I don't mind saying, its been a bit of a struggle the last four days or so. We have been trying to sail dead downwind in almost no wind. Boat speeds have shriveled to a meager 2-3-4 knots, and our arrival time at Darwin is stretching out closer to the end of November. As of this moment we have 1400 miles to go as our scotch is beginning to run low and we are starting to re-tell our stories to one another. Our fresh fruit is gone, except for our ration of oranges which has become a currency of exchange
onboard - why, just day before yesterday, I traded my second to last orange for a Jan's glass of wine at the forth coming birthday dinner. It will ease the pain somewhat. We are down to instant oatmeal, instant coffee, and speaking for myself, instant smellyness as I dig into my laundry bag for previously worn t-shirts, t-shirts that are at least a little less worn than the one I have on. But we get through the days somehow. We are now reading one another's books, counting the number of bathing suits
Jan has brought along and trying to stay up later than 7:30 pm. We are so desperate, we have even been forced to try our hand at spinnaker flying in the hopes that we will be able to go faster and generate a breeze - but that is a tale told elsewhere.
Last night I awoke for my night watch dreaming we were sailing up onto a reef. No wonder. Bligh's Entrance to Torres Strait lies about two and a half to three days away. (Torres Straight is the northern passage through the Great Barrier Reef from the Coral Sea to the Arafura Sea that lies north of Australia and south of Papua New Guinea.) We have all been practicing steering in a straight line, because the pass is about 200 miles of reefs, currents and shipping traffic through which we will sail
a twisted path. Two sail boats wrecked on reefs this year alone as they made their attempts at the pass. We will not be joining them!
C. Cresswell
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