The Tiwi People

Last night this anchorage was really rocking and rolling with about 20-foot tide around midnight that was exacerbated by a fairly strong NW wind. This is the second time this week that we have experienced a NW wind. That is about a month ahead of schedule for the normal monsoons. The transition season is supposed to last until late October, which we are banking on since we soon will be sailing NW to Bali and don't want the wind directly on our nose. Hope the monsoon switch holds off to the normal time and does not switch early this year. It is very hot and very humid and this is nearing the end of the dry season.

The photo on the left depicts some of the rock art found in caves in Arnhem Land, some of which is confirmed more than 20,000 years old. We won't be touring any of the rock art sites because it is simply too expensive.

There are day trips from Cullen Bay Marina ferry dock out to Brathurst and Melville Islands to visit the Tiwi people. I would love to go but am not willing to pay the $630 for such a short trip for such a short time. Yachts are not allowed to visit these islands; the only way to go is on a commercial tour. But $315 each for a just a 60 mile boat trip to the island and back is a bit too steep to my mind. But, oh, I am forgetting. They also serve you morning tea on that boat trip so maybe it is worth that high cost.

Even though we are not going to visit the Tiwi people, I decided to do a bit of research on them. Here is a compilation of various bits of info that I found. If you have no interest, stop reading now.

The Aborigines learned about the origins of the tribes through their Dreamtime creation myths that told of the significant actions of the creators. The myths are the basis of Aboriginal society and are responsible for providing certainty about existence. The Australian aborigines believe that the land they occupied was once vacuous – empty -- and this belief was a source of great mystery to them. It was also a great truth that was known with absolute certainty, because the ancestors had said this was the way things once were. Then, during what has become known as the Dreamtime, the land, the sky above and all they contained were formed by the actions of supernatural and mysterious beings.

Although the Aborigines believe that the Dreamtime was a beginning that never ended, some of their stories tell them that the mythical creators disappeared. They believe that the creators disappeared from the sight of mere mortals, but continue to live in secret places. Some live in the tribe's territory in rock crevices, trees and water holes. Others went up into the sky above as heavenly bodies. Others changed into or became natural forces such as wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

The concept of the Dreamtime was first researched by Spencer and Gillen in their study of the Arunta tribe of Central Australia. They came to understand words identifying a 'creative period'. Other tribes had words in their language for the same concept. As communication between the Arunta people and the scientists improved, it became apparent that the aborigines understood the Dreamtime as a beginning; but it also includes past, present and future. Aboriginal people understood the Dreamtime as a beginning that never ended.

Since Australia is such a vast continent, there are many different Aboriginal tribes spread across the regions. The Tiwi people are one of these. Nearly 2,500 Tiwi live in the Bathurst and Melville Islands (just north of Darwin), which make up the Tiwi Islands. Tiwi art and language are markedly distinct from those of nearby Arnhem Land. Compared with Arnhem Land art, Tiwi art often appears to be abstract and geometric. With its strong patterns and use of color, Tiwi art is considered very attractive and highly collectible.

English is taught at schools as a second language, and the Tiwi communicate principally in their own language. When in mourning, it is part of their beliefs to paint their body and not feed themselves. Another person therefore must feed them. Body painting has been practiced for thousands of years as a part of ceremonies. Tiwi use natural ochre pigments. Notably, some of the Tiwi have large, continuous brow ridges, providing a physical characteristic that is not common among other aboriginal tribes. Hunting for food is still an important part of Tiwi life. On land, they hunt for wallaby, lizards, possums, carpet snakes, pig, buffalo, flying foxes, bandicoot, turtle and seagull eggs and magpie geese. From the sea they hunt for turtle, crocodiles, dugong and fish. Dancing, or yoi as they call it, is a part of everyday life . Tiwi inherit their totemic dance from their mother. Narrative dances are performed to depict everyday life or historical events. The land on both islands is heavily forested. Like all the other Aboriginal lands, visitors are forbidden without first obtaining a landing permit.

The stolen generation saw many indigenous people brought to the Tiwi Islands but not of direct Tiwi descent. The 2008 movie “Australia” starring Nichole Kidman touched on the story of the stolen generation, a government-run program to remove all mixed race children from their aboriginal parents which unbelievably remained in effect until the early 1970s.

