After several months of cruising the beautiful, amazing, stunning etc, etc Kimberley we are back in limited service. Head to the Kimberley 2011 page and I am slowly getting the story and photos posted.
The 401nm passage from Beagle Bay(43nm south of Cape Leveque) to Dampier took us 63 hours non stop! We anchored at midnight in still conditions in Marney Bay, Malus Island in the Dampier Archipelago and quickly made a rush for the bed. We slept soundly for a few hours until the expected Easterly blew up! 35knts, once the day dawned we were underway for the 10nm journey into Hampton Harbour, Dampier.
Dampier is a huge shipping port, servicing the many Iron Ore ships also ships that service the Gas Wells off the coast. Gotta love these cute tugs! George and Mildred, about the same length as Opal Lady!
We found anchorage just off the Hampton Harbour Sailing Club in 5m of water and settled in for another sleep.
We have taken on 800Ltrs of fuel @ $1.85 pl and provisioned. Thanks to Rory & Tracey for the loan of their car to drive into the main shopping centre in Karratha a 20klm drive away! Otherwise it would have been super expensive in Dampier. I did purchase at the local IGA here in Dampier a few things for dinner the first night, 1/2 Cauliflower, 150gms Snow Peas and 12 Brussell Sprouts totalling $20.50, deciding that a big shop here was going cost a fortune!!! Real Estate and wages here are huge. A 3 bed, 1 bath house costs $ 1.1m and the rent on this sort of house is $1,800pw! Surprisingly once in Karratha the supermarket prices were very cheap, so I stocked up! Restaurant prices are also expensive.
Photo above: The Hampton Hbr Sailing Club in the background, we reversed the car down their ramp and then juggled the groceries across the pontoon and into the dinghy.
We were waiting for the 30+ knt Easterlies to abate , before we left for the Montebello Islands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montebello_Islands
Above: The sunrise over the loading ships as we left Dampier at 6am this morning!
ETA Montebello Islands 5pm tonight, just in time for Happy Hour!
Apologies for the double up in mail outs but we are dropping in and out of service!
The 401nm passage from Beagle Bay(43nm south of Cape Leveque) to Dampier took us 63 hours non stop! We anchored at midnight in still conditions in Marney Bay, Malus Island in the Dampier Archipelago and quickly made a rush for the bed. We slept soundly for a few hours until the expected Easterly blew up! 35knts, once the day dawned we were underway for the 10nm journey into Hampton Harbour, Dampier.
Dampier is a huge shipping port, servicing the many Iron Ore ships also ships that service the Gas Wells off the coast. Gotta love these cute tugs! George and Mildred, about the same length as Opal Lady!
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We have taken on 800Ltrs of fuel @ $1.85 pl and provisioned. Thanks to Rory & Tracey for the loan of their car to drive into the main shopping centre in Karratha a 20klm drive away! Otherwise it would have been super expensive in Dampier. I did purchase at the local IGA here in Dampier a few things for dinner the first night, 1/2 Cauliflower, 150gms Snow Peas and 12 Brussell Sprouts totalling $20.50, deciding that a big shop here was going cost a fortune!!! Real Estate and wages here are huge. A 3 bed, 1 bath house costs $ 1.1m and the rent on this sort of house is $1,800pw! Surprisingly once in Karratha the supermarket prices were very cheap, so I stocked up! Restaurant prices are also expensive.
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We were waiting for the 30+ knt Easterlies to abate , before we left for the Montebello Islands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montebello_Islands
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ETA Montebello Islands 5pm tonight, just in time for Happy Hour!
Apologies for the double up in mail outs but we are dropping in and out of service!