Hello fellow KCCYC members,
We will be sailing our 11m catamaran north in 2022 as far as the Prince Regent River or perhaps Prince Frederick Harbour. This will be our 7th Kimberley adventure and like previous trips we will spend June, July and August exploring the bays, rivers and creeks. We explored the east Kimberley when the boat was based in Darwin for a few years so focussed on the west Kimberley for now. Give us a call on the radio if you see us about.
Regards
Janie and Kevin
Sailcat ‘Sojourn’

Hi Ian
A spare prop, castle nut and split pins can save you a lot of heartache.

Regards
Kevin

Howdy,

You are in for a treat… the Kimberley is amazing. Time spent cruising is limitless however in reality most will head into the Kimberley from Broome or Darwin in late April / early May and then be thinking about getting back to Darwin in September or to Broome by early September giving them time to get down the west coast before the south westerlies set in. We know members who for various reasons have had only a month to cruise through the Kimberley and others who have not left and stay on for the wet season. All have enjoyed the experience. We have been fortunate to have had four seasons in the Kimberley to date and planning another this year. The longest stay was 13 weeks and this year will be the shorter as we are sailing back from QLD and will only have 6 weeks to travel Darwin to Broome. One tip would be to focus on one or two areas or rivers. It would be easy and very enjoyable to spend 4 to 6 weeks Broome to Doubtful Bay and back taking in Crocodile Creek, Raft Point, Montgomery Reef, Ruby Falls, Saphire Falls, Dugong Bay and the Kingfisher Islands and Camden Sound for the whales in season etc. Alternately choose a river or two to explore. The east Kimberley rivers are spectacular – King George and Berkeley however you will need to allow time to get there – depends if you are coming from the north (Darwin) or south (Perth). You are in a cat with a shallow draft – the river anchorages are calm and the scenery usually spectacular. It is worth taking some time to plan the tides and get into the rivers. A longer stay in the Kimberley requires more effort with provisioning but very do able if you have a desalinator or are prepared to collect fresh water all goes well for a memorable experience. Good luck and ‘take it all in’ … Cheers, Janie and Kevin aboard ‘Sojourn’

Fabulous video of an amazing adventure guys!

Hi Kita,
Good to read you had a safe and successful trip. Thanks for the radio contact – was good to chat. We are 25nm from Darwin and back in range for regular comms. We called Antony in Broome based on your entry in this forum and had success. Antony (call me Zorba – he is Greek) had a selection of moorings available – could not have been more helpful. Broome is a very challenging place to reprovision so you did well to complete it in a couple of days…
Regards,
Janie and Kevin

Hi Snow,

We were also keen to cruise the Kimberley by our own means after an amazing adventure on the Kimberley Quest II in 2010. We are based in Mandurah WA. Like Bingo and many others out there we have always had boats and spent most of our spare time out on or in the water. We visited boat shows intent on finding the ideal boat for Kimberley cruising. We did our research and we were almost set on a power cat when a chance catch up with a sailing mate soon had us questioning if we were on the right track. We were convinced to try sailing and as complete novices we chartered an 11m sail cat in the Whitsundays. After a week we were hooked! Nothing compares to the silence when those motors are turned off and the wind is propelling you along. The 11m Fountaine Pajot Mahe suited us and the two of us can manage her while still having a complete hull with queen bed and separate head free for visiting family and friends. Without getting too detailed about the reason for our choice it is important to consider the following… a catamaran offers you comfortable cruising be it powered by motors or the wind….generous space and storage, reasonable fuel storage, reasonable water storage and at anchor you will have good saloon visibility and therefore a connection with the amazing Kimberley scenery no matter the weather. Ask yourself …do we have time to cruise at a leisurely pace and choose weather windows suitable for sailing?  If not then a power cat may be your vessel of choice. It sure sits well with us when we are filling our tanks with 200 litres of diesel alongside a thirsty power cat pouring in1000’s of litres. Remember – sail cats do have motors and when there is no wind or the wind is stronger than we feel comfortable sailing along in, we drop the sails and put on the 30hp volva penta sail drives and happily cruise along at 6 knots.   Good luck with your decision making.

Cheers,  Kevin and Janie

Hi Dave,

We have had success using a sat sleeve on our iPhone.  We were able to download a weather forecast from BOM for minimal cost while cruising the Kimberley. BOM has developed a text only single page 3 day forecast which is a very small download size. Have a look at http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/lite/  The forecasts are available by zones and we booked marked the following two most useful zones when in the Kimberley. This eliminates the need to search the BOM site each time you connect.

1.Northern Coastal Waters Zones
2.NT/WA border to North West Cape All Coastal Waters Zones

You will need to turn off all other updates on your phone that use data while in the Kimberley and dedicate the phone to this (not much use for anything else while remote!) You will also need to arrange a SIM with satellite data. We had a $15 per month casual plan and happy to share details if you are interested. We were also able to send and receive email. We are heading off to the Kimberley again in 2017 so will look out for you.

Cheers,

Kevin and Janie

Sail Cat ‘Sojourn’

Hi XT Sea,
It may be worth a call to the Darwin Sailing Club to get the contact number for their multihull section. Most of them haul out for the wet, they have a dedicated yard. We are at the Golburn Islands at the moment. Have you guys made Gove yet? Cheers, Kevin and Janie