Governor Rocks

This feature on the rock appears on the shore of East Governor Island amongst the jigsaw of different rock types

After the storm chased us during the night at Circular Cove, we decided that we needed a more protected anchorage to wait for better winds to carry us back to Darwin. It had to be somewhere protected, but somewhere near the top of Napier Broome Bay so that we could make a quick getaway as soon as the weather was right. We woke to a very light SE breeze, which soon gave way to a total glass out with not a breath of wind, just as forecast.

As predicted, at noon the breeze filled in from the NW, and with the tide ebbing out again, the time was right to unfurl the genoa and have a steady sail under that fore sail alone. We anchored further in to the east in the anchorage between the two Governor islands, hoping to get some protection if a storm comes from the SE.

Ashore on East Governor, there is a protected little bay with a sandy beach which is perfect for anchoring our dinghy in these big tides. We use a float and ring secured to the anchor, and run a very long rope through the ring. With the anchor well offshore, we can use the loop of rope that runs through the ring to take the dinghy out to the anchor, and then bring it back to shore again afterwards. While this system could tangle and leave us stranded (a potentially fatal error in these crocodile infested waters) we have the luxury of having our buddies on Keira available to rescue us if required.

Walking along the shore to the north of this bay presents a mind warping display of rocks. The usual fractured sandstone lays over the top of pink granite boulders, with lines of basalt flows creating long tongues of much harder and stronger rock. And then down at the high tide line, it looks like someone has dumped a whole ship load of concrete along the shore, as the recent beach rock has cemented together all the chips and stones and boulders with the seashells and sand. While we know that the sandstone has been layed down over time in a chronological record, I’d like to understand the geological history of these fissures of igneous rock that appear here on East Governor Island.