The decorative patterning of the Tiwi was also used on tutini (graveposts or Pukumani poles) and tungas (bark baskets). Pukumani poles are shown in the photo on the right. The traditional form of mark making was derived from the creation story Palaneri and associated stories.

Palaneri - The Creation Period
The Tiwi Islands of Bathurst and Melville were created at the beginning of time during the dreaming or Palaneri. Before this time there was only darkness and the earth was flat.
Mudungkala, an old blind woman arose from the ground at Murupianga in the south east of Melville Island. Clasping her three infants to her breast and crawling on her knees she travelled slowly north. The fresh water that bubbled up in the track she made became the tideways of the Clarence and Dundas Straits, dividing the two islands from the mainland.

She made her way slowly around the land mass and then, deciding it was too large, created the Aspley Strait, which divides the Bathurst and Melville slands. Mudungkala then decreed that the bare islands be covered with vegetation and inhabited with animals so that her three children left behind would have food. After the islands were made habitable she vanished. Nobody knows from where she came or, having completed her work, where she disappeared to.

Purrukapali and Bima
Purrukapali was Mudungkala's only son. Every day his wife Bima went out gathering food for him, accompanied by their young son Jinani. In the same camp lived an unmarried man, Japara, who used to persuade Bima to leave her child under the shade of a tree and go into the forest with him. (Uh-oh--- adultery and child neglect even in these old aboriginal stories)

On one very hot day Bima neglected her son too long and he died in the hot sun. On hearing of the child's death, Purrukapali became so enraged that he struck his wife on the head with a throwing stick and hounded her into the forest. In an effort to help the anguished father, Japara promised to restore the dead child to life within three days; but Purrukapali was inconsolable and the two men soon became locked in a deadly struggle.

Purrukapali picked up the dead body of his son and, walking backwards into the sea, he decreed that death should come to the whole world. As his son had died, the whole of creation would die and, once dead, never again would come to life. There was not death before this time.
The place where Purrukapali died, on the east coast of Melville Island, became a whirlpool so strong that anybody who approached it in a canoe would be drowned. (Note that there are very strong eddies in this area due to the strong tidal currents.) When Japara saw what happened he changed himself into the moon. But he did not escape the decree of Purrukapali, for even though his is eternally reincarnated, he has to die for three days every month. One can see on the face of the moon man the wounds that he received in his fight with Purrukapali. Bima, still bearing scars on her head, became Wayai, the curlew bird, that still roams the forest at night, wailing in remorse for her misdeeds and for the child that she lost.

Tokampini
The death of Jinani brought the creation period to a close. This event was marked by the first Pukumani burial ceremony. Tokampini, the father of Bima called all the original creators, men and women, to the ceremony. These mythical beings were taught the rules of behavior and the laws of marriage and tribal relationships that had always to be obeyed. Then the periods of light and darkness were established, determining the cycle of daily events. The creators transformed themselves into various creatures, plants, animals, natural forces or heavenly bodies - and spread across the islands. They are the Tiwi totems.

Ceremonies play an important role in Tiwi culture. Traditionally each ceremony had its own form, which could vary depending upon the circumstances, and these were transmitted orally. Current ceremonies reflect these traditions, while taking account of modern day circumstances. There are two main ceremonial events performed:
• the Kulama (yam) ceremony, and
• the mortuary or Pukumani ceremony (sometimes spelt Pukamani).

The Kulama ceremony occurs towards the end of the wet season. (We are here during the ending of the dry season.) It is a celebration of life and involves three days and nights of ritual body paintings, singing and dancing complete with the eating of yams according to a ritual custom. Concentric circles often appear as the main element of contemporary Tiwi patterns, representing the Kulama circle or ceremonial dancing ground.

The Pukumani ceremony is the Tiwi people's burial ceremony and includes singing, dancing and the making of special carved poles called tutini as well as tungas and arm bands. These large poles are made from the trunk of the ironwood tree and are carved and decorated to celebrate the dead person's life and spiritual journey.

