Crocodile Country

Everyone you meet in the northern regions of Australia; cruisers, fishermen and landlubbers all seem to have their own crocodile story to tell. The daily rag has one almost every day.

The talk at the moment is of introducing a culling program. Nothing new, after all, when I lived in Wyndham (aka the Cambridge Gulf is the arse end of the world and Wyndham is 60 miles up it….the description given to me by a public servant no less!) in the early 1980’s there was talk about the town and with government officials that the same needed doing. The wheels of government..they take time!

Sadly there have been a few tragedies with crocs taking children in Darwin and northern Queensland, hence the current discussion. Being young, ignorant and new chums to Wyndham, it took an indigenous person to point out to a group of us that there was a rather large salty in the billabong where we were swimming! Better to be born lucky than rich!!!!!!!!

It does appear though, that the crocs, being territorial, are on the move during the wet looking for new places to live. On a very high tide in Darwin, (March equinox) one small chap decided to go exploring and happily found a quiet home in the Botanical Gardens no less. A nice sandy ‘beach’ and lawn to sunbathe on!! Imagine the surprise of the person who was strolling around the gardens and found the croc doing the same!!!!!! He had managed to walk across a busy road, probably undertaking the journey at night, just after high tide.

Some crocs even manage to find a new home thanks to good people! In Queensland (some government department, apparently not fisheries!) a project was started called ‘Crocs in Space’ which basically translated into tagging a croc with a satellite tracking device, planting him somewhere and see where he ends up. It is believed that most crocs have an accurate ‘homing device’ and find their way back to their territory. Perhaps this was the theory being tested?? Under this program in late 2008, a rather large crocodile was caught in Bamaga (Cape York) and released some 50 miles north of Townsville. This in itself was alarming enough to the people of Townsville who do not usually have crocs so close. It gets worse!!! The croc, not happy with his new location, trundled off to none other than Magnetic Island, found himself a beautiful white sandy beach to call home. I guess whoever was responsible for this, thought it seemed a good idea at the time??? The dive charter companies, along with resort businesses in the area, did not agree and are taking legal action to compensate for loss of income! The croc??…maybe heading for a handbag????????

When we were heading into Crocodile Creek in the Kimberley, we chatted to a Fremantle yacht with three men on board making a quick exit as they had been chased by a rather large croc in their dinghy. They were rowing at the time, so hardly making a noise! We stayed for a few days and saw nothing, although we were sure we were being watched!

A catamaran last season had anchored in Seaplane Bay (between the King George and Berkley Rivers) much to the disgust of a rather large croc. To voice his displeasure, the croc continued to bang his tail against the hull of the cat, and when that failed, he sat across the back of the boat with his tail teaching over the back of one pontoon and his head on the other. The cat was 45’ in length and more than 4m wide! Any attempt by the owners to scare him away was to no avail (they even ran the engines for a while) so they went below and left him to it. Although the crocodile was no-where to be seen in the morning, they did notice him following them out the bay!

One saltie chap, over 3m in length, was found last week to be enjoying the nice tourist town of Coral Bay and surrounds on the WA coast. Quite a way south!!! Not in the brochure as an optional extra, wildlife officers were a little miffed as what to do about the univited guest. We can oly assume that catching the rather large fellow was not in their job description, so in the interests of the local people and tourists, it was shot.

Of course there is also Bill’s croc story of his dinghy being death rolled by a crocodile, just after he had stepped out of it whilst anchored in Honeymoon Bay. The small croc had been hanging around another yacht that had fish hanging form the back of the boat.

The one that ‘takes the cake’ happened the other day. Two young guys decided to take their helicopter and collect some crocodile eggs. They landed near their ‘tinnie’ and off they went up the creek. They had a gun with them, as most station people do. Nothing unusual in that.

One of the young gentleman lent over the side and put his arm underwater to reach down and collect the eggs from the nest. As he was doing this..surprise..mummy was nearby (females always stand guard of their nest in case this very thing happens!) and grabbed his arm. The crocodile tried to pull him in the water. He shouted for his mate to shoot the crocodile. In panic, his mate(#2) indeed took a shot but missed and shot his (mate #1) arm off instead. They managed to get to Darwin Hospital and both survived! This did not reach the papers..one of the cruisers works in ED at Darwin Hospital!

We look forward to being somewhere where you can swim off the boat, puddle around in an inflatable and not have to worry about crocodiles!

