Rampaging through the

destination: WA
SCOTT WYATT
Rampaging through the
Kimberley
When it comes to cruising the Kimberley, few
would be more knowledgeable than Rob and Sue
Wakefield, who have made it almost a home away
from home in their cat Rampager. Nigel Ridgway
asks them to share their experience.
SCOTT WYATT
36
February 2008
Typical spectacular
Kimberley vista.
INSET Red-headed
local resident.
destination: WA
he Kimberley region is attracting more and
more attention in the travel media. You have
only to open the weekend papers or check
out television programmes featuring Australian
adventure holidays and you will soon come
across it.
“Doing” the Kimberley in a private cruising
yacht is a bit different, and we yachties have a
unique opportunity to cruise this area before it
becomes over-commercialised and exploited.
I have cruised the Kimberley twice myself and
absolutely love it. While my wife Ailen and I were
up in Darwin recently, we met up with some old
cruising friends, Rob and Sue Wakefield, who have
spent long periods in the Kimberley over the past
six years – living aboard their lovely catamaran
Rampager. Below is the resulting interview.
T
Nigel: It’s now four times over the last six
years that you’ve spent extended periods
in the Kimberley. What’s the attraction?
Rob and Sue: What we love about the
Kimberley is its beautiful but rugged country
– especially rivers like the Lynne, King George,
Drysdale, Berkeley and Mitchell. Each is very
different but beautiful in its own way. Our
absolute favourite is the Berkley with its long
walks, access to fresh water, white sandy beaches
and lots of shells. Another reason we love the
Kimberley is its flat seas and safe anchorages only
half a day’s sail away. You can be the only boat in
the anchorage for days at a time, unlike some of
the crowded anchorages on the east coast. It’s still
pristine (despite the numbers of tourists) with no
sign of human life except for the signs erected by
CALM (Conservation and Land Management)!
Q
A
People often talk of the growing crocodile
population. What has been your experience
of these fearsome reptiles?
Crocs are definitely on the increase, but
we have had no threatening behaviour
ourselves, although our friends on Dog On Cat
had one big croc jump up and attack their wind
generator! Don’t leave your dinghy out at night
– as you well know, Nigel! They are not scared of
humans or boats.
Snakes can be a problem. A king brown climbed
the anchor chain on Maverick Dream and was
found on deck. He was quickly dispatched
overboard. That happened to another boat too.
Q
A
Where’s Rob? A wonderful waterfall at the head of the Berkeley River.
SUE, ROB AND RAMPAGER
Sue and Rob brought Rampager over to the west from Queensland and Rob
did the fit-out himself. After a shakedown cruise to the north-west, where they
encountered some dreadful weather off Exmouth, they sailed back to Perth.
Rob then extended the hulls by adding sugar scoops. This has not only
improved dinghy and swimming access, but also Rampager’s performance.
They left the west in 2001 and have lived and cruised on board ever since.
Sue and Rob have retired onto the water, and their cat is now their home.
Rampager is a Fastback catamaran with an LOA of 13.9m, LWL of 12.5m,
beam of 6.4m and draught of one metre. She is powered by a 47hp Yanmar
diesel extended saildrive and carries 210 litres of fuel and 600 of water.
You go to the Kimberley for months at
a time – what sort of provisions would
you recommend?
Having a cat, we can carry lots of tinned food
like vegies, paté, butter, fruit and plenty of
dried beans, peas, corn etc. We carry powdered
milk and make our own yoghurt and bread. We
also take lots of flat bread (Turkish) and cracker
Q
A
February 2008
37
destination: WA
biscuits. We’ve found long-life
camembert and brie cheese keeps well
and doesn’t need refrigeration until it’s
opened. We take a leg of ham so have
plenty of cold meat. Sun-dried tomatoes
are great. We have two big freezers on
board so we take plenty of frozen meat,
and we catch lots of fish to supplement
the meat. We grow herbs like mint, basil
and rocket. We take lots of instant
mashed potato (which has improved a
lot) and lots of small, whole pumpkins,
sweet potatoes and unwashed potatoes
because they last longer. For fresh fruit,
we take granny smith apples and
oranges – they last the longest.
Have you found any new sources of
fresh water (besides the popular
King George River, Freshwater Bay and
Silver Gull Creek)?
All the rivers we mentioned have
fresh water. The Berkeley has one
small waterfall towards the head, which
has never run dry in six years. We also
found water at Osborne Island on the
beach in the Paspaley cyclone hole. We
just dug on the beach and had fresh,
sweet-tasting water running through
the rocks.
Q
A
Have you noticed an increase/
decrease in the number of private
yachts cruising the Kimberley?
We don’t think there’s been an
increase in private yachts – it’s
about the same as in 2001 when we
started exploring.
Q
A
What about charter boats and
commercial cruises?
There’s been a big increase in
those, but they only stay a few
hours before moving on, so they
don’t annoy us too much. We were
surprised to hear that there were
45 charter boats in the Kimberley this
year – amazing!
Q
A
Fuel was a problem when we all
went through in 2001. Has that
situation eased?
Yes – there are more places to
organise fuel like Truscott air base,
Dog Leg Creek or alternatively you can
arrange a fuel drop from a barge to a
designated place if you pre-pay for it in
Darwin. You can also pay Les French at
Honeymoon Bay to take you into
Kalumburu – that’s quite an experience
in itself!
Q
A
Have you found the pearling
industry encroaching more into the
popular bays?
There are definitely more pearl
farms, but they leave plenty of room
for charter boats and yachties to move
through. We always call them on the
radio as a courtesy, and they are always
very polite. We’ve heard of instances
where they have helped out yachties in
trouble but this shouldn’t be relied upon.
