Heading West - Day 5 - 10 56.493S 130 20.144E

Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Fri 23 Aug 2013 05:58
Rain! And of the squally kind! Haven't seen any rain since we left Cairns (about 16 days ago) and haven't seen a tropical squall for almost a year. It was a cloudy night and the moon was definitely not on cue. So for the first hour, with no stars either, it was pitch black. The squally weather came just before sunrise and the wind came up and swung back and forth through 100 degrees or more and down came the rain, in heavy showers. Using radar the showers could be tracked and while not possible to avoid them, at least we could prepare for them. A couple of hours after sunrise and they had all gone off to the west.  .
 
Winds have generally been light most of the last 24 hours, apart from the bursts with the rain, and the noon to noon run was 132 miles. We're about 17 miles off the coast, passing to the north of Melville Island and have to go round its west coast before heading southeast into Darwin, still 105 miles away. Two more flying fish on deck this morning and another Customs patrol boat taking details!