20) Western Australia: The Buccaneer Archipelago to Derby. 18 to 23rd July, 2014.

 
Well we managed to motor out of Dugong Bay with less stress than we had on the way in. The weather was benign and it was near slack water so we slowly motored north from our anchorage across the bay and into the tight right hand turn followed by a quick left hand turn and the narrow passage, or the 'S bend' as we unaffectionately called it. 



We had carefully placed our waypoints on the chart plotter and religiously retraced the same path we had come in on. Once through the islands and reefs we were hoping to put up the sails but the wind never eventuated. This necessitated a lot of motoring and we knew we would have to buy some fuel from the fuel barge near Koolan Island otherwise we would not get to Derby. There are only four places to get fuel in the Kimberley - Wyndham, McGowan's Beach, Dog Leg Creek and Derby.

On anchor around the corner from 'The Gutter'.

We decided to take the shortcut between Koolan Island and the mainland, through the narrow, but deep gorge, affectionately known as “The Gutter”, rather than go the long way, around Koolan Island to get into Yampi Sound.






This wasn’t a decision we took lightly, as we had a choice this time to avoid the treacherous water and narrow passage. But the weather forecast predicted very light to no wind for the next few days, meaning we would have to motor around Koolan Island. So we had no choice really but to go the shortest route, 'The Gutter', as our fuel supplies were dwindling fast. 

We prepared as much as possible – following the tide tables religiously, working out the exact route and time it would take to go through the passage. We had a lot of things in our favour – the weather was benign, it was just before noon (great visibility), and it was high tide and we could transit the entire passage on slack water. This meant the currents/flow within 'The Gutter' would be greatly minimised. After a rocky night’s sleep we set out, confident that we would get through without too much drama.

From the outset though we realised that the slack water had already come and gone. Yep, this area did not match the tide tables. Nevertheless we decided to continue as the flood tide pushing against us wasn’t too strong and we would be through the dangerous section within 30 minutes. 

We got to the deepest (40 m), narrowest (80 m) section and therefore the quickest flowing section, when the motor suddenly just died. Peter raced up on deck to get the anchor down and holding as quick as possible while I quickly kept the rudder in one direction, as the current would have us against the rocks in no time. In his haste Peter accidently let out all the chain (over 80 m). Luckily, he realised just in time when he saw the rope section and stopped it before the last bit slipped over the side and was gone forever. He then spent the next two hours removing a bacterial growth in the fuel filter, while I tried to keep the rudder in position while we wildly swung back and forth between two very large rocky precipices.

We could not think of a worse place for this to happen along the entire Kimberley coast. Why not happen in a quiet anchorage before we lifted the anchor – no of course not. Once the motor was working we had to wait another three hours until slack water again so we could lift the anchor up. We managed to get the chain back on the winch gypsy and once slack water came we were able to motor forward slowly pulling up the anchor a section at a time. A near death experience but luckily a major catastrophe was averted – thank goodness.

Koolan Island - Iron Ore Mine.

We then motored up without further incident past Koolan Island. This island was at one time pristine, but now it is an open iron ore mine. It is really weird to come all this way with no signs of life for months on end and then you round a corner and there is a big freighter being filled with ore, several anchored tug boats and even a fuel barge in the creek opposite. 

Paradise lost.

The option of getting fuel was too good to pass up. We did have enough provided we also got some useable wind but if we could not sail at all and were forced to motor all the way then we would not make it.

The fuel barge - Dog Leg Creek.

So we proceeded up Dog Leg Creek (yes it is shaped like a dog’s leg) to get some fuel. The Diesel was not cheap at $3.00 a litre but cheaper than the unleaded petrol at $3.50 a litre - they certainly were not giving it away. After we filled 8 containers we motored next door to Silvergull Creek for the night. 

Squatter's Arms.

The next morning we realised we had finally reached civilisation, well to some degree at least. There is a shack in a western tributary of Silvergull Creek which was initially set up by BHP. BHP had installed water tanks when a spring was found and it became the local watering point for the nearby mine of Koolan Island. 

'Exhuma' mast - stuck in mud at low tide.

