Going Home

Fri 8/4/94

0730 hours: Everyone up.  Lift dinghy and secure everything.
0845 hours: Everything squared away. Lift the anchor. On our way.  Set course 025 deg True.  You wouldn’t believe it but the winds are coming head on from E to NE, exactly the direction we want to go.  Clear Cape Rulhieres then tack on southerly course 125 deg True for a couple of hours.  Can see another long trip ahead since we can only tack from N to SE.  Have some more problems.  A wire breaks loose on the foot switch to the fresh water foot pump, and a wire also breaks off at the alternator so no charge going into the batteries.  These faults fixed with some little difficulty as the seas are pretty bumpy.
1400 hours: Wind changes so tack northerly again.  Able to get 053 deg True just 10 deg off track making 4 to 5 knots. 
2245 hours:  Tacking easterly.

Sat 9/4/94
0035 hours:  Storms about.  One to our NE and one to our SE.  Trying to make for the gap in the middle and hoping they don’t close up. 
0210 hours:  Hope advises us by radio that the storm to our SSW is very severe.  He gives its position and tells us it's moving very slowly on 270 deg True.  We knew it had to be bad by the lightning and big black clouds.  Hope has been tracking but not yet located the one to our NE on his 16 nm radar.  Start heading NE away from the nearest storm which is only 10 nm away from our position.
0430 hours:  Big black clouds and strong winds overtake us from the SW.  Running before the wind getting 6 to 7 kts.  Exhilerating! Get some associated rain and it passes over by 0615 hrs.
Morning: Most of the morning uneventful.  Keeping company with Hope in sight all day. Both boats tacking in the slight winds coming directly from NE.
1120 hours: Engine fails. Give our position to Hope who passes it to the Overseas Telecommunications Service - O.T.C. Darwin Radio, by HF radio with a situation report.  Engine has overheated with a blockage in the cooling saltwater intake.  Some horrible scummy brown fetid smelly stuff comes up the inlet pipe to the water trap.  Clean out the pipe and re-seal the water trap.  Allow engine to cool and re-start engine.  Water system ok but engine dies again soon after.  Attempt to start engine again but it simply won't go.  No way! Check fuel filter.  Only 1/3 full of diesel meaning either fuel pump or a blockage.  Pull off all fuel lines and check for blockages.  All ok.  Put a reserve 20 ltrs diesel into tank and top up filter.  Air-bleed the fuel system including pre-filer, injector pump and both injectors.
1800 hours:  Get engine going again.  On our way.  Give situation report to Hope including our position and that we will be heading in a northerly direction towards the shipping lane.
1920 hours: Engine dies again.  Find air in fuel system and unable to find out where air is being sucked into system.  Nil winds.  Report that we are becalmed to Hope and give our position again, and that we only have about 60 ltrs of water left. Plenty of food on board. Check engine again. Possibly sucking air through a faulty gasket on the injector pump but have no spare parts to fix it.  Also locate a small water leak from the saltwater pump mounting gasket.  This is no major problem and bearable so long as the revs are kept down.  Unwilling to take the pump off in case the problem is made worse.
2120 hours: Re-start engine and on our way again. Keeping revs down making about 2 to 3 kts.  Unable to contact Hope any more.
Rest of Night:  Engine continues to fail between 1 and 3 hours requiring air venting and restarting.  Using no power for anything except radio and GPS as fridge, fan, auto helm etc all putting too much strain on the engine.  Headsail down and mainsail sheeted in hard.  Heading directly towards Fish Reef light.  Averaging about 4 kts.

