What fun. At around 2.30 am in force 8 winds, two blips appear on the radar, straight ahead. At first I think it is just another channel beacon with a false echo and stand in the galley looking out of the window trying to spot it (not going outside unless I have to). A particularly nasty crashing wave disturbs Mike and he comes up. I point out the blips and he goes outside. After watching it for some time we can see that it’s a ship coming the other way, fast. He starts to move Jeannius outside the channel on our starboard side to give the ship a wide berth when he sees another ship right where he wants to go. It isn’t a false echo on the radar; it’s two of the buggers and only a mile apart. Obviously the one outside the channel is trying to overtake the other one inside the channel. Great timing!
Mike calls them both on the VHF, gives our position and asks if they can see us. One responds by asking us to repeat our position …. then nothing. They keep coming and we have no choice but to hold our position. Mike calls Wild Tigris and Sean gives Mike the ship names from his AIS system. As the ships pass, one on each side, I hold both my breath and my tummy in. It obviously makes a difference and we slide through. Phew. About ten minutes later, we are slammed on both sides by their wakes. Thanks guys. Great seamanship.
Mike goes back to bed and I await the next fun instalment of the night!
The time ticks past really slowly. The high winds continue and the seas get bigger. Wave after wave crashes over the decks and cockpit as Jeannius slaloms her way through the reefs. Never have we had to use so many waypoints – on average, one every ten miles. This is anything but enjoyable sailing.
Mike comes back on watch and I go down to try to sleep. I catnap for about one and a half hours and that’s it. When I call out to Mike for some tea he tells me that we are now going around the very northern tip if Australia and being so close to land and the offshore islands we have got some internet connection, so I rush up and upload the blog and some e-mails before it disappears again.
At last the sea and wind start to calm, and as we hit the Torres Straits near Thursday Island, the tide is with us and we shoot through, three knots of current giving us lots of added speed.
The freezer seems to be creating frost on the inside walls again, so with all the packing I put in yesterday, I think the food will be OK. I just take out a couple of things that I know had gone soft to be cooked and eaten today.
Mike has a bit more luck sleeping than me, although all his sleeps are short ones. I am now light-headed with lack of sleep and I get the feeling that it would take a horse tranquillizer to knock me out now. Unfortunately I can’t resort to drugs as they take too long to wear off and I can’t leave Mike on watch that long. Bummer.
Once we are clear of the Torres Straits (the stretch of water between Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea) and out of the shipping channels (hurray for that), our progress is much more pleasant, and in fact, actually enjoyable – really enjoyable. The seas are a pale colour, more green than blue, and we gently undulate our way through the afternoon, watching Wild Tigris gradually creep up on us until around 3 pm they overtake. We photograph them. They photograph us. We must remember to swap photos.
I try to sleep again in the late afternoon, but fail, then again after supper, but after another two hours of wriggling, I get up and let Mike get a few hours. As I write this and it approaches midnight, I have been awake for about 40 hours and had just two hours of kip. If I don’t get some soon, Mike will have a psycho on his hands.
Our position is: 10 deg 47 min S, 140 deg 47 min E
Distance so far: 11434 nautical miles
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