REPORT 1/08 DARWIN TO DAMPIER
Posted at 7:21 AM, Jun. 23, 2008
REPORT 1/08 – DARWIN TO DAMPIER
DARWIN: JULY 07-MAY 08
Well, it has been a while hasn’t it? I had always panned a long break, but not this long. If I don’t get a move on, I really will be an old age pensioner before I get home. It hasn’t all been my fault. There were three main aims of my stop in Darwin:
· Carry out some much overdue maintenance
· Attend the wedding of Sarah and Brent
· Spend the wet/cyclone season out of the tropics
It started out badly and then got worse. The only boat yard in Darwin capable of carrying out the tasks has been sold to a property developer and was slated to close in September. I managed to arrange a tentative booking that would allow me to attend the wedding and have the work done before the start of the wet. When I returned from the wedding I was told that the straddle lift was broken and they were waiting on a new cable from New Zealand. They said that it had broken 6 weeks earlier, which is before I made the booking. After about two months of broken promises, non-returned calls and just plain bull-**** I decided to look elsewhere.
At a second yard, the bloke who owned the place said that he could handle all the work, other than the sand blasting. He did say that they had a high pressure cleaner that would get virtually all the old paint off. When I returned I spoke to the woman in charge. She pointed out that they did not do any of the actual work and that I would have to get outside contractors in.
I then tried Cullen Bay, which I had been warned against due to the high costs. They were willing an able to do the work, but were about to go on holidays. When they returned, they had planned to reconfigure the slip for catamarans and had bookings for at least 4 weeks. This was still doable, but I would be running very close to when I needed to return to Sydney. Finally they gave me a date which would get me back in the water the day before I wanted to leave if nothing went wrong. That was too close for comfort and I decided to head straight for Sydney and organise something for when I returned in the New Year. It was a good choice, as it took me three days just to tidy up the boat and double up lines, etc in preparation for any cyclones.
I finally had the work done by Cullen Bay in Apr 08. It all went well and I am very happy with the work done. As an added bonus, it defers the next slipping till well into 08 or even 09.
The wedding went well apart from the weather. I flew to Sydney from Darwin and spent a couple of weeks with the folks. I grabbed the motorbike and headed for the sunshine coast. I don’t think that I have ever encountered such heavy rain. My wet weather gear is very good, but it was if I was swimming in water, not riding through rain. I have put a GPS on the bike and without it I would not have had a hope of getting there. I had no idea where the roads were. This is my third trip to the Sunshine Coast and it has poured each time.
Sarah was worried that they would have to cancel. All the roads from Noosa (her home) to Maleny (wedding location) except one were closed. She was getting a bit frantic. Those of you who know Sarah would be aware that her frantic is not a good look. Fortunately I was booked into a motel in Maleny and was not in the firing line.
From Maleny I screamed across to Darwin in order to be there for the promised slipping of the yacht. As mentioned, I could have had a much more leisurely trip. At least I had the bike in Darwin and was able to do some sight seeing that would not have been possible.
Deslee came to Darwin for a holiday. We hired a four wheel drive and did Litchfield National Park. We entered the park through the back entrance. After a while we encountered a Diesel 4WD bogged in the thick bull dust. He had not engaged his free wheeling hubs. I’m getting to be a bit of an expert on this! After I freed him I asked what the road ahead was like. He said that he had no problems, even with the creek crossings. We had already crossed a couple of creeks so I figured that we would be fine. If he could get through in two wheel drive, even a Nissan X-Trail should be fine. When we encountered the creek, I was not worried, although it was at least 50 metres across. About 20 metres in, the water started to rise. It reached the bottom of the windows and only the top of the bonnet was visible. We were actually partially afloat as I could feel the wheels starting to lift off the ground. I just kept on moving, swearing a lot, as there was no real choices. It was getting late and there was little prospect of any following traffic. Anyway, this petrol powered X-Trail never missed a beat and we made it to the other side. Not bad for what is really just a “soft-roader”. I didn’t dare pull over for a while, just to make sure any water was dried off the electrics. The only apparent problem was some wet carpets in the back. When we got back I gave it a very thorough wash and vacuum before handing it back to the hire company (one of the conditions was “not to be used for creek crossing”). About 5 km past the creek we reached a sign-posted intersection. One sign stated that snorkels were required for that particular creek. Nice going fellas, a sign at both ends of the road would be a real plus!
Headed back to Sydney in late November. The trip was fairly uneventful apart from an encounter with a roo late at night. I know, don’t travel at night! There had been some big fires with lots of smoke earlier so I had little choice. There are some big distances outback with no accommodation. Besides, it was late (10pm) and it is dawn and dusk that are the worst times, everyone knows that. This roo had obviously taken its’ stupid pills. It was a large white(ish), roo, on the far side, facing out. It took a couple of hops away, did a U turn and bounded straight at me. The couple of hops away made a huge difference. Instead of being in front of the bike, it came from the side. I hit its’ head with my knee, which luckily was armoured in case of a fall. Pretty certain that the roo was dead and my knee hurt like ******y, 100km/h collisions will do that, but I was able to continue.