Q
A
How has the fishing been? Noticed
any differences?
The fishing this season has been the
best we’ve ever had – maybe because
we’ve learned how to fish for barra! You
do have to put the time in to be successful.
We also catch heaps of salmon, trevally,
mangrove jack and mud crabs.
Q
A
You must’ve met some characters
over the years. Can you tell us
about some?
Well, we met Chris and Jane who
were squatting in a bay between
Berkeley and King George River. They
called it “Mad Man’s Bay!” We caught up
with them two years in a row. They had
an old caravan, which was Jane’s art
Q
A
NAVIGATING IN THE
KIMBERLEY
Cruisers enjoy a barbecue on the beach at Hanover Bay.
38
February 2008
It is essential that you learn how to
calculate the tides because the range is
up to 10m in the Kimberley. Using the
tides will assist tremendously and
“pushing” them (unless forced to) results
in slow going and high fuel consumption.
If coming from the east, you’ll have to
cross the Gulf of Carpentaria and the
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf – sailing from the
west, you’ll have to cross Bonaparte if
continuing to Darwin. (Yachties lovingly
refer to these as the “Gulf of Hysteria”
and the “Blownapart Gulf” – for good
reason!) Wait for the right weather.
The best time to go is after the wet
(cyclone season) from April to October.
Watch the highs down south – a strong
high in the Bight means strong winds
across the north, cold fronts down south
cause a drop in wind speeds in the
Kimberley, which is the best time to move.
Sue and Rob’s recommended cruising
guide is West Coast Cruising by Ross
Brown, published by the Fremantle
Sailing Club.
destination: WA
“They kept chooks and
grew their own vegies
and had plenty of fresh
water from a billabong”
studio (Jane has painted some beautiful
Kimberley pictures), an open shed for
their bed and an open fire to cook on.
They kept chooks and grew their own
vegies and had plenty of fresh water
from a billabong about one kilometre
away, which they pumped down to
their camp. The anchorage was very
safe for their large runabout and
smaller tinny. A barge from Wyndham
would bring fuel and any supplies when
they needed them.
Another character was Bruce who
we first met in 2001. He was living in
Atlantis Bay, just near Elsie and Eric
islands. He had a makeshift camp
against a rock wall overlooking lovely
freshwater pools. He grew his own
vegies, shot wild cattle and caught fish.
We met him again this year. He comes
back regularly until he has to go back
to work to make some more money.
By the way – all these people had
permission from the Aboriginal
Land Council.
Can you recommend any new/
interesting anchorages worth visiting?
This year we went up to Wyndham
to pick up our daughter and son-inlaw and little granddaughter. We really
Q
A
RAMPAGER’S
BARRA FISHING
AND COOKING TIPS
The best time to catch barramundi is one
hour before high tide and one hour after
and the best places are in entrances
to creeks and rivers – and also around
rocks, where you have to be extra careful
to avoid snags. Our best lures are old
silvery-grey in colour and quite scratched.
A lot of people swear by live bait but we
have had better luck with lures.
Cooking: barra is a great fish for
cooking with lovely, firm white flesh and a
very delicate flavour, so not much needs
to be done to it. We enjoy fillets done on
the Barbie wrapped in foil with a little
lemon juice – don’t overcook it. Time
depends on thickness, of course. Rob’s
favourite recipe for barra is thin strips
done in tempura butter and fried in a little
olive oil - then served with a sprinkling of
sea salt, sweet chilli sauce or lemon.
Now that’s a barra! (Sue refuses to say
where they caught it!)
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The King George – fabulous view from the top of the falls.
February 2008
39
destination: WA
enjoyed Wyndham. It was a very safe
anchorage with a floating pontoon to tie
your dinghy to. The locals were very
friendly. We were offered a vehicle by
the local garage owner so we could
fuel up and do some shopping in the
supermarket. It carries a good range of
food. There’s also a local bakery and great
sightseeing. Not many yachties go into
Wyndham, but we can recommend it.
Every year we seem to find new
anchorages – for instance the Helby
River was easy to access; no waiting for
the tide and great fishing. The Drysdale
River was lovely with lots of palm trees,
great fishing and lots of fresh water.
Another fascinating place was Gallery
Bay. The Aboriginal rock art is stunning.
You do need calm conditions to anchor
because there is no protection from
strong SE winds. Gallery Bay is between
King George and the Berkeley.
Some of the stunning
Aboriginal art.
Do you have any general advice for
newcomers considering cruising
through the Kimberley?
You have to go with the tides and
pick your weather conditions like
everywhere. Make sure you have plenty
of chain out when anchoring to allow
for the big tidal ranges. Carry plenty of
supplies and plenty of fuel. Things are
getting a bit easier, though, as you can
arrange fuel drops in Darwin. Don’t
leave your dinghy in the water at night
– crocs will attack inflatables.
Also, if you have to leave an anchorage
in a hurry it’s better to have your
dinghy secured.
Don’t swim! This is most important.
Some of the newer charter boats are
letting their passengers swim – this could
have potentially fatal results because
crocs will attack humans. If yachties see
charter boats allowing swimming, don’t
be tempted to dive in too. Horizontal
Falls can be another danger – the flow is
immense. One lady tourist died recently
when she fell off a charter boat while
going through the falls.
Q
A
Reflections in the
still waters of the
Lynne River.
Clarence Str.
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Kimberley
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
40
February 2008
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Nigel Ridgway
Nigel and his wife, Aileen, live
in Mandurah Quays in WA.
They currently cruise local
waters in a Spacesailer 24, but
Nigel has dreams of returning to the
ocean when he can finally retire. Aileen is
not quite so sure!