Labuan Badjo 08.30 S 119.52 E

Hello armchair sailors...
We have sailed east along the north coast of Flores just 70 miles since we last communicated. Before leaving Monkey Beach we had a good snorkel and cruise around the landlocked inlets viewing the coral formations often just a metre below the dinghy. The two nights we were at anchor at Monkey the local fisherman
positioned their big fishing platforms not far from us for the nights fish killing. The boats consist of a narrow canoe about 20 metres long with pencil thin outriggers 15 metres on each side all linked with a woven matting giving a rather incongruous unseaworthy platform 20m x 30m overall. The thing is powered to the fishing site by a Chinese diesel motor without muffler which means you can hear them coming from 50 miles off !! Once anchored they fire up a small petrol generator (like you see at Bunnings) and then proceed to turn night into
day with a zillion conventional 230v bulbs as a means of attracting the fish.  And there are tens of these platforms in view most evenings. The fish barelystand a chance but at least its more environmentally friendly than the methods used up until 10 years ago when dynamiting and cyanide killing was apparently the rage !!!

Talking about environmental issues disposing of waste in Indonesia is a majorproblem. And it is a real problem for us as cruisers as we are generallyspeaking an earth loving bunch. But we all produce waste and attempting to haveit disposed of satisfactorily is more than a problem in itself. You may recall we told you of the experience in Kupang where the 'dinghy boys' offered to dispose of it only to see it floating passed the yacht the next day having been economically filtered. We break our refuse down into animal vegetable and
plastic/glass/cans with only the vegetable going over the side at sea. Only in some ports are they interested in the cans and bottles. So you get the drift of our problem - simply adding it to the mountains of rubbish deposited by the Indonesians in the drains, waterways and sea does not appeal.

Over the last week we have had some very good anchorages with brilliant snorkelling around some pristine reefs. The highlight was an island anchorage at Bodo Gili 08.22S 120.01E where we anchored in 23m of crsytal clear water and swam the 500m to view the reefs and walk on the white coral sand beach. And
guess what, this is where we saw our first wild monkeys ranging happily on the beach at sunset and low tide. Turns out these guys rely on a shellfish diet (nodoubt due to the absence of vegeation) and have perfected the art of cracking shellfish for a feed. We spent much time focusing the binoculars on these fellows going about their business including numerous babies too. Come dark we could hear them screeching in the trees as sleeping arrangements were being settled.  Yes we loved our two nights at Bodo Gili. 

From Bod Gili it was just 20 miles around to our present anchorage at Labuan Badjo. And what an eventful little passage it was with the engine alarm going off in a narrow coral reef infested passage to tell us Henry was over-heating....cut the engine and raised the sails to tack the final 10 miles and that was fine. Cause could be 3 options...out of oil, cooling water or fanbelt. Just 12 months new and regularly checked by P it was the fanbelt. Fitted another one on so hopefully just a dud belt.

Lubuan Badjo is a grubby, smelly fishing port and tourist hotspot that relies on its location as the western most port on the island of Flores and as the jumping off point to visit the the famous Komdo Dragons !!! Yesterday we went into town in the dinghy and as dusk settled tried to start the Mercury to return to
Musketelle. No joy. Motor simply refused to turn over and we were not in rowing distance. Big problem. Then along came some locals in a big dink from one of the big dive boats. They agreed to tow us back to Musketelle, a couple of miles, in the dark, no lights, past the fishing boats. That was really nice of them and
they did not ask for any money but of course we gave them plenty of rupes for their trouble.

Today we are refuelling and restocking with fruit and vege before our leap into the unknown with the dragons at Rinca and Komodo Islands just 20 miles south of our current position. You will be pleased to know we are gettingsome great digital pics but not pleased to learn we have yet to work out how to upload them to this blog. Continue to watch this space for the next exciting installment.....meeting the dragons !!.
P&B

Monkey Beach 08. 23.11S 120.59.57 E

Hello. Its over a week since our last update. We can only attribute the delay to the heat - and it is HOT. The battery on the barometer/thermometer needs replacing so we can't say what the temperature is, however it is 1915 in the evening of the 25th of August and we have all the windows open and the fans going and the sweat is pouring off us. Not exactly lady-like but then as Peter says, he ain't no lady!.

Worse for Peter is that he had his head stuck in the hot engine compartment yet again working on the recalcitrant stern gland fitting. It is still leaking and has to be adjusted constantly. We need a more permanent solution and will revisit a permanent solution in Bali or Singapore. Yet another case of WIP, work
in progress.

We currently have all the portholes and hatches covered with insect screens and a big mesh awning draped over the cockpit (an insect screen for an outdoor umbrella from Bunnings Darwin) as we are anchored in a nice bay tucked behind an island and surrounded by mangroves, perfect for mozzies.

There are about 10 rally boats anchored in the immediate area and more close by. Allegedly the bay is so named because a family of monkeys was spotted on the beach but we do not hold out much hope of seeing any monkeys as the area has been burnt off. This burning off is a complete mystery to us. The Indonesians
seem fixated with burning anything that grows (and eating anything that moves).
Whilst this burn off was apparently originally to do with shifting cultivation it seems that nowadays the burn off is just to burn off. Cliff faces, rugged hillsides, little islands, anything is burned, with no apparent cultivation or grazing to justify the attack. We along with fellow crusiers have been disappointed at the lack of bird life and wildlife.

