Crawford Bay (exiting The Kimberley)

[Kyle]From Hidden Island, we had just a little more time in King Sound before we had to make the two-day jump to Broome. We decided to sail a few miles south to Crawford Bay to have a last relaxing few days in the Kimberley before we say goodbye to it all.

Well, I say ‘sail’, but it never really happened. We had a forecast for ten-knot winds out of the north, which would have been perfect for the spinnaker, but they never materialized. The most we saw all day was two-and-a-half, which will barely lift the sail under its own weight.

Beautiful flat seas for the passage to Crawford Bay

We left on the end of the ebb, which put the current against us. The sea was flat from a distance, but up close it was a boiling miasma of eddies and whirlpools. Just before low tide, all of that stopped within about five minutes, leaving us gliding over a pane of glass. There was just enough haze in the air that it was impossible to make out the actual horizon. All of the land in the distance looked like they were floating in midair, as if some kid had colored in cumulous clouds with earth tones and drab greens.

When the whirlpools started to return, we got excited. We had been fighting currents between two and five knots while making four-and-a-half through the water. Our ETA sometimes said tomorrow, sometimes disappeared altogether. Now that was all going to change. The ebb died down to less than a knot at slack water, swirled around a bit and then the flood arrived from the exact same direction. What the hell? Now we’re going slow again. Perhaps we were in some kind of a back eddy. Oceanography can be a real mystery sometimes.

We decided to have dinner underway instead of waiting until we were anchored. After I finished the dishes, I emerged from the cabin to find Maryanne with a smug smile on her face. We were finally going seven knots, which meant we would definitely be anchored by nightfall. Whew!

Crawford Bay is big, ringed with steep hills plunging down to the water. There are few inlets or coves to explore and what there is requires a pretty long ride in the dinghy. The views of the islands in the distance are spectacular, particularly at sunset, and we enjoyed having the chance to relax and reflect on our time in this special region: The Kimberley. We are so glad we finally were able to visit the Kimberley.

[Maryanne]Our time in The Kimberley has now ended. What an amazing trip we've had. We know we skipped a number of areas that others class as 'must see' - so there is plenty more to it than we have been able to share through the blog. Our minds now switch to planning our exit from Australia and all the formalies and triple checking that entails. We did manage to finally setup and test our water maker at Crawford Bay - thankfully that works just fine (Slow but steady).

[Maryanne]Thinking of visiting the Kimberley with your own boat? – Check out our Cruising the Kimberley Tips