When BHP pulled out many years ago, Phil and Marion from the boat “Exhuma” started a squat in the shipping containers, and called the place “Squatter’s Arms”. They were there for many years and provided a life line for many passing yachts. Sailors were able to get fuel from the barge in the next creek and then fill up their water tanks (and have a swim) at Squatter’s Arms. 

Peter, Shelley and Mal.

Over the years it has become a very popular destination and even cruise ships now drop in here as part of their Kimberley Cruise. Phil and Marion moved back to Derby in 2013 as Marion was very sick, and Mal and Shelley took over the management at Squatter’s Arms. In the dry season they often have boats drop in daily. In the wet season they have the barge staff over every three weeks or so. 

Shelley also advised us that there was no public transport in Derby and taxis were expensive, so she kindly offered us the use of her old car at Derby for a very reasonable daily sum. This was a win-win as walking 4 km to the shops and back, three times for food and about 10 times to fill up the fuel, well you get the picture - it wasn't really doable. 

King Sound is at the end of a complete tour of the Kimberley. Boats that tour the Kimberley often end their journey in Yampi Sound, see the sights, fill up the tanks with fuel/water and then return to Darwin or Wyndham. Others sailing south bypass the middle and lower reaches of King Sound and head directly to Broome. We were not heading to Broome and our food supplies were nearly exhausted as we only provisioned for a two to three month tour. So we had no choice really but to go to Derby to get another three month supply for the return trip to Darwin. 

Northern King Sound.

On the plus side we had been told that the northern end of King Sound was very pretty and worth the effort to see it. Beautiful water, beaches, quite hilly, pretty rock formations and some great anchorages. 

Southern King Sound.

On the down side though King Sound is fraught with danger towards the lower reaches and in particular anchoring in Derby. Low hills, dark brown water, mudflats and no anchorages.








The barge staff who traverse the Sound on a weekly basis gave us an idea of what to expect when travelling in King Sound. They warned that the Sound is tricky as it is a huge, wide and a funnel-shaped bay and the Indian Ocean rushes in on a flood tide and out on an ebb tide, both at a rate that is staggering. The tide can assist your passage south very nicely for six hours and then it will send you right back out again on the ebb tide. So you have to travel south for six hours and then anchor somewhere safe for the next six hours awaiting the next tidal cycle as your motor cannot push against the flow. The passage through the Sound and onto Derby can take a few days. Finding an anchorage in the upper and middle reaches is not really an issue and they provided some great options. Though they warned the problem was the lower reaches as there are no nice bays to anchor in, just exposed mudflats that are best avoided due to the shallow water. They suggested we stay near the main channel and anchor in a shoal patch of about 20m to await the next tidal cycle.

They also advised that the anchor may not hold if transit is attempted during a Spring tide (higher high tides and lower low tides). The water volume and rate of flow increase, so much so it screams past, and anchoring in Derby becomes too dangerous. This information later proved invaluable and we felt so fortunate to have met them at Squatter’s Arms.

Luckily for us it was the start of the neap tides and that would give us just over a week to get down the Sound, anchor in Derby and return before the next Spring tide. So no seeing Yampi Sound now, we had to leave ASAP to meet this new deadline. 

We left the next morning early and basically had to motor as soon as we approached King Sound. The wind had died and now there was none at all, so we just motored south as far as possible for six hours, anchored in a bay and waited another six hours, then did it all again.

Anchored at Derby with only 5 other boats.

We got to the southern end of King Sound and as advised there were no places to anchor out of the wind or current. So we just pulled over to the nearest shoal patch in 25m, and waited until the next tidal cycle, while hoping the anchor held in the strong current.






After two days we made it to Derby. We crossed the mud bar on high tide and then anchored in the only mud filled deep hole that Derby has. 


Anchoring and staying in Derby is not for the faint-hearted and it is daunting when you have no experience of it. Most of the anchorage is too shallow or it becomes a mud flat at low tide. The few deep holes that are available have a rock granule base (affectionately known here as coffee rock) which will not hold an anchor. There is only one anchor hole with good holding mud and that is where everyone is anchored. If you drag you are on a mud flat before you know it. So we waited on-board the boat for twelve hours to see if the anchor would hold in all tides – and it did.

Transferring all supplies from car to dinghy to boat.

So we quickly left the boat, went ashore, picked up Shelley’s car from Phil and got the food, fuel, gas and got rid of the huge pile of recycling.