It was another dead calm night and a perfect anchorage and
we all slept very well. I got up very early as I wanted to take the dingy out
and have a look around at low tide and maybe even catch a barra for breakfast.
The water was crystal clear and there was a fringing reef
with pristine coral and lots of fish life, but unfortunately none of them were
interested in my lure.
A sea plane landed nearby to pick up some passengers from a
large jet boat and a helicopter landed at the nearby fishing camp and dropped
off some punters. This place is still a very remote pristine wilderness, but
there is a lot of tourism taking place in certain areas.
Fonster headed off around 09:00 heading for Cockatoo Island
and then Silver Gull Creek. We waited around until 10:00 to take the rising
tide eight miles around to Crocodile Creek.
Once we got out into Yampi Sound, quite a few targets started
to pop up on the AIS and one of them was Andrew on Uno Mas who we me in Broome.
He was anchored at the entrance of Coppermine Creek so I called him on the
radio and organised to meet up.
We passed a large landing barge “The Robert Lidlow” and a
large cruise ship and came close to Fonster after they had circumnavigated
Cockatoo Island. He continued on to Silver Gull Creek while we veered off to Crocodile Creek passing another catamaran on the way.
landing barge “The Robert Lidlow”
We met Andrew at the entrance and had a chat before
cautiously heading up the narrow creek. I basically just drifted in with
the tide only doing a couple of knots staying in the center of the channel, but
there was plenty of water and no nasty surprises.
Uno Mas
Andrew overtook us about halfway in, speeding past in his
dingy and was waiting for us at the waterfall to assist us with tying off ropes
to the canyon walls after I dropped the anchor on the rock bar and backed
Sirocco into the duck pond close to the ladder.
Once in position, I headed over to the stainless-steel
ladder next to the waterfall that had only about half a meter exposed above the
water.
There is an old camp here made by the Koolan Island boys
years ago for a bit of recreation, but there is not much left. Above the
waterfall is a large freshwater pond with another high waterfall flowing into
it.
I kept an eye out for any crocodiles lurking around as I
made my way around the freshwater pool and then climbed the rock wall high up
above the second waterfall to the large pond beyond.
Here I met Andrew and his three crew who were all cooling
off in the crystal-clear pond and flowing stream. The water was cool and
refreshing and I jumped in with a cold beer and chatted with Andrew for a good
hour or so.
After a while we walked back to the ladder and made sure our
dinghies weren’t going to dry out and then we all headed out to Sirocco for a
bit more yip yap before they eventually departed on his way back to Perth.
After a bite for lunch and some readjustments on the mooring
lines, I went back to the top water hole for another swim and to take some more
photos.
By now the tide had fallen about eight or nine meters and
Sirocco was land locked in the small duck pond surrounded by the high canyon
walls. It really was an impressive sight.
The water was still falling rapidly and some nasty looking
rocks were beginning to appear very close to Sirocco's bows, so I had to quickly
snap into action and run another mooring line to the ladder and square us up in
the center of the deep pond.
All was sweet and I could sit back and relax just as dusk
came upon us. There were no crocodiles in the pond with us that I could see,
but the midgies came out in force after the sun went down and we had to close
up the saloon hatches and sliding door and put the fan on.
The water in the duck pond went down about ten meters and we
were comfortably sitting in four meters at low tide around 19:00. We are now
stranded here in this duck pond until around 13:00 tomorrow when we plan to
head out and around to Silver Gull Creek for the night.
Each hour or so I checked all around us with the spot light
to make sure all was fine and not once did I see any red eyes. It was pretty
cool to have a flowing waterfall only ten meters off the stern to listen to all
night.
Track Sirocco’s
progress
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