Saturday 9 June 2012

Crab Claw Island

Hi everyone,
Great sailing today. We caught the tide through the north channel past the Vernon Islands, charging through at 10 knots over the ground. From there we had a great reach across the top of Darwin to Charles Point and around the corner into Bynoe Harbour.

Sailing towards Charles Point
We anchored just south of Tapas Bay (off Margaret Point) to have a rest for 3 hours. That was at 1100, so the passage from Coral Bay in Port Essington took just over 24 hours. We logged 138nm, averaging 5.7knots with a maximum of 7.5knots.

After a quick 3 hour rest we weighed anchor and joined the fleet of Darwin Sailing Club boats sailing past towards Crab Claw Island. We had a great sail for three hours, but ultimately needed to motor the last few miles after the wind died. The wind was very variable in Bynoe Harbour this afternoon. The waters are interesting too - infested with large jellyfish at the moment. The water vane of the Aries vane gear took a hammering as "passing" jellyfish pounded into it. We're now anchored off the resort with about 10 other boats.

We'll be spending tomorrow here before heading back to Darwin on Monday (probably). We'll see - Bynoe Harbour looks worth a few days of exploration.

Cheers!

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