SV True North

 We departed from Silver Gull Creek at 05:00 so we would enter the channel between Kolan Island and the mainland at low tide and exit the channel via The Gutter while the tide was still slack.  We have 24 for tidal swings currently and this causes strong currents, great turbulence and whirlpools in the narrow passages.  We passed two moored cruise ships on our way from the creek to the entrance to the Kolan Island channel.  The channel was calm and dawn brought us light as we motored down the channel past the large Kolan Island iron mine and loading docks.  The passage through The Gutter was uneventful because of our timing to reach that point at slack tide. Dawn light after exiting The Gutter, Koolan Channel Our passage continued with a very twisty route around many islands often fringed with reefs and rocks.  As the flood (rising) tide came in, the currents became much stronger with small whirlpools pulling True North off course and requiring us to be vig...

 We had a short 4.2 mile passage from Crocodile Creek to Silver Gull Creak this morning.  We departed from our Crocodile Creek anchorage at 09:30 when the rising tide gave us enough water to navigate out of the creek.  The passage was short and uneventful but very scenic. A view of Silver Gull creek from the camp.  True North is anchored in the bay behind the big hill on the right side of the picture. After anchoring, we set out in the dinghy to explore.  There is an old camp which is no longer inhabited but still has a fully functional swimming pool with running fresh water.  I dropped Paul and Glen off at the camp and continued up the creek in the dinghy to explore. Off to explore Silver Gull Creek The creek forked into two smaller creeks winding at the bottom of tall canyons.  Mangroves lined the banks and I’m sure Crocodiles were present but did not see any during my dinghy trip. Heading into the taller canyons of the creek. I returned to the camp,...

 We departed Coppermine creek early this morning for a quick 10.5 mile passage to Crocodile Creek.  The reason for our early departure was that we needed to arrive at Crocodile Creek well into a rising tide so we would have enough depth to navigate up the creek to the deep hole at the anchorage.  The cruising guide said there was only enough room for 2 or 3 yachts in the anchorage so when we arrived at the creek entrance, I sent Glen and Paul ahead in the dinghy to check if there was room for us.  Luckily they radioed back that there was only one other yacht in the anchorage and that the skipper of that yacht said we could raft up with them. Glen and Paul off to check if there is room in the anchorage The entrance to Crocodile Creek to the right of the big hill on the left side of the picture The guys rejoined me at the entrance to the anchorage pool and we backed True North along side Salty Dawgz.  It is a unique and beautiful anchorage! Safely tied up in the C...

 On our third day, we headed south headed for an anchorage in Brandy Bay by Hermite Island.  Unfortunately we ran into problems with shallow water at the entrance to Stephenson Channel and spent considerable time creeping along trying to find passage through the sand bars.  Soon after we entered the channel, we were called on the vhf radio by another yacht anchored just ahead.  They guided us to their vicinity and advised us that the remaining passage to Brandy Bay was shallow.  We anchored near the other boat “La Vie Nouvelle” and decided we would explore the area by dinghy the next day. It was still intermittently raining the next day but we set out to take the dinghy down Stephenson Channel to the top of Willy Nilly Lagoon to a spot where we could hike over to Turtle Bay.  The hike was relatively easy but it was quite windy and rough in Turtle Bay so we did not see the Dugongs which are supposed to be resident there.  We did however see many stingra...

 On the morning of our second day in the Montebello Islands, we made a short passage from Trimouille Island over to Alpha Island.  This was the site of the third and largest British atomic bomb test in the Montebellos.  After navigating some narrow channels we anchored in Chartreuse Bay off of Alpha Island.  The weather was cloudy with occasional showers but we took the dinghy ashore to explore. Our dinghy landing spot on Alpha  The radiation risk sign on Alpha Island We had a quick hike on the island and departed within our 1 hour safety limit.  Since the day was still young and it was not raining hard, we decided to take the dinghy for a long exploration/fishing trip around the many islands and out to the fringing reef.  We caught a two fish, a mackerel and a small grouper but let them go because they were small. Off to explore and fish A Sea Eagle nest - it’s huge!

 We arrived in the Montebello Islands early in the morning after a good overnight passage.  Our first anchorage was in Main Bay, the site of two British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s.  One test was on the island with the bomb on the top of a tower and the second test had the bomb on the HMS Plym warship anchored in Main Bay. A British video of one of the tests can be watched here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n9XnoexPXI   After tidying up True North from the passage, we took the dinghy ashore at Main Beach on Trimouille Island where we could see a sign. Radiation Risk sign at Main Beach The sign told us that we should only stay in the radiation risk area on the island for 1 hour so we immediately set off to explore the area. Hiking was a bit rough because of all the fractured coral rock under our feet The “ground zero” site of the bomb blast While hiking the island, we found a large number of steel chunks partially buried in the beach and all over the islan...

 We had a sumwhat uncomfortable night with waves bouncing the boat around quite a bit.  Luckily the wind direction changed overnight and by morning the waves had almost disappeared. It was a beautiful day so we decided to go for a walk on the island.  Bernier Island is mostly sandstone and loose sand dunes.  We took the dinghy into the beach and hiked up through the sparse vegetation to the to- of the cliff.  Our goal was to hike across the island to the west ocean side but we ended up following the lines of dunes south down the island, eventually coming back to the east shore at a lovely beach with crystal clear water.  I flew my drone for a while but unfortunately had forgotten to turn on the camera so I don’t have video of the island 🥺.  After flying the drone, we had a lovely swim before hiking back along the coastline to the dinghy and returning to True North. Glen hiking up the first dune at the beginning of our hike.   True North is t...