Picton Castle is through the Torres Strait.
Tuesday November 28 – Picton Castle was sailing along blissfully 6 miles north of Eastern Fields, a coral reef or sunken atoll, 100 miles SE of Bramble Cay, and Pandora’s Passage* and on to Bligh’s Entrance to the Torres Strait, the narrow shallow stretch of water separating Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. In a small day sailer or even a canoe you could cross these waters easily and in short order. Plenty of small islands to take refuge and camp. You could day sail your way north or south, from land to land. The bugs, snakes and saltwater crocodiles might all kill you and bring your own water to be sure. These islands are inhabited by Torres Strait Islanders and are clearly Pacific Islanders, quite different from Aboriginal Austrailians or Papuans. Certainly seem to have old Polynesian type roots in so many ways. To hazard a guess, these fine folk are descended from those long ago voyagers who passed this way and decided to stay as others carried on to the east. Just my surmise. Fascinating.
It is plenty hot now with light and fair winds. We will be motoring soon I expect. As for work onboard, Bosun Line emptied out the bosun stores from the cargo hold onto the hatch and covered it a couple feet deep. We have a lot of stuff, good stuff too, all kinds of good tools, fasteners and all kinds of supplies. All need proper sorting by the bosun and the mate. And naturally some needs cleaning and overhauling to be put to rights. Line is excellent at her job.
November 29 -Fired up the main engine, the B&W Alpha, at 0700 in a glassy undulating calm as forecast – let the expected motoring begin! We also had an odd northerly swell mid-day for a couple hours, then it went away. The gang is varnishing the beautiful mahogany bridge rail stantions made in Fiji some years ago that suffered so much during the pandemic. Gorgeous again. Sailmaking on the hatch under the awning is ongoing as Rachel and Diane and others seam away at topsails laid out in Tahiti. Dan is pitching off bits on deck, champhoring fife rail stantions. Tammy is taking charge of the scullery to make things work a little smoother. Then an afternoon power shower. Bramble Cay and Bligh’s Entrance at 1830. Hot but not too bad.
November 30 – Steamed through the night. Passed Hammond Island at the narrowest part at 1213. Dustin and Spring worked out the currents so we could pass through at slackwater going to fair tide. A few ships coming and going, a couple at anchor maybe waiting for fair currents. Curiously no aerial surveillance from Austrian border patrol this time. Last few times through here we were flown over several times a day and called up on th VHF radio to find out who we were and what we were up to. Not so this time.
Fair weather. Hot. Dan is replacing a deck plank. New fife rails getting polished. Bridge rail stantions coated and looking good. Run up the engine so it runs hotter for an hour. The Alpha likes this. Seas smooth. The Picton Castle entered the Arafura Sea at 1310 out of the Prince of Wales Channel at Hammond Island with a fair tide into that sea and the Indian Ocean. Wind being fair and fresh, set topsails. No doubt an afternoon power shower is in the offing.
After we pass Booby Island up ahead we will have about 1550 miles to go to fetch Bali. We will sail almost due west off the north coast of Australia, past the Gulf of Carpentaria, past the islands of Timor, Sumba, Sumbawa, and Lombok, all in Indonesia, before we get to Bali. Meanwhile we have some sea passage days ahead of us.
* Pandora’s Passage is named after the British Royal Navy Frigate Pandora sent to Tahiti to round up what Bounty mutineers they could find. She wrecked on reefs hereabouts. Bligh’s entrance is obviously named for Captain William Bligh who was the subject of the Bounty mutiny . He lost neither the boat he had nor any men on this staggering almost 4,000 mile open boat voyage after he got the boot from Bounty. Can’t seem to shake these guys….
