Darwin 9th July 2009
Photo Ship Passing on Passage to Cape York
Tuatara and crew arrived in Darwin last Friday (3 July) after an easy crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria. After the Flinders group we sailed non stop, except for a few hours break at Portland Roads, to Albany passage at Cape York. We needed to time our arrival there for an incoming tide. Up to 4knots of tide race through the narrow Albany passage so combined with a 25knt SE we wanted tide and wind both going with us not against. The shipping channel inside the reef is easy to navigate at night, the lights are well coordinated, the light ahead is in view well before the one behind is enveloped in the darkness. There were three or so nervous moments, mainly involving ships! Just after Portland Roads, the channel goes between two reefs no more than a mile apart. Right on dusk as we were approaching these reefs I looked back, damn there was a large ship steaming up behind us. We watched for awhile then realized with our speed compared to his 20knots he would pass us right between the reefs. Alan called him on the radio, he had seen us and politely said yes he would pass to starboard and Alan said we would hug the port side of the channel. .6 of a mile separated us as he went past, in fading light that didn't seem too bad. The following night we had the same experience, a narrow channel but this time the large ship was coming towards us, .6 of a mile seems a very small gap when the sun and moon have both deserted you for another part of the world.

As we approached Albany passage we thought we had the tide figured, then we heard boats ahead of us talking about the tide as they left Escape river for the run to Albany passage. Alan talked to Grant on Survivor, even though our times were different we decided we would still be okay whichever time was correct. Sure enough about 5 miles before the passage entrance the negative current turned to positive and by the time we arrived the current was giving us an extra 3knots push and we sailed through on flat water. Small eddies, whirlpools and counter currents worked there way along the golden beaches leaving the middle of the channel smooth for us. By the time the current spat us out the other side and around Cape York the wind had died. We motor sailed across to Possession Island where, turning the corner to the anchorage, we found the current had increased to 4knots in our favour.

We had thought we would anchor just around the corner from Cape York, it is an indicated anchorage in some guides and we had seen a yacht anchored there in 2007. So we thought we would give it a go although the entrance looked shallow. After a few worrying moments and having a little too close encounter with Australia we decided to reverse out and head to the familiar anchorage at Possession Island. One night there, then a few miles over to Seisia (Red Is). The anchorage at Seisia has a few mud banks to avoid also so keeping in mind our muddy encounter of the day before we carefully negotiated our way in and had a lovely 2 days there. Seisia is an isolated but busy settlement. A daily ferry leaves for Thursday Island. The bustle on the wharf and in the dusty red carpark starts about an hour before the ferry arrives. Time for a fish or a chat before the ferry arrives. Great fishing off the wharf and no swimming in the bay because of crocs, two important pieces of information when in Seisia.

We started off from Seisia on hot windless day, not to worry motoring provided us with fresh water and topped up the batteries, the wind conveniently started to fill in when the motor had finished its chores. We left behind the shallow patches of Endeavour Strait and headed out into the Gulf of Carpentaria, Darwin 750 miles away. The passage across was pretty easy a mix of light winds and motoring. The near daily fly over from Australian Coastwatch (Customs) , the little chat with them answering the same questions each day and spotting marine life in the calm waters were the highlights of the trip. By the time we had left Seisia fishing had been pretty dismal the score was 1 fish for us 3 lures to the fish! We had one lure left and caught a small yellow fin tuna just after Endeavour strait, enough for a few meals, so we put the lure away and spotted the marine life rather than trying to catch it.
Turtles lazing in the sun floated by, one day a little brown basking shark darted away just as we were about to sail over him. Dolphins played on the bow as we approached Cape Don. Birds chasing little silver fish as they darted across the waves. At sunset one day we spotted a huge fish nearly 2m, probably a wahoo jumping out of the water, we watched as he kept leaping across the waves. He must have leapt out about 10 or so times, the water splashing high each time as he slapped back down. He was either having great fun or something pretty big was eyeing him up for dinner.

We arrived at Cape Don a little early for the incoming tide but decided to carry on any way, at the most we had a knot against us and then the tide changed earlier than we had calculated. The night was clear, lots of stars and a near full moon. We had a lovely sail, then motor then sail then motor all the way into Darwin arriving late afternoon on Friday.
Coming into Fannie bay to anchor was a bit of a deja vu feeling with all the yachts already anchored, a multitude of dinghies ashore and the morning cruisers net chokka with questions about how much Rupiah to take, where to get stainless welded, way points for anchorages etc etc. Everyone seems very friendly, we havent met the crew of the 112ft French superyacht anchored not too far from us yet, they are slumming it a bit but perhaps they cant fit into a marina.
Darwin doesnt seem to have changed much, same grumpy b in the yacht shop at Fannie bay, the sunset still looks magnificent with or with out beer from the yacht club bar. Yachts are still trickling in, the bay is getting busier and busier. But you can pick us out as we are the only ones with the blue flashing light, I guess we will only be unique for a few more weeks until the 2009 yachts find the flashing light shops in Indonesia!