Sun 10/4/94

1000 hours: Still 67 nm from  Fish Reef light and still out of Darwin Radio range.  Unable to contact anyone by radio. Scanning as many likely channels as possible in case someone talks on radio.
1200 hours:  Hear Darwin Radio. Unable to make contact. Finally manage to get Sikaflex around the injection pump mount and water pump mount.  This is achieved with some difficulty but I don’t expect it to work though.
Afternoon: Make a damper for lunch. Nice change. All the bread brought on board has gone mouldy.  Hear Darwin Radio a couple of times but still unable to get an answer. Keeping up regular calls.
1420 hours: Engine stops between 20 to 40 minutes now.
1600 hours: Notice engine heat going up dramatically just before engine dies.  Pull out water pump.  Impeller looks ok but change it anyway.  Cover plate gasket badly worn. Clean cover plate, reseal and coat surrounding join with Sikaflex.  Enjoy the cocktail hour while waiting for it to set.  Set Genoa in the meantime steering in a northerly direction. Only getting 0.02 kts but at least moving and not drifting.
1915 hours: Fire up the engine. Overheats immediately. Had forgotten to turn on the seacock.  Starting to make mistakes.Turn it on and try again.  About 100 percent more water being pumped through the exhaust. Sight a vessel to our north but it won't answer calls on the radio.  Looks like a trawler. Continue as before making way then having to vent the air our of the fuel lines.

Mon 11/4/94
Midnight: Experiencing overheating problems now.  Find the saltwater pump mounting gasket has really blown out and nil spares on board.  Am able to make some way by keeping the engine at idle. Slow but at least moving together with the sails.  Sight a freighter or similar big vessel to our north again but it won't answer radio either Caustic comments among the crew that we wouldn’t want to be dying out here.
0120 hours: Establish contact with Darwin Radio some 33 nm WNW of Fish Reef light.  Give our situation report and position.  Tell them nil concern for welfare at this stage. We are unaware at this time that M.R.C.C. Canberra has already issued a look-out for us.
0300 hours: Storms ahead.  Nasty looking too.  Keeping a close eye on them
Approx 0400 hours: Catch the side of the first squall.  Some wind gusts and rain.  Still another storm ahead which keeps getting bigger.  Hard to tell which way it is going and its directly in line with Darwin.  Unable to contact Darwin Radio to find out more about it.
0500 hours: Storm squall has become huge, covering a large area.  More wind gusts.  Getting quite concerned.  Still can’t determine its direction, it just keeps getting bigger. Options to dodge it getting more limited all the time.
0600 hours: Decide to go south to get out of its road, even though Lorna Shoals and its reefs lie down there to the west of Quail Island.
0630 hours: Path cut off by huge black cloud coming over. Reverse direction to the north and attempt to outrun it.  Squall centre clearly identifiable through the thunder and lightning.
0700 hours: Don't make it and get hit hard. Seas pounding, wind blowing really hard. Have a second reef in mainsail and a storm jib set, but still unable to get sufficient headway to turn into the wind and seas. Wind so strong it’s overpowering the boat.  Lowana lies almost parallel to the seas at times and the crew have to hang on to prevent being thrown into the sea. Engine of little use.  Tamea working like a trojan to keep the fuel vented and give me some emergency revs.  It's just enough to get the bow around sufficiently to face the worst waves when needed.  Dolphins having a wonderful time playing in the surf around the boat.  I point them out but no one seems interested in looking at them.  Somewhere during this we listen to Darwin Radio giving a gale warning.  Do tell......we already know about it.
Approx 0800 hours: Gale passes through leaving severe seas and strong winds. Winds very fickle alternating in gust speed and direction.  Unbelievably the wind has changed and is coming from the SE generally 060 deg true, which is the course we now want for Darwin. Give us a break! Unable to make any headway between 030 deg and 130 deg True ie. the western end of Bathurst Island and Fog Bay area.  Forecast is for strong wind warnings over the next couple of days.  Debate retreating to Fog Bay and waiting it out but discount this due to danger of reefs and shoals. Fog Bay is a known bad water area anyway and not a very comfortable anchorage.  Entry to Bynoe Hbr in the no-go zone. Try for 030deg True but unable to make any speed over ½ kt and very uncomfortable.  Able to get 2 to 3 kts on a northerly tack but unfortunately the only progress we can make is north then almost south, north then almost south etc.  It is going to be a very long haul towards the east before we can get to a tacking position straight into Darwin Hbr.
By 0900 hours: Winds abate, short sea swells. Unable to make any speed now due to almost nil wind.  Seas push us back when attempting to make for Darwin Hbr by using motor alone on short bursts.
By 1000 hours: Becalmed again. Found a fuel line has ruptured spraying diesel onto the exhaust.  Unable to fix this one. Admit defeat with a sinking heart.  Listen as Darwin Radio continues giving strong wind warnings.  Call Darwin Radio and request a tow by the Water Police. They patch me to a sea-phone call to the Water Police who agree to come out and pick us up.  Don’t know what the cost will be but no other option, considering only about 50 ltrs of water left now after 12 days.  Spend remaining time trying to square boat away.  Put out sea anchor in attempt to keep bow to sea and smooth out the ride.  It's only partially successful.  Keep getting bounced around and gear flying about.  Everyone very, very tired so try to get some sleep. Haven’t had much sleep especially over the last 2 days.