Still sitting in Darwin

We went to the Indonesian Consulate to pick up our original CAIT (cruising permit). The agent had emailed us a copy in early July and we were supposed to collect the original at the Consulate here in Darwin. The original still has not arrived in Darwin, but they told us there would be no problem completing all formalities in Indonesia with the emailed copy that we had printed. Later we learned that the original CAIT is in Bali and we can pick it up when we arrive there. Everyone else we know was able to pick up their original CAIT here in Darwin. Oh well, assume we won't encounter any problems about this when we clear into Indonesia.

The clerk at the Indonesian Consulate seemed to want us to apply with him for a visa. I told him that we planned to obtain the 30-day Visa-on-Arrival when we cleared in at Bali. He said that if we got our visas from the Consulate now that we could have 60 days instead of only 30 days, which is the maximum time allowed for a Visa-on-Arrival. I explained that we did not have the required sponsor letter for the application, but he handed me the forms anyway. So we figured, what the heck; what have we lost except time if we completed the forms and then they rejected the application. Luckily we had brought extra passport photos on this trip. Bill filled in all the blanks and when he got to the question of who would be our sponsor while we would be in Indonesia, Bill wrote "none." I figured that would be a red flag and the application would be rejected. I wanted to put the agent's name. After all, if our original CAIT hadn't been forwarded to the Consulate as it should have been; then it shouldn't be surprising if our sponsor letter from that agent also had not been received yet. But Bill wrote "none" and we submitted the application.

Lo and behold, the clerk looked through the application, clipped the photos in the appropriate places, took our passports and told us to return at 3:30 to pick up the visas. We half-expected to arrive back at 3:30 to learn that the application was rejected; but, sure enough, when we returned that afternoon the visas were ready. We had just saved about $175 USD. The agent had wanted to charge us $70 each for the sponsor letter. By the time we paid the Western Union fee to wire the funds, the total cost for the 2 sponsor letters would have been about $175. Then we would still have to pay the additional $60 AUS each for the actual visas. We refused to pay that much because our schedule would allow us only a short time in Indonesia anyway. It would have been nice to have the longer visas just in case something happens and we don't make it out of Indonesia on schedule -- you just never know what might delay a boat -- but it wasn't worth $175 for the off-chance that we might get delayed. Thanks to the nice clerk at the Consulate, we got the visas for the normal $60 AUS each without paying the additional agent fee.

We figure one of three things happened.
1) They just made a mistake.
2) The local consulate wanted the income.
3) The local consulate acutally has the authority to issue visas without the required sponsor letter.

Now that we have the visas and can take additional time in Indonesia we need to decide whether we want to go to Kupang and the Gili Islands after all. Or whether we will still just go straight to Bali. I am favoring going straight to Bali; then leisurely making our way up to Singapore. I don't care whether we see the Gili Islands because we have seen Komodo Dragons before.

S/V B'SHERET and S/V SKYLAX departed this morning enroute to Kupang. We are now all alone in this anchorage. We had reserved a slip in the Cullen Bay Marina, but they charge $425 to take our boat through the lock into the marina. Sorry, but that is too expensive. The marina slip rates are reasonable. But $425 to enter the marina is exorbitant, especially since we will be here such a short time. The other 2 marinas in Darwin also have locks, but they do not charge a locking fee. But we are waiting on the replacement NMEA multiplexer and it was shipped from Florida to Cullen Bay Marina; therefore, we are reluctant to move way back around to another marina. Hopefully our parcel will arrive on Tuesday and we will clear out soon afterwards.













So we remain anchored behind the large sand bar just outside the entrance to Cullen Bay Marina. This sand bar supposedly is the best beach in the Darwin area and fills with locals during low tides on weekends. During high tide the sand bar is well-submerged and some boats actually sail over it. During low tide the sand is exposed and looks pretty high. Remember, the average tide here is about 25 feet. Here are a few photos. At high tide the markers on the southern tip of the sand bar are floating and there is no evidence of the sand bar. At low tide those same markers are sitting up on the beach and the sand is exposed to a height of several feet.

One photos shows a Norwegian boat that was anchored next to us for a couple of days. At high tide there is no visible evidence of the sand bar on the far side of this boat. At low tide the beach is quite visible.

