sailing2xs: 22nd June and 25th June - close encounter with a crocodile - Cadell Channel

Saturday 22^nd June

We were surprised to find at least three big bottle shops in Nhulunbuy. And good prices, for wine, and for Pete’s beloved XXXX Gold. Anyone can go in and buy grog, but not without getting a permit from the local NT office. They are very strict about this. There is a long list of conditions. For example, if you are found begging on the streets, your permit is revoked. Also if you are found humbugging. Pete and I had a spirited discussion re this. What is humbugging? I asked. Pete looked at me witheringly and said, It means being a humbug. Ah yes… And what, exactly, is a humbug? I couldn’t get a clear definition out of him. He kept saying, You know. It’s when you say, Stop being a humbug. That sort of thing. Very frustrating. My usual way of settling any disagreement is, of course, to whip out my mighty iPhone and to google the answer. We were our of internet range at the time of the argument so we had to wait. And now we know…humbugging is practising deception - did you know this??

We left Elizabeth Bay mid morning, went though a passage between Cotton and Wigram Islands and are now anchored in a sweetly pretty bay shaped like a boot, with blue tinkling enchanting water, interesting rock formations, mangroves… I brought Pete his anchoring beer, took a photo of the prettiness, and said, wistfully, Oh how I wish I could have a swim…

Instead of a swim we lowered the dinghy, loaded the craypot with a very rank bit of meat we have been saving, and took it in close to the mangroves. While Pete was writing 2XS on the float with a thick black marker pen, I idly looked around and said, “Ummmm…Pete…do you think that is a rock? Or a log? Or…could it be a crocodile watching us? There, just behind you?” I always think rocks and logs and bits of seaweed are crocodiles, so he didn’t spin around very quickly. By the time he did look…it had gone… I said, “Drop the float, let’s GO!!” By the time we were back on 2XS, only fifty or so metres away, or crabpot was under siege… We watched as a very big (well, probably three metre long) crocodile thrashed around, chomping vigorously. It then swam off and we saw some fish near the mangroves leaping out of the water – maybe our big of rank meat wasn’t quite enough?

I now no longer feel any inclination to swim in the enchantingly blue water…

There is a sequel, to our Crocodile Encounter…

We couldn’t just leave our crabpot sitting in the water. It’s very bad manners, to abandon fishing gear. Turtles get tangled; crabs die unnecessarily. We took a deep breath and got into the dinghy. Jenny and Irving, from Backchat, had stopped for a quick visit, and we asked them to stand on deck with a white cloth. We would speed out to the craypot while they kept a wary eye on the croc, which was jauntily making its way along the mangroves, AWAY from the unwatched pot. Pete and I, in the dinghy which suddenly felt VERY tiny, sped out to the pot. He screeched to a halt and I hauled the marker buoy and the pot aboard with lightning speed. The pot is unscathed, but the buoy…oh dear poor thing…

We then spent a very happy hour on deck, high above the water, on big solid 2XS, watching OUR crocodile making its way along the shore and up a small creek.

Pete Dundee Headlam, hoping it would come just a bit closer…

Tuesday 25^th June

The next two days I managed to do an emailblog thing –thank you Katy.

This morning we left our anchorage at the tip of the Napier Peninsula and made our way, both sails up and functioning beautifully, through the Cadell Passage. Oh how lovely! No engines, just the wind and the tide and the current conspiring, mostly, to help us find our way through the narrow channel.

It is very shallow so you have to follow the channel marked on the charts, and be very careful not to drift over into sandy muddy bog. 2XS tippytoes daintily along the marked channel while Pete and I held our breath. And then behind us we saw a VERY big boat, charging cheerily up the passage. It passed us and made its way through the Narrows.