Fabulous Fremantle

We were somewhat relieved to fly off to Perth late November for most of the wet season, leaving Stolen Kiss tethered in Tipperary Waters Marina, insured for the first time since we departed from Australia. The latest bit of expense gave us peace of mind. In hindsight (if only!!!!!!!) we need not have worried as the monsoon trough appeared to have sat further south than Darwin this year resulting in a very quiet wet season in Darwin city.

Initially we planned to head back to Darwin in January, which then became March with the pending arrival of yet another grandchild, who luckily was born 5 days before my return to Darwin. The first granddaughter who has three strapping brothers to contend with! Apart from spending time with family we were busy catching up with maintenance on our rental properties and buying yet more parts for Stolen Kiss. What happened to the idea of traveling light?

On returning home this year we took somewhat of a different perspective of Fremantle and our pristine sandy beaches that stretch as far as you can see. Maybe it was a quiet reflection on the other stunning beaches we had been to over the past 5 years. We made the most of the quiet mornings before the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ kicked in at 30 plus knots and swam in the stunning, shimmering crystal clear water of our local beaches.

It was a little strange being in our house again. (Our tenant had gone to Europe so we offered to house sit rent free – for her!) We have a small storage shed packed with our precious bits and pieces, some of which mysteriously appeared inside the house, taking up familiar places. As fast as they appeared, I put them back!! I didn’t want Peter getting any ideas of coming back just yet!!

Lyn and Steve from Carillon (who was parked opposite Stolen Kiss in Darwin) came down to Perth for a short time and stayed with us. We managed an afternoon sail on Hitchhiker on an unusually hot day (comparatively speaking as we had a very cool summer), which was just as well as nearly every other day was our normal 25 knot plus sea breeze. Also on offer was a drive through the Swan Valley wine region and a spin on a fast launch (Lyn and I forgot to ‘hang on’ when Peter open the throttles in the harbour and nearly fell off the back platform!!). It was a little like a ‘Miami Vice’ boat! Rather a long story as to what we were really doing on it!

As Rottnest Island is a real ‘must see’ in Perth, it could not be missed off Lyn and Steve’s itinerary. A quick ferry ride over for the day and Timmy there to pick us up and take us around to Stark Bay on Lady Jane was just perfect. As always, Timmy, a most gracious host at the best of times, afforded us a nice lunch washed with some fabulous wine! (He is a bit of a wine buff.) At least the two of us ‘locals’ managed a swim!

So much fun was had entertaining three young children (having lived through this once with Peter’s children!) that time whizzed by. What better excuse to legitimately (?) behave like a child again!! I had to keep reminding myself that my body was not twenty anymore and jogging along the beach (soft sand) with the children at surf lifesaving with an injured ankle (not one to show pain) was a tads over doing it! Where was Peter you ask????.....looking after his very pregnant daughter and youngest grandson in the restaurant enjoying the view over breakfast!!!! After much discussion, we managed to convince an 8 and 6 year old boy that being pounded in the surf and sitting out a shark alarm was actually fun. The question of ‘do sharks eat people?’ was asked and our reply along the lines that they sometimes get a little confused did put things into perspective! We were able to teach Thomas (a very astute 8 year old) to watch the wave pattern and time your run in and out of the surf. Whilst he managed to follow our instructions, it was indeed a case of ‘practice what you preach’ as I misjudged two waves the whole time and ended up being dumped, rolling up the beach in a very ungainly fashion, and even more pleased that it went unnoticed! Of course, grandpa who is really an old surfer dude, NEVER misses a wave! It was indeed a windy, rough summer!

We also had the pleasure in being able to share Di and Gorbar’s launching of their NEW boat! Our first NEW boat launching!! A bit of fun was had sailing and trips up and down the river as it went to and from the ocean to its new home at South of Perth Yacht Club. The electric winches were a treat in getting the mast back up (a few bridges necessitate mast lowering)…and also for getting the final trim of the headsail in 30 knots of breeze (when Gorbar wasn’t looking!). Due to the pending arrival of Lucy, Peter and I never made it together down to the Busselton Regatta to sail with Di and Gorbar, although Peter managed a weekend of racing the first weekend and I the sail home! In typical west coast style, we started off with a 22 knot E/SE breeze which finally died late afternoon being replaced by a 15 knot SW sea breeze. As our heading was north, there were smiles all around! The new Dufour was a little lively in the early morning, but nothing beats sailing along on a reach 200m off the beach all the way from Bunbury to Mandurah, some 45 miles. Gorbar was indeed in good company with Di, Heather and I! Averaging 8 knots for most of the day (even reefed down) enabled us to make Mandurah before sunset in 11 hours – at total of 75 miles. Great stuff!!!