Darwin arrival

Whew! Are we glad this trip is over! We are now anchored just outside Cullen Bay Marina in Darwin right in front of our friends Michael and Linda on S/V B'SHERET. They are clearing out today and will soon depart for Indonesia, so glad we arrived in time to connect up with them for a quick visit. At the time of our arrival in Darwin this morning we were down to only 12 hours of batteries remaining for our handheld GPS. First item of business is to get at least 2 of the other 3 GPS units working and talking again with the various other onboard electronic instruments. We immediately put the dinghy in the water and Bill has gone ashore to begin the shopping process while I remained onboard to do laundry and tidy up. I found that we can pick-up a WiFi signal from the marina which allows me to use AirMail to send emails but bandwidth is too weak for adequate internet access, so probably no photos for awhile.

Today (back home) is our 40th wedding anniversary. Yesterday was our anniversary date local time; but I decided that since we were married on September 6, 1969 in Central Daylight Savings time zone in Texas, then we should not consider it our anniversary until it was Sept 6 in Texas. You would think that we would have something special planned to acknowledge 40 years together (at least dinner at a nice restaurant,) but since we just arrived and don't know the area yet we will likely do nothing special. Although, I must say, after this passage I really would enjoy having someone present a menu and serve a nice meal with nice atmosphere.

I have sort of lost track of the past couple of days. Here is the best I remember.

Day 4 of the passage from Cape York to Darwin ended at 0830 Sunday morning, 6 September. Distance sailed during the previous 24 hours was 134.2 NM, total distance of this passage so far was 593.1 NM. We were at latitude 10.49.49S longitude 132.22.82E, closing in on Cape Don. We motor-sailed very slowly all day Saturday and all night through more than a hundred miles of horrible algae bloom. Very nasty looking stuff. And parts of it didn't smell too great either. We had calculated arrival off Cape Don for 0300 Monday morning. This would place us entering the Dundas Strait into the Van Diemen Gulf slightly late for the perfect tidal time, but still doable. Somewhat unfortunately, the wind picked up; our boat speed picked up correspondingly; and we arrived at Cape Don at 1800 Sunday evening instead of 0300 Monday morning. This meant the tides wouldn't be perfect but we decided to go with it anyway.

The Van Diemen Gulf flows into the Arafura Sea and the typical tidal range is 3 meters. The Van Diemen Gulf is connected westerly through the Clarence Strait to the Beagle Gulf (Darwin). The Beagle Gulf has typical tidal range of 7 meters. This difference of additional 4 meters tide flowing through narrow straits creates huge tidal flow through the Dundas Strait and the Clarence Strait. So the trick to navigating this area is to arrive at the Dundas Strait at 4 1/2 hours BEFORE high tide in Darwin. This allows boats to ride the southerly and westerly flowing ascending tide through the Dundas Strait, where this tidal current boosts your boat speed by 3 1/2 knots or higher. We were doing 10 knots (speed over ground) through the Dundas Strait even though our boat speed through the water was only 6 1/2 knots! This favorable current remained with us about halfway through the Van Diemen Gulf. Then we had neutral current for about an hour; then up to 1 knot of negative current for about 20 miles; then we again began picking up favorable current as we approached Cape Hotham when it was again beginning ascending tide in Darwin, causing the water to again flow westward through the Clarence Strait. Soon we were again experiencing almost 3 knots of favorable tidal current. Only glitch was that we did all this at night and there are shoals all around the route. Thank goodness for that full moon and the properly lighted shipping channel through the Clarence Strait.

Everything worked perfectly except that we encountered a strong adverse current into Darwin during the descending out-flowing tide as we motored up the long main entrance channel to Darwin. We could have taken the short-cut across Fannie Bay since it was high tide (+7 meters). But I was not comfortable doing that because at low tide Fannie Bay gets far too shallow for us to float. S/V BeBe would be lying on her side in the mud if something happened and we didn't get all the way across Fannie Bay before the next low tide. So we took the long way around and came in the main shipping channel and dealt with the adverse current. We were motoring 6 knots boat speed through the water, but actually making progress of only 2 1/2 knots of speed over ground. Took us a couple of hours longer to arrive at the anchorage than if we had cut across ultra-shallow Fannie Bay, but better for our peace of mind.

