Kimberley Cat Day 2

Thursday 2nd July 2009
Sleeping on board Kimberley Cat was just like sleeping in our own bed, the anchorage was nice and sheltered so there was no wave during the night and the breeze through the open hatches made the 25°C overnight temperature quite bearable.
We started the day early, getting out of bed at 5:30am so we could head out on the smaller launch at sunrise. We went up a creek and nearly at the end, where the mangroves and rocks are, we tied up for a spot of fishing.
Using bait fish on hand lines out of the launch we managed to catch all sorts of fish including a 50cm Black Tipped Reef Shark. The fish we were chasing was the "Blue Nose" or "Cooktown / Threadfin Salmon" - I caught two of them, one 45cm and the other 58cm. The others caught another two of the same species before we had to move on to avoid being caught out by the outgoing tide.
After the fishing we went back to the catamaran and had our breakfast before heading out again to another one of those creeks called crocodile creek. At the end of the creek was a gorgeous waterfall (see picture) which is not a waterfall at a full high tide but on the outgoing tide today we had to use the steel ladder.
This spot has been established by workers from the mines on the surrounding islands as a weekend BBQ spot. Once we climbed up the step ladder the area opened out wide and there was another waterfall feeding a beautiful freshwater pool where went for a swim. There was also a sort of a roof, covered with shade cloth, which had all sorts of things hanging of it where people have recorded their visit to this magical spot.
After a good swim we had to leave to avoid being caught out by the outgoing tide without water in the bay. On the way back to the cat we called into a little beach where we played in the water and picked some fresh rock oysters for those who like them raw.
Further on we called into another bay, called dog leg creek, where the mining supply barges reside. These ships travel to Derby and collect 100,000 lt of fuel, cars, helicopters and all manner of things to bring them back to dog leg creek where the customers, such as our skipper, collect their good. We picked up a few bottles of LPG for the BBQ and took them back to the catamaran before we headed of on the catamaran in an easterly direction. Back down the side of Koolan Island and through The Gutter. We tied up for the night at the most easterly point of Koolan Island, stepped onto the launch and took of for an exploration trip along the northerly side of Koolan Island which is exposed to the open ocean and features spectacular cliffs rising vertical over 200ft out of the water. A bit more fishing brought in a couple of Spanish Flags (Stripey Seaperch) but they were not big enough for dinner so we kept them for bait. We observed Tuna jumping just ahead of us, Longtom skipping along the surface for long distances and Sharks coming up to the boat to check out what we had on our hooks. My hook was taken by something big but I never got to see it! As the sun was setting we headed back to the Catamaran and arrived there just as it was getting dark. Alexander decided to do some more fishing and hooked a little Black Spotted Travelley which was released and shortly thereafter he caught a sea snake which we didn't really want anywhere on board the ship or near people. As the snake was out of the water it was trying to climb up the fishing line to wards my hand but I managed to shake him off eventually. It appears the snake was not really hooked, but was just holding onto the bait before he finally decided to let go. The skipper told us that he'd never seen a sea snake that took fishing bait.
As another beautiful day in the Kimberley comes to an end the wind has come up a bit and the catamaran is finally showing a bit of movement and it feels like we are on board a ship. I'll be settling into bed tonight, very tired, being rocked to sleep by the waves.