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At least 3.6, or longer if possible. Preferably with high sides. Check out a Kapten Boat Collar for stability, buoyancy and built in fender. They are great on small tinnies.
Cheers, Ross
Hi John and Sue.
Darwin is harder than Qld to sell your boat, but not impossible. Plenty of people have sold yachts in Darwin. There are no yacht brokers in Darwin, and most buyers will have to travel there to see your boat without a broker to show them the boat, unless you meet them there.
Sailing in Darwin during the wet season is limited to short trips out of Darwin. The wet season’s predominant W and NW wind and swell also limits the suitable anchorages. Weather also gets hot, wet and sticky.
Suggest sailing on to Qld around late October – November when the E and SE trades drop off. If you’re lucky, you might snag a W – NW breeze across the top and down the Qld coast at that time of year. But don’t rely on it – expect reasonably strong SE breezes from Cape York to Cairns. South of Cairns, the easterlies can drop off a little at that time of year.
Cheers,
Ross
Hi Celebrity
Any time after late April. The earlier the better if you want to see the waterfalls in flow, but weather can still a bit wet, hot and muggy.
Best weather is June – August.
Cheers,
Ross
Hi Rob, There are some big tidal rips around Jungulu Island. I don’t know anyone who has anchored there. Sampson Inlet is the best anchorage in that area by far. You might be better sailing through Rogers Straight and past Kuri Bay to get there, which will keep you out the tidal rips down the west side of Augustus Island.
I haven’t been to Adele Island, but it looks good. Be aware that most of the KC offshore islands offer little protection from the SE trades, and you are also coming into the westerly season. Adele is likely to be a low wind anchorage. You might be better off inshore around Yampi Sound area.
Are you heading south to Perth? If so, be aware that you have left it late in the season to sail down the west coast. It’s likely you will get some strong weather south of Exmouth to Perth, with very few bolt holes to seek shelter. Do your homework on where you can get out of strong winds and wait for weather windows.
Cheers,
Ross
No problem. SE winds start to drop off around September and you might get the start of the W to NW breezes. September starts to warm up and by October its getting pretty humid.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Richard, Steve’s suggestion about downloading the FSC WA Cruising Guide is spot on. It is the bible for sailing the West Coast.
Ask around the marina’s in Darwin where you will likely find other boats sailing to Perth. Ideally, you should try to get to Perth by end of September before the wind starts to blow consistently from the south.
Cheers, Ross
When it comes to safety in dinghies with crocs, the bigger the dingy the better. You don’t want a big croc to see you as an easy target in a small dingy. I wouldn’t feel safe in a 3M RIB either and would be very wary about how far and where I went in the KC in a small RIB. It is likely you will come across crocs that are over twice the length of your 2.4M RIB. Then you will understand what I mean. If a reasonable size croc attacks a small RIB, it will tear it apart in seconds if it wants to..
Much of the fun in the KC is exploring many miles of creeks and rivers in a tender. If you don’t take a decent tender, (preferable not an inflatable) you will miss the best places, because after you come across your first big croc at close quarters in a tiny tender, you probably wont want the experience again.
You might be lucky enough to sail the whole KC without any trouble from crocs, but speaking from lots of KC experience and meeting plenty of people over the years who have regretted taking small RIBS to the KC, my advice is – don’t take the risk.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Guys. Small RIBS and big crocs are not a good mix. If a croc decides to chew on your 2.4 RIB while you are in it, you are in big trouble.
Cheers, Ross
Hi Lindsay and Jacqueline.
I suggest leaving the insurance question here. It will probably get more relevant views here.
Unless you can comply with the conditions placed on your policy by your current insurer for vessels up north, which could be things like not being able to leave the vessel unattended, (even in a marina), your best bet might be to reinsure the vessel with one of the very few insurers who do boat insurance in the NT. The 2 I am aware of are QBE and Pantaenius.
No doubt you will pay higher premiums and excesses, but the choices are very limited.
Cheers,
Ross
Hi Lea and Keith.