That covers Day 5 of our passage from Simpson Bay at Cape York to Darwin. Total time for this passage was 5 days and 2 hours. Distance sailed was 750 nautical miles. This trip took us from the Queensland territory and across the top of the Northern Territory, most of which was Arnhem Land. Arnhem is traditional aboriginal land and visitors must have an advance permit for each place that one wishes to visit. The aborigines supposedly tolerate cruising boats and don't bother them as long as they just anchor and do not go ashore. We opted to sail straight and not anchor along the coast. There are a couple of places in Arnhem that would be interesting to visit -- the most intriguing to me are the 20,000 year old rock paintings -- and permitted day flight tours can be arranged if one is willing to pay the cost. I would really like to know how the aboriginals reached Australia so very long ago. The aboriginals have a different appearance than any of the African black people that we have seen. This race and their culture are very interesting. What a shame that Australians have treated them so badly for so many years. As much as I would like to see some of the ancient rock paintings, I doubt we will be flying to see any of them.

As we were motoring through the channel into Darwin we were hailed by Paul on S/V FLAME as they motored out. They are entering their final leg of their circumnavigation. This will be the hardest part of the entire circumnavigation for them as they will return down the notoriously rough western coast of Australia to their hometown of Perth. Paul and Diane assisted us as line-handlers on our boat when we transited the Panama Canal last year. Small world to run into them here today. And for an even smaller world, Paul and Diane are also celebrating their wedding anniversary today. This marks 41 years of wedded bliss for them. With so many marriages not lasting these days, it is unusual for two old couples like us to mark such lengthy marriages on the same day. And really unusual to run into one another in Darwin as one couple arrives and the other couple departs. Congratulations to Paul and Diane and best wishes for a safe voyage to Perth.

Cape York to Darwin, Days 1 through 3

After the Albany Pass we went behind Possession Island and anchored in Simpson Bay to await the correct tide for continuing through the Endeavor Strait. Simpson Bay is shallow and has many pearl farm strings in the middle, and there is a strong current which alternates direction with the tides. This was the first time we have ever set the anchor while having the engine in forward gear! The current was too strong to allow the boat to float freely in neutral and certainly way too strong to put it into reverse as one normally does when setting an anchor. But it was pleasant and we had a restful night. The 2 or 3 boats that followed us through Albany Pass anchored on the northern side of Possession Island. That anchorage would be exposed and untenable during northerly or westerly winds, but during normal SE trade winds it is probably a better anchorage area than inside Simpson Bay. It has easier access and doesn't have the strong currents that funnel through Simpson Bay. That anchorage is at 10.43.75S 142.23.27E. Also, note that once again our C-map charts were off on the depth. Everything was accurate except for the southern tip of Possession Island. We encountered very shallow depth where it should have been 4 to 6 meters deep. We turned and maneuvered into deeper water so I don't know how far off the C-map charts were for that little area.

On Wednesday morning 2 September we departed Simpson Bay at 0830 at the beginning of rising tide. One wants to travel westward through the Torres Strait area on a rising tide because the currents are so strong. All that Coral Sea/Pacific Ocean is funneled through the narrow space between Australia and Papua New Guinea and the tidal streams/currents are very strong. The tides are different times in the Coral Sea east of the Torres Strait than in the Arafura Sea west of the Torres Strait. A descending tide causes strong easterly-setting tidal currents in the Torres Strait; an ascending tide causes strong westerly-setting tidal currents. It was neat to check the various tidal reporting stations from the east to the west and see how the tide flows westward. The farther west one goes through the Torres Strait area, the longer the ascending tide lasts. The most westerly tidal reporting station in the Torres Strait indicated an ascending tide over 14 hours on the day we traversed this area. The most easterly tidal reporting station indicated an ascending tide of only 4 hours. So we wanted to catch the easterly tide at the beginning of the ascension and then ride the current westward as long as possible.

This timing worked beautifully. We had positive current assisting us along at 2.5 to 3 knots for at least 120 miles as we navigated the Endeavor Strait and across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Winds were in the 20-plus range from the SE, off our port stern quarter. We poled the jib to starboard and were off. With the positive current and the good winds we made 182.4 NM during the first 24 hours and Thursday morning found us at latitude 10.49.16S longitude 139.20.52E. Could have covered more ground if we had put up more sail, but we were happy enough with the speed as it was.

