Salty tales from Bali Hai on Sunday

Around the Top End

—

by

Salty tales from Bali Hai
in

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.
 

The fleet of Rally boats on their way from Escape River To TI
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.

 

The Rally boats head for the Albany 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!

 

Thursday Island critters!

 
Next stop Debut Island!

Comments

2 responses to “Around the Top End”

  1. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    Hi Dot,

    Great to read all your posts when we got back from Bardsey Island. It sounds as though you’re still having a wonderful time. Just wanted to say that for some reason I’m no longer able to access any comments so I don’t know whether you can see them either? It may be something I’m doing wrong, of course, or it may be a glitch in the system. Anyway, I’ll write properly by email and hope you receive it before too long. Much love, Sarah xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Salty tales from Bali Hai Avatar
      Salty tales from Bali Hai

      Hi Sarah, thanks for the comment! Yes I can see them! Could be a glitch- hope it sorts out for you! Sorry the posts aren’t necessarily in sequence, I’m trying to write what comes to mind rather than a sequential journal. Have a huge back log but will try and upload some posts over the next few days now we have some Internet.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a reply to Sarah Cancel reply