Passage Report #10

Taking the Gulf by Storm

No one discussed the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was just there. A benign sea in a sea of oceans. A place to be crossed - in three days -to get to the other side and the fabled Wessels before Darwin

This perception was about to change.

The "fleet" had gone their separate ways. The Turks and "Carronade" were in Thursday Island. "Selene" and "Full Moon" were headed south to Seisa and Weipa. Wise Ely on Selene said they'd get a better "angle" from there and it was shorter to Gove. "Had we heard..." the weather report forecast of a coming change likely to create 30 knot winds, with another following. These highs were like Sahula, "moving on".

Sahula didn't fancy Thursday Island or Weipa. She was for greater adventures. Cape York marked the finale to the East Coast. It was time to raise the curtain of the Territory's "Top End."

"Evelyn" had left, "Kristianne" also. So doubts, even forebodings aside, let's go, it was only the Gulf.

Cape York sank astern; the notorious Torres Strait was blue and beautiful. The glistening white obelisk and its brass plaque on Possession Island, proudly proclaimed Australia for Cook - an Englishman. History was in good hands in a bare and "vacant" land.

The clear sky sped Sahula across the Strait's shoals to Woody Wallis Island, our final landfall before the Gulf.

"Evelyn" radioed ahead she was almost becalmed with "everything up." Sahula raised "Mollie" (the MPS - spinnaker), great sailing to the setting sun. The full moon rose, Sahula contentedly cleaved the Gulf. The idyll was about to change.

Gradually the wind increased, unusual at night, so sails were trimmed to two reefed main and furled yankee. A good sailing seemed the order of the moonlit night. The crew did three hour watches. Lorraine was on her first major ocean crossing, so was the skipper. We had a nice dinner.

Then the wind increased. Previous gusts became consistent increases. Sahula surfed to 6-7 knots. It promised a fast trip to Gove. With the raising wind so did the sea. It did so alone.

In usual ocean conditions, a raised sea accompanies a rising swell. The waves are superimposed on the swell. Tonight, there was no swell; instead a chaotic cauldron was developing. Sahula instead of finding the expected order of plying the swell buffeted by waves was in a sea of confusion with more similarities to a washing machine bowl. The only consistency was the increasing wind, now verging on gale force.

Sahula held her two reefs in the mainsail and furled the yankee to a pocket hankerchief. She was handling it well. She inspired confidence. She was enjoying the challenges being thrown against her. Intermittently, collapsing tops curled into "grey beards," towered above then erupted against the hull. White water flowed across the deck. Most important, the plastic side "walls" around the cockpit kept the crew dry and relatively wind free. The crew managed three hour watches. The main cabin, its low

lights and mellow timber, provided a surreal atmosphere of warmth, calm and serenity. Lorraine, remarkably, was sleeping well despite the reasons the skipper had mere refreshing snippets. The thin blue line from the GPS (satellite navigation system) marked the computer course to Gove. The miles inexorably ticked away.

The first gear failure was on Arial (wind vane self steering). The vane paddle shaft swivel disengaged so the paddle flopped up disabling the system. In calm conditions it was simple to re-engage it. In this maelstrom it was impossible. Sahula's crew would have to hand steer to Gove. The hydraulic self steering system used too much battery power to be a viable long term option. Gove was two days away.

It was not a disaster. It was good experience to "feel" the boat in these extreme conditions, steer "through the gorges, over the mountains," but tiring if it was to be for two days and two nights. Then the wind indicator closed down, then started again. It was not critical.

The Darwin Net (an inter-yacht radio net) provided news of Evelyn's travails. She was just ahead of Sahula. The Net kept a welcome daily watch over both yachts.

The half way mark passed by, soon morning found land birds fishing thirty miles from shore. Sahula was nearly there. The radar confirmed land was near. It was early Saturday morning when Veronica Light gave a welcome flash and Sahula was soon tracking down Melville Bay to Gove Harbour. The relief was palpabable, of both satisfaction and calm. The crew were too tired to celebrate. They'd simply made it. The anchor dropped amongst the many boats off the Gove Yacht Club. Not a soul stirred aboard Sahula

till late in the day.

Later, Sahula heard there were 15 yachts, in Weipa, awaiting fine conditions to cross the Gulf.

Sahula rested at Gove for three days, restocking at Nhulunbuy and enjoying the company of the many yacht owners also heading to Darwin. Olive, the outboard, was not well. She needed repairs. An Aboriginal land access permit was also required, and an Alcohol Permit to buy wine. Coastal NT is 70% owned by Aboriginal communities. Fotunately the Indonesian Rally organizers had arranged that participants be granted a full NT Aboriginal land permit. There are heavy fines for illegal access by cruising

yachtspersons.

A plan is to depart on Thursday, with other yachts, for the Wessel Island group and then day sail along the NT coast to Croker Island and through to Darwin. Sahula plans to be in Darwin in two weeks.

Best

David

Sv Sahula