Albany Passage and Cape York
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Sat 9 Jul 2011 08:14
|
The trip north and west took us along some
really varied areas of coastline with some great sailing firstly
within the waters sheltered
by the Great Barrier Reef and then some typical
Tradewind sailing, either broad reaching or wing on wing, usually in steady 15
to 20 knot winds.
The Albany Passage gave us a short cut across the
top of the York Pensinsula and into the Torres Straits and it was more by good
luck than
good timing that we did not have more than the
2.5kts of current against us as we sailed through.
 Although these are not exclusively Aboriginal lands
they do have a large Aboriginal population and we saw a few people fishing from
the shoreline and
collecting shellfish amongst the rock
pools
 In the late 1800's Albany was seen as a possible
rival to Singapore for commerce and shipping. Incredible to believe when you see
what is left
of a once moderately sized town.
 Strong tides and shallow water each side make this
an interesting passage.
 and finally around Cape York, the most northerly
point in Australia and only a few miles across the shallow reef strewn Torres
Straits to
Papua New Guinea
 |