On our way to Indonesia, the first overnight offshore trip was going to be the crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria. We had crossed this stretch of water going both ways on our trip to the Wessels in 2019, and that only added to the nervousness of the anticipation, as that had given us warning of this vast shallow sea that is in constant turmoil, with strong solar insolation creating local winds, strong tidal currents from the Arafura Sea and constantly changing wind directions.
Listening to the weather forecasts for this region on the shortwave radio is difficult to transcribe, because most days there can be 5 different winds described for the progression of time through the day.
This leads to difficult sailing conditions, and lots of stories from other yachties who just motor across this section of the coast. The warm shallow water is an ideal nursery for cyclones to form, so crossing the Gulf of Carpentaris is best undrtaken during the winter months.
These are the stories from our crossing of the Gulf and then heading off into Indonesia in 2024.
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Crossing Gulf of Carpentaria
Sep 25 1100 With 170NMs to our destination waypoint at Bremer Island off Nhulunbuy NT, and 170NMs logged since leaving Seisia on Cape York yesterday, we are halfway on our crossing of the Gulf of Capentaria. We had intending leaving Siesia with a flooding tide by heading SW out of the anchorage under Red Hill…
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Gulf of Carpentaria Crossed
The view from Gove Boat Club September 25, we passed the halfway point of the Gulf crossing around noon on our second day (story of the first half here). The weather was cloudy, and we were running our batteries lower than normal on account of the navigation equipment and autopilot running all night. Being concerned…
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Departure to Indonesia Imminent
This is the route we plan to take from Australia across to Indonesia. Our documents are ready. Border Force have all of our Australian documents completed. Our Indonesian visas have been obtained. We clear out from Gove on Friday morning, October 4 2024. Beforehand, we will fill our water tanks here in the harbour, and…
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Passage to Indonesia – Day 1 – Cape Wilberforce
We were up early this morning. Our appointment with Australian Border Force was for 0800, for our clearance to depart the country. The weather is the same today as it has been for the last weeks, light SE trade winds of around 10-15 knots, with a heavy haze. Around the peninsular at Nhulunbuy and Cape…
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Passage to Indonesia – Day 2 – Gugari Rip
From our overnight anchorage at Cotton Island to the Gugari Rip was only about 20 nautical miles, but the timing of the Rip is critical, as it must be passed at high tide slack water, the period when the incoming flood tide stops and the tide begins to ebb out again. There are a number…
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Passage to Indonesia – Day 3 – Lagoon Bay
This is day 3 of our passage to Indonesia, but several days have passed since we came through Gugari Rip. It’s already a week since we left Nhulunbuy and Gove. Birgit had an infected ear lobe, and after a similar infection became very serious last year, we thought it best to halt our journey until…
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Passage to Indonesia – Day 4- Jensen Bay
We are going to wait till tomorrow to make the big jump across to Indonesia. Today, we moved just 15nms further up the Wessels to Jensen Bay, anchoring at the northern end of the bay inside the most scenic little enclosure at the top of the bay. We were able to stay much closer to…