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Hi Shaz,
The word from someone who has been over the Berkeley entrance in the past few weeks is that it seems it little shallower than past years and that the route in has not changed.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Dave,
See below extract from an email I received from Gay last night. I emailed her about the aircraft charter for the Cockatoo Island airstrip for crew transfers and resupply. Will let you know if any news in this regard.
You can also try phoning Dean K direct. His number is in the Fuel in the Kimberley write up under Dog Leg Creek. He can be hard to get hold of if he’s at sea.
Hi Ross
Just a quick update on the Yampi fuel supply.
Fuel, both diesel and unleaded will be available from Cockatoo Island this season. The first vessels of the Kimberley cruising season have already called in. Fuel will be available as per the tidal availability of getting to the wharf at the township beach.
Fuel will also be available at DogLeg serviced by either the Jaya or the Robert Ladlow barges, depending which is in the creek at the time.
The fuel pontoon is being refurbished at this time.
Vessels can call on Channel 16 to advise their arrival as per usual.
Regards
Gaye
Hi Shaz, We will be there in about 10 days, and back in Darwin about 1st May. I’ll check the way points into the Berkeley if I get a chance and let you know. One the KCCYC members has just returned from that area. I’ll ask him how the Berkeley bar was and come back here if I get any further info.
I’ll also post here in the next few days for the current way points for the King George bar. They are from a KCCYC Member who entered the KG in the last few days.
Cheers, Ross
Thanks for the positive feedback Colin. Also, I will take that as a tentative RSVP to the 4th July Beach Party and add your name to the list of people coming. No pressure though.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Cliff, Try QBE.
Be aware that most insurers now require you to get their written authority for cover if you sail above the 26th parallel.
Also, many insurers do not cover boats that are based in the NT. Pantanius and QBE are 2 that I’m aware of that insure NT based boats. Club Marine don’t. This may apply to southern based vessels that are left in Darwin over the wet season.
Cheers Ross
Hi Dave and Colin,
It’s safe to say that the dry season has less bugs than the wet season. But there are still plenty of midges and mozzies if you pick the wrong spot to anchor. The up side is that you very quickly learn which are the wrong spots.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Shane, Yes I think the owners of my previous R&R are getting some work done at the Boat Works before she heads back to Cairns for the dry season. My new R&R is in Darwin.
Cheers, Ross.
Hi Sean,
Are you after ULP or diesel, and what are the quantities? If you are after relatively small amounts of fuel, they may not be interested.
Paspaley will only sell ULP in full 200 liter drums. For safety reasons, I doubt if they will pump ULP from one vessel to another. For diesel, they will only look at minimum 1000 liters at a time. In previous years Paspaley would have left drums of ULP on the beach for vessels to pick up. But I think those days might be gone, now that we have permit systems to go ashore.
Shorebarge treat fuel as just another item of freight they are carting, so I’m surprised they haven’t come back to you. Petrol will be 200 liter drums, and I assume they would want to unload the drums ashore at West Bay for you to pick up from there. Diesel they will pump from the barge into your vessel’s tanks.
Another option for drums of fuel is to contact Honeymoon Bay Camping Ground in Napier Broome Bay. They get their fuel delivered by truck from Kununurra. You can arrange the trucking company to deliver it to Honeymoon in advance and they will store it for you for a fee.
If you are leaving from Derby, you will get fuel from Dog Leg Creek.
But from Wyndham you will be reliant on Shorebarge, Paspaley or Honeymoon.
If you are doing the full Kimberley coast from Derby to Wyndham, be certain of your route and fuel range. That’s a big trip in a 6M boat.
Pick your weather carefully if heading out to Casini Island. The anchorage is exposed to the east. You might be able to get inside the fringing reef on the west side in a 6M boat if you cop a strong easterly breeze, but don’t rely on it.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Dave, Looks like you tried to upload a photo, but the file size was too big. Max size is 512KB.