I spent Christmas with the folks and then headed back to the Sunshine Coast to spend New Year with Brent, Sarah, Stella & Rusti. Here’s a surprise, IT RAINED! The fireworks were cancelled and the coast was storm ravaged. On the positive side, I wasn’t aboard Isa Lei. The Monday after New Year the rain lessened. Sarah tried to get me to wait a bit longer, but I wanted out of there. Just as well I did leave then, as I moved down the coast, towns were being flooded and roads closed. I have told Sarah that I am not going to visit her until she moves somewhere with a decent climate. Sunshine Coast, Hah!! I have always wanted to visit Nimbin as I have always been a closet hippy. It was miserable. Cold and wet! All the hippys were hiding in their anoraks, and it was too wet light up a reefer. Maybe next time. Even the coffee was ordinary, mainly because the roof on the balcony was leaking into my mug.
Back in Sydney I was annoying everyone so I headed off to Perth to annoy Ray, Michelle and Ashleigh instead. That is one long ride. I took my camping gear and used it a couple of times. Some of the camping areas were pretty desperate. In most towns they would be described as truck parking bay. Just hard dirt with a very run down toilet block. Kept trying to find a tree or fence, anything to give me protection from a late night road train. Ray and Michelle are immersed in renovations, but took some time off to come down to the Margaret River with me. Very nice area. I checked out the coast of Cape Leewin(?), where the Indian and Great Southern Oceans meet. Not a very inviting prospect, but unavoidable if I want to get home.
It was then off again via Adelaide and Melbourne to home. I stayed long enough in Sydney to acknowledge (celebrate is far too strong a word) my 50th birthday and then back to Darwin by plane.
Back in Darwin and it was a lot of scrubbing to remove mould and the replacement of a few electronic items (VHF, Laptop, Stereo and 240v Inverter) that had succumbed to the tropical damp. With the replacement of the Laptop, I lost all the info from this trip, but Dad has copies of all the reports and I had already backed up my photos. The Telstra internet connection was a different story. I have spent over two hours on the phone trying to get it working again. They manage to fix it, but after a couple of more log-ins it fails again and they come up with another solution, which only lasts a couple of log-ins and so on. The last time they said I needed to get a software and firmware update, off the internet. When I pointed out to them that my problem was that I couldn’t get onto the net they were stumped. I now have the update, but it can’t find my connection either. I am waiting with baited breath. In the meantime, I apologise for my sporadic emails, but I have to find public access sites, which are not always that plentiful in the outback.
I also had the Auto-Helm computer that I purchased in Thursday Island installed. I might have been able to do it myself, with the technician standing over me, but not to the standard that he has done. On occasion the screen on the chart-plotter blacks out. The tech couldn’t find a problem, we could not make it fail while he was there, and Raymarine were not willing to commit themselves to any discount despite the $5000 unit being under three years old. So much for standing behind their products! I will just have get going and hope for the best. I did buy a few medium scale charts just in case. Finally up on the slips for the cleaning and anti-fouling of the hull.
DARWIN TO PARRY HARBOUR: 14-17 MAY 08
I set out from Tipperary Marina after lunch. This enabled me to get the maximum assistance from the tide, which is big help when you have 5-6 metre tides. There was a moderate North-Easterly so I made some good time.
The 15th and 16th had virtually no wind so I did a lot of motoring. I discovered that the engine was not charging the batteries. Having just serviced the engine, I naturally assumed that the alternator was ******ed. On reflection, I tightened the fan belt and everything was fine. I found however that I needed to do this every couple of hours.
The wind finally came up again at night and I covered some big miles. I even changed my target for my first stop from Broome Dampier Bay to Parry Harbour. Overnight on the 16th I crossed the Northern Territory/Western Australia border. That was the night of the full moon and moonset coincided with the sunrise. When I came up from below, I thought that Isa Lei had done a U-turn as I mistook the moon for the sun. It was a brilliant display; the moon was bright orange and the sun crimson. Unfortunately I had not charged up the camera battery and missed the photo op!
The 17th was another great sailing day and I dropped anchor at Parry Harbour, Cape Bouganville at 2pm. This is a very isolated part of the country. Since clearing Darwin, I have seen one vessel (probably a freighter, it was night time), been over-flown once by Coast Watch and one other yacht arrived at Parry whilst I was there. The only built infrastructure that I have seen was a helicopter maintenance base, owned by Santos on some desolate rock of an Island. Parry Harbour is bigger than say Newcastle Harbour, but it looks as if it has never been settled in any way. Any where else, it would be a boating and holiday mecca.