It was soooo good to get back to Stolen Kiss. We were happy to return to a boat that was relatively clean and no mould! One of the kind yachties in the marina opened her up on the nice sunny days, of which we were very appreciative. Steve swam under the boat the other day and said we had an amazing amount of barnacles underneath, yet another yacht from Fremantle had only slime. Hard luck! Maybe it’s because we had sailed a few thousand miles since our last antifouling! Maybe we nee dot re-think hauling out before we head east. There will be no getting in the water until Lizard Island!

Well…the best laid plans…….Peter swam on the boat to check all and sundry and surprise….the shackle holding the board strop had broken again! Cheap Chinese crap that was only available in KK. So now a quick haul out before we depart! It appears that most yachts from Tipperary have gravitated at Spot On for their great haul out experience as well!!! Very expensive, but as this is the only game in town……. If it was just a bottom job we required we would have been happy on the piles. So, in line with the tide we will have our turn at negotiating the lift bay up the creek, hopefully at slack water. Surely it could not be any worse than Wavemaster, Langkawi or Kudat!

As a squall of 40 knots came through the marina in a thunderstorm, we were happy not to have been at anchor. Clearly we have been tucked up here far too long!

Plans are now underway to head east. As daunting as it is, we are forever hopeful of a quiet season of SE winds and the center of the highs being in the Bight!! Stylopora and Time Out are in the enviable position of being there after having done the trip last year. Hopefully it won’t be the ‘pay back’ of all the beautiful sailing we have had in SE Asia.

General Weather Internet Sites

Here are some of our well used internet sites. Some via HF as well.

www.buoyweather.com

•https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/wxmap_cgi/index.html

•http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/

•http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ (Geostationary Satelite Server)

•http://www.wunderground.com/ (Excellent for current sea surface temperatures)

•http://www.weather.gov.sg/wip/web/Marine

•http://www.myforecast.com.my/ (Malaysian Gov forecast for fishermen..tend to overforecast)

•http://www.grib.us/ (Great free download for grib files.)

Dabbling in Darwin. May - Sept 2008

Sailing down to Darwin from Malaysia was Peter’s decision as he was going to be doing the work that was needed on Stolen Kiss. Of primary concern was our Perkins 4108 that needed an overhaul and we had finally decided that the usual Perkins oil leak(s) were to be no more!




Having Naffa (a fantastic diesel engine mechanic, undoubtedly the best in Australia) work on the engine alone washed away any doubts we had of coming back, not only because he was a super neat worker, (important when you are living aboard during all of this) but he knew exactly what had to happen and could do the work on the engine without having to haul the engine out of the boat. He also listened to the engine and knew exactly what needed attention (not much at all) and saw that we required a new engine mount. (That accounted for the new vibration we felt over the last 500 miles!) Rather than get a new mount, which would take around 6 – 8 weeks, he took ours off to have it machined and re-welded; the end result in his opinion, much better than a new one! Our engine now has the all clear for another 15,000 miles or so. The very affable Naffa is Egyptian and reminded us that if in Egypt, all his labour would only cost $100; however, as neither of us was in Egypt…..

The company Naffa works for, RANms, was a lucky find via a web search. Peter’s confidence in him was inspired through email contact as he actually understood exactly what Peter was asking of him and had a straight forward solution to our engine concerns.


The cooler weather in Darwin during the dry season was another deciding factor as Peter could work on the boat without sweating profusely. Then of course was the fact that I could easily find work here which would provide us with some fun tickets (which was just as well given the slippery slide in the world of finance) and would get me off the boat and out of Peter’s way during the day. Peter has also been able to find some part-time work re-building a trimaran for a wonderful guy in Cullen Bay Marina.


Lucky for us, ‘rum currency’ still works in Darwin! Another problem that arose on our last leg to Darwin was the rudder bearing. We were able to swap a bottle of rum for a beautiful repair on a bearing that was machined and a new bush inserted..

As furling the headsail was becoming increasingly difficult, especially for me, (how could this be after all the weights we did at Sutera Harbour??) Peter took what he could of our profurl apart, only to find that perhaps something was amiss. A specific bearing puller was needed and just as it happened, the agent in Darwin (Sea Fleet Marine) had had the said tool sent up from Sydney to do the same to another profurl. Too easy!

