Darwin

Arrived in Darwin very early Wednesday morning around 4am! Had a couple of hours sleep before the fisheries boat came around to treat all the World ARC boats at anchor in Fannie Bay. The Government are trying to keep the water free of marine pests so they spray all sea water inlets under the boat with some chemical to kill off any mussels that may be present. A diver went underneath Trompeta and checked the hull for growth and declared us clean and good to enter the Marina. There are big tides here up to 7 metres so there is a lock to pass through before entering Tipperary Waters Marina. The lock is not very wide and only big enough for one boat at a time so we had to wait our turn to enter the lock. Once through the Marina is lovely - quite small and a real family atmosphere. Unfortunately our friends on Anastasia cannot be here as no Catamarans are allowed in because they are too wide to fit into the lock. Anyway we got chance to see them last night at the World Arc prizegiving. Incredibly we got 3rd place in our class despite coming in last! We did try and sail as much as we could on the passage and played around with our new Parasailor so that took time and made us slower. Today we fly to Alice Springs to do a one day tour to Ayers Rock tomorrow. Our friends Charles and Marie (Dreamcatcher) are coming with us so it should be a fun weekend. we are staying two nights in the Alice Springs Airport Hotel as the tour company pick up and drop off at your hotel. Looking forward to seeing one of the great wonders of the world!! Thursday Island was the start of this last passage and we just anchored off Horn Island for one night before setting sail for the trip to Darwin. Torres Strait is remowned for strong winds but the weather was kind to us so we did not see more than 28 knots of wind the whole passage. There were strong tides approaching Thursday Island. Our previous anchorage was off Mount Adolphus Island and we had to battle against the tide to enter the bay but once inside it was lovely. You do need to get your timing right as it is uncomfy going against the tide. Much better to wait for the right tide as we did going through Dundas Strait. If anyone looked at the World ARC fleet viewer you would see us sailing north for a couple of hours then back south so we arrived at Cape Don exactly 4 hours before high water which is the right time to get current with you all the way through to Darwin. Have spent the last day doing laundry and Peter took the stack pack (sail bag) off to get the zip stitched up again. We also needed to get some stitching done on the bimini and dinghy cover. The sail maker took these away yesterday so we should get them back Monday all being well. We leave for Bali on Wednesday.