Anyway, to recap, starting from our last blog reported anchorage. We left our lovely anchorage with its clear water, pearl farms, sand cay and burnt off islands, on Monday 18 August and sailed to T.G. Gedong at 08 04.68S 122 50.71E where we anchored at 1501 hours in 23m of water, drifting back over 35m. There
were about 8 boats in the anchorage and the usual curious locals, particularly children to whom we gave out stuffed toys.

The next morning we left at 0645, motoring for an hour and a half then sailing in 10 kts breeze to Geliting, just east of Maumere, anchoring at 08 38.03S 122 18.49E. Bintang ashore (ie local beer, really good) followed by dinner at "SeaWorld" a Catholic Church run restaurant/bar which does good work for
disadvantaged children with the profits.

Next day (Wednesday 20 August) was the offical welcoming ceremony at the anchorage and the Kiwis were asked to do the formal thank you to the hosts (yachts Musketelle, Moon Mist, Solan, Nowadays, Pied a Mer, Catala). This we did in style (if we may say so ourselves) - Peter gave the formal thank you speech,
which was translated paragraph by paragraph and went down very well (the Indonesians like long speeches and Peter's was just right and addressed tourism development which is close to their hearts).

Then we did a powhiri, Rob on Moon Mist as the proud Maori Warrior with the Honorable Regent* accepting the challenge, followed by the haka (hmm yes well the timing left a little to be desired but the spirit was there) and then all singing Poekarekare Ana.

*Note Indonesia is divided up into Regencies (ie Provinces) and the head man is the Honorable Rengent with associated minders - security guards, protocol person, chauffeur etc etc.

Next day Barbara spent the day on the boat trying to burn music onto CDs (finally achieved after reading the manual umpteen times) and Peter went ashore to watch and participate in the canoe racing by the locals (as in wooden dugout canoes with no freeboard). After capsizing once, Peter and Grant from SY Nowadays (Hastings) came fourth out of ten. Theory has it that if they had knelt in the canoe instead of sitting in it they may have done even better.

Friday 22 August we went into Maumere to go to the bank and the internet cafe. We went with the cruisers off Catala, Pied a Mer and Moon Mist. Catching a bemo is a fraught experience, we do not know what the correct local cost is and when we ask before we get on, we get told one thing and then when paying the price has mysteriously doubled or quadrupled. We also only got 3/4 of the way to Maumere and had to change bemos (not clear why - our first one may have been unlicensed or there may be some bemo mafia controlling who can take whom where). This resulted in a "discussion" with the bemo driver which a local policeman resolved by determing the fare (considerably less than was being demanded) and we then got another bemo into town.

We went to the bank, big queue for the cash point machine and then spent 2 hours on a pathetically slow internet connection doing about 20 minutes work. This was followed by a walk towards the market, past
drains jammed with rubbish, past pigs checking out the rubbish, past pretty yucky type living environments - but lots of children calling out "Hello Meester" or "Hello Mrss" and "My name is" - by which they actually mean "what is your name".

Couldn't find the market and decided to head back to Geliting and stop at the town where we had had to change bemo and where we had seen a vege market. Much less bemo hassle getting back to the market town. Bought tomatoes and a cabbage, plus eggs, beer and cans of coke. Then caught motor bikes back to the anchorage - ie Peter on the back of one bike and me on another plus beer, coke, veg and eggs. By the time we got back to the absolute sanctuary of Musketelle we were exhausted!

On Saturday we left the anchorage and after motoring for the first hour and a half had a good sail to TG Batu Boga, near Dondo village, 08 27.62S 121 56.57E.  Anchored in 24m but quite close to fringing reef. Next  day, Sunday, we snorkeled, had visitors for morning tea, relaxed and had sundowners, a very strenuous day.

Today, Monday 25 August, we left TG Batu Boga at 0730 intially motoring and then when a breeze came in, having a nice sail the 57 or so miles to Monkey Beach.

Barbara made pizza for lunch (with proper pizza dough - at least as proper as one gets from Alison Holst's Bread Book) and a small white loaf of bread. We got to the anchorage at 1640 and had good waypoints to guide us past the reefs. We anchored in 20m of water.  Anchoring depth has been one of the surprises in this part of Indonesia - it is either very deep or over coral reefs - and we prefer the deep bit as it nerve wracking to a.) try to get a hold on the coral (and very bad for the coral) and b.) then swing with the tide/wind and find the spare 1.5m under the keel isn't there any more compliments of a protruding coral bommie.

Well thats all for now, time for dinner. Hope all is well in NZ, Aussie and France.