Under ignominious tow.

 1315 hours: MV Emma Lambreck arrive with one Water Police officer and two Task Force officers. They throw a line and by 1330 hours we're off on a fast ride towards Darwin at about 8 to 9 kts.  Won’t have to worry about cleaning the hull now.  Taking some spray. Manning the tiller to keep Lowana directly behind the police boat.
1700 hours:  Pass Charles Point.
1730 hours: You just wouldn’t believe it.  Hit by another squall.  Mother nature has not finished with us yet! Strong winds and short sharp choppy seas, and wind drives stinging spray onto us.  Emma Lambreck keeps up the speed. Some waves crash aboard and drenching us.  Dinghy rocks around furiously on its davits.  The ropes securing it are beginning to fray and finally part, causing the dinghy to buck around even more.  Start to have serious concerns that the targa itself will not  stay in place and be pulled into the sea. Emma Lambreck not answering the radio.  Finally attract the attention of the two Taskies having a chat in the tower, who then get the Skipper onto the radio.  Ask him to slow down, which he does.  Secure the dinghy and probably saved the targa.

Sunset over Darwin Harbour.

1830 hours: Enter Darwin Hbr and the ride now mobs easier.  We're all cold, wet through, eyes stinging from the salt.
1900 hours: Emma Lambreck puts us onto a mooring which I believe belongs to the Harbourmaster or Port Authority.  Water Police assure us Lowana will be ok here for at least the next couple of days.  They kindly convey Tamea and John and all personal gear ashore to the loading raft at Stokes Hill Wharf.  Bill helps me lower the dinghy and square things away.
2000 hours: Arrive at Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Club and have a couple of welcome  home beers, very relieved to be ashore. Delma is at work so Bills wife Claudia takes me home where I picked up my car and boat trailer.  Return to DBCYC and pick up dinghy. Get home by 2100 hrs.

Postscript

Tues 12/4/94

0800 hours: Go to work at the NT Police Communications Centre as usual
1300 hours: Water Police inform me by radio that Lowana is at anchor in a precarious position in the middle of the channel.  Apparently the securing rope had parted and she had come off her mooring.  Arrange some time off.  Contact Tamea and Lindsay Walkley (from work, also an experienced sailor building his own steel boat) and they kindly agree to come quick and help me.
1400 hours: All meet at the Dinah Beach boat ramp. Tamea has acquired a mates 12 ft dinghy with 25 hp Yamaha and I also take along my dinghy. We make our way out to Lowana.
1430 hours: While making arrangements to move Lowana up the creek, a man in a dinghy stops by.  It turns out he was the one who saved Lowana from the rocks behind the old power station.  He had noticed her on the mooring in the morning and later saw her drifting. She had bumped against a steel pike just short of the rocks and this man was able to wedge his dinghy between the boat and the rocks and bunt her back out into the channel.  He then climbed on board and set the anchor.  I asked him to come to DBCYC in a couple of hours so I could shout him a couple of beers and a carton.  He agreed but didn’t show up.  Rough looking character with a bandana over his head and ear-rings.  Just goes to show it’s not what you look like.
1500 hours: Lindsay explained to me a system of tying the dinghy to the side of of a boat and using the dinghy to manoeuvre it.  This is an excellent system and a valuable lesson.  It works perfectly. We get caught on a sand bar but are free after about 10 minutes or so.  We lay Lowana on the mooring ropes and tie her up.  Tamea takes off to go to work while a secondary rope is put on the boat to the moorings to make her more secure.  After ½ hour or so we return to the ramp to find Tamea in trouble.  He had taken water over the stern and the winch clip is bent.  We manage to get the dinghy up the ramp, drain and winch it onto the trailer. Tamea goes to work. Lindsay and I go to the DBCYC for well earned refreshment.

