June 19, 2012 From N. Goulborn Island we traveled 44 miles ( a short one) to Valentia Island--our chartplotter calls it Valentia, but the guide book calls it Valencia. Again, the seas and wind were a little rough--but we were headed around Cockburn Point which should protect us from the SE wind and waves. But as we turned the corner around the point the wind increased and the waves were hitting us on the beam (the side of the boat). We were really rocking and taking spray over the side. This is not sounding like a fun adventure. After we arrived at Valentia Island we had a little difficulty finding a deep enough area to anchor--but we finally dropped the anchor in 17 feet of water. At first it seemed that the anchorage was exp[osed to the wind--but the wind died and we had a good night. I did get up numerous times during the night as I heard many different sounds--this is my curse. And up at 6:15 and away by 6:45am (a little variety)--heading for another underwear soiling adventure-- going through Bowen Straight.
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At anchor in Mullet Bay on N. Goulborn Island Serenity was all alone.
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The rock formations at the side as we we went through the Hole in the Wall we very cool looking.
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Looking aft as we go through the passage in the Hole in the Wall.
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Approaching the Hole in the Wall.
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June 17, 2012 Up in the dark and weigh anchor--our fellow boats were already gone. We motorsailed the fifteen miles to the Hole in the Wall-- a narrow passage from east to west in the Wessel Island chain. The Wessels make a great sea wall running from south to north. And one of the few 'holes' in this wall is the 64 meter wide and 9 meter deep Gugari Rip or the Hole in the Wall. As the tidal currents can reach 9 knots in the channel--it is important to transit the channel at slack water--which is exactly at high or low tides. We timed our arrival for exactly high tide--and after a really bumpy ride we were right on! Passing through the narrow channel was a 'life experience'--very cool. We had to hand steer due to the eddies and Sherry did her turn as I took some photos--she had a ball. We followed Sea Eagle in and Windancer followed us. Once through the Hole in the Wall we were going to spend the night in an anchorage on the other side--but, the water was calm and the wind was right. We said goodbye to our friends and set our course for N. Goulborn Island-- a twenty-five hour overnight trip. This turned out to be a rough overnighter as the waves and wind increased overnight. And to make the crossing worse-- we had no moon. It is hard to describe the feelings we have when the boat is being rocked by these large waves that are crashing and hissing at the sides of the boat and we cannot see them. We arrived at N. Goulborn Island at 9am, tucked into Mullet Bay, and though we still had 20 knots of wind--we were anchored and asleep by 9:30am--sweet naptime.
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