Indonesia 101 - Kupang - Alor - Lembata

Its a fortnight since we last published and thats because its been full-on for Musketelle and her crew.....Formal Welcoming Ceremonies (tropical formal) with Banquet Dinners and Cultural Shows, sightseeing, bemo and scooter riding, refuelling, the never ending maintenance and of course socialising !!! Its been a crash course in adjusting from the relative efficency of Australia to the topsy turvey tropical tumult of people teeming Indonesia. But so far so good and we are enjoying every minute as we adjust to the ways of this fascinating country.
Unlike most tourists who enter at an international airport at a major city we have slipped in through the back gate so to speak. We are sailing from the less populated and less developed eastern end of Indonesia and moving west toward the mega populated Java where over a thousand souls occupy every square kilometre. Being an archipelago of 14,000 islands sailing is the ultimate way to visit this country. If there are a reputed 300 million living here we are only going to meet a miniscule number. Those we have met are just so friendly and the youngsters are all being taught English and eager for dialogue. The method of approach is to thrust a notebook and pen under the nose and ask for
you to write your name and country as an ice breaker. Becomes a bit of a chore but its hard to resist the eager smiling faces.
The country is politically controlled by Jakarta but each province or regency has a Regent Governor who is "the man" locally !!! It has been the Regent Govenor or Deputy who has hosted these formal welcomes which emphasises the importance this rally of 116 yachts is, particularly in the fringe areas we are
currently visiting. To give you an example one island we visited normally gets 200 tourists per year and we all rock up!!! You can imagine the excitement among the locals.
To bring you up to date with our physical travels we have in the last fortnight sailed from Kupang on West Timor north to the island of Alor where we anchored off the town of Kalabahi pop 40k. To reach this place we battled huge wind against current seas in the Sawu Sea and inquisitive fishing boats in the dead
of night to reach the Selat Pantar passage right on daybreak. This passage has fast flowing currents, depths of not less than 1000 metres and is teeming with dolphins. Most of the time through the Selat Pantar we were headed by the current - going just 0.5 knots under motor!!. Not surprisingly the hills on either side of us took on a very familiar look - since we were effectively standing still!
Then our luck (or was that the tide?) changed and whisked us at times up to 10 knots in 5 knots of wind into Kalabahi passing numerous fishing villages on each side of the passage.
Kalabahi is a noisy little town that comes to life each morning with the call of the mosque and the local cocks. It kept up this sweltering bustle throughout the day meaning that it felt like midnight by 8pm. We hired motor- cycles and cruised to outlying villages and found a sublime lagoon for a dip. Highlight was passing a motor scooter with a man and woman on board and a huge swordfish draped across the bike with the sawn off stump of the bill scraping on the road at one side and the tail the other....fresh fish en route to market forthwith!!!
Our next port of call, travelling westward, was the volcano ribbed island of Lembata and its principal town of Lewoleba pop 10k located on a landlocked lagoon fed by another swift flowing pass that replenished the fishing grounds twice a day with fish for the countless fishers. Highlight of our stay was a day trip over the most backside testing 52km track you can imagine on the back of a ute to a traditional whaling village called Lamalera where the locals catch around 30 whales annually using big row boats and hand thrown harpoons. The boats were around 10m long and built of timber held together with wooden dowels and lashing twine. This village is a classic example of genuine no frills tourism with the visit involving total immersion in this working village along with the pigs, goats and cats not to mention the opportunity to buy local handicrafts including whale teeth. All this whilst surrounded by whale bones in various state of decay and whale meat hanging to dry in the sun.
The next day we recovered by filling our fuel tanks with diesel (locally known as 'solar') and what a fun experience this was involving a visit to the local petrol station which looks nothing like anything you can imagine. The place is identified by the 200 plus scooters always lined up waiting to fill their 5 litre tanks
with petrol, (benzine). Being big volume purchasers and wanting solar not 'benzine' we were invited to jump the queue and we watched agog as the disel was hand ladled in 2 litre amounts into our 20 litre containers, the operator dipping his ladle, bare hand and arm immersed each time, into this big drum being fed by a tap from a bigger tank ouside the filling room. It was a scene of controlled mayhem with the cashier sitting opposite also counting the ladles, as we were. The alternative was to pay a local middleman to bring fuel out to the boat in their containers but our experience in Kupang resulted in dirty fuel and most 20L containers only holding 17 or 18 L with talk of that being further diluted with kerosene and even palm oil to increase earnings for the middleman. Yes, Indonesia is a fascinating place and people are forced to go to extremes to make a buck. Needless to say we filter all fuel before it enters our tanks and then pass it through multiple filters before it gets to the engine or generator.
Our anchorage for the last 2 days has been a coral fringed lagoon at the eastern end of Adunara. The snorkelling here is excellent and to round off the days we have gone ashore each evening to a sandspit island for sundowners and last night a bbq with timber a few of us collected from some nearby islands. With drop dead sunsets and a full moon the general consensus from the 6 boats at this anchorage, paradise found,  10 out of 10 !!!
Our next major island is Flores. We will update soon.

Kupang, Indonesia - Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July 2008

We are at anchor in Kupang. We dropped anchor at 1530 on Wednesday 30 July, 74.5 hours after leaving Darwin.  A very good time considering the wind or lack thereof. We motored for the first 42 hours then had a magic sail using our reacher, incl overnight.