Have a look at my above reply to Glen on 23 Jan for some info on the area you are heading into. I suggest Derby is the best launching place. The coast between Broome and Cape Leveque is mainly beach and you’ll burn precious fuel to get to the start of the best places, which is the north east coast of King Sound.
Cheers, Ross
The Cyclone Anchorage Document is now on this website at https://kccyc.org.au/blog/2019/01/20/cyclone-preparation/
We’re seeking comments and feedback from experienced sailors who can offer advice and constructive comment, which can be used to review and refine the document. We will then either change, or add comments to the document to update it when appropriate. We would particularly like your ideas and advice on the suitability of the cyclone anchorages shown in the document, and any other cyclone anchorages you are aware of.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Ian, Kevin’s extras pretty much cover it. I also carry a tube of gearbox oil and a gearbox oil bung washer. Plus spare engine oil for 4 strokes.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Glen, If you don’t already have it, download Edition 5 of the West Australian Cruising Guide. and print out the pages for that area of the Kimberley. Also contact the guys at Mary Island Fishing Club in Derby – they have heaps of trailer boat experience in the area you are leaving from and heading to. Some are KCCYC members. I can also put you in touch with one of our members in Broome who regularly heads up to that area.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Steve,
Ray and Barb pretty much permanently tie their boat in a mangrove creek during the wet season so they don’t get caught short. Similar creek to where SV Sarean was during Cyclone Debbie.
One of the problems with the big rivers, is that the fresh water flow speed and water level from storms can increase enormously in the wet season, which in its own right could make anchoring difficult, particularly if sea water storm surge is pushing the tide up the river. I’ve seen debris about 8-10 meters above the dry season water level, up trees near the Berkeley River rock bar. The small creeks don’t get the water surge problem to the same degree.
My only experience with a cyclone was in Escape River, FNQ, in November 2007. We sailed into the river to shelter from cyclone Guba, which was heading towards Cape York. We had a friend on board who is a very experienced commercial fisherman in the NZ, WA, FNQ and NT waters, and knows his stuff when it comes to bad weather. We anchored about 3 miles up the river, but he reckoned we wouldn’t stand a chance anchored there if Guba came close to us. We soon sussed out a creek, just wide and deep enough to get R&R into. It had old, high mangroves with hefty trunks. The perfect cyclone hole, according to our friend. Luckily we didn’t have to use it. Guba headed up to PNG, unfortunately killing about 200 people. We were lucky.
I’m working on how to publish the cyclone plan.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Steve, One of our members just gave me a Cyclone Plan he wrote prior to the 2018/19 wet season. They have just spent about 2 months in the Kimberley diving on reefs for research, and are currently diving the Money Shoal, north of Cape Don. Apparently the wet season has calmer weather for off shore diving.
His insurance company required the written Cyclone Plan before they left Queensland for WA waters last year.
I intend to publish it on this website. But I want to do it so others can make comments and add to the document. When I figure out how to do that’ I’ll get it up on a dedicated page like you suggest. I’ll post a reply to this topic when I get it published.
I’ve not been through a cyclone at sea, but I know people who have, and the general opinion is to get into a mangrove creek where the boat can be tied off in all directions to mangroves with big strong trunks and high foliage.
I think the big rivers with high sides, such as the King George and the Berkeley would still get very blowy, and it would be hard to anchor, or tie off the boat to the banks to prevent the boat getting blown onto the river banks. But I’m happy to be contradicted if someone has already done it successfully. There’s a protected inlet in the King George, just west of BarBQ beach that might be suitable. Shallow draft vessels could get in there at high tide. From memory there are trees and mangroves surrounding the inlet.
The Drysdale River has a number of narrow creeks, with high mangroves that may be suitable. But parts of the creeks are very shallow and I’d want to explore in the tender to find a hole with some depth to anchor in.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Spike, I watched the doco. Reminded me of the Leyland Brothers with a chopper. I can see why you are doing it – very interesting piece of Kimberley coast history.
What about contacting the ABC. They may have some archival info that helps. They would probably be keen to do a story on your exploits. When are you heading there? We expect to be that far west in the 2019 dry.
Cheers, Ross
