Cairns to Kimberlies, Australia

[rebel]

Hi, looking for info from anyone who has sailed over top of Aussie from Cairns/Townsville to Kimberlies.

[MarkJ]

We met about 20 boats in our time between Lizard Island and Darwin who were doing it.
Everyone had an aluminum dinghy! LOLOL.

You need to provision for a LONG trip. I havent seen anyone who has done it on this forum. The people who we going to do it all looked pretty capable and their boats looked pretty tough. Its not for the feinght hearted. But people we spoke to that have done it say its amazine. You just don't see another boat for weeks.


Mark

[44'cruisingcat]

Friends of ours with another Oram 44C have been over two or three times. They were here last week, but they've moved on now....

Hopefully we'll be going there next winter or the one after.

There is a good, informative website here: The 2009 Kimberley Cruising Site

[rusky]

I came back from Darwin against the wind a few months ago. Can give my views on anchorages etc if wanted

[svstrider]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

There is a good, informative website here: The 2009 Kimberley Cruising Site

Excellent site - good croc pictures

[raw1]

We intend sailing from Fremantle, Western Australia to Cairns next dry season, leaving mid-April 2010. Looking for more information too. The Kimberly Cruising site is an excellent source and I emailed the authors when we contemplated a previous passage. They were very helpful.

Other sources are
Pindimara: Cruising Logs
Bob sails Oz - My circumnavigation of Australia in a sailboat

Print sources include
Messina news / Heather Campbell and Graham Henshaw. Hesperian Press, PO Box 317, VICTORIA PARK, Western Australia, 6979. This is an informative and humorous account of a Fremantle to Townsville in a converted cray boat - cruising at 8 knots.

Northern Territory Cruising Guide by John Knight

Cruising the Western Australian Coast published by the Fremantle Sailing Club. An excellent source of information and anchorages along the WA coast.

Cruising the Coral Coast by Alan Lucas.

Any other sources will be appreciated.

[claire]

We did it this past July/August. Didn't see more than 2 crocs: they are said to be relatively quiet before September. We have a rubber dinghy, so we lifted it up every evening: no problem.
Best river to go up is King George: relatively easy to enter and navigate, wonderful scenery and short enough so you don't waste too much fuel. You can easily go all the way up to the falls at the end.
We met few other boats, and all were very nice. Rarely went more than a week without seing somebody :-)
Excellent stop at Silver Gull Creek: very easy to fill-up with excellent water. Next door, Dog Leg Creek is convenient to fill-up with diesel (AUD2.5/l), as there is no easy way to get fuel in Broome.
Recommended stops: King george, Freshwater bay for a swim, Bigge island for the rock art, Shelter bay (Prudhoe island) for scenery, protection and fishing, Sampson inlet, Beagle bay and many others in-between.
Don't count on catching much fish while trolling under way. Works better from the dinghy.
No local population to speak of, but bush fires were a problem in some areas: smoke and ashes.

[swagman]

Originally Posted by raw1

We intend sailing from Fremantle, Western Australia to Cairns next dry season, leaving mid-April 2010. Looking for more information too. The Kimberly Cruising site is an excellent source and I emailed the authors when we contemplated a previous passage. They were very helpful.

Other sources are
Pindimara: Cruising Logs
Bob sails Oz - My circumnavigation of Australia in a sailboat

Print sources include
Messina news / Heather Campbell and Graham Henshaw. Hesperian Press, PO Box 317, VICTORIA PARK, Western Australia, 6979. This is an informative and humorous account of a Fremantle to Townsville in a converted cray boat - cruising at 8 knots.

Northern Territory Cruising Guide by John Knight

Cruising the Western Australian Coast published by the Fremantle Sailing Club. An excellent source of information and anchorages along the WA coast.

Cruising the Coral Coast by Alan Lucas.

Any other sources will be appreciated.

Best source are real people. Why not chase up Heather if you are in Freo? She and Graham (sadly deceased) were keen memebers of FSC and when we left a decade back Heather worked for Rotto Authority.

If you do get to meet up please say hello from Sue and John - she'll recall yachts named Krakatini and or Diva.

Cheers

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by claire

crocs

Rarely went more than a week without seing somebody :-)

diesel (AUD2.5/l),

No local population to speak of,

Sounds like a cruising paradise............. or Cruisers Hell! LOLOL



Mark

[raw1]

Originally Posted by rusky

I came back from Darwin against the wind a few months ago. Can give my views on anchorages etc if wanted

Hi Rusky,

That would be great. No rush, whenever you get the time.

Cheers,

[raw1]

Next door, Dog Leg Creek is convenient to fill-up with diesel (AUD2.5/l), as there is no easy way to get fuel in Broome.
Recommended stops: King george, Freshwater bay for a swim, Bigge island for the rock art, Shelter bay (Prudhoe island) for scenery, protection and fishing, Sampson inlet, Beagle bay and many others in-between.
Don't count on catching much fish while trolling under way. Works better from the dinghy.

Thanks Claire,

Good information and appreciated.

Re fueling at Dog Leg Creek, do you know how to contact the operators?

I read somewhere that the couple at Silver Gull Creek sell some basic food lines. Can you verify this?

Cheers and thanks again.

[raw1]

Originally Posted by swagman

Best source are real people. Why not chase up Heather if you are in Freo? She and Graham (sadly deceased) were keen memebers of FSC and when we left a decade back Heather worked for Rotto Authority.

If you do get to meet up please say hello from Sue and John - she'll recall yachts named Krakatini and or Diva.

Cheers

Thank you Swagman; and yes, I will contact Heather.

Cheers,

[claire]

We went to Silver Gull first: they didn't sell food, but would share some veggies when a charter boat had left some. They also told us which VHF channel to call Dog Leg barge on (don't remember which one now).
Best is to get the Fremantle YC guide on West Australia: it is very good for the Kimberleys.

[Tim88]

Rebel,

Where do you intend to head after the Kimberly region. If you head back to Darwin there are limited pens so plan ahead there. I did the trip from Darwin to Perth a few years ago, the best cruising you can imagine. But as per previous posts you can't really rely/depend on picking up any food etc from anywhere. Bring all you need, and you will use more fuel than you think!

Enjoy the trip!

[svstrider]

Originally Posted by svstrider

Excellent site - good croc pictures

Just an update - the Kimberley cruising site does not down load aat the moment. This is a real bummer as I printed out in glorious colour a lot of the pages in preparation for our Kimberley trip. Unfortunatley thanks to Cyclone Yasi the Fremantle Guide to the western australia coast in which I had inserted the pages is now mush as is the laptop where I stored the files. That's what one gets for depending on a roof to keep water out of your house in the tropics.

If anyone knows of a mirror site to Kimberley Cruising or has any other book suggestions for the Cairns to Broome trip, please let me know.