Talbot Bay and beyond

After some planning around the tides, we departed Silvergull Creek with a plan to head east down ‘The Canal’ past Koolan Island, arriving at ‘The Gutter’ on slack water and then riding the incoming tide down towards Dugong Bay.

One of the primary considerations getting around up here is fuel conservation – fuel supplies are very limited and not guaranteed, especially in the East Kimberley – where we were heading. As a result, we were just running one engine on 1500rpm with sails up and relying on the tide assisting us – therefore you can understand why good planning is essential.

The names given to a lot of the locations in the Kimberley provide some insight into what you are heading into. At the bottom of ‘The Canal’, which runs past the eastern side of Koolan Island, the water is funnelled between a couple of small islands and you have the aptly named ‘The Drain’ and ‘The Gutter’ where you make your way through to the next section of water at the northern side of Koolan Island. As we approached ‘The Gutter’ we suddenly had 1 knot, then 1.5 knots then 2 knots of tide behind us pushing us along and the boat was moving through big tide boils and mini whirlpools – all in about 40metres of depth!

We were heading down to a creek with no name but where we had been told there were some hot springs to be explored, discovered by other cruisers over the years. The areas we were sailing now are all unsurveyed and so a sharp lookout needs to be kept and it can be a bit frustrating as you want to unfurl the screecher and scoot along but it is too risky if you need to stop in a hurry.

The views were amazing as we wound our way along a myriad of waterways with depths ranging from 50 metres to 3 metres! We were near the main route to Horizontal Falls and so were overtaken by True North, whom we had a quick chat to over the radio, as well as another charter vessel, Ohana, who again were very friendly and helpful.

After travelling some 20nm we found ourselves down a creek system and were soon looking to find a spot to anchor. It is quite tricky as you need to compensate for the rise and falls of the tides and often it is 15 – 20 metres in the channels but rises really quickly on the edge, with no real swing room. We tucked ourselves up a little offshoot creek and dropped the anchor in 17 metres of water.

After getting the boat in order, we had a bite of lunch before jumping in the dinghy to go find the springs. Following Seb and Corban we made our way down a mangrove lined creek that got tighter and tighter until we reached the end and we were right in under the mangrove canopy. The water is dirty and all a bit eerie knowing there are probably a croc or two lurking around!

After securing the dinghies, which is a bit of a mission in itself, we had a scramble across the rocks until we got to the edge of the creek from where we could hear running water and see a large grove of lovely green tree canopy – so not far to go!

Within minutes we were in a rainforest setting with tree ferns, beautiful canopy and running water, cascading down the rocks into a series of pools. We all quickly stripped off and into the water, with the next hour spent swimming, climbing and exploring our way upstream. The water became warmer as it travelled downstream and whilst it wasn’t hot it was definitely warm.

We went on to explore another stream which was in the opposite direction and came across a small series of pools which opposite to the last were cold, but again shaded by a canopy of pandanus palms, trees and rock face.  

The next morning we departed to head for Dugong Bay, again picking our way slowly at low tide between sandbars, reef and rocks to make our way across to the entry point for the bay. Amazing viewing again and we weaved between 200 foot rock faces, small islands and towering ranges looking over us from the distance. Bloody unreal!!

We sailed across Dugong Bay, anchoring down in the south east corner where a 150 foot waterfall sits, which was unfortunately dry. A cruisy afternoon capped off with drinks, nibbles and good conversation and company on ‘On the Double’ celebrating Tina’s birthday.

The next few days were spent fishing, chasing mangrove jacks, chasing waterfalls and generally just enjoying the scenery. With a planned departure impending we were keen to use the tide to explore a waterfall and swimming hole located on the opposite side of the bay. A 7am departure saw us skimming across glassy water before entering a mangrove lined creek, that wound its way through towering rock faces until the tidal flow stopped towards the end of the creek. Once more we secured the dinghies with a few pulleys and multiple anchors before climbing over the rocks and making our way upstream, knowing that the tide was going to come in at least another metre and so the creek will look quite different on our return.