We cleared Quarantine on Wednesday afternoon. Q had quite a few teams available and the yachts with the Q guys on board made contact with other yachts flying the Q flag so the Q guys could be delivered promptly from yacht to yacht.
Unfortunately Customs did not play the same game. We had to put our name down on a list on the local  Customs boat which is moored inshore, then Customs will call up each yacht on the VHF for the Customs officers to be collected by the yacht's dinghy and then returned to the Customs boat after the visit. Customs isn't working through the list in the order of the names so that some boats in for 24+ hours still hadn't been cleared whilst other later arrivals were, causing some grumping on the VHF. To compound matters Customs are issuing "Impound Notices" to be stuck to the cleared boats because of some incomplete documentation - either because (version 1) Sail Indonesia did not get the "sponsor letters" for the boats due to some alleged inter-Indonesian department politicking or (version 2) Indonesian Customs are wanting to enforce the requirement for an import bond on visiting yachts but the Sail Indonesia exemption from this has not yet been put in place. These impound notices mean that boats are not free to leave the anchorage even though the paperwork has been done. Some cruisers are extremely grumpy, whilst others just shrug and get on with being here. Since writing this we have all been advised that the situation has been resolved and provided each
boat completes one more bit of paper and pays 50,000 Rps (about AU$6) then Customs will come out to remove the Impound Notice.
To really make life fun for the 120 + yachts in the anchorage, on Thursday the wind got up, blowing over 20 knots for several hours, fortunately in daylight. The wind was not that strong but the tide enhanced chop really got things boiling. Yachts started dragging all over the anchorage, including one tangling its anchor chain with another, and yachts starting to drag out into the bay. Many owners had gone ashore and teams from other yachts had to frantically conduct rescue forays. The Customs Vessel also dragged onto a couple of yachts and then departed the scene to the relief of the yachts from an anchorage point of view but from a Customs inspection point of view that meant no more inspections for the rest of the day.
We had our own issue. We were not dragging but decided to re-anchor as we were a little close to another yacht. After only pulling up a short amount of chain it came to a complete halt due, we concluded, to the chain being caught on something below. We couldn't budge it. With the wind picking up we also could
not lay out any more chain due to our proximity to the other yacht. The wind forced us back on the tight chain and the pressure on the snubber (the nylon line clipped onto the chain and tied back to the boat to take the strain off the windlass) was huge. Fortunately the other yacht was kind enough to move although that was not easy in the strong winds and our position vis a vis their anchor chain so we had a bit of a scramble as they squeezed past our bow. However we were then able to let out more chain which quietened us down.
We will try to raise the anchor and if not successful will see if one of the divers in the fleet can go down the 20m and take a look at the situation.
Friday saw some more winds, with some more dragging. The tide was also very low and the combination of the wind and the low tide made getting ashore a challenge with some dinghies being swamped by waves on approach to the beach. The prospect of this put quite a few crews off going shore which was a shame as it meant that the Governors Welcome Dinner and cultural displays in evening was not as well attended as it deserved to be as the Indonesians had gone to a lot of trouble.
We went ashore at about 1915. On the way we got tangled in a floating anchor line that had been laid from the yacht "Pure Chance" which had put on a good display of dragging earlier in the day. A dark rope in dark water on a dark night is not exactly visible. Having extracated ourselves from this we diverted to "Keshi" to pick up Leanne, having assured her husband that we would get her safely to shore. We thought we had the waves right but looking over our shoulder we saw a huge breaking wave coming right at us. It caught us just as the bow of the dinghy touched the beach and before the dinghy boys could grab the dinghy and haul it out of the water. Result - dinghy swamped, all persons very wet. Undaunted we batted on and had a good evening.
Today Saturday is delivering winds gusting 25-28 knots and a couple of boats have dragged. Peter is going ashore to watch the Bledisloe 2 rugby match this afternoon which hopefully will be on the big screen.
The town is bustling, there is a mega party area on the foreshore every night, well attended by the locals. The streets are full of motor scooters and bemos (small taxi van/buses) all whizzing around, flashing coloured lights and sounding their horns. Walking in the streets is an exercise in watching where one puts one's feet due to the holes, rubble, disappearing pavements etc plus looking at head height due to low slung wires. It is very interesting but,not surprisingly, slightly chaotic. It is disappointing to see the huge amount of
rubbish just thrown into drains, rivers and the sea. Cruisers who take their rubbish ashore are horrified to see it tipped up on the beach, gone through and then the reject rubbish left to blow or washed away out to sea.
Signing off,
Saturday 2 August 2008.

Quietly Drifting Towards Kupang - Tuesday 29 July 2008

As noted in our previous post, we left Darwin at 1300 hours on Sunday and apart from 4 hours of sailing slowly under main and genoa on Sunday evening have motored all the way. It is now 1300 on Tuesday 29 July and we have well and truly caught up and passed the tail enders and are currently in sight of about 14 other yachts, behind, to the side, and in front of us. Darwin is 322 nm astern and the southern tip of West Timor 125 nm ahead.

