Around the Top End

The trip to Thursday Island from the Escape River was exciting, not least because we were arriving at our final destination before starting the Indonesian part of the rally – a real milestone.
 

 
It seemed as though there was a whole armada leaving the mouth of the Escape River at first light but in reality it must have been around a dozen boats in total. 
The sea was quite choppy and the self steering had problems keeping Bali Hai on course so we hand steered for the first two and a half hours.
The whole fleet took a short cut through the Albany Passage which should only be done when the tide is running in your favour. Fortunately for us this was the case for our passage.

 

 
Following a whole line of sail boats through the narrow gap between the mainland and Albany Island was a wonderful sight! 
Around mid morning we reached another milestone – rounding Cape York. Suddenly we were at the Top End – and we were no longer travelling North! 

 

 
Passing the most northerly tip of Australia felt like such an achievement and we were really pleased that we had made it this far without breaking anything on the boat or having any other mishap. 
Then finally journey’s end! We arrived at Thursday Island at around 3.30 pm and made our way to the great anchorage at Horn Island, feeling just a little overwhelmed with all the ferries, little cargo ships etc. that were buzzing around but glad to be there!

 

 
Next stop Debut Island!