The Gulf of Carpentaria gets quite rough and disturbed when the SE trade winds set in. It was a most uncomfortable sail for the first 24 hours as the seas twisted the boat and rolled us about. The seas had no rhythm or discernable pattern for 2/3 across the gulf. But by the final third the seas had formed into a regular pattern and the ride became much more comfortable. At the end of the second 24 hours (Friday 0830)we had sailed an additional 146.8 NM and were completely across the Gulf of Carpentaria at latitude 10.49.16S longitude 139.20.52E off Cape Wessel. We were both quite glad to say goodbye to the Gulf of Carpentaria and hope never to see it again.

At 0830 this morning (Saturday 4 September 2009) we were located at latitude 10.50.41S longitude 134.39.20E and had sailed an additional 129.7 NM. Total distance sailed in 3 days was 458.9 NM. The wind has died down considerably. As I write this at noon Saturday we have taken in the jib and are now motoring through the largest algae bloom imaginable. It goes on for miles and miles and looks nasty. We are not fishing on this trip, that is for sure. Last night was a full moon and it was so pleasant sailing on the flat sea with the bright moonlight. But now the light wind is gone so it is time to motor for awhile. We have 271 miles left to Darwin. Should arrive there Sunday night or sometime Monday morning, depending on how much we are willing to run the engine if the wind doesn't pick up.

Our friends and S/V B'Sheret and S/V Skylax arrived in Darwin already. We talk on the SSB each evening, along with a single-hander on S/V Sayonara who is at least a week behind us. Also joining us on our little SSB net is Bob on S/V Boomerang, a fellow Houstonian who is also single-handing. Bob is already in Bali. It is great to obtain advance information from those ahead of us.

The first night we were in the Gulf of Carpentaria our NMEA multiplexer failed. That meant the GPS could no longer talk with our computer and with our autopilot. So for now we have no digital instrument information at the helm; but the analog instruments at the helm are quite sufficient. It is a weird feeling when you suddenly no longer know exactly where you are because the little boat icon disappears from the electronic chart!!! Our primary GPS is still working; it just can't talk to the computer. Our secondary GPS (the one that Bill had recently installed in our aft cabin so we could set an anchor alarm and watch it in our bedroom) had failed a couple of weeks ago. Apparently the antenna on that new GPS is faulty. So we couldn't just switch from the primary GPS to the secondary GPS. Bill plugged in our third alternate GPS and it also wouldn't work correctly. That darn thing showed that we were at 140W instead of 140E. That was of no use at all. Next Bill tried the old trusty Garmin handheld GPS and that is working fine. Luckily we have enough batteries on hand to power the handheld until we reach Darwin. While we are talking GPS, the antenna on our primary GPS failed on our Pacific crossing and we replaced that antenna while in New Zealand.

This has been extremely frustrating for Bill. I wasn't panicked about the situation because we were past all the reef and in open waters with no obstacles to worry about. I knew we could just manually take GPS readings every 20 minutes and plot our course on the computer manually. We could take the long way into Darwin and go around Melville Island and Bathurst Island rather than go through the Van Diemen Gulf and the Clarence Straits. It wouldn't have been as nice and easy as having Maxsea track our course, but it was doable. But Bill wanted it fixed right away and set to work doing everything he could think of to get the GPS talking to the computer again. He has tried re-wiring numerous different ways to get around the defective NMEA multiplexer but nothing has worked. Bouncing all over while in that rough Gulf of Carpentaria certainly didn't help matters in the least. Bill worked on this and didn't get a bit of sleep the first night. He has continued to work on it every time he gets a new thought, but he is slowly coming to think it is useless. This just cannot be wired without a NMEA multiplexer. We are pretty certain that we will have to order a replacement from the States. So we might be stuck in Darwin a bit longer than originally planned. Hopefully we will be able to find a Furuno technician in Darwin. Maybe he will have the right kind of cable or know something that is not in the printed manuals.

All is well aboard S/V BeBe. It is getting very warm. It is 88 degrees inside the boat and much hotter outside! We just measured the temperature of our deck...it is 169 degrees! Not as bad as August in Houston, but plenty warm compared to the cool temps experienced on the eastern coast of Australia for the past several months.

North from Cairns -- Days 6 through 10

Thursday night 27 August found us anchored at Flinders Island. Both the mainland Cape Melville area and all the nearby islands reminded us strongly of the Mochima area of the northern coast of Venezuela. Very stark and unusual topography. Strange yet beautiful.

