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Hi, I would appreciate any information to assist me with how far down the King George river I would be able to safely anchor a 2m draft, full keel vessel, as close as possible to the twin falls. The vessel “Kelpie 1” is 14.5m LOA.
I intend going in on a Low to High tide change, after the sand bar entry reaches 2 meters, and going out a few days later on a High to low tide change.
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You will get right under the falls if you want to.
See the King George River notes in the Anchorage pages for the best places to anchor. https://kccyc.org.au/anchorages/
Its not a good idea going over the KGR bar on a ebbing tide in a 2M draft vessel. Should be done on a rising tide.
Cheers,
Ross
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Thank you Ross for your information and advice.
Could you please help me understand why it is not a good idea going over the KGR bar on an ebbing tide?
My limited understanding would be to go over the bar on the way out of the river very shortly after the ebb tide begins. This would give me sufficient draft and the tidal flow would assist the passage out, saving fuel. On the way in I would go over the bar when the draft reaches 2 meters, I would presume it to be approximately half way through the rising tide. This would also assist my passage going into the river. I would be happy to learn from your experience.
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Hi Keith, The reason to go over shallow river bars on a rising tide (such as the King George,, Berkeley, Drysdale Rivers for examples), is because, if something goes wrong, and you touch the bottom, a rising tide will float you off the bottom, allowing you to get away. If something goes wrong on an ebbing tide, there is every chance you will be stuck on the bottom and unable to move. This has the likely result of a monohull leaning over and perhaps swamping the cockpit and the inside of the vessel via the companionway. This is particularly relevant to monohulled vessels with a deep fin keel.
Unless you have experience crossing a particular river bar and feel very confident, I would not advise using your GPS track saved on a previous crossing to get over the bar on an ebbing tide. In some rivers, Berkeley for example, you may have unwittingly followed a narrow channel to get over the bar the first time, but when you return, you only need to be a few metres off your saved GPS track to hit a sand ridge and get stuck on the bottom while the tide drops. This is not a situation you want to find yourself in anywhere, let alone in the KC, where help is unlikely to be close by.
Your idea about working the tide to give you a push while in a river is relevant in some rivers where there is always sufficient depth in the river. But quite a few rivers in the KC are shallow and actually dry out at low tide, making navigating in the river during an ebbing tide no different from crossing a shallow river bar at the river entrance. A few examples are the Drysdale, Mitchell above the Middle Rock anchorage, Prince Regent and the Sale Rivers. Unless you have considerable experience in a particular river, navigating up or down these rivers is best done on a rising tide.
Hope this helps,
Ross
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