Guruliya Bay Wessel Islands Lat.11 degrees 36.1' S Long. 136 degrees 17.8' E

We arrived here yesterday from Inglis Is. from where we left at 0530 to catch the tide through between 2 small islands on the southern Wessels. We had virtually no wind to begin with so our poled out Genoa was not much help but as we approached the channel the wind increased as usual to 20 knots +. We were about half an hour too early for a favourable tide so for a time we were slowed down and pummeled by big confused seas as the wind fought the tide. Story of our lives! However, when we were nearly through and hand steering to avoid reefs close on each side the tide abruptly changed, the seas flattened and our speed increased by 5 knots! Just like that.
Once through and then turned north to sail up in the lee of the Wessels the old girl really picked up her skirts and flew - up to 8.5 knots with the ebbing tide under us and the wind increasing all the time until the maximum wind speed we recorded was 32 knots. Double reefed main and even the smaller genoa reefed. Beam reach on starboard tack - best sail we have had for a long time. It seemed to take no time at all before we were approaching the point south of Guruliya Bay where we intended to anchor. All the other boats around us went through the Hole in the Wall but we remain pleased that we chose the southern route - the thought of approaching a lee shore in high winds and then trying to thread a 64 metre wide needle did not fill us with joy. However, all the boats who went through reported no problems and indeed it's a recognised route through the Wessels so no doubt our concerns were somewhat misplaced. However, we remain pleased that we took the route that we did.
Our friends, Lyn and Chris on "Out of the Blue II" (a Lightwave 38 catamaran) arrived a bit later after going through the Hole. They left Cairns a good 2 weeks later than us and so have made good time. Or we've made bad time! We've waited around in anchorages for weather windows not knowing local conditions and the worst mistake was not going through the Albany Pasasge south of Cape York but this is all due to lack of local knowledge, and in particular lack of knowledge of the weather conditions. We get the GRIBS on a regular basis through Sailmail but they always under estimate wind speeds by at least 20-25%. This has been a hard learning curve, that's for sure. Still as we've said before, not bad for a couple of 66 yr. olds from Godszone on a 1930's vintage designed timber yacht. The boat is difficult sometimes downwind in big quartering seas but generally she has behaved very well. And losing our big genoa has not so far been a problem as the winds have more than compensated for only having the smaller one.
Guruliya Bay is shaped like a boot and we are anchored off a white sand beach at the heel in 20' of water. This morning the wind is down but yesterday coming in was exciting because we had to drop our sails and head straight into a 30 knot wind and associated chop for 2 miles. Still, not for too long and we were glad to get the anchor down. The Wessels are an 80 mile long chain of islands (with few gaps in between) which stretch SW - NE. They provide an effective barrier to the incessant SE wind and sea and have many good anchorages on the western side. However, visually they are disappointing, being just like the rest of this coast - low and flat.
We have had another change of plan now. We were going to do an overnight passage to North Goulburn Is. (190 miles) but we feel the winds are too unpredictable and neither of us relishes the prospect (again) of being caught out there in 30 + knots. So, we have opted instead (along with all the other boats in the vicinity) to coast hop along the Arnhem coast. This has some disadvantages, not least the fact that it will take us 3-4 days longer but we have the time and avoiding the big wind driven seas is a major plus. The coast is very remote and in places not adequately officially surveyed but we feel that with the cruising guides that we have which are quite detailed we should muddle through. Whether the natives are friendly remains to be seen, and there is no landing without a permit - which we don't have. However, we aren't really on a sight seeing trip; our focus is Darwin as soon as possible. Some of the sea areas around Arnhem Land are designated Aboriginal only as well but if we have to stray inside any of these for navigational reasons they'll just have to sue us!! And good luck. Just imagine if any coastal waters around NZ were similarly designated and the outcry. Mind you with legal changes to our constitution (such as it is) currently under covert consideration anything is possible.
With that cheerful thought we shall leave you dear readers yet again.
Cheers and love from us,
Jim and Jean xoxoxoxoxox

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