I put up the details on the web site last week. Go here for details. https://kccyc.org.au/beach-party-2022/
Cheers,
Ross
Hi Begonia,
You can enter WA waters from Darwin. You need to get a G2G Pass from https://www.g2gpass.com.au/
Select entry by sea and use Broome as your port of entry and as the address where you are staying when arriving. If you do get as far west as Broome, ring the police and let them know you have arrived before going ashore. You will need to include approx dates and times for leaving Darwin and entry to Broome. If you don’t actually get to Broome on your boat, but return to Darwin after sailing the KC, I suggest you cancel the G2G when you get back to Darwin. My understanding is that until you arrive at Broome, (official port of entry) you have not officially entered WA, I just successfully applied for a G2G by boat from Darwin to Broome. G2G was emailed to me instantly.
Remote Aboriginal communities are still restricted entry, hence the no go community areas along the top of the NT coast. But you can still sail along the coast, islands and into many rivers etc. Just cant visit the communities. Same covid restrictions apply to Kalumburu on the KC. But there is no need to visit there unless in emergency.
You need permits to go ashore along parts of the Kimberley cruising areas, which are available. But you can sail almost anywhere including the rivers in the Kimberley without restriction. There are a few restricted areas in the Marine Parks along the KC, but its unlikely you would want to sail into them anyway.
I can definitely give you hope to cruise the KC this year, and it would be a shame if you missed it. You will love it.
Happy sailing, Ross
Hi Andrew and Donna,
Check the weather next week. Not good.
For fuel options and contact details see https://kccyc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Fuel-in-the-Kimberley-Coast.pdf
Paspayley Pearls at Kuri Bay is currently shut to outsiders for Covid reasons, but they might open for fuel sales before you get there. Phone their Darwin office for confirmation when you get to Broome.
There is no public transport at Honeymoon Bay or Kalumburu. Kalumburu is currently a Covid restricted area. If indigenous remote area Covid restrictions don’t apply at the time you are there, you can usually get a lift into town from the camp manager or from one of the campers. Check that they are opening this year. Covid may prevent road access to campers via Kalumburu.
You will also need to check with your preferred air charterer to find out if you can fly crew into the Kalumburu airstrip, which is just out of the township and might be OK to access without entering the town itself. Otherwise, talk to Kimberley Air Tours for a float plane charter. I suggest you book them well in advance as they get very busy.
Beach party will tentatively be 4th July at Caves Beach, just south of Palm Island. This is a good option for crew transfer from Kununurra via float plane. They did 4-5 trips in at last year’s party with crew and supplies.
Cheers,
Ross
Lets get the facts straight. I have had other members contacting me about this forum thread who are concerned that they cannot take their boats into the Berkeley and King George rivers. This is incorrect. You can take your boat into both rivers.
Dominica’s work relates to the LAND area. I don’t believe she has anything to do with the WATER part of the rivers, which are in the Marine Park.
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions run the Marine Park. Both the King George and Berkeley Rivers are part of the North Kimberley Marine Park, and both rivers are designated as Special Purpose Areas (Recreational and Conservation). You are allowed on the water in the Marine Park up to the high water mark without a permit, including the Berkeley and King George rivers
If you want to go ashore while boating in the rivers, you need to get a land permit from the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority (AAPA), which used to be known as the Aboriginal Lands Trust. That is where Dominca works. For the past few years the Balanggarra Community, who are the native title owners of the land adjoining the Berkeley and King George rivers, have refused access to the land. Hence the reason why Dominica is not issuing land permits for this area. But this does not prevent you from boating on these rivers. It means that you don’t have permission to go ashore without a land permit, which you are unlikely to get at this time without special permission from the Balanggarra Community.
I wont publish his name or contact details in this forum, but if anyone wants to contact the North Kimberley Marine Park Ranger, who works at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, and is responsible for the WATER part of the Marine Park, I will pass on his email address. Contact me via the Contact Page.
Cheers, Ross – KCCYC
Hi Tony.
Maximum file size allowed is 1000 KB.
With an iPad, click on the FULL mode button – top right hand of screen. You will then be able to see the full version of the site. Go to Anchorages and download the info from there. There is plenty of reading, and if you have any queries after that, please come back to me.
Cheers,
Ross
