Waiting in Port Moresby for a suitable weather window into the Torres Straits was not a very desireable thing to do. If it wasn´t for the fancy Yacht Club where we used to hang around a lot. The town itself has nothing much to offer and was a disappointment.
Even the process of clearing out with Customs was not totally hasslefree, or shpould I say "giftfree" - anyway, a bottle of rum made up for the "overtime work" at 4.15 p.m. ^

Fast sailing for 2 days and 3 nights brought us to Thursday Island, an Australian Island in the Torres Straits, were clearance was processed in a normal, fast and efficient way, although quarantine charges 230Euro for checking a private yacht entering Australian waters.

Still 600 miles to go through the Arafura Sea, most of the way with favourable winds and gentle flat seas compared to the predominantly long and high swell of the Pacific. After an exhilarating ride with 4kts of current and therefore a topspeed of 10,6kts over ground in the narrows near Darwin we finally dropped the hook at Fannie Bay, having accomplished another big leg of this voyage.

Business as usual in Darwin: Getting spare parts, doing repairs and provisioning, changeing crew and then heading on to Indonesia with all tnaks and jerriecans topped up with fuel: The times of sailing in the steady trades were about to end for the next couple of months...

Pics of crocodiles and other creatures...