Boyd Point to Kirke River

Looking south to Pera Head

Saturday 30^th July: after a calm week the wind suddenly hit 33 knots this morning and we thought that Byron might decide to abort his fishing trip. However a phone call from Sarah informed us that Byron had left at 4am (mad crazy fisher people) with friends, planning to fish first off Pera Head and then find us (not hard as we are the only sailing vessel in the area). To be closer for rendezvous, we decided to move to Pera Head, which is only the next bay south. In 30 plus knots the 6kms was a quick but not uncomfortable trip. Rounding the point we found the work platform and tugboat, so now know the location of the new wharf. ‘Sharp Shooter’ was nearby, methodically slowly cruising a specific area in parallel lines – probably surveying as part of the development?

Bryon and mates arrived late morning, with an esky full of large mackerel and our special delivery. They did not seem phased by the anticipated rough trip back to Weipa that should only take them about an hour, but I was pleased when the wind started to abate not long after they left. The boys told us that the new wharf will extend 2kms from shore so will rather obviously mark the landscape.

Freshwater billabong behind Pera Head

At the opposite end of the beach to the proposed wharf is a natural spring creating a freshwater waterhole surrounded by paperbarks full of birds. Campsites are evident. Small streams run down to the ocean – one is large enough to use as a safe place to cool off. On the ocean’s edge nearby is a small natural harbour protected by outlying rocks. Trailer boats could easily beach here near the fresh water – unfortunately a few too many submerged rocks to bring Nysa in.

By nightfall the tugboat, work platform and ‘Sharp Shooter’ had left while 5 fishing boats have anchored nearby, though one did go back out again. The wind has died to 0-3 knots.

Para Head is even lovelier than Boyd Point, but is not even mentioned in the cruising or fishing books we have. If not for meeting Byron we would have sailed right past it instead of now planning to stay another day – many thanks to Bryon for this and being our postman.

Beach at Pera Head

Sunday 31^st July: walked a short distance south along the beach and then took to the track on top of the northern ridge. The track goes to Boyd Point and then we think to Aurukun Aboriginal Community. The sides of the track have been recently burnt but a detour into the bush indicated this did not expend far. The view was surreal – white sand, flat turquoise water, blue cloudless sky, a light breeze and dolphins frolicking in the clear shallows. Poor Zowie did find it hard going, becoming very hot during the few hours it took to do the shadeless walk. Normally one to hate baths, she happily stood in the fresh water creek while being rinsed off and cooled.

Looking down from the ridge we had noticed 2 strange rock formations on the edge of the low tide mark – one close to shore and the other straight behind it further out. Investigating in the dinghy, both appeared to be heavily encrusted vertical posts, covered in unusual growth. My theory is they are the remains of an old shipwreck.

By lunchtime we were the only boat left in the bay. A large school of medium size fish gathered underneath our stern, and spent the afternoon zooming in and out. Near sunset a swooping sea eagle attempted to catch his dinner – a few misses but eventually caught 2 fish – this occurred right behind Nysa - wow!

Bauxite cliffs on south side of Pera Head

As the fishing boats returned Tony was able to catch up with Greg on ‘Glory-D’, a friend’s husband who has fished the Gulf for years and provided us with information prior to this trip. Greg is currently fishing for mackerel with 2 manual hand lines and 2 electric lines. It is hard work – early starts, returning to anchorage just prior to sunset, to then clean and fillet the fish. Without a deck hand at the moment, he is still working when we go to bed. He very nicely gave Tony some fish for his dinner.

We are surprised that of everywhere we have visited on this trip, our favourite spots to date (and both so different to each other) are only 1 day north and south of Weipa, which is somewhere we definitely never envisioned as being attractive in any way. Of course a faster powerboat would make the Pennefather and Boyd/Pera even closer.

Freshwater creek flowing from lagoon at Pera Head

Monday 1^st August: we leave Pera with not a hint of breeze blowing – the water was a pond. An hour later we are sailing well in 20-35 knot winds; by lunchtime the dropping wind required us to motor sail and by mid-afternoon motor only – a very changeable day.

