Day 54, Year 3: Arrival at Valencia Island
Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful Day; Winds SE 15-20
Latitude: 11 degrees 23.693 minutes S
Longitude: 132 degrees 47.551 minutes E
Location: Valencia Island, Northern Territory, Australia

We made it to our destination of Malay Bay this afternoon and then kept on going to nearby Valencia Island. Stopping here for the night gives us a jump on tomorrow’s 60 mile trek to Port Essington, so that is why we changed our destination. Our overnight passage continued to be uneventful which was good. However, we didn’t get the 20 to 30 knot winds that were predicted. Since our run was downwind, the 30 knots would have been great, but instead we got variable winds that made sailing a bit difficult. We sometimes had to give ourselves a motor assist while at other times we sailed along nicely. But the important thing is that we made it across the expanse of the Arafura Sea and tomorrow we start the final assent into Darwin. We have to travel through a pass tomorrow during ebb tide. That requires that we leave here at 5:30 in the morning. We will arrive at Black Point in Port Essington and stay there one night so that we can visit the ranger station there. Then we will move just a few miles to a more protected anchorage for a second night that will allow us to explore that part of the world. The next day we make our way to Cape Don. From there we stage the last 100 mile trek into Darwin. By the time we get there we will have traveled for almost two months from Bundaberg. And as soon as we arrive in Darwin, we need to start getting ready for the four month trip through Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, ending in Thailand in December. There is much research to be done and many things to do on Windbird to get her ready for this next adventure.

Scot Free got their head fixed just in time for Donna’s birthday today. So happy birthday to Donna. I’m sure that was the best birthday present she has ever gotten.

080702 Day 54 Passage from Hole in the Wall to Valencia Island