Gove, Northern Territory, Oz

We arrived in Gove on Thursday morning after a passage of 2 days and 2 hours.  Most of the run was quite pleasant except for the first night when we had over 20 knots of breeze and quite lumpy seas. This settled down the following day and we had a nice beam reach all the way in. The anchorage is very calm despite the fact it is now blowing 20+ knots. We went ashore yesterday and visited the town of Gove. This took about 10 minutes for the grand tour. It is a small mining town with an adjacent indigenous village of Nhulumbuy but there are a few stores and we have replenished our supplies of fresh veggies. There is a small yacht club ashore which we will patronize this evening for our 34th wedding anniversary. No doubt a gourmet dinner will be served. We may be here a little longer than planned as the forecast is for over 30 kts for the next 48 hours at least. We should still be on time for arrival in Darwin by July 1st.

Position Report 20 June, 2012

We are on our way to Gove in the Northern Territories. We left yesterday morning 
and have made about 160 miles in 22 hours. We had a fast start with tide leaving 
Cape york and then despite a favourable forecast the wind went forward and light 
and we made poor progress for 6 hours. The wind came back later in the afternoon 
and we have been going well since. Seas are lumpy but this should settle down as 
we progress across the gulf. We should get into Gove tomorrow morning.
Current position 0615H June 20, 2012 is 11 15.6S, 139 55.3E speed 7.5 kts wind 
SE 15- 20 kts seas 6 feet mostly SE confused.

aption


 

Rusty from the pearl farm



10 foot Salt water crocodile sunning himself on the beach. The crafty buggers are good at camo and from a distance look just like a log. He is right next to the bird



the tidal rip at Albany Passage. the tide screams through here at between 2-5 knots. Best not to get your calculations wrong

flat water in Albany Passage

Speed over ground through Albany Passage

Possession Island, Cape York, Queensland

We are now anchored in the lee of Possession Island after a very fast passage from the Escape River through the Albany Passage and around Cape York. We covered the 38 miles in less than 4 hours thanks to a favourable tide and 20 knots of breeze. It really pays to get the tide right coming around the top end. This anchorage is comfortable even though it's blowing 15- 20 + kts.
We even have internet and radio stations!
The Escape River was also a wonderful place once you get through the bar into the river itself. We came in on the rising tide and had less than a metre under the keel at times. Inside, however, there is plenty of water but there is the need to dodge the numerous oyster nets, as in this area, there  is a pearl farm. Once inside and down river it was like glass and we spent two comfortable nights there.
The whole place was alive with sea life including the infamous salt water crocodiles. We went ashore to visit the pearl farm owned by Rusty and Bronwyn and we spent a pleasant morning enjoying morning tea and talking about the area. The are no roads worth speaking of there and the only way to get supplies is by boat, 30 kms to Bamaga. One has to enjoy the remoteness but they obviously do.
One of their dogs was called CB (short for croc bait) and he could have been. We saw some quite large specimens sunning themselves on the beach.
Photos to follow, tomorrow looks OK for the 350 mile run across the Bay of Carpenteria to the town of Gove in the Northern Territories

Position Report Saturday 16th June

We are at Shelbourne bay in northern Queensland and we will go 62 miles 
northeast to the Escape River where we will take a day or two off before 
rounding Cape York. It's a bit rainy today but there should be good breeze and 
internet tomorrow.

photos of the past few days

Flinders Island

40 lb. Wahoo. Fishing has now been banned by the vegetarians aboard

Morris Island. A few palm trees and a beach

Low tide at Portland Roads. Our dinghy is on the left. We had to wait for the tide to flood once more to get back to the boat

Sunset. Portland Roads

  

Portland Roads, Northern Queensland

Now anchored in Portland Roads about 150 miles south of Cape York. A little rolly but very pleasant and we have intermittant internet. We had a good day ashore but got trapped by the tide so we had a nice lunch in the local cafe while waiting until the tide flooded again. We plan on leaving again tomorrow and we will make at least one more stop before going around the top end. Forecast is for good breeze tomorrow.
Photos in a day or two