Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Darwin Bound

Hello world!
Yikes what a struggle this morning with the radio/email. To give you an idea of the possible challenges, imagine this. You have three PCs and they all have to be working at once and working to together. Put that in your Microsoft and see what happens! In the case of our ship board radio/email system its a laoptop, a radio and a special Pactor modem that must all work together. This is the second time I am typing this blog post because the computer crashed in the middle of it all. Why do we take
these damn things to sea with us!

Anyway, now to the news. BTW, we heard by shortwave radio, the US has a new President elect. Seems they finally got it right! Hope its not too late for the US and the world economy. I digress.

Our course to Darwin has us arching WNW across the Corral Sea Basin toward the top of Australia. Now that we a clear of Vanuatu, we will sail across the bald open sea for 1300 miles, headed for the entrance to Torres Strait. In all this way there will not be an island, a reef or other hazard, except maybe weather. We will be within 100 miles of Papeau New Guinea when we enter the pass over the top of Australia's great barrier reef headed for the Arafura Sea, where we will find Darwind on the north
coast of Australia. The pass over the reef is about 190 long, reef strewn and twisted through islands, coral reefs and lots of large tankers. Two sailboats have been lost in the approaches to this passage this year, so you can be sure we will be hyper vigilant! And it will be hot, hot, hot.

But today has dawned clear and bright after a moonlite, starry night. The wind is at our backs and the smell of coffee is in the air. What could be better!?

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