We have put up our light air sail headsail, our Reacher and are doing 4-6 knots of boat speed in 5-8 knots of wind (the most wind we have had). It is nice to have some peace and quiet, although as the motoring was on dead flat seas it was actually surprisingly pleasant, just noisier.

We have not seen much wildlife, although we did have a big shark about 20 mteres behind us yesterday (nice to see at least one that has to date evaded chinese shark fin soup) and dolphins plus a lot of big mackerel in feeding frenzies at dawn this morning. It was good to hear on the radio sked this morning that one yacht rescued a turtle from a tangle of nets.

Last night we passed close to some large well lit oil rigs in the centre of the Timor Sea just on the Indonesian side of the sea border marking the end of Australian waters. Reminds us that this is why the East Timorese problems were so bitterly disputed.

We are hoping to close on the Timor coast tomorrow morning and make our way north to drop anchor off Kupang town tomorrow afternoon. Kupang has a population of 200,000+ which really makes it a city and among other things we are particularly looking forward to the food - according to The Lonely Planet guide the local specialty is ...dog meat - yeah right!!.

Timor Sea - Bound for Kupang, Timor

Our current position is 11 48 S, 128 36 E. We are underway from Darwin to Kupang. We left Darwin at 1300 on Sunday, 26 hours behind the fleet, having fixed some final bits and pieces, watched the rugby and got some sleep. As expected the wind was light and we motored most of the way out of Beagle Gulf.
Finally at 1600 hours we thought we had some wind, so we put the main and genoa up and the wind, on queue, eased again. We persisted with the sails up, finally getting enough breeze to push us along at 6.5 knots for an hour or so. Then the wind vanished completely so we sat doing 1.7 knots in 0.0 breeze, the 1.7 knots
presumably due to tide. After a lesiurely dinner we put the engine back on at 2000 hours and have been motoring ever since - it is now 1000 on Monday 28 July (Australia Central Standard Time ie 9.5 hours ahead of UTC). During the night we passed 2 other yachts in the fleet who had also left on Sunday and we have made up some time on the fleet stragglers who are motoring more slowly than our average of 7 knots.
There was a spectacular sunset last night, the sun setting scarlet red with a girdle of cloud. Then the sliver of moon rose also red. A flying fish did a death leap onto the deck right next to Barbara so it was his lucky night as he got scooped back to sea. Now to the funniest silliest thing....we recently purchased a neat little portable Waeco 12volt cooler that we use for food we require throughout the day so we are not opening up our main fridge and freezer everytime we want milk, butter or fruit. Well, we accordingly loaded it the day before leaving Darwin with fresh oranges and apples but when we opened yesterday for an orange the fruit was mostly spoiled because the thing had inadvertantly been switched to the food warmer zone. The apples were cooked and the oranges were very ripe!!!
P&B

Darwin - What Still Here?

Hi Everyone, well we didn't make the 1100 start today, Saturday 26th July 2008. We have some final matters to attend to (including two toilets not working due to all the weed in Fannie Bay) - we are off tomorrow Sunday in the morning. Benefit: Peter got to watch the All Blacks get beaten by the Aussies. Robbie Robbie Robbie Oi Oi Oi.
Update later - hopefully once we are on the move via our satellite email connection if we have configured this blog correctly.
P & B.
ps: saw 2 Dugongs in Fannie Bay today which was great. Other cruisers had seen them but we hadn't to date.

Darwin - Two Days To Go

Hello Everyone, well it is now Thursday evening two days before departure. We have a load of washing in the machine at the Darwin Sailing Club and a load of items and food to stow aboard after a very busy day rushing around Darwin doing that last minute shopping in a rental car.
Tomorrow we clear Customs and Immigration - a team is coming to the Club especially for the Rally. Tomorrow is also Show Day in Darwin and a public holiday so most businesses will be shut.
Weather has finally settled down we hope after several days of very strong winds. At the moment it is quite calm. However going back to the boat in the dinghy last night and coming ashore this morning was quite an adventure in itself and was the dinghy equivalent of crossing Cook Strait. Despite this wind, the weather is very nice, fine, sunny, average of 32 degrees C.

On the social front, we had a Kiwi roast dinner on Monday night on Pied a Mer, with Catala in attendance and the Aussies from Keishi, including two year old Jack. Joanne on Pied a Mer did a great roast pork with crackling and Barbara did a leg of lamb with roast potatoes and pumpkin.

Tuesday afternoon was the formal briefing at the new Darwin Convention Centre. The host from Sail Indonesia in Jakarta failed to appear having missed his flight and his Aussie rep fronted the presentation although not with style. The best presentation was from the Sail Malaysia rep who was enthusiastic, funny and informative. So everyone is looking forward to the Malaysian leg.

Big jobs still to be completed tomorrow include putting a new seal in the top of one of the hydraulic backstay rams (a story in itself getting the seal - we got the last one in Darwin), putting up the genoa and a new cap at the top of the furler (meaning P has to go up the mast again), unblocking the toilet salt water flush inlet pipe which is full of weed - there is a lot in the water and we have had to unblock intake pipes regularly, installing the new pump for the anchor washdown (old one cost the same to fix as to replace) etc etc - but yes we will be ready to depart 1100 hours on Saturday.