Day 6, Friday 28 August 2009
Weighed anchor and departed Flinders Island at 0600 and arrived at Morris Island at 3:15 p.m. Another very easy day of sailing. We did not trail any fishing lines because our freezer and fridge are too full with fish already. The sailing guide states that Cairns is the last "decent" stop for provisioning. They need to re-phrase that guide. Cairns is the last stop for provisioning of any kind, decent or not so decent. We haven't seen any people, settlements, structures, roads, or anything to indicate humankind inhabits this part of Australia. It is as if we have literally dropped off the planet. Had we known it was going to be so desolate and not have even small towns for basic groceries we would have stocked up more fruits, veggies and breads. Today we finished the last of the avocados, bananas, cucumbers and strawberries. Used the last 2 hamburger buns for fish sandwiches for lunch and Bill ate the last 2 donuts for breakfast. Looks like I will be baking bread on this trip so Bill can have his mandatory sandwich for lunch each day. He will have to do without any more donuts because I'm not doing that.

Morris Island is a pretty little place. A very large reef extends northward and eastward from the island itself. You anchor on the western side just north of the actual island. The reef provides excellent protection from the seas and the island provides shelter from the SE winds. Spotted a Salt Water Croc...mean looking! Latitude 13.29.40S Longitude 143.43.33E
Distance sailed today 57.1 miles. Total distance since leaving Cairns 296.7 miles.

Day 7, Saturday 29 August 2009
Today was another easy sail, although a bit longer. We again weighed anchor and set sail at 0600. That is getting to be routine. Today was very hazy but the late afternoon cleared to be beautifully sunny. We decided that we have reached the end of the 2-day shirt latitudes. You know, when the temperatures are usually cool enough that you can wear a shirt for 2 days. Feels like we will soon be in the 2-shirts-per-day latitudes -- one shirt to wear all day and another shirt to wear in the evening for dinner after your shower. Very much warmer but not truly hot yet; 80F at 9 this morning. We arrived at Portland Roads just north of Cape Weymouth at 3:30 p.m. To our surprise there were actually a few other boats anchored here. And there are 8 houses! Around the cape we saw another 2 homes. Our map shows that there is one dirt road that reaches this area. Man, you had better get along with your neighbors when there are only 10 houses within hundreds of miles. But there obviously are no stores for only 10 residences. There were porpoises playing the the bay when we arrived. Those are the first porpoises we have seen since leaving Cairns. Haven't seen any whales since arriving in Australian waters even though the whale season is May through October. There just are not as many whales around here as in the Tonga area. Latitude 12.35.50S Longitude 143.24.47E
Distance sailed today 62 miles. Total distance since leaving Cairns 358.7 miles.

Day 8, Sunday 30 August 2009
Up again and on the move by 0600. Caught another large tuna and one smallish spotted mackerel. Anchored in Shellburne Bay at 4:30 p.m. For the first time in Australia our C-map charts were slightly incorrect. Shellburne Bay is very shallow. I had routed our course for us to anchor in an area that C-map indicated was 3.7 meters deep. It wasn't. We arrived at high tide so the depths should have been 2.5 meters higher than the minimum depths shown on the charts. As we approached that area the depths were off by about 2 meters. Rather than wait until we went aground, I turned around and we anchored where the Lucas sailing guide recommended. It seemed to take forever for us to creep up to the anchorage area because there was only 1.6 meters under our keel for a long way, but eventually we did get to the proper spot to anchor. The guide is correct; C-map is not. Anchored at Latitude 11.53.71S Longitude 143.05.57E
Distance sailed today 60.1 miles. Total distance since leaving Cairns 418.8 miles.

Day 9, Monday 31 August 2009
Once again up and on the move by 0600. Next stop was Escape River. We arrived at 4 p.m. We alternated back and forth for most of the day trying to decide whether to go to Escape River or to Wyborn Reef. The river would be a challenge because we could not get in or out during low tide, and we would need to be at Albany Pass the following morning on a rising tide. Kind of hard to be in 2 places 18 miles apart at the same time. OTOH, Wyborn Reef was supposed to be the calmest reef anchorage in all of the Great Barrier Reef; and it was only 7 miles from Albany Pass. Logistically, Wyborn Reef made more sense. But my timidity about anchoring in reef caused a decision. Finally, we opted for Escape River.

