Australia is on fire again, there is an acrid stink in the air with an underlying whiff of tree. It's pungent, attacking the nose more than the throat, causing quick fire sneezing at regular intervals. Smuts everywhere. Australia has always had regular fires as part of its ecology but the pollution feels unpleasant, it probably had little to no effect before man started pumping CO2 into the atmosphere but now it feels worrying and one can only wonder what it's doing to the ozone layer and other environmental factors.

We are now in Van Diemen Gulf – what a great name, old Van Diemen certainly got about a bit. Morning has shown us to be on pale, milky, turquoise water again and this Gulf is so big we only occasionally get a glimpse of land. Being shallow with lots of shoals and rapid tides there are lots of overfalls which would really upset the balance of the boat if we couldn't avoid them. Fortunately we can, we've just passed between two lots of overfalls and the short sharp waves raced about at the edges but they didn't catch us out. Apart from these overfall areas the waters are smooth and perfect when the tide is with us, so nice after the rackety sea we have been getting.

The light at the north east entrance has a range of 22 miles so we had a good landmark for many hours and started coming in at midnight. . It is odd how now and then a number of things happen at the same time. In this case coming in to the Gulf required a number of course changes to accommodate the headland, reefs, shoals and overfalls, not a problem as they are reasonably well spaced on the route leg – good old GPS! The wind dropped to 8 knots then we suddenly had 2 knots of tide running against us and the engine had to go on, even then speed was reduced to 3.7 knots. After having seen nothing for days, a fishing boat appeared bristling with lights but none of them navigation lights, it looked as though it was fishing on top of nearby overfalls, perhaps they are good for prawn. Another 2 vessels appeared off on our starboard side going the opposite way, one of them called up the fishing boat and advised in local terms about the lack of navigation lights, “no worries”, they said. Well, it was a busy and interesting watch – most enjoyable.

Now the sun is on the water and it looks lovely but seems to be devoid of fish as we haven't caught a thing in all the miles from the Torres Straits. It is 11.00 a.m., we just met up after the night watches. In the night Chris called up one of two yachts well ahead of us already through the Gulf, they were getting 3½ knots of tide with them rushing them down to Darwin for a morning arrival. One of these yachts is circumnavigating Australia, the other, a catamaran, is joining the Indonesian rally like us. We've reviewed our plan. Currently we have 14 miles to the start of the south west passage then another 12 miles channelling through the Clarence Strait, we have 2 knots of tide against us now which won't turn until about 15:00 hours and will probably increase as the channel narrows. The wind is light and with the small jib we are having to use since the genoa came down, our speed is under 5 knots; with the foul tide as well we're making just under 3 knots over the ground. Once out of the Gulf it is a further 21 miles to Darwin. Pulling all this together we calculate that arrival at Darwin would be at about 23:00 hours which leaves us feeling a bit chickenish as we don't particularly like arriving at a new anchorage in the dark.

We don't know if there are any anchorages in Van Diemen Gulf as there are none marked and it may be that these tides make it impossible but we have decided to explore what looks like a sheltered bay at the start of the passage out. If it's viable we shall hole up for the night so as to arrive at Darwin in daylight. It's a nice thought.

Well, we found our anchorage in 4.5 metres over mud in the lee of what is described as Escape Cliff in Stephens Bay but we cannot see a cliff anywhere, the land is flat and thickly wooded although there is a break in the trees for a gleaming beach with a skirt of reef in front of it. First job was up the mast for Chris to recover the roller furling swivel for the head of the Genoa. The water is flat although there is a very slight swell but fairly perfect for mast head work.

                                                       Getting Ready for Take Off

                                                             And Flying High

                       Legs wrapped around mast but is this the best side or the back side?

The swivel and halyard came down nicely and, fitted with a new shackle, the genoa was soon back in its track but oh dear, it is covered in black antifouling from where it dragged against the hull under the water line when it took a dip. This is going to be a big job and we are now taxed with the problem of how we are going  to get it off. Aaarrrgh!  Any thoughts?

It's good to have it back up and working even with its new abstract design. Chris got us through the channel out good and early so Darwin awaits.