Peter and Barbara

Last Minute Stuff

21 July 2008

Last Minute Stuff
We are still at anchor in Darwin. Final week and a public hol here Friday so rush rush rush. Got fuel this morning, first appointment for the day which was good as the boats after us are griping on the radio about the queue. Had to chase some Poms away who did not have a booking for the fuel dock. Its tough out here!.

We got too and from the dock without any hassles but yesterday watched a 16m yacht motor over to the fuel dock without due regard for the tidal channels and she ended up going aground and laying over on her side until the next tide. Very embarrasing.

Have hired a car for a few days and just about to go into town with the hydraulic rams from the backstay, one of which needs a service, plus the Davey Pump (for anchor washdown) which has spat the dummy. Having the Mercury outboard serviced and running around generally buying up large....particularly food at the excellent supermarkets. Also getting some smart electronic security kit from Jaycar to install aboard.

Very windy here last night plus a spring tide and wind against tide was very uncomfortable - how to get seasick at anchor!!

Darwin - Preparing for the Rally

It has been another lovely sunny and hot mid winters day in Darwin - 32c and not humid. We are currently working on fixing things as usual e.g. watermaker, anchor washdown pump, outboard motor, sailpack, headsail furler, stern gland (ie big hole in back of boat that the prop shaft goes through), washing machine etc etc. However it is all fun (believe it or not).
Major progress today was getting our second bicycle fixed (by Peter) so we can both now ride around town and save on taxi fares - however the prospect of Peter carrying the 15hp Mercury outboard to the repair shop on the back of the bike is a bit optimistic.
It is Friday night and we are at the Darwin Sailing Club where they have wifi. The place is packed, not just with cruisers either. The place is very popular with the locals, has very good food and the best sunset vista, every night. Due west, nothing to block the view of the setting sun, except of course for the 100 plus yachts anchored in the bay.
Which reminds us, we need to go back to the boat and put on the anchor light!.
We will write again soon, Peter and Barbara.

Across the Topend - July 2008

02 July 2008
Gulf Hopping
Musketelle has departed Seisa and is currently underway on the Gulf of Carpentaria. 12.10.133S 139.07.304E on passage to Gove the capital of Arnemland in the Northern Territory and planning to pass between Bremer Island and the mainland to reach Gove. We are currently a little bit off course too far south sailing due west at the moment but the winds are not permitting us to get northwest which is where we want to head. Swell is on the beam and not very comfortable but we will hang in and it will come right. Forecast is for SE 25-30 tonight so that should allow us more oomph to head northwest.
The Gulf is relatively shallow and is renowned for being very rough in wind against tide situations from practically any quarter but if it does cut up we will just think of the South Coast of Wellington and Cook Strait and the windchill factor and it will become insignificant.

The ultimate destination on this leg is Darwin where we expect to arrive 10/12 July subject as always to wind and tide and on this leg tide in particular is a real factor requiring close analysis because they are huge with up to 6 meters between high and low in places. Not counting on getting into a marina in Darwin - the place will be crawling with yachts (at least 150-200) and marina space at a premium. We may be lucky and get a few days on a marina berth if they are using the rotation system we heard about. We will anchor off the Darwin Sailing Club in Fannie Bay and play the tide game - staying in the bar too long could mean heaving the dink and outboard hundreds of meters across mudflats to get into the water at low tide.


06 July 2008
Arnhemland Visited
We have been and gone to Gove. We went into Melville Bay and its sub bay, Inverell Bay and anchored off the Gove Yacht Club which was very run done and not that flash. However friends who were there the previous week had a great time - think it needed a large cruiser crowd to make it fun as the local population only consists of mostly aboriginals sitting in the bar and pakehas (boguns) working at the mines and living on beaten up boats or tin sheds bordering the club. Gove township proper is 5km away and consists of a modern shopping precint with local milling around doing nothing. The local club for the mine management people was top notch and in contrast to everything else. New controversial anti-drinking laws seem to be working.

Gove to Darwin

07 July 2008
Heading for the Hole
On departing Gove we headed for Cape Don to go through either the Cumberland Strait or the aptly named 'Hole in the Wall' (the Gugari Rip) at 11.33S 136.22E. We went for the Hole and got the tides exactly right going through just after high tide on the beginning of the ebb which meant we got carried through east to west on a 4 note current. Very pretty - like a man made canal only with lovely natural layered low rocks on either side.

Like a Bullet
Immediately before entering the hole we had tried to furl our headsail but all we heard a loud bang/pinging sound which we subsequently established was a piece of metal breaking off the top of the headsail furler under extreme pressure as we tried to furl the headsail, caused by the stainless steel wire halyard wrapping around the top of the alloy furler and severing off a 30mm x 30mm section of the alloy furler. That piece then flew down like a bullet wizzing through the air and hit the dodger top piercing the gelcoat and chipping a mini 10mm crater into the structure. Bloody lucky that neither of us was in its trajectory. Did not pay to think of the possible consequences in this out of the way spot.