Footnote:  I think I’ll stay away from the boat for a couple of days.  I’ve quite frankly had just about enough for the time being !

Empathy from my sympathetic co-workers
in the NT Police Communications Centre.

Equipment Faults:
1. Freshwater pump (twice):
    - dirty fuse
    - broken lead on foot switch
2. Auto Helm:
    - broken shear pin assembly caused by binding planetary gears.
3. Refrigerator:
    - corroded and broken negative power lead to plug
4. Alternator (twice):
    - direct contacts and connectors
    - broken lead
5. Engine:
    - blocked saltwater intake
    - sucking air info fuel system
    - water leak at saltwater pump
    - ruptured fuel line connection
    - fuel leak at injector pump, gasket and fuel filter
6. Radio VHF:
    - Channel 16 - possibly intermittent fault which seemed to work ok, but there may
        have been a fault.

MRCC MESSAGES:
Messages issued by MRCC Canberra.

First - (issued approx 0030 hours local time 11/4/94)
P 101501Z APR 94
FM MRCC AUSTRALIA
TO MHQAUST
HQNORCOM
FAX COASTWATCH CANBERRA
INFO DARWIN RADIO VID
POLICE DARWIN
BT
UNCLAS
SIC ICM
MARSAR 94/184 - SLOOP LOWANA BECALMED
1. SLOOP LOWANA BOUND DARWIN WITH 4POB REPORTED BECALMED IN POSITION 1242.9S 12844.5E AT 090945Z BUT TRYING TO DRIFT NORTH INTO SHIPPING CHANNEL.
2. VESSELS ENGINE AND RADIO U/S
3. DETAILS OF SITUATION RECEIVED FROM MR. JEFF CHAD OF DARWIN WHO WAS SKIPPER OF ANOTHER YACT (HOPE/VJD2814) WHO HAD BEEN SAILING WITH LOWANA BUT HAD MOTORED IN UNDER POWER DUE TO POOR WINDS.
4. MR. CHAD IS CONCERNED FOR OCCUPANTS OF LOWANA BECAUSE THEY HAD ONLY 60 LITRES OF WATER WHEN HE LAST SAW THEM YESTERDAY.
5. MRCC WISHES TO ESTABLISH SAFETY OF OCCUPANTS OF YACHT AND REQUESTS AS FOLLOWS:
A. FOR MHQAUST/HQNORCOM: REQUEST ADVISE IF ANY SURFACE VESSELS TRANSITTING THROUGH OR OPERATING NEAR YACHTS LIKELY LOCATION DURING FORENOON MONDAY 11/4/94.
B. FOR COASTWATCH: REQUEST IF ANY SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED FOR AREA WHICH COULD ASCERTAIN YACHTS LOCATION AND SITUATION.
C. FOR POLICE DARWIN: PASSED FOR INFO AT THIS STAGE.
6. DESCRIPTION OF YACHT:
A. LENGTH APPROX 10M
B. RED HULL WITH BLUE LINE AT WATERLINE
C. WHITE SAILS
D. WHITE DECKS
E. ALUMINIUM DINGHY ON STERN DAVITS
BT
REPLY TO: MRCCAUS AA62349
NORLAW AA85020

