Two down, one to go

Technically, we are no longer in the Pacific Ocean. At what stage the imaginary line is drawn between the Pacific and Indian Oceans is somewhat of a question mark to us however, once we crossed to the west side of Cape York, we left the Coral Sea which, we're told, is the western edge of the Pacific up here.

The Torres Straits are probably a bit of a noman's land but once we leave Darwin for Indonesia, I suppose that could officially be determined to be the Indian Ocean. This then means that Calypso has crossed two oceans with only one more to return to SA. There was a sundial-type structure at Cape York that indicated it was a mere 14 800 kilometres (as the crow flies) back to Johannesburg - not so far is it?!

We left Cape York the next morning to sail just a short distance down to the Aboriginal town of Seisia only 20nm away. It was a fast trip due to wind and strong currents - we even managed a few minutes of travelling at 10,5 knots!

Just at the point that we were dropping the anchor, we received an urgent call from Pete to say the makeshift fan belt broke and he was drifting off into the distance. We dropped the dinghy and went out several miles in an attempt to tow him back in but the winds and currents were far too brisk - we didn't stand a chance. After some time of getting hammered to death out there and just getting dragged further and further away, we had to give up. The trip back in the dinghy took us forever and was exceedingly rough - not a pleasant outing to say the least.

He eventually raised his main, something he hasn't used in ages, and proceeded to tack back. At first, the currents were too strong and he wasn't making any headway but, eventually as the tides turned, he was able to creep forward. About four hours later, he got near enough to drop the anchor but was still a fair way out.

The following morning arrived and there were six dinghies out there to tow him into the main anchorage. Despite the fact that it was a particularly low tide over a couple of sandbars, Troutbridge rode over them with no difficulties. Pete has now ordered two fan belts which have been promised to arrive in about two days time from Cairns. Not a bad service when one realises that we're way out in the outback miles away from a sizeable town.

So, our little bit of drama over, we made a trip into the village and the local supermarket which was, surprisingly, fairly well stocked. We grabbed a few fresh fruit and veggies (at a cost) and even a roasted chicken for tonight's supper.

And now to prepare for the trip across the Gulf of Carpentaria and on to Darwin, some 750 nautical miles away.