So we left the headsail up for the transit and motorsailed through without any trouble. On the western side we tried to unwrap the sail from the foil to get the headsail down and use our staysail on the inner forestay in its place but whilst doing this the wind came gusting in at over 20 knots from the SE and put paid to that. Try as we may we could not get the thing unwrapped and furthermore P was concerned even if we did the halyard might be jammed in the alloy foil and not allow us to drop the unfurled sail to the deck. So with the wind in the right quarter we elected to put the mainsail up and keep sailing west for North Goulburn Island and hope to get a patch of very light or no wind so we can unfurl fully and P can go up the mast.


08 July 2008
Lady Luck Smiles
1350hrs To continue with the next exciting instalment..Musketelle sailed on to North Goulburn where luck was on our side and the winds dropped to 12 knots. B had to go up to the radar reflector between the first and second spreaders to untangle a halyard which we had not noticed was too slack and wrapped itself around the refelector....what a gal !! Then P went up and transferred the genoa to the spare halyard and then untangled the halyard that had cut into the alloy foil like a butter knife and then we were able to drop the genoa to the deck and packed it away.

Nice anchorage at Mullet Bay and slept in the next morning (today). So now, very late having departed at 1215 CST, we are on our way to Malay Bay. Currently doing 7.5 - 8 kts with the staysail and second reef which is pleasing although the staysail is not actually doing much but we can't be bothered dropping it at this stage. This is first time we have put in a reef since we started from Scarborough. Not really essential in these conditions (SE 20-25 kts) but good practice. However as we have the wind right up our chuff we are wobbling along which is not the best comfort wise.


08 July 2008
Tide Timing
1610hrs
Currently surfing 2 metre waves in 15-20 knot wind passing Cape Cockburn. Doing 7-9 knots under second reefed main and staysail. Smoke hanging in the skies from someone burning off the country side. 15 miles to anchorage in Malay Bay, say 1.30hrs to go so it will be dark.

Tomorrow probably now will go straight to Port Essington rather than stop at Palm Bay as originally thought. Not sure yet about the Bowen Strait. Need to check the depths - our chart detail not that good and it looks shallow. Tides probably quite strong also, so will have to check the tide times. Can you access the Bureau of Met site and have a look at their tide info - there is some interactive programme that you can put place into and get tide info.


09 July 2008
With a Little Help
We have just been through the Bowen Strait - thanks Phil for the tide times. We have the Darwin times on board but not the data for the secondary ports so it was very helpful to know that Croker was 1hr 39 behind Darwin. This meant that we were a little late going through as the tide had been ebbing west for about 4 hours. Went on the Croker Island side of the channel and no problems at all until just past the end of the middle channel sandbank when all of a sudden we went down to 2.9 metres depth and since we draw 2.7 (and I think the depth sounder is reading 200 short) it was a little nervewracking - of course just at that moment the wind gusted to 35 kts and we were doing boat speed of 6.4 kts and Speed Over Ground of 9.4knots!!   Little bit of excitement.

Now on our way to Black Point at the entrance to Port Essington to anchor for the night.


10 July 2008
Crocs at Alcaro
Currently battling the tide as we head to croc infested Alcaro Bay just before Cape Don. Will be at Cape Don 4.5 hours before Darwin Tide tonight (2338 high tide). This is meant to give best time through the Dundas Strait and then later on through the Vernons. Expect to be in Fannie Bay, Darwin, mid morning tomorrow.......

How it panned out....
We left Alcaro Bay at 1830 and were off Cape Don light at 1900, no wind!! After weeks of nothing less than 20 knots and mostly 25-35, we had to motor until 5 mins to midnight, when an 11 knot breeze came in. Did ok after that but as we were slower than planned we felt the ebb tide in the Van Diemem Gulf and did not put the staysail up until the Vernons,until then were under main only. Once that was up we did a respectable 7+ knots in winds flucuating up to 17 knots.



11 July 2008
Territory Reached
Right on que mid-morning we have arrived at Darwin capital of the Northern Territory, having covered 100+ miles in 18.5hrs is not bad considering the tides, winds and all the bends around reefs to get here. In the world of Musketelle this is a milestone given everything since we arrived in Australia has been about getting to Darwin. Its mid winter in NZ but here in Darwin its clear blue sky and 28c and we are anchored in 9 metres of water in Fannie Bay 1.5 miles from the beach and the Darwin Sailing Club (the de facto yacht club for all cruisers heading to Indonesia). There are, at a quick glance, about 60 yachts in the bay, most will be on the rally. Plus more are in marinas or still en route.

Just about to have a shower and then go ashore to report to Customs and check out the facilities and catch up with sailing friends. We have now made contact with upwards of 25 of the yachts out of the 120 in the fleet. Our Dutch/South African friends on Double Dutch even called us up on the VHF and offered to buy us some fresh bread and bring it out to us at anchor. We must remind them there is another important game on in Dunedin tomorrow night. Another until now unknown reason P was keen on getting in today !!

Inside The Barrier Reef - June 2007

03 June 2008

Liberated from Enforced Stop
Well, after contributing an unexpected and generous sum of money to the Townsville economy due to our unhappy engine we are underway again. We left Townsville on Sunday at 0730 and motored (no wind) about 48 miles to Little Pioneer Bay on Orpheus Island, part of the Palm Group where we arrived at 1350 and picked up a public mooring. We stayed the night, very calm and pretty. Saw a small sharks swimming by and later a very large stingray feeding on the out going tide.

