While the voyage across the Gulf Of Carpentaria was certainly our longest and most remote passage so far, we were well prepared for it and I don't think that either of us were suffering anxiety attacks when we set out from Seisia at around 0900 in the morning. We were looking at three days and two nights at sea. Weather forecasts were consistently benign, and we'd chosen the right departure time for a speedy run south of the Thursday Island group and out into the Gulf. Also, we had the added bonus of a full moon, and the even greater bonus of a "blood moon" eclipse to make things even more interesting.

The wind on the first day out peaked at around 23 knots from the East, with conditions being a bit rolly, but we thought it prudent to put a "night-time reef" into the mainsail anyway.
Which we didn't need, but with our 3-4 hour watches, it made for an easier sleep for the off-watch crew. We also have our own rule that the person on watch in the cockpit must be life-jacketed and clipped on when they're up there alone. 

By the morning, wind had calmed down quite a bit and we wrestled with several useful sail combinations, none of which really worked efficiently, but the motor just thumped along and kept us at a consistent 6 knots or so. 

Halfway through the second night, we dropped the flapping main altogether, and left our progress to the jib and the engine.
During the daytime, things were getting a bit warm....well, bloody hot... in the cockpit, and it was difficult to find enough shade to fully stretch out and relax. 

It was an uneventful crossing. We saw a couple of ships to our north early on the first day, and then not another vessel for the entire trip. We had a buzz from a Customs plane one afternoon, and that was about it. We read books, lounged around, kept tabs on our course and progress, slept and chased shady spots. 
Our friends Rick and Glad, who were sailing between Port Douglas and Townsville aboard "Rumba" , also kept tabs on us with regular HF radio contact, which was mightily reassuring. 

It was about 3.00 pm on the last day when we spotted a smudge of land on our bow, and it seemed to take forever until we were within clear sight of Gove. It may be just a grungy old aluminium smelter but it sure did look welcoming! 
So, on schedule and without drama, we completed the Gulf crossing to drop anchor outside the Gove Boat Club at a little after 8.00 pm at night, and promptly curled up for a blissful and satisfied sleep.

In the morning, we woke to find ourselves in a picturesque bay, surrounded by dozens of boats, many of which housed workers from the nearby bauxite mine or processing plant. 
After a leisurely breakfast, we hitchhiked into the nearby town of Nhulunbuy, where we feasted on milkshakes, beer and a pub lunch. 
We also registered for a Liquor Permit so we could buy alcohol in the supermarket, and went to the Northern Land Council office to obtain permits to visit the aboriginal settlement at Galiwinku, which lay further to our West.
We enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Club, and met Peter and Shannon from the yacht "Tryphena" who were heading East and waiting for some Northwest breeze.

The next day, I rented a ute, and Peter and I made a few trips into Nhulunbuy to fill up 20 litre diesel Jerrycans, shuttling them out to our boats on our dinghies. Having Peter to help made the job much quicker, and we were done quite early.
Mary and I set off for the art gallery at the aboriginal settlement of Yirrkala, but realised it was Saturday afternoon and that they were closed. 
On Sunday, I started the day aboard the boat with an oil and filter change, our good ol' diesel engine having done such a splendid job motoring all that way across the Gulf. I figured that it deserved a bit of pampering. There was a minor environmental disaster that occurred when I fired it up, having missed removing the seal from the old oil filter first. there was a spectacular pressurised spray of hot oil all over myself, and the galley!
But after a quick cleanup and correcting the problem, it was off to coffee aboard "Tryphena" and a very civilised lunch ashore at the Club. And a shower!

Work never stops for too long on a cruising boat, and on our next, and last, day in Gove, we were stuck into the jobs again. 
I had minor repairs on our mainsail to deal with, (probably caused by a combination of sun damage and slapping on our crossing). I also repaired our misbehaving power generator, which, although we'd still never actually had a need to use the thing, was a great emergency device in the event of electricity failure. 
Mary, meanwhile, had taken to the dinghy and was busily doing shuttle runs, recycling small plastic drink containers and filling them with fresh tap water. The water we'd filled our tanks with from the barge back in Lockhart River was a bit dodgy, and our drinking water consumption is skyrocketing in the N.T. weather. One or two litre plastic bottles fit nicely into our little fridge.

After a night on the anchor on the western side of the Cape, we hoisted the jib and started heading around Possession Island towards the tiny little port of Seisia, which services the inland, aboriginal settlement of Bamaga.

We made excellent time, with a strong tidal current pushing us along at over 9 knots. Pretty good with just one sail up, and, I think a speed record for our good ol' boat.
Pulling into Seisia was wonderful, with some other boats anchored off the palm-lined beach. 
Being on the lee side of Cape York, although the wind was still strong, having it blowing offshore was a very welcome change.
 

Once we'd dropped anchor it was into the beach, where the Caravan Park had hot showers, a laundry, and even a restaurant with a genuine French waiter! There was a Supermarket, a garage, a couple of shops, fresh water, phone service.....bliss!
We'd found heaven!

We did some initial stocking up, had a couple of good feeds from the restaurant in the Caravan Park, and generally felt very pleased with ourselves as we started obsessing about the Gulf crossing that lie ahead of us. Over the next few days, I fussed over the engine and auto-pilot, and jury-rigged a holder for a blown fuse on the solar panels. We chatted with the crew from the yacht "Josida" who had come from Darwin and were waiting for the wind to back off before heading around to the Eastern side of the Cape. Lots of good information from them, as the "Cruising Guide" we'd bought wasn't too user-friendly, and information on the Northern Territory's coast was sketchy, to say the least. We found that friends' blogs....John & Kerryn's from the boat "Esoterica" and Tim and Leanne's from "Gemini Lady" gave us what we needed.
The Apollo Bay yacht "Dreamtime" arrived, and departed a day ahead of us, also bound for Darwin but planning an express trip, so we didn't see her again until arriving into Darwin ourselves.
We were running on tropical time, like the supermarket, which didn't actually open one day because not enough staff had shown up for work in the morning!