After a fairly uneventful passage from Thursday Island to Darwin we neared the end. We had just passed the Crocodile Islands and were entering the Dundas straits which many cruisers including the famous author Jimmy Cornell has said you should always avoid and do an extra 150nm around Melville and Bathurst Islands. The reason is the strong tidal currents which are effected by the massive tides (8meter) in the area. However, I had timed everything to perfection and we arrived at the perfect time. We needed 8-10 hours to complete the 70nm through this tricky passage. The only problem is that once you commit, there is no turning around. Once you enter the current you must stay with its ebb and flood. And so once you have crossed the rubicon there is no going back.

We entered just before 5am as the tide started to flood and we were making great speed of 7-8 knots. Everyone onboard (Arabella, Alex and Apple ) were asleep and I was a happy camper. Full sails up and a beam reach in 10knots of wind. Pretty idyllic.

Silly boy! Never say that!

Ahead of us I could see clouds like your typical early morning squall we had been experiencing in these parts. Nothing too concerning. I would monitor it and if any escalation I would drop sails and motor through. But as we got closer the squall became bigger and bigger. I measured the width to be around 90 nautical miles. This was huge. And I couldn’t turn around.

I dropped the sails and started preparing the boat. Cleaning up and getting things stowed away. I woke Apple and the kids up and ordered life jackets for all and preparation for everyone. Arabella was to helm with me on the flybridge and Alex and Apple to remain inside. Last minute I decided I wanted to close the sail bag and asked Arabella to climb up. She was struggling with the zipper and I could see the wind coming across the water. I told her to stop trying and jump down. As she was climbing down the wind hit like a bus. We have been in dozens and dozens of squalls and I was only afraid of the lightning. The wind was not normally strong for very long and often the worst of the wind passes in a few minutes. It is in the front of a squall which carries the biggest punch and we were prepared so we had nothing to worry about. But this was different.

A few minutes in, the wind started to push 40knots steady. And then we started getting dusts of 50knots. This is the kind of wind you experience in a sever Tropical Storms and almost a cyclone strength. But what made it all the worse was it wouldn’t stop. After 30min the sea was wild and rough with waves breaking over our bow. High up on our flybridge we were getting splashed by sea spray and it was pretty damn scary. After an hour I was getting exhausted trying to keep the boat into the wind. We were now well off course and moving progressively further off course as the wind kept moving to the east. What worried me was that if this weather stayed any longer we would not be able to make it through this treacherous passage I had researched exhaustively. And we had been warned to avoid.

Alex came rushing up to tell me everything had fallen out of the fridge downstairs but things were ok. Apple and she were sorting it out. I started to seriously wonder if this squall would ever end. It was around the same time I started smelling burning. I looked down to see the engine control display smoking. All I needed now was for our engines to fail. We were in over 50m of water and couldn’t anchor and there are very shallow coral and sand banks all over the straits. Luckily the engines stayed running and it seemed this was only the display which seemed to have leaked water and short-circuited. Thankfully it didn’t cause the engines to shut down which is a serious side effect of more modern systems. We soldiered on fighting the waves, the wind and the rain.

And as quick as it arrived at 90min the wind dropped to 20-25knots and it was over. After 3 years at sea that was the worst weather we had ever been in and we made it with only minor damage. Arabella was a tower of strength and Apple and Alex held it together in the saloon. We turned for the route we needed and ran with the wind and just before dark found ourselves anchoring in Fanny Bay. Phew another epic experience for the memoirs.