[password] Cowboys99
[status]
:position 10 37.87s 141 00.92e
We made it to Thursday Island without incident - the remaining 60 miles through the Great Barrier Reef was actually pretty simple and we joined the main shipping channel heading north up the coast. The one surprise was the amazing number of ships traveling in the channel causing us to hug the edge of the channel, pushing us closer to all the reefs than I would have liked. Still, accidentally bumping up against a reef sounds a little more forgiving than close-call with a 250m long cargo ship!

We anchored at the tip of Cape York, the northernmost point of Australia in the lee of a tiny island, with Thursday Island visible on the horizon 20 miles away. We didn't think we'd get there before dark and the reefs in the area are even more extreme than we've seen so far. So we spent the night tucked in behind York Island and set off the next day on the rising tide. (Movements up here are all dominated by the tides - 7 kts rushing through the Thursday Island area!)

As we were pulling up to our anchoring spot we were buzzed by an Australian Border Protection Force helicopter who quizzed us on the radio about who we were, where we were from, how to spell our boat name, how many people on board, etc. He was very keen to know wether we were all caucasians! He told us we couldn't go ashore or else risk time in jail. He then did a couple of low-level passes and (presumably) took some photos. He seemed happy enough but it was a good job I'd put up our Q-flag back when we entered the GBR.

And on the subject of the GBR, what a disappointment! There's less to see here than there was in New Caledonia. You're not missing anything - believe me! I guess that in order to see anything special you've got to take your life in your hands, put a snorkel mask on and get in the water. Not me! Turtles are cute, sharks are vaguely interesting, but crocodiles and killer jellyfish are a big no-no! We did see the biggest turtle I've ever seen though, plus a pod of three small dolphins raced us in our bow wave for 30 minutes today! So not all bad.

Anyway, we arrived at T.I. around 2pm and cleared customs and biosecurity (AU$290 please - Ka-ching!!) with minimal fuss although a very thorough search of the boat. Then we moved the boat a little closer to town (Port Kennedy on T.I.) and went ashore for celebratory burgers and chips. The howling wind caused us to get soaked in the dinghy (on the way out *AND* on the way back) but a taste of solid ground and a world that extends beyond just a few meters in any direction was most welcome. It was Tuesday 15th of August, so I guess it took us 12 days, although that includes 24 hours of rest in the Great Barrier Reef, and one night anchored nearby waiting for daylight before approaching T.I. So that makes 10.5 days to cover 1,600 miles - or 152 miles per day for an average boat speed of 6.4tks. Considering that for the first 5 days we probably did an average of less than 5kts, that means for the latter 5 days we around 205 miles per day or an average speed of 8.5kts. And in those first 5 days we used around 140 litres of diesel, so that's 4.7 litres per 100km. Not bad on the whole.

It's been overcast, grey and raining on-an-off here. If it wasn't so warm you could imagine it was the UK! Lol! The weather is unusually bad with much stronger winds and lower temperatures than usual. The temperature seems fine to me, but the winds are relentless - every day it blows a steady 25kts with visits from Mr 30kts whenever you least need it. Plus, where we are right now, the entire Pacific Ocean drains into the Indian Ocean through a gap that's about 80 miles wide and as deep as a swimming pool. So the currents are enormous. Where we anchored, the boat speed sensor was telling me we were doing 2.5kts - and that's in the most protected part of the anchorage. And just in case that doesn't make life interesting enough, there's a constant flood of giant container ships, super tankers and bulk carriers zipping through the Prince Of Wales Channel like it's a motorway. The channel is the only bit of water that's deep enough for them, and because of all the reefs (did I mention the reefs?) we have to hug the edge of the channel in order to head east to Darwin. Just hope no-one's asleep at the helm!

We did have one moment of excitement... Getting to and from the shore in the dinghy has generally been pretty frightening - the wind is so strong and the waves are big enough that everyone in the dinghy gets soaked. It doesn't help that there are signs everywhere saying "Beware of the Crocodiles" so you *really* don't want to fall in! To cap it all, when we unpacked the dinghy and reinflated it they didn't put enough air in the tubes, so it was pretty soft. That really didn't help.

So when we got back to the boat after on particularly wet trip, I asked Jason and Paul to add a little more air. While sitting in the dinghy with the foot-pump, Jason managed to unscrew the fitting through the rubber tube/hull. The entire fitting fell out - one half inside the tube, the other half onto the floor of the dinghy. The tube totally deflated and the dinghy - now consisting of a single inflated hull-tube - began to sink, outboard and all. Paul had the presence of mind to quickly lower the dinghy davits and tried to lift it up out of the water, but with the weight of the outboard and so much water inside, all he managed was to prevent it sinking further!

Still, we managed to rescue Jason, get the outboard off and bailed-out the water from within, then lifted it onto the cabintop and set about seeing if it could be repaired. Fortunately we located all the pieces and were able to put them back together. It reinflated again and the outboard wasn't damaged by its partial immersion, but I get the sense that the poor dinghy is well past its lifetime. I just hope it makes it back to the UK but if it does, I suspect it'll have to be retired at that point.

After a 48-hour break at T.I., including a big reprovisioning trip to the grocery store, we were ready to depart. So at at baout 10am this morning we pulled up the anchor and set off for Darwin about 750 miles away. We're currently crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria and, guess what... The wind vanished! Can you believe it? Incredible timing! 30 knots for nearly 10 days straight, and then zip! Once we were out from among the islands, the breeze returned - a steady 8 kts from the east. So the spinnaker's back up and we're making about 6 knots on a smooth sea. All things considered, it's about perfect!

So here we are, on the road again...
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