Other projects continue, like putting in a microwave, a ‘J’ shaped galley so we can actually stay in the galley when we are on port tack, a new floor, new insulation inside the hull, replacing the copper earth strip, adding a quarter berth/aft cabin, re-establishing the water tanks underneath the saloon floor where they were originally and moving the two additional fuel tanks to the middle of the boat as well. We expect that moving the weight of the tanks back to the centre of the boat will make Stolen Kiss a little stiffer and improve her windward performance. Although a little more storage space has been created, mostly it is a simple exercise of shuffling items around the boat. We know we will forget where some things are stored!



Ripping up the original teak and holly floor was sad but in doing this, Peter found a huge amount of timber that had been put under the floor in various places (perhaps by the previous owner) to try to counteract the effects of an ageing floor!! To think that we had hauled all of this around the Indian Ocean!!!!!!!! Our waterline is forever going up!!


Darwin has actually been a hoot! The dry season, the main tourist season, is jam packed with amazing entertainment. Being a major defence post, there have been several war games in the water and heavens. Pitch Black involved air to air combat between the Australian Air Force, several SE Asian Nations and that of Canada. It was a little noisy for a while but also interesting to watch. An open day afforded us (with all and sundry) the opportunity to participate in a ‘show and tell’. We had a wonderful chat with two Australian Pilots of an F-18, who were nice boys and obviously very switched on.

We have seen the rallies come and go; as always with some entertainment. Peter has really enjoyed checking out some of the yachts, which I am sure are in his dreams! We still cannot fathom some of the European women, rather endowed with body mass, working on their boats in the marina in their g-strings or semi naked. We just put it down to a cultural difference!! Sadly though, the SE Asian cultures understandably find this highly embarrassing and insulting. Sad in that there are many westerners that do not recognise the need to be a little more modest in these countries.


The idea of getting around Darwin without a set of wheels was just too much for us to comprehend, so within 3 days of our arrival we had purchased a Tarrago van (with camping gear) from some backpackers. The van is excellent and actually very economical. Vehicles can be had for a bargain up here if purchased the day the backpackers are vacating the country!

We have passed the odd hour or two at Fannie Bay Sailing club enjoying the amazing sunsets, washed down with food and beverages available. Although the Mindil Beach Markets are very touristy, we go every now and then to have dinner and walk along the beach, once again at sunset. The town centre is very much the focal point of the community and is alive after hours. We have always managed to find a parking space in town. Everywhere in Darwin takes 10 minutes to get there with no traffic hassles.



As Peter had never experienced a Rodeo, off we went one night to see the cowboys do their stuff. We had visiting cowboys from Canada and the USA, so it was quite an entertaining evening. We left just before the band, booze and the odd fight started. One girl who had spent a few hours up a tree to get a good view sadly had a little too much of the good stuff and fell out of the tree, breaking a few limbs (hers) in the process.





Although Darwin has changed significantly in the 5 years since we have been here, evidenced by a little more than just the towering skyline, there are still many people here who are happy to help out. The characters of the Top End can be found in all walks of life. Where else would you see neatly emblazoned on the side of a ute, ‘Nangifuckinggulley’. Not sure where the Gulley actually is but one can only imagine of its whereabouts.




We have ventured outside Darwin to take in some of the sights and waterholes, with still many more to re-visit. Both Peter and I have been here in our separate lives, albeit some time ago and for me, most was viewed through the meniscus of a wine glass! We plan to do some aerial flights over Arnhem Land during the wet season and visit places like Fog Dam (a well visited picnic spot) and Leitchfield National Park.







There was a 10 day camp (wanting an extra staff member) involving 19, 15 year old boys (who are in need of a little more guidance than others) paddling down the Ord River from the Lake Argyle Dam to Kununurra, a total of 46km and a further 3 day paddle on Lake Argyle. Having previously lived in the area some 25 years ago, it was too good an opportunity to miss out on. My absence was also an opportunity for Peter to rip the floor of the boat up.


It was an easy paddle with stunning scenery with some nice white sandy beaches (a surprise!). One of the main objectives of the camp was for the boys to experience the consequences of their decisions. They had to buy their own food, carry and cook it. Of course this meant that blood sugar levels were often in a see-saw state and those who did not buy wisely then stole food off their mates. As we know on boats, when you get out into the wilds with people, you get to see another side of their characters. This in itself was good for the boys to experience and they dealt with this (or not) in different ways. There were never any fights (a few disagreements) and the boys, to their credit, spent time talking over issues that arose between themselves. The supervised cliff jumping was enjoyed by most, but not necessarily undertaken by all. It was good to see some boys jumping off a smaller cliff without comment from the higher risk takers in the group.

