folks who live in these places and tend to pretty well leave them in peace.