And, for the second time, the sailing guide was correct about the depths inside the river and the C-map charts were not. We arrived at rising tide and still saw only 1.2 meters beneath our keel as we entered the river. Once inside the river is plenty deep in the center. The guide recommended going well up river to anchor because pearl farms occupy all the good anchoring places near the entrance. But shortly after entering and passing numerous pearl farms, we noticed 3 sailboats anchored off to the right. The guide says not to go there because it is too shallow. The C-map charts indicated that there was sufficient depth. Well---if they can do it, why can't we? Because our boat draft is 2.1 meters, that's why!! We turned toward the anchored boats and the depths very quickly dropped from 7.9 meters to 5 to 2 to 0. We were aground. But it was just river mud and not rocks or coral, so not really a big deal. We could simply wait for the tide to rise the predicted additional 1.5 meters and we could float loose. But Bill isn't so patient. We revved the engine forward and then backward and soon were floating again. This time we turned away from the 3 anchored boats and motored farther up the river to anchor at Latitude 10.58.31S Longitude 142.40-02E. Only negative about Escape River is that I received about 2 dozen nasty insect bites that caused hyper reactions that will takes weeks or months to heal.
Distance sailed today 65.6 miles. Total distance since leaving Cairns 484.4 miles.

Day 10, Tuesday 1 September 2009
We were up before 0600 and waiting for first glimpse of daylight. As soon as Bill could see from the bow he pulled the anchor and we very slowly re-traced our track through the river back to the entrance, taking great care to avoid all the hundreds of pearl farm strings. By the time we reached the entrance the tide was rising. This provided just enough additional depth for us to re-trace our track back outside the river. It was sort of uncomfortable for 20 minutes because we had to pound directly into the waves and directly into 20 knots of wind. Again the depth got as little as 1.2 meters beneath our keel as we exited the river entrance. Two other boats were more fortunate and apparently had less draft because they were able to cut the corner and go across an area that was way too shallow for us. Didn't matter though. As soon as we were past the shallow part we turned north toward Albany Pass and very quickly passed the other boats. There was 2 knots of current against us as we motored out of the river and over the shallow entrance, but as soon as we turned north those 2 knots of current were in our favor. In less than 2 hours we had sailed the 16 miles to the entrance to Albany Pass and we arrived while the tide was still rising. There were almost 2 hours left of rising tide.

It is crucial to transit the Albany Pass from SE to NW on a rising tide. The current through that pass changes direction with the tides and runs 4.5 to 5 knots. Most boats can make no headway against currents that strong. Arriving at the SE end of the pass on a rising tide affords a very quick passage through. We were the first boat through the pass and it was a little exciting entering the unknown. There is a shallow shelf on the left side just before you enter the pass and the strong current falls back onto itself and creates impressive disturbance with eddies swirling about. We had the jib poled out and the engine on for safety, but the engine certainly was not needed. We sailed through the pass at 10 knots SOG (speed over ground). As soon as we were past the entrance disturbance, the rest of the pass was peacefully calm even though we were moving at over 10 knots so we turned off the engine. It was beautiful through there. Very glad we decided to try Albany Pass instead of sticking to the shipping channel and taking the longer route over Cape York.

It was another 18 miles to pretty Simpson Bay behind Possession Island. There were more pearl farms to dodge but we stayed closer to the mainland and avoided those. It is very shallow here but also pretty. The very limited bit of the northern coast of Australia that we have seen today is prettier than the eastern coast. Shame there are no people up here to appreciate it. The boats that followed us through Albany Pass anchored on the northwestern side of Possession Island, so we have the beauty of Simpson Bay all to ourselves. We were anchored well before noon. That was the fastest 36.2 miles of sailing that we have ever experienced.

We have done it. Over Cape York. That is a relief of sorts. Now we say goodbye to the Pacific Ocean and the Coral Sea. Tomorrow morning we will finish going through the Endeavor Strait (much preferred by delivery captains over the other 2 passages through the Torres Straits). When we exit the Endeavor Strait we will sail across the Gulf of Carpentaria and will be in the Arafura Sea. Total distance from here to Darwin is about 750 miles and we should arrive there Monday Sept 7 local time.