Position: 142 23.01, -10 43.14

Tidal streams in Torres Strait can exceed seven knots on large exchanges. It is one of only three tidal current stations in all of Australia (the others are The Rip at Melbourne and Oom Shoal at Mackay). According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “From the tidal point of view, Torres Strait is probably the most complex area in the world. Its narrow and shallow channels connect two oceans with different mean sea levels caused by the general oceanic circulation patterns. This difference introduces a westward equalising current. In addition, tidal regimes on both sides of the Strait are completely different, with diurnal tides to the west and semi diurnal to the east. The contrast in regimes is caused by the difference of semi diurnal components of tide at either entrance, the diurnal part being generally uniform in the area. At some phases of the moon it can be high water at one entrance when it is low water at the other. In consequence, marked differences between the levels at the entrances occur resulting in strong tidal streams. While the tides may have a large diurnal component (especially at the western entrance), the tidal streams are predominantly semi diurnal.”
Endeavour Strait has the same characteristics as Torres Strait, but is about 30% of the flow strength. According to the tidal stream tables, we’ll be transiting against a minor ebb flow of less than a knot. But according to our speed, the current is with us, as we are making 9.5 knots at 1750 RPM where normally we’d be doing about 7.5 knots.

Position: 142 15.81, -10 48.40

Spitfire has seen a lot of vets in the past couple of years as we transit through different countries, and each one has recommended that his teeth be cleaned as his gums were quite red and inflamed. We’re somewhat reluctant to do this, as the full anesthesia required for this procedure is riskier the older the animal is. We did eventually have his teeth cleaned in Brisbane, and decided to start brushing them ourselves afterwards. We’ve been using a Petosan electric toothbrush that does an excellent job and is much faster than a standard pet toothbrush. Spitfire isn’t thrilled about the process, but he tolerates it. And his teeth sure are clean and white, with healthy-looking gums.

Position: 142 2.42, -10 49.66

We’ve only had to adjust the LNB skew once since getting our satellite TV system running in Australia. The last time was in Sydney. We’ve not been watching much recently and discovered that we’ve moved way out of range and couldn’t record the Grand Prix of Monaco. Conditions were reasonably calm in Endeavour Strait, so James climbed up the mast to make the adjustment and we got reception again.

Position: 141 58.02, -10 49.76

We’re on a 750-mile, 4-day passage to Darwin to begin the final stage of our Australia tour: the Kimberly region in Western Australia.

Position: 140 23.61, -10 51.11

Winds are blowing a steady 25 knots from the southeast and the seas are about ten feet and tightly spaced due to a fairly strong opposing current. The seas were behind us, which helped, but the boat was moving more than we would expect for these conditions.