Thursday Island, Aus, to Tual, Indonesia

We arrived at Thurs Is Thurs noon, in record time for Maggie. As well as good winds there was no ocean swell behind the reef. Bill flew in on a flight that afternoon, visa and passport in hand. He happened to be on the same flight as Daphne who is crewing for Tahawus. She had flown home during the Australia visit. The Thurs Is airport is actually on Horn Is which is also where the best anchorage is. Fortunately there is a good ferry service between the islands. The current can be as high as 7 knots so it is not a trip to do by dinghy. On Fri we took the ferry to check out at customs and buy more food. The tide would be in our favour around 6 pm but we all left near 5 to get out of the channels and shipping lanes before dark. At the beginning we were going 3.5 kn with engine and sails.

There are a number of islands close together off the top of Cape York. They seem very different in culture to the rest of Australia. It felt like we were back in the South Pacific Islands. For one thing it is warmer being at 10 degrees south. The principal inhabitants are Melanesians, but with many other nationalities represented. It is much closer to New Guinea (90 miles) than to the rest of Australia. There is only one very long road going up the Cape and it is mostly Aboriginal land. This was a strategic location during WW2 and there was a fair amount of damage to the town. We didn't have time to visit the museum up by the fort but there were a number of historic signs in town. There were also many signs warning you about the crocodiles. As we were leaving we saw one sunning on shore along where we were anchored. At customs they told us that dogs, in particular, on boats have been targeted.

The winds so far on the passage have been 20 to 30 kn. As usual, they are straight behind so we have to gybe along the track. We are traveling NW first and are now close to the Papua New Guinea coast. The depth of the water has surprised me. It is around 30 feet now, but not more than 50. That is a huge change from the Pacific. The body of water we are currently crossing is called the Arafura Sea. We have been traveling around 7 knots with the genoa and a bit of main. Sometime Mon the wind is forecast to be lighter. Time will tell if we can make our Oct 14 deadline.