Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 6:17 PM

Subject: MC - Leg 4 to Darwin

Dear All,

Thank you for your emails. Please keep them coming. It is nice upon arrival to hear news from home. I apologize that I am unable to reply individually. I do appreciate concerns some of you had regarding my hands. Lines and sails were very abrasive for sea water soaked hands over the few days of the Oregon gale and...I neglected them. Michele reprimanded me for that. My hands got much better since I took care of them and now I am using gloves more often.

To reach Torres Strait from Vanuatu many sail first to Cairns and then cruise North inside the Great Barrier Reef. Others sail to Bramble Cay, just off the coast of Papua, New Guinea, before changing course towards the passes between Coral and Arafura Seas. I chose the faster Bramble Cay route.

As soon as I left the protected Port Vila harbour, whistles were loud and clear. For the next 10 days it was bumpy and I could not synchronize my sail selections with the moody weather, but sailing was fast. Weather was improving several times just to worsen a few hours later. Finally for the last two days on the Coral Sea I got another 35 knot blow and 20 foot high seas.

Those last two days on the Coral Sea made the 180 mile passage through Torres Strait more difficult than I had anticipated. Very few boats, which do Torres non stop stay in the channel marked for cargo ships. The vast majority break the passage into three stages, but there are no protected anchorages. Torres Strait is over 100 miles long, neary 100 miles wide and only 15 deep with a flat bottom. There are more reefs than is safe for navigation waters and seven to eight meter tides are normal. A good anchorage is wherever there's reasonable holding ground. Other than that it is straitforward.

Strong winds from the Coaral Sea stayed with me through Torres and most of the Arafura Sea. Water was rather calm for 20 knots of wind. Sailing was really fast and easy. In the first four days on the Arafura, Mighty Chicken made 620 miles. After twenty days the Chicken landed in Darwin.

About an interesting experience with Austaralian Customs to come. Stay tuned. Cheers, Andy