4pm anchored in the mutual mouth of the Archer, Watson and Ward Rivers, about 50kms south of Pera. Aurukun Aboriginal Community is slightly further along one of the rivers.

Reading Jon & Jennifer Glaudemans blog, we discover they are now in Bali – we met them at Margaret Bay. All the other yachties we meet at Seisia would now be in Indonesia, while we are still in the Gulf – what can I say except we have had a lot of great spots all to ourselves!

Tony is keen to put in some long sailing days until we reach the southern islands in the gulf.

Tuesday 2^nd August: less wind so a nice morning sail in 20-25 knots but needed to add the motor in the afternoon. I can remember when we would never have considered voluntarily sailing in winds above 20 knots, but even 30 doesn’t really concern us here. This is because the waves on the gulf side of the Cape are more manageable with the wind coming off the land – I would still freak out on the east coast!

The bauxite hills are no longer evident – the coast is one long, sparsely vegetated sand dune.

The waters close to shore are unsurveyed from the Archer River south, and the cruising book we have has proven itself inaccurate already. This means a closer watch of depths and hazards has to be kept, and Tony is plotting our route as we go, filling in depths on the chart.

Arrived at the Kirke River at 5.30pm to find the tide was insufficient to allow entry and we were touching bottom – the tide chart & GPS tide are incorrect for here. We anchored just outside the new mouth where the river has broken through the coastal sand dune (the original mouth is about 2 kms south at Cape Keerweer), so Tony could do a reccy in the dinghy – due to the large swell and diminishing light this was very difficult. By the time Tony got back on Nysa dark was falling - he had found a route to the river entrance but we needed to wait for more water under the boat, which was not forthcoming in the next few hours.

Sunrise at Kirke River - Tony setting off to do a reccy of the entrance

Tony then experienced his first crisis – he stated he had had enough and no longer wanted to proceed south. Basically he was exhausted after a long day, a few nights of poor sleep and just the continued effort required. I convinced him to stay put for the night and to go to bed earlier than usual.

The lesson from today is that we can’t arrive late at a new anchorage that we have very little information on – we either do shorter days or give ourselves sufficient time for long stretches (wind permitting of course) – Tony agreed!

Wednesday 3^rd August: unfortunately much swinging activated the drag alarm on a number of occasions so again Tony did not sleep well. Arose at 6am with what appeared to be the high tide and there was thankfully no swell. Motored the short distance to the deeper water Tony found last night on the side of the sandbank at the entrance. Anchored there while Tony did a reccy of the river as the sun rose.

While I waited on Nysa there was a lot of growling and shrieking from the nearby bush - ? wild pigs.

With the incoming tide we now had plenty of water to enter the narrow river and Tony found us a calm spot where the mangroves commenced. There is no telephone or internet reception. Resettled and I enjoyed the view while washing clothes. Tony succumbed to a late morning sleep – a first ever event that demonstrates how tired he is.

Cape Keerweer is halfway down the western side of the Gulf, 160 kms from Weipa. It is always mentioned in the weather forecasts as the divider between the southern and northern gulf, so now I know where it is.

The Cape takes its name from the Dutch word meaning “turn back’ and was named by 17^th century Dutch explorers after being engaged in skirmishes with hundreds of armed Aboriginal warriors at this location that forced them to retreat.

It has taken us 6 weeks to travel from Seisia to here. Apart from extremely passionate fisher people, this area is apparently rarely visited as land access is restricted by geography and land tenure.  However we have seen quad bike tracks on the beach (possibly landed via a barge) and we are anchored off a campsite. The upper reaches of the Kirke open into a massive lake, which the fishing book “North Australian Fish Finder” tells us is a prime habitat for barramundi and other sportfish. I am very happy for them to stay there unfished. This book has provided better anchorage information than the cruising book of the gulf.