|
From |
Darwin |
To |
Parry Harbour |
|
Lat |
130 41’.2S |
Long |
1260 3’.7E |
|
Dist Today |
217 Nm |
Dist Total |
3825 Nm |
|
Home |
1802 Nm |
|
134 Deg M |
PARRY HARBOUR TO BROOME: 19-26 MAY 08
After two nights R&R at Parry, I set off for Broome before dawn. Day one was memorable, but for all the wrong reasons! Just as I was clearing the harbour, the fanbelt started to squeal. I was in a channel between two reefs, being driven by the current towards an Island. There was not enough wind to sail by, so I decided to ignore until I was in open water. However, for the first time the engine started to overheat. I had the tools handy to tighten the belt, but I discovered that it actually needed changeing. Whatever the problem is with the belt, the contiual tightening of the last couple of days had worn it out. To change that belt, I have to undo the two raw water cooling pipes and remove a second belt that powers the fridge. Not an easy or quick task. The thought of being surrounded by reefs and not in control is a wonderful motivator. Thankfully, as I had done this all just before leaving Darwin nothing was seized up and I got it done in about ten minutes flat.
After that drama, I settled down to a fast sail. Around 10am the wind had come up considerably and I decided to put in a reef in the main. Unfortunately the reefing winch decided that it wanted a more independent existence and parted from the boom. I managed to save some of it, but the main barrel now resides in Davey Jones’ locker. I managed to get the main reefed completely down, but it was messy. I had a cuppa and relaxed a bit.
The wind was now a consistent 20knots and we were moving well. At this point the shackle securing the main sheet to the traveller let go, not due to a failure, but because some idle crew member had not bothered to check that the screw was tight. It is times like this when I regret being single-handed. Apportioning blame would be real nice!
I managed to get the main back under control and find a replacement shackle. As the wind was still over 20knots, I dropped the main and just went under headsail, which was much more comfortable. All this before lunch!
Anchored at Prudoe Island; a lovely, almost land-locked anchorage, where I again spent two nights. Can’t say that I enjoyed today all that much; gear failure, boisterous seas combined with some scary rocks were not all that conducive to relaxation.
|
From |
Parry Harbour |
To |
Prudoe Island |
|
Lat |
140 25’.3S |
Long |
1250 15’.2E |
|
Dist Today |
61 Nm |
Dist Total |
3886 Nm |
|
Home |
1818 Nm |
|
130 Deg M |
PRUDOE ISLAND TO CAPE LEVEQUE: 21-23 MAY
With light winds and my worry about the motor, the trip to Cape Leveque was rather slow. On the night of the 22nd, the Chartplotter packed it in. The screen went blank and it would not restart for 30 minutes. Initially I was not too worried, as I had two back-up GPS units and some charts. Unfortunately, when the new computer was being installed in Darwin, the technician managed to relocate the power line for one of the systems, so I had to rely on the battery powered, hand held unit. I did manage to get the system running before I got to Cape Leveque, which was a real bonus getting through the fringing reef.
Cape Leveque was a bit of a dissapointment. Firstly, I managed to capsize the dinghy when I was going ashore. No real damage, but hardly an auspicious start. I then discovered that they no longer sold fuel. This was a worry as I had already used more than 80 litres out of a total of 200. Finally, they had very little in the way of foodstuffs for sale AND their coffee was pathetic.
Given the potential problems with the chartplotter, I spent 4 hours programming the rest of the trip to Broome into the hand held.
|
From |
Prudoe Island |
To |
Cape Leveque |
|
Lat |
160 23’.7S |
Long |
1220 55’.3E |
|
Dist Today |
161 Nm |
Dist Total |
4047 Nm |
|
Home |
1844 Nm |
|
125 Deg M |
CAPE LEVEQUE TO BROOME:25-26 MAY
The journey to Broome was laborious. The only point of interest was just after Cape Leveque I noticed lots of vapour trails from jet aircraft. At one stage I could actually see 5 jet airliners at the one time. Given the releative isolation of the area, I found this surprising. I zoomed out (to 600nm) on my chart and realised that I was pretty much under a direct line from Sydney and Melbourne to Bali. Guess there is still plenty of money around for overseas holidays.
Saw my first certified shark. I have seen quite a few ominous shapes in the water before, but this was in full daylight and it was swimming quite close to the boat. It was a little one, about 2 foot, and a pale bronze colour. Later I saw another possible, this one marked up like a replica of a tiger, again, quite small.
I sighted Broome at about 8am. It took me until 7pm to cover the 32 odd miles to get there. Wind, waves and tide were against me and I was still trying to baby the engine. One of the least pleasent days I have ever had aboard a yacht!
What is it with West Australians? Every anchorage is described as sand, with patches of sand over rock. I guess that if you are known as a sandgroper, everything is sand, because rocks become sand eventually. I have never had so much trouble anchoring. I put it down three times at Cape Leveque and 5 at Broome. As it is, I don’t think that the anchor has actually taken, it is just the weight of 100metres of chain that is holding me still.
|
From |
Cape Leveque |
To |
Broome | |
|
Lat |
170 57’.7S |
Long |
 |