Day 45: Sunday 7 June - Gove
A down day to catch up - washing, visiting and walk on the beach. Sundowners on Escape - an enjoyable interlude!
Day 46: Monday 8 June - Gove
Spent the morning catching up on internet stuff (not quite) then met James and Sandra (Cilantro) in the bar and they were thinking of leaving tomorrow so we hitched a lift into town (as you do!) with a school principal who visits all the remote schools and her dog Lulu. 
All the signs are written in English and also the Aboriginal dialect - isn't it amazing to think that English is not the first language of the Aboriginal people! The town has about 3,500 people so walked around and had a bit of a look then bought some fresh produce and hitch hiked back again. A family man gave us a lift to the main road then someone was heading to town and turned around to come back and get us to give us a lift back to the yacht club. Had sundowners on Wave Sweeper.
Day 47 Tuesday 9 June - Gove to Elizabeth Bay
We all left at 8.30 for Elizabeth Bay which was purported to be a beautiful Bay but in actual fact it was a pearl farm with just a bit at the end left for us to anchor. We were supposed to come in on a flood tide but we came in on an ebb and paid the price! It was an exhilarating ride around into the bay (terrifying is a long time, exhilarating is terrifying but only for a short time!!!!) Peter commented on the radio that it was "exhilarating" and Cilantro came back and said that his partner would be washing her knickers for a week!!!!
Miles 28 Total 1,815nm
Day 48 Wednesday 10 June - Elizabeth Bay to Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island (via Gugari Rip)
We left at 6.45 thinking that everyone else would be leaving too but not to be - Only Wave Sweeper followed, the others going to Wigram Island. We passed a fishing boat and the skipper came on deck to wave to us - a little bit of magic. We headed off to the the Gugari Rip (otherwise known as The Hole In the Wall = THITW) - it is 64 metres wide, one and a half miles long and 9 metres deep and currents run at 9 knots plus so it is important to enter at slack water on the ebb of the Arafura Sea (which runs opposite on our side of the sea!) So we had to arrive between 10.30 and 11.00 so that was a skill in itself to make the 23 odd mile run to get the timing right. It looked quite wide as we approached but as we got closer the gap got narrower!! We entered a little early going against one knot but half way through it changed and we had a dream run through and the scenery was just stunning!. I steered us through and Peter was on camera duty and Wave Sweeper was right behind us. It was AMAZING! Then had a wonderful sail 6nm round to Guriliya Bay on Raralaga Island. A dream day.
Miles: 28 Total 1,843nm
Day 49 Thursday - 11 June`Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island
Waved Wave Sweeper off about 6.3-0am as they were keen to get to Darwin. We cleaned up and went to the beach where we saw a small crocodile slide and mud crabs just sitting there. Walked around then went to another beach and walked around all the rocks - such amazing country - so very ancient - absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful. Spent three hours walking around - saw a rock cod grab a crab and eat it and a family of mullet. About 12.30 Cilentro and Escape came around the headland followed by a wooden ketch called Sea Hog. We had sundowners on our boat with Cilantro and Escape and were happy to meet up again.
Day 50 Friday 12 June - Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island
Started off as a bit of an ordinary day - went fishing in the tender but all we got was very wet!! Eric however had caught a lot of fish so at 3.30 we all met on the beach for a barbeque. Everybody supplied a different salad and we feasted on coral trout and mangrove jack - couldn't get better in a top class restaurant. Sea Hog came too (John, Kate and their son Luke and dog Ralph). It was the most wonderful afternoon. Luke became Eddie Maguire and ran a Who Wants to be a Millionaire contest much to our amusement and then we finished with French cricket (very quick) as we all left as soon as the sun went down (very crocodile savvy these days!). Absolutely magic day!
Day 51 Saturday 13 June - Guruliya Bay to Refuge Bay
Escape, Cilantro and we all left at 8am heading 40nm to Refuge Bay. We had light winds so it was a very slow trip, albeit enjoyable. At one stage we got caught in the overflow around Stephens Island and we were only doing 1.5knots so had to start the motor as the current kept pulling us towards the island - we had about 4 knots going against us. Would have been a good ride if it had gone with us! Put the jenniker up and made some headway. Peter caught a nice mackerel and we got in at 5.10 and saw an amazing sunset.
Miss you all but especially Jackie, Rosie, Jessie (hopefully Jack and Rosie are not becoming Crow supporters!!! Anna!!!!!)
Fair Winds
Dell and Peter
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