After we had finished paddling the Ord down to Kununurra, I asked a professional fisherman if there were any ‘salties’ between the dams. Apparently there were two that he knew of – one lived around the bottom of the Argyle Dam and the other ‘hung’ out near one of the beach camps we stopped at! I was happy that I chosen not to swim! There were always salties in there when I used to live up here. One rather large one jumped up to try to grab the skids of the heli that was hovering over it! Gave the pilots a bit of a scare! We saw many freshwater crocsodiles who kept away from us. We suspected one had a nest near where we camped on the lake.

The paddle in itself was a challenge to most of the boys as there was no way out. They had to push through the hard bits to get to the end rather than having someone come along and bail them out, offering an easier option. The scary thing for us was that these boys will be driving in a year.



Julie and Marg are just in the process of delivering a large Beneteau down the West Coast, and after delivering several yachts across the Gulf of Carpentaria, they still prefer our old girl, saying that she handles the seas much better than the production boats, which is no great surprise. Of course with the exception to her previous Hallberg Rassy and the more expensive boats like the Amels. This just helps us to verify our decision to Keep Stolen Kiss and keep throwing money at her to keep her looking grand. For Peter it is very much a labour of love and we are very attached to the old girl. She has been across the Pacific three times with her previous owner, in fair winds, so maybe she will do the same for us!

We have committed ourselves to staying in Darwin for the wet season so we can finish the re-fit. The marinas here are becoming expensive given that there are no/poor facilities that go with the price and an ablution block that is rarely cleaned properly. (Tipperary Marina). Jules and Margaret may come north next year, so we might meet up with them in the Kimberley. It would be fantastic to spend some time with them. We will defer our decision to go east or west until then. The Indian Ocean beckons once again. We have been thinking about the Ashmore, Christmas, Cocos, Mentawi Island route. Cocos Island will be implementing a weekly charge next year, but given the rest of the Indian Ocean islands do the same, it was only a matter of time.



We return to Perth in Nov for a few months to ‘house sit’ our house and hope that Darwin is spared from a direct hit by any cyclones!!!!

Kingpins of the Kimberley

Crocodiles of course!!!!!!



Having observed that most, if not all, Darwin yachties have ‘tinnies’ (as in the dinghy variety) we re-visited the Kimberley with somewhat a little more circumspection in our RIB. The old adage that inflatables were ‘teething rusks for crocodiles’ was echoed by more than one person! Perhaps it was because we would be there on our own this time that we decided we should be savvier and go prepared on any expeditions in the dinghy. So off we would go armed with spare water (in case we got stranded) and the verey pistol to defend ourselves against any crocodile that decided we could be fair game or in the slight chance we wanted to attract (wanted) attention!

The thought that we would be there on our own was merely wishful thinking! In 2003 we did not see any other yachts (except the two we were in company with) for 9 weeks until the King George River where we found one charter yacht and two other yachts from Darwin. This time (July) there was a total of 21 boats during our two week stay. Whilst this may sound alarmingly like being in the middle of a metropolis, we still managed to spend 4 days anchored on our own up the river. The wave of boats coming and going was in response to the tidal variation which did or did not allow you across the bar. There were considerably more charter boats this year than there had been in the past which were always more active. The Orion anchored out in Koolama Bay and had ribs full of happy punters going to and fro from the falls or whizzing around in the helicopter.

We also managed a quiet walk alone up the cliff and along the river, (with many cairns to guide us) which was beautiful and cool (if not freezing!). Apparently about 5km along the river there
are some wonderful aboriginal paintings, although we only walked for approximately 2km.

The King George was just as majestic as we had remembered it. The ochre colours of the towering cliffs in the early morning and sunset, along with the contrast of the pale green vegetation were savoured every day. The only other aspect that had changed was the number of crocodiles! We saw only one at the entrance in 2003, which of course does not mean that there were not more lurking! Perhaps the increase in numbers spotted could be attributable to their rate of breeding, the time we spent there and the increased number of boats that has perhaps encouraged them to gather in waiting!

