After a while in Darwin, if you are a surfer the sight of 2.5-3m waves
is too much to resist. The folklore is that crocs and stingers don't
like the surf. In these circumstances what is a bloke supposed to do.
There were about 15 people in the water so I caught a few waves before
someone pointed out a croc among the white water. It was only
relatively small so we all kept on surfing. We also used to swim at
the local pool at a place called Nightcliff, and one time the early
morning swimmers found a medium sized croc sitting in the pool.
If you wear a stinger suit you are reasonably protected from both the
stingers and sunburn. This is a full length rashy.
Watch out for reflected glare. I once got a bad case of sunburn in my
nostrils while tuna fishing on a glassy ocean. If you have a good
moon, night time sailing works pretty well
What are you doing to make sure the boat doesn't sail away from you if
you go over the side. The cockpit position makes this unlikely, and I
imagine the boat would luff up as soon as you took your hand off the
tiller, but it could still drift faster than you could swim
Carrying enough fresh water was my biggest bugbear when sailing a
small boat in the tropics- apart from a bad case of giardia.





--- In harryproa@..., Doug Haines <doha720@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks that's a good one about anchor hauling - wear gloves I guess.
>  
> The Observations a very accurately showing nearly double wind speed
in dark compared to the day,  was thinking start sailing early
moeorning thebn at least you can find an anchorage some time durimg
daylight.
> I'm not going surfing past Gnarloo or MonteBellos, even that's
adventurous enough.
> Where did you surf with a croc? And why?
>  
> Doug
>
> --- On Sun, 4/1/09, Robert <cateran1949@...> wrote:
>
> From: Robert <cateran1949@...>
> Subject: [harryproa] Re: NT weather
> To: harryproa@...
> Date: Sunday, 4 January, 2009, 10:45 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -I knew some people who were blowing up weather balloons for the
> Wessel observations. It was part of an international scientific study
> on thunderstorms. They picked Darwin as it was the most reliable place
> for producing thunderstorms. There is a thunderstorm formation called
> Hector that builds up every afternoon over the offshore islands.
> Night time sailing is delightful. Be careful being close to the edge
> of the boat because of the crocs and be careful in hauling in anchor
> ropes if stingers are around. They really sting.
>
> -- In harryproa@yahoogrou ps.com.au, Doug Haines <doha720@ > wrote:
> >
> > it looks like there is more wind further off shore judging from the
> mcclure point and wessel island observations
> >  
> > and just seen a day time pattern where all the wind dissapears
> untill dark falls!
> > Will have to sail at night - no worries no draft, can't hit
> anything, much
> >  
> > Doug
> >
> > --- On Sun, 4/1/09, Robert <cateran1949@ ...> wrote:
> >
> > From: Robert <cateran1949@ ...>
> > Subject: [harryproa] Re: NT weather
> > To: harryproa@yahoogrou ps.com.au
> > Date: Sunday, 4 January, 2009, 2:53 PM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Can be beautiful sailing Sometime s too calm and sometimes a bit wild
> > with thunderstorms and cyclones . Beautiful conditions once the wet
> > sets in, but be prepared to get up on the hard and tie yourself down
> > if a cyclone is looming. Problems are stingers( deadly jellyfish) and
> > crocodiles. The tides up ther are enormous up to 8m range, and there
> > is occasionally good winds and surf if there is a cyclone nearby. Good
> > value for mangoes and other tropical fruit. It is possible to hide up
> > the creeks when you have such a shallow draught.
> > Watch out for tropical boils and sores from sitting down too long in
> > salty clothes.
> >
> > --- In harryproa@yahoogrou ps.com.au, "Douglas Alexander Frank Haines"
> > <doha720@ > wrote:
> > >
> > > Robert or anyone,
> > >
> > > What is the weather like in summer?
> > > Is there always a daily afternoon seabreeze?
> > > Is it moderate or can it be fresh.
> > > If there are thunderstaorms about does that stop the seabreeze, and
> > > make winds more variable?
> > >
> > > Doug
> > >
> >
>