Cape Voltaire and the Canal heading east

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    • 15/11/2019 at 4:42 pm #3133
      Neringa
      Participant

      Planning for our trip Darwin to Derby next year and would like some tips on 2 parts of the passage that don’t have much clarity in the cruising guides. I would appreciate advice from anyone experienced in the areas.

      We will round Cape Voltaire coming from the east probably departing from Mitchell River. As the tide ebbs west around the cape it would seem sensible to hit the voltaire passage around high tide to use the ebb. But this would involve fighting an incoming tide from the Mitchell River to the Cape. Any tips or advice??

      The second one is how to judge slack water for travelling through the Canal south of Koolan Island. Again any advice would be greatly appreciated.

      I have a collection of all available tidal predictions for the whole Kimberley coast.

      Cheers Mark

       

       

    • 18/11/2019 at 2:38 pm #3135
      Ross
      Keymaster

      Hi Mark, I would leave the Mitchell River on an ebb tide, which runs north and northwest out of Walmesly Bay, to reach Voltaire Passage about full water slack, then run south with the flood tide down towards Swift Bay. An alternative is wait for the tides at anchor in Krait Bay just west of Voltaire Passage, or the bay just to the east of VP, but beware of rocks in the east side bay – I stuck my nose in there for a look earlier this year, and recall that  much of the bottom looked hard.

      I’ve been through The Canal several times and didn’t wait for slack water. It looks scarier that it actually is. Just went with the flow straight through the middle of the gap. I’v also been through powering against the flow. But if you are in a yacht or displacement vessel, going against it may not be possible, particularly in springs.

      Its a guess, but I would use the Koolan Island Yampi Sound tide chart as the closest to the Canal for judging slack water.

      Cheers, Ross

    • 19/11/2019 at 7:54 am #3136
      Neringa
      Participant

      Thanks Ross, as always a wealth of knowledge.  Is Voltaire passage ok to traverse on an ebb or does it have to be slack? I only ask because the approx dates we will be there flood will be quite late and we would need to stop at Krait bay to wait for the tide the next day. Cheers Mark

    • 19/11/2019 at 2:48 pm #3137
      Ross
      Keymaster

      Ebb is OK when its blowing from east or south east, which is most of the time in the dry season. Steep waves can stand up just to the west of the narrowest part of the passage when wind against tide.

    • 20/11/2019 at 3:49 am #3142
      Neringa
      Participant

      Thanks again for all the advice. I am getting a much better picture of how best to use the tides in the area. Much appreciated.

      Cheers Mark

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