Second - (issued 0151 hours local time 11/4/94)
R 101621Z APR 94
FM MRCC AUSTRALIA
TO MHQAUST
HQNORCOM
FAX COASTWATCH CANBERRA
INFO POLICE DARWIN
BT
UNCLAS
SIC ICM
MARSAR 94/184 - SLOOP LOWANA BECALMED
A. MRCC AUSTRALIA 101501Z APR 94
1. PLEASE CANCEL REQUESTS AT REFERENCE. DARWIN RADIO HAS JUST ADVISED THAT LOWANA MADE RADIO CONTACT ON VHF CH.16 AT 101544Z AND ADVISES POSITION AS 32NM WEST OF FISH REEF LIGHT (APPROX 1226S 12955E).
2. VESSEL IS MAKING WAY SLOWLY AT 1-2 KNOTS. ALL OKAY AND NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
REGARDS
BT
REPLY TO: MRCCAUS AA62349
NORLAW AA85020

Out into the Bay

Weds 6/3/94
Dawn: Tamea and Bill go fishing.  Bill cooks breakfast of sausages, egg and tomato on toast.  Overcast day.  Wind building up 15 - 20 kts.  Up anchor and move to entrance of the river to explore the western arm.  Quite bumpy at the entrance.  Anchor just inside and at the mouth of the western arm.  John and Bill go fishing.  John successful again, returning fish to the water excess to requirements. Wait for the tide to change for crossing sand bar back out into Koolama Bay.  Hope to explore the little coves along the western side of the bay.

HMAS Geelong in Koolama Bay.

1330 hours: Leave King George Rv and out into Koolama Bay.  Very bumpy outside with huge waves driving up against the cliffs on the western side.  See the Navy Patrol Boat HMAS Geelong anchored in the bay. Assume it's there to wait out the rough weather outside.


Rattle and Hum at anchor inside Koolama Bay
headland.

Afternoon: Contact Wooli on radio.  Don tells me all the other yachts are anchored in the lee of the eastern headland so we make our way over there to join them.  Have some trouble getting the large Danforth anchor to set once more.  We're in 8m of water but can't get closer to the beach due to location of the other boats.  Make a couple of attempts laying out 45m of chain before it seems to set.  Connect a safety rope to the last 15m of chain is it’s pretty old and rusty.  Two Navy blokes come to each boat asking questions on behalf of Coastwatch.  Very polite and friendly.  Go ashore and climb the eastern headland.  Take some photos.

Bill on the eastern headland
Koolama Ba

1630 hours: Weather forecast not nice.  Tropical low in the Timor Sea expected to degenerate into a cyclone.  Located 191 nm from us moving west at 8 kts.  Winds locally quite strong.
1800 hours: Tamea cooks tea of rissoles, bubble and squeak.  Am concerned about the holding power of the anchor considering the now strong winds howling through the rigging and rocking the boat.  Set an anchor watch through the night of 2 hrs on and 4 hrs off.  Night is pitch black and hard to make out bearings.  Other boats turn off all lights and it becomes harder to keep track of them.  Having to use a torch occasionally to check their position relative to ours.  Some anxious moments but GPS assures me we're still holding, but swinging around a fair bit. Wooli’s fabric canopy gets ripped and a hatch is blown off at some point in the night.  Glad to see the dawn.

John and Russ on the headland.

Thur 7/3/94
0800 hours: Everyone up.  Problems with alternator.  Pull it out, strip it and clean everything in sight.  Re-check the manual to learn all the connections and how they work.  Replace some electrical contacts which are a bit corroded.  Also replace the voltage regulator as I have had some suspicions about it's performance. Don Ross kindly loans me a spare alternator just in case.  Check that it will fit if needed.  Manage to refit my own alternator and it appears to be working okay. Overcast day and solar panels not providing much power to recharge batteries.  Batteries down to just over 12v.  Having to run the motor to recharge batteries.

