Position: S11deg08.88min/E132deg08.33min We're anchored in 32' off Black Point in Port Essington in the Cobourg Peninsula. The two day trip was boisterous, with the first day seeing winds of 25-30 knots and seas 10-12'. I put out our 50 square foot storm jib rather than the roller furling yankee, and we ran our double reefed main. The Arafura Sea is so shallow (200 feet and below) that the wave sets are close together, and of course, coming from several different directions. By the second day, the winds had settled down a bit, and we enjoyed completing this 285 nm passage in good speed, averaging 5.94 knots overall. Days here are quite short, with sunrise about 0730 hours, sunset at 1900 hours, and there's a new moon now, so making landfall during daylight is a priority for us; not so easy on these long runs with tricky currents. We'll rest up here a couple of days before continuing on to Cape Don, our last stop before reaching Darwin.
Picture: Our anchorage off Black Pt., Port Essington. The smoke (smog) from slash burns along the coast are no fun if the wind is directing it to you. You can see the haze along the horizon.
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