Saturday 15 June 2013

June 15th 2013 Tiare Taporo III at Gove, Northern Territory Lat. 12 degrees 11.7' S Long. 136 degrees 42.3' E

Well, we have made it across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Another milestone. We thought for a while that the 300 mile crossing was going to be relatively easy and were being lulled into a false sense of "this isn't so bad after all" when on the 3rd day we were hit by big winds. But we digress.......
We had been anchored for a day and two nights at Vyrilya Point on the eastern side of the Gulf and were still intending to go further south before crossing but we sailed out and the wind wasn't going to be co-operative so we just looked at each other and decided there and then to continue across. Disappointing, because according to one of our cruising guides sailing in smooth water down that coast is "one of life's great experiences"! But not to be and just reinforces our opinion of the Australian coast in general. Probably that's not entirely fair because with enough time to explore no doubt there are many memorable experiences to be had but for us, with a timetable to get to Darwin it's go all the time and it becomes a punishing schedule. Particularly when weather conditions aren't benign. One factor above all else seems to epitomise this coast and that's the incessant SE wind. It literally howls at all times of the day and night and makes sailing less than enjoyable and the nights are not restful - getting up every so often to check the GPS position, but to date we have never dragged the anchor. But enough bitching and on with the Carpentaria crossing.......
Day 1 - we left the Vrilya anchorage at 0800 on the 12th. and made the instant decision to carry on west to Gove. Course was 261 true and the wind came around more to the SE from E which gave us a better angle. "Mrs. Fleming" (our windvane self steering) did the honours and did the usual outstanding job. Wind was between 14 and 18 knots - perfect for sailing. We had, with all that we'd been told and heard about Carpentaria, worked ourselves into a bit of a tizzy about the crossing and as a result had become obsessive about weather reports and over analysing every bit of weather information. This then creates indecision which in itself is stressful. So, after day 1 we had a great sense of relief! But Carpentaria had not finished with us.
Day 2 - the wind went more south which suited our course to Gove and it still never went above 18 knots so we had some good sailing. We sailed very conservatively with the smaller genoa and double reefed main. So, we certainly weren't pushing the old girl - or ourselves.
Day 3 - Most of the night was still benign until about 2 in the morning when the wind started increasing and Jean had gone on watch! It increased all day reaching a peak in the afternoon of 29 knots. The seas increased also exponentially until we were experiencing at least 4 metre windy swell/chop with nasty little breaking crests. Every so often one would break against the hull showering us with salt water and slopping a good deal into the cockpit. Very unpleasant. The day was fine though so that was something. But Carpentaria is like that. It's probably a lot to do with the conflicting tidal patterns and also the fact that the water is relatively shallow. It gets to 200 feet for much of the crossing but at the eastern side is only 50 feet for some way. Not like an ocean crossing.
We were very glad of our conservative sailplan as the wind and sea rose. Still a good wind angle and we hooned along in great style with Tiare rising like the graceful lady she is to each big sea coming at us from the port side. You'd watch these walls of water coming and wonder whether she would ride it but she just effortlessly rose to the sky before falling back into the next trough - and usually rolling the scuppers under! The motion which can be extreme is very tiring but Jean as usual kept titbits flowing from the galley under the most trying conditions. However, all this was taking its toll as we had been "up" since the early hours and were in urgent need of some sleep. So, we decided to heave to in the afternoon as we have done coming up from NZ and on the way to Bundaberg. Although the boat still moves around, it's amazing just how things quieten down and we have found that she heaves to well under backed staysail, double reefed main sheeted in hard and opposite lashed helm. At that stage we thought we might stay there all night as we were not going to be able to arrive in Gove before darkness in any case but the weather was showing no sign of abating and we had had some sleep by then. And we were slowly forereaching (drifting) in a NW direction which would have meant we would have missed Gove altogether and finished up in the Wessel Islands over 40 miles away. We are going there but wanted to see Gove first! So, we made the decision to get underway again which only took 2 minutes by unlashing the helm and sheeting in the staysail on the other side. Soon we were hooning along again with just under 40 miles to go to the waypoint just outside Gove. We weren't going to arrive there until 2300. The wind and sea were just the same which at least meant that our progress was rapid. At the waypoint where we could see the loom of the lights of the port and the town of Nhulunbuy we turned onto a NW heading to pass through a narrow but navigable passage between the mainland (Cape Wirawawoi) and Bremer Island. Then a turn to port again and we passed by the bauxite (alumina) refinery and ship loader. All thanks to the trusty chartplotter which at least gave us the option of going in in darkness and getting some much appreciated flat water. Saw some ships at anchor waiting to load and then turned onto a southerly heading to pass down past the wharf installations where we turned again to the NE to head directly into the yacht anchorage off the Gove Boat Club.
We anchored fairly well off at 0230 and we could dimly make out quite a few moored boats so wending our way through that lot in darkness would not have been fun. We were still running on adrenalin and so didn't feel tired. However, a couple of whiskies and a shower later and we fell into exhausted sleep.
A total elapsed time for the crossing (anchor to anchor) of 66.5 hours including the 4 hours spent hove to. If you include this "rest" period we managed to achieve an average of 5 nautical miles per hour - not bad for a conservatively sailed old girl with variable wind and sea conditions, even if we did motorsail at times to make power and water.
A brief history of Gove - the town was an outpost of Australian defence against the Japanese during the 2nd. World War and got its name from an Australian RAAF pilot who was killed on active service. There is road access from Katherine but it is a metalled road through Arnhem Land and evidently to pass over it you need permission (dollars!) from the local Aborigines. So, it is still remote and the main access and servicing is by air and coastal shipping.
Hi All, Well I don't often get on here,but will progress to putting in my odd view on things. We have had a trying time on this trip, but the elation, when we have conquered each daunting part of it,is rather wonderful. We are over half way to Darwin, wow!!!! and it has taken a month. We have met some amazing people, fellow boaties, on our way and will continue to meet them, as there are 89 boats now booked for the Rally ,leaving Darwin on the 27th of July. A league of nations. We need to be in Darwin by the end of June, as we now have a list of repairs and bits to do before our departure to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. What I personally find,is the unknown quantity of stamina and energy we find when we have to. We humans under estimate ourselves. All sounds well in N.Z. Tracie (Perry my son's Girlfriend) sent through 20 week scans of Peapod the grandchild to arrive in October. All very exciting. And last but not least, welcome home to NZ Rakesh and Geraldine. Well bye for now,keep your thoughts always open. It is the transcript for life.
Lot of love from us as always................
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Gove
Northern Territory
Australia
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
P.S. At the risk of repeating ourselves, if you have the inclination you can visit the website as above because not all blogs are sent to everyone - it is a bit random!!

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