Yachts anchored just inside Koolama Bay

Midday: Coastwatch flies over and speaks to Wooli on the radio. Gets details of all four yachts present.  Mostly a social call.  Very polite as usual.  Day continues overcast and drizzly.  Still only getting about 5 amps of solar power but its enough to keep the fridge going.  Have to conserve fuel for the trip home so turn motor off.  Have used more fuel than expected coming over at just under ½ tank (about 120ltrs of diesel).  Winds E to NE and quite strong in gusts but eases a little from time to time.  Coastwatch tells us the seas in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf are the same as locally.  We can see they are quite big outside the headland.  It had been my intention to leave Thursday afternoon considering how slow we have been, but opt for caution. All yachts decided to wait it out to tomorrow.
Lunch: Frankfurts, bubble and squeak with Bills compliments.
Afternoon: Lay out a second anchor using the 35lb CQR with 3m chain and 100m rope. Notice Wooli has also laid a second anchor.  Feel a little more secure now but cautious just the same about anchor dragging.  It keeps us pretty much in place overnight despite a rain squall and very high winds.
Late Afternoon: Don Ross invites all crews from over to his boat for rum punch cocktail hour.  Take some tinned fruit and two bottles of non-alcoholic champagne which adds a nice taste.  Very pleasant social event but it breaks up on dusk when it starts raining.  Return to Lowana for dinner. Bill cooks a stew and we all settle in for the night.  Have to get up a few times to the call of the anchor alarm and for a hard rain squall but otherwise pretty uneventful night.

Views from the Top

Mon 4/3/94

Oysters and wine for breakfast.

Dawn: Tamea and John go fishing.  Bill and I have a leisurely brekkie of sausages and eggs which Bill cooks.
0730 hours:  John and Tamea return.  No fish but a load of oysters in a bucket, so we have oysters with white wine.  They're nice and big. We're pulling two or three at a time out of the bucket.
Morning: Square boat away and go ashore.  Climb to the top of the gorge and walk around to the top of the falls.  There are actually two separate falls. The view is stunning and magnificent.  Looking up at the top does not look nearly so far as it does looking down.  Skinny dip in rock pools at the head of each falls. 

The way to the top.

Bill and Russ at the top of the cliffs.

One of the falls.

Rugged country. Look closely and you will see Bill
looking over the edge. Russ is standing on a rock
ledge to the left and above him.

Yachts anchored in the river.

Skinny dipping in the rock pools.

Waterfall taken from top of cliffs

Afternoon: Return to boat.  Leisurely afternoon.  John and I go fishing.  Catch a trevally and an archer fish which we use for crab bait.  Set some pots.  Have a shower under the natural waterfall. 

Tues 5/3/94
Dawn: Bill and John go fishing.  Have breakfast on their return.
Morning: Up anchor and move back down river. Collect crab pots on the way but no crabs.  Anchor in a bend near the mouth of the shallow eastern arm of the river.  Reset crab pots then all troop off in the dinghy to the head of the eastern arm to visit the waterfall there.

Waterfall at the end of first inlet of the river.

John climbing to the top of the falls.

This waterfall is not nearly so majestic or high but pretty in it’s own right.  Someone has kindly left a thick corded rope hanging down the rocks to help climb up to the top. The going is much harder here.  The cliffs and rocks appear to be much more eroded than upriver, and there are a lot of loose rocks to catch the unwary. At the top the going is very slow while working around to the head of the falls.  Big boulders laying everywhere.  We find no rock pools to sit in unless we work our way quite some distance inland, so decide against it.  The creek feeding the falls descends from the plateau in a series of levels with mini waterfalls along the way.  Very pretty. At the head of the falls is a chasm about 50m deep with long, flat and wide rock plates.  There is a very deep rock pool.  As usual the trip back to the dinghy seems faster than coming in.
Afternoon: Get back to the boat.  Do some fishing. John gets a trevally, his first fish on a lure.
Evening: A calm night.  Some lightning about. Get some light rain overnight so we have to sleep indoors instead of on deck.

Into the River

0700 hours: Easter bunny finds us.  Bill and I present crew with chocolate and lolly Easter eggs.  High tide needed to get over the sand bar at the entrance of the river but this won't be until midday.
0930 hours: Drop dinghy and get it ready.  Bill and I take dinghy and check the sand bar with a lead line, and go looking for a deep enough channel with some bearings to use when we make the crossing.

Bill spotting looking for channels
as we head to entrance of river.