Nysa at anchor in the calm Kirke River

By mid-afternoon Tony felt a bit better so we undertook a short dinghy trip. Low tide with resultant shallow depths even for a dinghy prevented us reaching the original mouth at Cape Keerweer and from travelling very far along the river. We did criss cross the new entrance where a mass of small terns was feeding – they were not going to let us prevent their bombardment for a meal. Spied a dolphin and something bigger with a fin breaching. On the riverbank were a kangaroo and a small < 1 metre crocodile that was undisturbed as the dinghy approached very close – the markings on its skin were beautiful.

Thursday 4^th August: a calm night with no movement allowed Tony to sleep. On the morning high tide we dinghied to Cape Keerweer only to find the mouth of the river here no longer exists – it is now a broad land bridge of sand so there is only the one entrance, that where we entered. We are so lucky we did not follow the cruising/fishing book advice on Tuesday and travelled the extra distance to enter the river here. Did find a 40cm trumpet and 30cm baler shell – though sun whitened and barnacle covered, I marvel at the size of the molluscs which once lived inside.  About a km in from the old entrance were mooring buoys and a campsite.

This is the mouth of the Kirk River shown on the chart - now closed

We then motored in the dinghy about 5kms along the river, about half way to the lake, until shallow water became a deterrent – we are not keen to be stuck with an out-going tide. The river is lovely and different to others we have visited – it broadens as you go inland with semi-arid bush in the non-mangrove areas. The brief sightings of dolphins suggest possibly the smaller snub-nose river variety. 4 < 1 metre crocodiles totally unperturbed by our close proximity – question is “where is momma?” The number and variety of birds is wonderful: jabirus, beach bustards, pelicans, egrets, eagles, ospreys, hawks, kites and different smaller ones I can’t name.

Low cliffs line parts of the Kirke River

Early afternoon we were surprised to see a mast with sail stopped on the gulf side of the mouth. As the tide was now low we presumed it had run aground so Tony jumped in the dinghy to go and help. An hour later I was not surprised when he returned with David and Dennis Brown. We had meet David and Dennis in their trailer sailer  ‘Sandpiper’ at the Pennefather. Since then they had reached the Top, too early as we predicted, and decided they did not want to wait at Seisia for a few months until the winds were the right direction for going down the east coast. So they turned around and were heading back to Karumba. Unfortunately north of Weipa the drive shaft on their engine snapped so they are now totally reliant on sail only. This means they cannot enter the rivers where an engine is required to manoeuvre, so are stopping where they can find shelter on the coast. The afternoon passed pleasantly hearing of their adventures. They hope to reach Karumba in 10 days under sail. Both seemed very tired and not as enthusiastic as when we first meet – an incredible achievement though for their mature age.

If we don’t leave tomorrow morning, the next daytime high tide is not for 10 days. We would like to stay here a few more days but 10 would exceed our water supply – the river is too murky to use the desalinator and Tony is not impressed with the suggestion of washing us and dishes in salt water. Also, I do not want to leave the river at night. Though Tony is keen to do night sailing and cover longer distances offshore in deeper surveyed water, I become quite petrified at the thought of this – I even panic when he just wants to move a short distance in the dark. My fear of this is irrational but worsening, so I am increasingly more of a liability.

Friday 5^th August: We could see David and Dennis tacking south as we left the river. I am quite worried about them and hope all goes well for the remainder of their trip, which is going to be even  harder work.

Overnight Tony decided that we would head north and not proceed south. 3 main reasons: 1. it is a long way to go requiring long travel days which we find tiring 2.  the shallow entrances to the rivers require an incoming high tide to enter/leave. You leave one of the high tide but due to the distance to the next river, you arrive on the low and then have to anchor and wait, often in swell. 3. the murky water unsuitable for the desalinator so water supply could be an issue. Disappointing but rationale based on our abilities.

Still early morning water of Kirke River

So we sailed, motor sailed and motored back to the Archer River that is accessible all tides. Took all day. We will stay here till the tide times improve and then try to reach the Love River, which is between here and the Kirke. On sunset the winds increased 20 – 30 knots, so not a calm anchorage at the moment – I hope that David and Dennis are somewhere sheltered.