This time we took the dinghy up the East Arm to the waterfall and the rope climb. A plaid rope of considerable strength has been placed by the Navy to assist climbers (rather than stop them) which was a welcomed thought in preference to the usual ‘nanny approach’ we often see in Australia. Knowing our limitations (me vertigo and Peter his sore shoulders) we decided to watch others (a very agile Stylopora) do the climb. Perhaps it was the crocodile lurking at the bottom waiting in anticipation that also put us off!! News that a very large crocodile often sat across the entrance to the East Arm on a falling tide (scarier than the troglodyte under the bridge??) ensured our timing so we did not get caught up there at low water.

We think we may have met this crocodile a week later when we anchored just around the corner near the mangroves to shelter from the screaming wind. Nudging up to the mangroves to drop the pick (Peter always says we do not get close enough and I say we are too close!) we inadvertently upset a very large, gnarly old croc! We presume he was hunting there! Although camera shy and did not like us going up to the foredeck to look down on him (us refraining from hanging over the side!) he was there for a few days at sunset glaring at us! At least we did not drop the anchor on him!! Having realised after the first night that we were in so close that our anchor could only be retrieved at more than ¾ tide, we did in fact move out a little.

Two of the falls were flowing at the head of the river, which was more than last time! The idea of filling up the dinghy and having a bath was shelved quickly due to another crocodile lurking, but more so because of how utterly cold the water was! We managed to collect water to fill our tanks, do the washing and have a good old soak, but like the crocodiles we then had to lie in the sun to warm up. Our days there were very cool, so much so that we spent one windy day below with the hatches closed and me in a sleeping bag to keep warm! It’s the first time in 5 years that we have not had to use the fans.

After the first week there we thought we may have had a good weather window to go down to the Berkley River, some 75 miles SE of the King George. We came out across the bar following other yachts who drew more than us to see if they had a deeper track than ours. Indeed they did but thinking that we would not be going back, I only glanced at our track rather than actually tracking our course on the charts. Our plan was to anchor over in ‘Koolama Cove’ near the beach, go for a walk then leave at night for the Berkely. We had to wait for the crocodile to finish basking on the beach (where there are many turtle nests) before we could go for our walk. As the wind did not abate at night enough to our liking (SE wind on a SE course..hmmmm) we stayed put and decided, given the wind warnings, we would go back in the river. Stylopora elected to stay out in the cove, which apparently was a reasonable anchorage.

When we did finally exit the river again, we thought we would have enough water. (A 2m tide at nearby Lesueur Is gave us a minimum depth of 1m underneath us on our initial track.) However, the tide was a little lower than anticipated but given our shallow draft and a minute change in the tide over the next 3 hours, we forged on. I was a little slack in keeping a check on our progress; preferring to be on deck rather than looking at the chart. Just when we could see the deeper water 2 boat lengths ahead, we ran aground. Bugger!!!!!!!! Our sounder had been on 00 for about 100m! So over went Peter in the dinghy and off went the 15hp outboard! That was enough for me to reverse and float off. Whilst Peter was having fun with the hand held depth sounder that was for some reason only happy displaying water temperature, I quietly ambled past him to where we thought the channel was. At one stage Peter did not hear me and got a bit of a fright, looking up at the bow hanging over him and moving! I did see him!!

Unbeknown to us, going aground jammed the centreboard up inside its casing. We only realised this at dusk when we were setting off to cross the Joseph Bonaparte (aka blownapart) Gulf in the calmer waters of the evening. Peter knew that it was only a matter of levering it with a screw driver which would take a minute, however given our company on the beach previously….we had to live with it!

We never did make it down to the Berkley but neither did many other yachts for the same reason as us. One of the cats we spoke to in the King George had come from the Berkley and had to push through 2m breaking waves to get out. Not for us!! We had planned to use the other, deeper approach, but even so it did not sound good.

But we did have a sensational sail to and from the King George. We had no moon on the sail down, which meant amazing starry nights. Afternoon breezes filled in giving us a good sail under spinnaker. Two weeks later we had the full moon to keep us company at night. Our night watches were relaxed and we still treasure the fact that we can sail along under clear skies without squalls finding us!!!!!! It was rather fortunate that we did have a light sail back (motor sailing most of the way) as we made a reasonable amount of leeway with our board jammed up!!

We almost made it there and back without being buzzed by Coastwatch. Customs (really nice chaps) had come by in their centre console RIBS in the King George to check us out (a lousy job but someone has to do it!) and were just as surprised as us that we had escaped Coastwatch. However, about 60 miles out from Darwin, just on sunset as I was snuggled up in our cockpit, came the flyby; mast height, so we could eyeball each other!