Like all of these excursions, it involves a lot of climbing, scrambling and working your way up and down rock faces to find the first waterhole that is out of reach of the tide and the crocs! This one was no exception, and we were doing some technical little climbs using handgrips and toe holds to get across rock faces on on to the next challenge. And we were rewarded with an amazing swimming hole, with an 80foot waterfall slowly trickling down from above. A great swim and sit under the waterfall, followed by snack and a cuppa before working our way back to the dinghies.

Returning to the boats we prepped for a departure timed to track out of Dugong Bay with the ebbing tide, with a planned destination of Molema Island, where an interesting channel and reef system awaited.

After some hectic tide work, aka more boils, cross currents and tide running up to 4 knots we turned the corner into Molema Island and suddenly we were out of the tidal stream and the water was calm. We had spied a cool looking channel that runs down the eastern side of the island and was surrounded by a large area of reef that dries out on low tide. We were unsure about depths and had been looking at satellite imagery to try and make sure there were no nasty rocks or otherwise in our path, however we needn’t have worried as we had a consistent depth of about 20 metres.

As we were making our way up the channel, we had exposed reef on our starboard side and the water was cascading off, like mini waterfalls, a very cool sight. We made our way to the end of the channel and after a couple of attempts secured our anchor. We had the island on one side and then as far as the eye could see was an exposed body of reef, and as the tide was still going out it was slowly rising higher and higher, until it was about six feet above water level.

The channel was filled with turtles, dugongs and a big array of birdlife and kept us entertained for the next few days with plenty of exploring and just watching in awe of the rising and falling of the tide to expose the reef. We were also entertained by the arrival and departure of a couple of small cruise ships that were passing in the channel to Horizontal Falls. Because of the low tide, the exposed reef lay between us and them and so we could only see the top 2/3rds of the ship as it slowly slid past – really cool to watch.

Next stop was Horizontal Falls, which was located only about 5 miles away, but hidden behind a couple of islands from our location. We had scoped out the high tide and decided we could travel straight across the reef and into the channel on the other side, from which we would travel the final few miles into Horizontal Falls. There wasn’t much wind but we had the tide behind us and we were treated to a spectacular sail, with a build up of big cumulus clouds in the background, vivid blue skies and towering islands; between them casting reflections across the water.. giving us the feeling we were in the Pacific somewhere!

We had timed our arrival into Horizontal Falls with spring tides, which meant the falls would really be going, but it also meant that we would have some friends as well. It was a bit surreal to arrive and find two cruise ships (Seabourn Pursuit and Heritage Explorer), True North II – complete with helicopter coming and going, as well as the ongoing arrival and departures of seaplanes to the pontoon from where the tours take place.

Of course we decided we would shoot the falls in our own dinghies but wisely at slack water tide. And it was just as well because it was pretty crazy, the amount of current generated by the water moving back out on the receding tide was unbelievable and definitely sketchy in the little dinghy. The increase in current in just half an hour was amazing and truly a little scary to see the whirlpools and currents generated – definitely to be treated with respect!!

Horizontal Falls is truly unique in that it sits at the end of a very deep channel and therefore accessible to large cruise ships as well as smaller vessels such as ours and you can see why it has become an iconic tourist destination.

After an afternoon and overnight stay we were ready to head for more peaceful waters and headed back towards Molema Island, passing to its east and behind it, once more using the tide and high water to pass across a large area of reef, before anchoring in a small deep hole, just off the shoreline.

A quiet afternoon, again a bit of time spent sitting on the cabin roof, binoculars in hand checking out the drying reef, surrounding cliffs and the wildlife.

Tomorrow we would start making our way towards another iconic Kimberley destination, Montgomery Reef. We had really enjoyed our time in the Talbot Bay area – again with many parts still to be explored.