Unfortunately, I did not not sleep much last night… The wind had increased to almost 30 knots So I had to take down the mizzen sail and put another reef in the mainsail… Since yesterday I have been called twice by the Australian Customs and Border Protection airplane which I actually found was nice of them. Right now Guppy and I are sailing close hauled on a new course heading more to the South towards land! So Guppy is slowly pointing her nose into the Van Dieman Gulf with its strong currents, a place well knowned to be rough for sailors. Our speed has decreased from 6 to 5, then to 4 and finally 2 knots! Obviously that is because we are running against the currents so evidently it cannot be otherwise… I’ll just have to be patient and wait for the tides to turn. Actually the Van Dieman Gulf is more like a large version of the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands. But now I still have to sail for another night going between sandbanks and If all goes well I should be in Darwin tomorrow… I am really looking forward to it, and specially to the time I’ll spend sleeping…

Laura