A dawn approach to the Cox Peninsular had us enveloped in an eerie fog, lasting well after sun rise. Further on we could see the myriad of masts across Fannie Bay, announcing the arrival of the rally fleet. Even so, there was enough room for us to go and anchor a little way from the crowd.

A day or so later, Peter made a call to the local ‘crocodile watch’ to see if there had been any sightings ( there had been one on the beach near the yacht club a week before we left – apparently just passing by) so he could go over the side to free up the centreboard. I stood on guard with the verey pistol (Peter ensuring that I clearly understood that I would shoot at any crocodile and not at him!!) whilst Tony (Stylopora) monitored Peter’s safety rope from the dinghy. Not more than 40 seconds later, and the job was done!

Unfortunately we could only spend a little more time at anchor as we needed to secure a birth back at Tipperary Marina to finish our planned work on the boat and to go back to our day jobs. An American boat coming into the marina the following day cut the corner on a falling tide, went aground and ended up on his side (good time for a bottom job!) for a considerable amount of time. Coming out of the King George River could have been worse for us!!!!!!!!!

Singapore Superlatives

Salubrious – the new Keppel Bay Marina

Sumptuous – the food, especially in Little India

Scintillating – the assault on your senses; the noise, the people, neon lights

Spotless – can sit anywhere without dirt or chewing gum!

Suave – Raffles Place

There were a few reasons which shaped our decision to go for the zig zag route from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah via Singapore to Indonesia then on to Darwin. A chance to catch up with a friend, a dose of western culture, much needed boat parts, shopping and a chance to just escape from all that was Malaysia.

With the news of the new marina at Keppel Bay, there were a few choices. Although in many respects Raffles Marina would have been more ideal, the new Keppel Bay Marina was located a mere 8 minute walk from the MRT and more importantly for Peter, the new mega shopping complex of Vivo City with fantastic supermarkets to boot! Although the marina was originally built for the residents of the new surrounding high rise development (with more to come) it sees the prospect of visiting yachties to add to the charm of the place!!! Keppel Bay also own Nongsa Point Marina (Indonesia) across the channel which facilitates checking in and out of both countries. Having no laundry facilities proved a little challenging, but we were assured that this would be soon rectified. Immigration is done via Western Immigration near Sentosa Island a few miles away (via boat that comes up to your stern and documents exchanges) and the marina clears you in and our for $10. So easy.

There is never enough time to spend with company whom you enjoy! That’s the downside of cruising. We only had a few weeks in Singapore as we needed to get down to Darwin before the onset of the SE monsoon. Necessary engine parts needed to be sorted as most of our journey south will be motoring and any sailing done would be an absolute bonus. Singapore service is second to none as most of what we needed was purchased over the phone and delivered to the marina, free of charge or at little expense. Peter eventually found himself a birthday present – a moisture meter!

We visited our favourite boat shops like Suneast in the bottom of Sim Lim Tower which house ICOM, JRC, Raytheon and other electronics. One can never have enough toys! A wander down Orchard Road to remind us of the finer things in life unearthed some great shops that we have stored away for future reference!

Little India has a wonderful fruit/veg and wet market (not that we needed the latter!) similar to what we were familiar with throughout SE Asia. A wonderful, economical place to provision for our journey south. We also became familiar with the many fantastic restaurants around there. Strange (to us) the Annalakshmi Restaurant was actually in China Town. We enjoyed the usual fantastic food that these restaurants provide wherever they are (there is one in Perth) and went back for a traditional singing concert presented by the local Indian Performing Arts School. It was all that you would expect – colourful, loud and full of life. A visit to Changi Sailing Club was well worth the trek (albeit easy via public transport) to enjoy a lazy lunch in a much more quiet and laid back part of Singapore.

The weather being a little out of character was a tads wet at times with some very colourful thunderstorms. We waited for a break in the weather for our departure so that we could at least get to Nongsa Point Marina before the afternoon deluge. A little confusion with the Marina and our clearance papers (them saying we did not need the stamped crew list to for check out and the immigration officer on the boat at Sister Island saying we did) delayed our passage across the shipping lane by almost two hours. Seeing the massive thunderstorm developing behind us, we wondered if in fact we could keep in front of it. With possible zero visibility in the thunderstorm in the shipping lanes could have been a real test for our newly acquired AIS! However, having tide with us we were tied up on THE only pontoon in Nongsa Point before the tail end of the storm hit us. It was very short lived at that stage! Another pucker factor moment!

So we departed (somewhat sadly) with all those little extras we like to eat and thanks to the unsurpassed generosity of he who shall remain anonymous; we also depart with 10 bottles of rum! That makes for a lot of rum balls!

