80 Mile beach and beyond…

After leaving Port Hedland we had decided to track via North Turtle Island, which was about 30nm to the northeast, as it was one of only three islands in that area – and I had been to two of them previously. There was also a sniff of a wave at North Turtle so we thought we should check it out.

After an uneventful motor we arrived and tried to work out if there was a wave – which is tricky to do in an unfamiliar place and looking from behind. After some poking around we worked out there wasn’t much going on and as it was still relatively early I was keen to push onwards and get a few more miles under our belt. We still had more than 200 miles to Broome so onwards we went.

There is a bit of a lack of anchorages in this area and so we decided to stop near Point Larrey, which is not far from the mouth of the De Grey River and essentially involves dropping anchor about five miles offshore once you hit about five metres depth – literally in the middle of nowhere.

We left Point Larrey at three in the morning – not planned but we were getting so pushed around by the wind and tide that it was downright uncomfortable – and so we looked at each other and decided that we would just get going. This meant that our planned stop at Cape Kerauden would be bypassed, and we would be stopping somewhere up 80 Mile beach.

Not long after daylight I put a lure in and it wasn’t long before we had a Spanish mackeral on board – probably in the 6 – 8kg range. Dinner sorted and some extras into the freezer… job done!

We had another windless day and we were now tracking in towards the coast at the start of 80 mile beach. I had selected a spot to anchor, based off some other cruisers and about 4pm we arrived, having covered about 70nm, so a big day. We dropped the anchor in about 7 metres of water – which was delightfully clear and after a swim headed into the beach.

There was a small wave running so after some to and fro we got Bob onto the beach and had a bit of an explore. Amazing expanse of beach as far as the eye can see and plenty of interesting shells etc. We were still refining our entry and exit strategies with surf and consequentially got bombed by a wave, giving Bob a good old bath and putting about 40 litres of sea water into him.  After some cursing we were back out to the boat – which incidentally was nearly two miles out – again to allow for the long flat sloping shallow flats that extend out of the beach and the six metre tidal flow.

It was rinse and repeat the next day, with a 6am start and another 66nm knocked over. No beach trip this time but we were treated to amazing glass off conditions which continued all night, giving us a magic carpet show of reflections from the stars on the ocean. Absolute dreamlike conditions, which unfortunately you just can’t capture on the camera.

Arrival at Cape Bossut the next afternoon signalled the end of 80 mile beach and the start of an interesting piece of coast between here and Roebuck Bay. Cape Bossut is not far from Bidyadanga Community and we had a bit of an explore on the beach, including a quick poke around a mangrove lined creek. Starting to think about crocs a bit more now!

A short hop the next morning had us at Cape Gourdon, As we were coming in a small trailer boat came over and some guys from Broome offered us a nice bluebone fish – which we naturally accepted. There is a massive pearl farm about two miles offshore here but in close to the Cape it was lovely and sheltered and deeper water allowed us to get in nice and close. Plenty of time to explore and walk the coast here, which has some rugged rock formations and lots of interesting features.

The next morning we slowly made our way the 8 or so nm to a spot close to Barn Hill, where the landscape changes again and the coastal cliffs and rocks are the classic red Kimberly colours. We dropped anchor at the point and headed into the beach for a swim before a quick explore in the dinghy. Not far away we found a spot that looked a little better than where we were anchored so we decided to move. At this time the tide was dropping and as we returned to Singularity we saw more and more reef start to get exposed – a good lesson about big tides and poor water visibility. The charts are fairly scant through this area and we were seeing that we had dropped anchor right in the middle of some potentially shallow reefs. Out we went but lesson learnt about being really aware of the conditions and waters from here north.

Our new anchorage was right beside a 100foot cliff face – not something you expect to find up here but this little bit of coast, just south and north of Barn Hill is beautiful. We spent the afternoon exploring the beach and surrounding inlands, checking out a couple of water courses and a lot of stunning cliff faces and weathered rocks.

Things were a bit breezy the next day with a stiff easterly but once they had settled a bit we jumped in the dinghy and headed across to check out Barn Hill station stay, where there is a small caravan park. A cuppa and a locally made cinnamon scroll was quickly devoured and we were suddenly on a table playing Bananrama – a word game based loosely on scrabble but without a board. Some expert tuition from our hosts and after swapping a few travel stories we were all on our separate ways.

It was only a short hop down to Cape Villaret, which is the closest location to Eco Beach Resort, located just around the corner. Eco Beach is a special place for us as we had our honeymoon at the original Eco Beach way back in May 1998. At that point it was a small set up with small bungalows made from recycled materials, but of course the beauty was in the beach and surrounds. We were living in Broome in April of 2000 when Cyclone Rosita struck Broome and surrounds, including the total destruction of Eco Beach. It took a few years but was rebuilt bigger and better and now we got to return.

After settling on anchor we jumped in the dinghy and scooted around the corner the 3 or so miles to the beachfront at Eco Beach. The beach is quite shallow with long sandy shallows so after leaving Bob a long way from the soft sand we made the walk in. We had time for a quick look around and as it was cocktail happy hour we knocked back a quick dark’n’stormy before getting back to Bob right on sunset. The tide was coming in but it was still a long walk and then a quick dinghy ride back to the boat – mission completed!!

The next day we were up early for our crossing of Roebuck Bay to Broome. We finally had some wind but and it was a gusty easterly, which combined with the strong tides of Roebuck Bay made for a sloppy passage. As usual we ended up with the wind on the nose so it was one engine and some sail before the wind completely dropped out.

It was quite an occasion for us as we came around Gantheaume Point and into Cable Beach, back to our old Broome stomping grounds. We were met by Brad and Jasmin Carr who were out for a ski paddle and after a quick catch up we settled on an anchor spot right in front of the Sunset Bar at Cable Beach. Primo!!