1130 hours: Negotiate sand bar and inside river. Tamea climbs the mast to take pictures.  Sip some white wine as we slowly motor up the river taking in the beautiful scenery.
1430 hours: Meet up with Wooli anchored near the waterfalls at the head of the river. Anchor up.  Tamea and I do some fishing.  Tamea lands a nice Trevally which he later turns into a superb Nummis.  Tide too high to get at the oysters.  Change over in dinghy so Bill and John can get some fishing in.  Have a sleep.

Entrance to the King George River.
Sandbar at left



Inside the entrance to King George
River. Small gorge off to the right.

Tamea in crosstrees looking
for shallow water or obstacles.

The river ahead.

Motoring along.

Looking back.

John tries to catch a fish.

Typical rock walls.

A bend in the river.

The waterfalls mark the end of the river.

Wooli at anchor.

A natural freshwater waterfall.

1800 hours: Crew all have a shower under a natural freshwater waterfall.  It's cold and stings a little because of the height of its fall but it's wonderful. The children from the Wooli have climbed up to a rock pool along the cliffs.  Almost have to use the binoculars to see them from our boat.  Three other people are camped on the rocks around the base of the waterfall.  Two men and a woman.  We later learn they'd come from the Kalumburu Aboriginal community in their two 16 ft dinghy’s, about 4 hours travel time away.
1900 hours:  Visit the Wooli for a few drinks and social intercourse.  Have a great time, very enjoyable indeed.
2300 hours:  Get back to Lowana with a rosy glow and have some dinner.  Very simple fare, sausages and mashed potatoes.  Get a good nights sleep.

Getting Across the Gulf

S.V. LOWANA IV
DARWIN to the KING GEORGE RIVER, WA
EASTER 1994

Passages across Joseph Bonaparte Gulf

Crew:
Russ Swan  Skipper
Bill Hawker
John Hawker
Tamea (Tumma) Jeffreys

Wed 23/3/94
Commence organising boat for the trip.  Start servicing of engine.  Top up fuel and water.

Thur 24/3/94
Bill and I shop for non-perishable stores, eg packaged food etc.  Load onto boat.

Mon 28/3/94
Finn Campbell (diesel engineer) comes out to boat.  Checks engine and shows me how to bleed the air in the fuel system.  This proves to be a valuable lesson later on.  Engine servicing completed.  Pick up new GPS - a Garmin 50 hand-held with a wall mount and attachment to boats 12v DC power.

Wed 30/3/94
Bill and I shop for fresh stores ie meat, fruit and vegetables.

Thur 31/3/94

Under Sail

0730 hours: All crew meet at Dinah Beach boat ramp. Take personal gear and fresh stores out to boat and load them aboard.  Final check of engine and boat in general eg stowage, final inventory checks.
0930 hours: Leave mooring in Sadgroves Ck and move out into Darwin Harbour.   Lift dinghy and secure onto davits.  This takes some time due to testing a different system of raising dinghy higher than previously to clear a following sea.  Other final preparations eg bring out and secure extra sails, crew briefing on safety and general boat housekeeping etc.
1050 hours: Hoist sails off Talc Head and depart Darwin Harbour.  beautiful day, slight breeze, seas 0.6m.
1220 hours: Reach #5 buoy at Charles Point Patches under sails only.  Wind dead aft, goosewinged sails. Have lunch of chicken rolls, tomato and onions.
Afternoon: Freshwater pump fails. Find surface rust on an in-line fuse. Clean off and all ok.  Notice refrigerator not working.  Negative wire has corroded and broken off the moulded plastic power plug.  Have to cut it open, re-wire, solder and tape up plug. Get it working again ok.  It continued to work with no problems for rest of trip.  Temporarily install the new GPS to boat power and mount the antenna externally up on the targa rail. Stern gland holding well.  Very little water coming in and minimum bilge pumping required.  Shear pin of the auto-helm breaks caused by binding in the planetary gears. The whole shear pin connection is torn apart.  Hand steering from the time being.

