E25 – THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA (1/2)
Stepping off!
We stepped off for the crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria along with another sailing boat we had met in the previous couple of days called ‘Lady Dee’. They had departed once already but turned back due to heavy weather and this was their second attempt. Gotta love perseverance! We were seeing 20+kts in the anchorage and I expected that’s what we would see for the crossing.
I set the rod up off the stern and it wasn’t long before we hooked a nice tuna and once we cleared the Torres Strait sandbanks, I chucked it in the pan and we ate fresh, fried and lightly salted Tuna.
Australian Border Force were doing there job and we had a flyby from one of their helicopters once we were well clear and headed west from the Torres Strait.
Strangely for the entire crossing, we experienced a swell coming from the south AND the east. This made it a rather uncomfortable crossing especially for Tan as she is susceptible to a roll and it makes her feel unwell and sluggish.
On long passages, the menu gets simplified and for the first night at sea, we elected to just heat up some garlic bread in the oven.