Anchorages in Kalimantan, Indonesia, 2008

If sailing from Australia, it is possible to clear into Indonesia at Maumere, Flores. No charges. Anchor off Sea World Resort:
08 38.085 S 122 18.481 E. 9m. Be aware that the bottom shelves up VERY quickly!

Clear out at Nongsa Point Marina, Batam, opposite Singapore:
01 11.79 N 104 05.77 E (VHF Ch 72)

Banjarmarsin

An amazing, bustling town where no-one takes any particular notice of you! There is a new 4 story shopping complex that has just been built which has a fantastic western supermarket inside.

There is a channel marked on the charts which is lit, that takes you across the bar into Sungai Barito. We would not recommend going in at night. Anchorage is available near the channel entrance to wait for tide/light.

There are many barges that are loading large ships anchored off the entrance to the channel (loading copper??). In the channel the traffic was passing green to green, the reason being that as you cross the bar, the channel goes into a dog leg and the deeper draft vessels needed the outside of the bend. Depth in the channel varied from 5 to 7 m. We kept to the edges to stay out of the way.

It is well worth watching where the small ships and barges go as the channel across the bar changes and it is not always well marked. The only vessels going aground on the way in were the local prahu, which obviously had less of an idea than us!

Once in the river, anchorages can be taken anywhere out of the way of traffic. There were fuel barges in the river where we could have purchased fuel, although we ended up taking fuel from the floating shops just around the corner of the Police Post.

Anchorage 1. Near Kaget Is 03 25.6 S 114 30 E. 5m HW

Anchorage 2. Near Police Post 03 20 95 S 114 32.3 E 4m mid tide.

We left the yacht during the day and took a local water taxi to and from town. They will also take you to the floating markets if you can get the message across!! Police helped us organize a taxi. Very cheap!

T. Bujur

Anchoring anywhere along the coast is possible, depending on the weather. We anchored at 03 31.00 S 113 48. 739 E overnight. There were a few fishing boats around.

Between here and Sampit there were hundreds of small fishing boats. Not sure if they are out at night.


Sampit

There is a large bay at the mouth of the Sampit River, west of Banjamarsin. Once again ships are anchored here and loaded by barges. It is possible to get up to Sampit, but we were a little short of time.

Anchorage at T.Sampit 03 06.96 S 113 02.13 E This was a little too close to the sand bar shown on the chart and as a result we were held by the tide. A fishing boat came and anchored next to us until dark just to have a look!

Sungai Pembuang

This was an interesting stay. There is a good fresh market in town but not much else. Navy came over to assist us and have a look. They were very friendly and interested in what we were doing. They said that we were the first yacht to visit them and we made it on page 1 of their local newspaper!

Large tugs enter the river at high tide. Follow them! A fisherman showed us the channel over the bar. As a guide, from waypoint 03 26.939 S 112 35.452 E, line up the white tower (light house) on the point and head across to it. Deeper water is on LHS of river.

Kumai

We visited Kumai in 2003. They have many yachts visiting every year and are very good at looking after you and organizing the tour on their local boats up to Camp Leaky to visit the orangutans.

Anchor around 02 57.078 S 111 40.862 E to wait for tide/light. We watched the track the local traffic took to get into the river. We basically followed the coast to the end of the point (02 54 S 111 42.420 E) then made our way slightly north (02 53 170 S
111 42 066 E) then across to the other side of the river (02 50.660 S 111 43.5 E). From there follow the river until you get to Kumai! Being potential customers, they will find you before you have a chance to find them!

Kumai is a wonderful river town and the people are so helpful and friendly. You will probably be invited to go to the school to do some oral English with the students!

Karamata

Karamata and Serutu are two large, heavily vegetated islands off the west coast of Kalimantan and a worth while stop on your way to Singapore. Although we did not stop at Serutu (only has an anchorage with protection from the SE winds) due to westerly winds, we did stop at Karimata. There are many reefs to anchor behind. The people were very friendly and welcoming. Although the islands are a flora and fauna park there were not many fish left on the reef! Apparently their reefs are under attack from fisherman who come up from Bangka and Sumatera.

We followed a local boat in and anchored close to shore as our draft is only 1.2m. (01 39.614 S 108 55.474 E) We were anchored in 3.8m at LW. Depth around outside of reef was approximately 7m.

From Karimata there are many anchorages in the Riau Strait before you get to Nongsa Point Marina to check out.