Sunset in the gul

1605 hours: Reach Fish Reef light, clear it by 2.5 nautical miles (nm).  Set course 235 deg. Magnetic for King George River.
1800 hours: Have dinner of cryovac Silverside, mashed potato and peas.
2030 hours: Slow going.  Only made good 16 nm since Fish Reef light.  Average speed 3.5 knots. Seems to be an adverse current and no wind.  Also beginning to wish I had cleaned the boats hull prior to starting out, although it had only been done a month ago and didn’t think it would be too bad.  Motor sailing now.

Fri 1/4/94
0600 hours: Sight navigation lights of the Wooli, a 64’ timber cruiser owned by Don and Annette Ross who are also sailing to King George Rv.  They have another couple on board and all together there were five children between the two families.  Very slow progress during night.  Little or no breeze so motoring along instead.  Whatever winds we get are from dead ahead and have to tack virtually west or south. Take headsail down at one point because it was back-winding and slowing us down. However fluctuating winds come in abeam do give a boost from time to time.

a mirrored sea

0700 hours: Establish radio contact with Wooli. Don is getting 6 to 7 kts under motor. We're still struggling with 4 to 4.5 kts. Don is just as surprised as I am that he caught us so soon.  He quickly leaves us behind after giving me a bit of stick over the radio.
 0730 hours: Have breakfast of cereal, a cuppa, scratch and look around.  Water like glass. Boat is perfectly mirrored in the water which is a deep indigo blue.  Loads of sea snakes, small ones around 2-3 ft long usually on the surface.  They are a light brown colour with black bands and very small heads.  Occasionally we see one swimming straight down, to get away from us I suppose.  The day is absolutely brilliant, just enough of a breeze to keep relatively cool, if not enough to keep the sails filled.
Morning: Bill and Tamea set to work with the cordless drill and permanently mount the EPIRB near the wheelhouse door where it can be snatched up quickly if needed.  They also mount the GPS bracket onto the hull above the navigation station.  No one sick yet but we haven’t had any seas big enough to talk about yet.

Bill's turn on watch

1050 hours: Have had better runs. Made good only 98.1 nm for the 24 hrs.
1300 hours: Lunch of chicken rolls.
Afternoon: Catch up on some sleep.  Fix the auto-helm using some spare parts left over from a previous fault.  Degrease the planetary gears to get rid of the crud.  Get it working better than before. No more problems with the auto helm for the rest of the trip.
1800 hours:  Mince stew with pasta, fresh and dried veges for tea.  Winds treating us poorly all day, remaining dead on the nose for the whole of the time.  This remains the same for the rest of the trip over.

Sat 2/4/94
Early Morning: Sight navigation lists of two more yachts to our south.  Later learns that these were Hope and Rattle and Hum.  They slowly pass by us in the distance.  Breakfast of cereal and toast.
Morning: Another fine day.  Slight breezes head on as usual.  Hold to a westerly course during the morning.  Tack south for a while to get to a final approach position favourable to winds.  Tamea occupying himself cleaning anything made of brass or bronze.  Another disappointing run for the last 24 hrs.  Expect 5 to 6 kts which I know the boat can easily achieve when motor-sailing, but only getting about 4 kts. Definitely regretting not cleaning boats hull before departure now. Also seem to be strong adverse currents holding us back. Check fridge contents.  All ok.

Mud-map of Koolama Bay and
King George River

1745 hours: First sighting of WA. coast.  Watch it get closer during the ‘cocktail hour’.  Have dinner of stew with different pasta.
Evening: Have to close with the coast in pitch dark. GPS’s are great gadgets allowing you to do this was careful use of waypoints.
Late Evening:  Nose our way into Koolama Bay at the head of the King George Rv.  Hope and Rattle and Hum anchored just inside the entrance on the eastern side in a small cove with a sandy beach.  Tried to anchor just south of them in the lee of some cliffs but the newly purchased 35lb CQR plough anchor would not hold in 9m of water.  The large Danforth (sand) anchor wouldn’t hold either.  Tried a couple of times but it dragged each time. Moved about 1 nm further south around a bend and set the anchor in about 5m of water.  This time successful.
 
Sun 3/4/94
0100 hours: We enjoy a couple of beers to celebrate and get to bed.

Lowana IV in Koolama Bay