Next morning (Monday) we left at 0625 and motored (no wind) to Mourilyan Harbour, on the Moresby River, near Innisfail (which is the nearest town inland). What a lovely little harbour. It has huge sugar sheds and loading wharf, plus fishing boats but no town or houses. Very quiet and peaceful, really pretty. Another good nights sleep.

This morning we left at 0740. We optimistically raised the sails thinking we had 8-10 kots of breeze from the WSW but of course it went away the moment we popped the sails up so we are motoring again.

Good thing is the engine seems to be happy.  The scenery since we left Townsville has been excellent, passing pretty islands, and the mainland is surprisingly rugged/hilly/craggy and green with dense rainforest type vegetaion. No major ribbon housing as one sees along the coast further south.
Hope to arrive in Cairns late afternoon, early evening.

08 June 2008
Cairns and Haulout Blues
We are anchored in the river at Cairns after our haulout at Norship. Not a great experience. The yard specialises in doing Customs, Navy and Fishing vessels and really isn't set up for yachts, especially deep draft yachts. The yard was dirty, junk all over the place, toilet and shower facilities dirty (although the shower head at at least provided a lot of hot water).

Then when we went back in the water, we found that the carpet covered block of wood between the side of the cradle and the hull of Musketelle had scratched the gelcoat.  Due to the Im sorry to say no care, no responsibilty 'yardies' wrapping a "protective" course carpet square with dry encrused paint around a block of old pallet wood with gangnails in it and using it as a chock in the cradle so that when the weight came off the slings when Musketelle settled the hull was damaged. We only noticed this damage when she was lifted out of the cradle to splash.

Needless to say the captain gave the travel lift guys a broadside in solid kiwi terms only to be matched by the Aussie yardies who raved on about "f.... yachts". They clearly only want that big government business. Apart from the mechanics at Townsville, we have found the Queensland Aussies to be lazy, lacking initiative, and surprisingly unfriendly.

To add insult to injury (or in this case to add injury to insult) we have been savaged by midges and mozzzies, and our arms and legs are covered in bites which are so itchy that it is impossible not to itch even though that makes it worse. We look like the sort of people one would not want to stand next to in a queue in case one caught something.

Anyway, we will spend another day or two in Cairns to do some final shopping and then head north. We are not behind schedule which is good and we kept seeing other yachts who are also heading to Darwin for the rally.

Biggest problem B has at the moment is finding places to stow things aboard. Problem solved then it all gets pulled out again when we need something at the bottom of the stack. We need a shed !!


18 June 2008
Feels Like the Real Thing
Our current position is 15 degress 56.853S 145 deg 29.210E.

Well we are finally on the move again. We really feel that this is the first day of the resumption of our cruising lifestyle.

After the summer parked up at Scarborough to avoid the cyclone season, we had a nice interlude in the Whitsundays with Deb and Gary sailing short hops between anchorages relaxing and looking at the scenery rather than rush up the coast.

Next we moved onto Magnetic Island only to spend have the enforced week at Townsville getting the engine fixed before motoring to Cairns (with a couple of nice one night stops en route) where we spent 10 days with the haulout and hanging out in the river. Finally 4 nights at Yorkeys Knob, we met up with Christchurch friends Eddie and Jenny on Te Wai Pounamu, who have joined the Indonesian rally at the last minute and are still completing their pre-departure bits and pieces.

We left Yorkeys Knob at 0630 this morning which means we were too early for a stop at the Low Isles and too late for Hope Island so we will sail through the night to Lizard Island which is the subject of glowing reports from fellow cruisers. However we may decide at the last minute to detour into Cooktown in the dark and go onto Lizard the next day. Not sure yet. (it is currently 1630 on Wed 18 June).


19 June 2008
Cooktown Tide Rules
Well we did decide to call into Cooktown, getting there about 9pm in the dark, a narrow but not bad entrance, well beaconed. However the anchorage area was very shallow except by the commercial wharf and the best spots were already occupied. We sat on the bottom at low tide and as the low tide at lunchtime the next day was to be even lower we decided discretion was the better part of valour and left at 0815 in the morning on the high tide. Since then we heard the port official on the VHF telling a fisherman that no ships were expected for the next few days so if we had called him up he probably would have told us we could anchor nearer the wharf. We would have liked to have gone ashore and looked around. Oh well, another day, another anchorage.


20 June 2008
The Lizard Blows
We then sailed onto Lizard Island Had an excellent sail, wind South East 15-20 knots, On arrival Lizard it then piped up to 25 knots plus as we prepared to furl the sail and anchor. Typical!!.

There were 10 other boats in the anchorage, most of them yachts on the rally. By the time we left there we 21. All waiting out the weather which had not dropped below 25 knots and persistently howled at 30 knots, highest we noted at 41.7 knots. Being Wellingtonians we are used to gutsy wind, but even Wellington has variety - this was constant wind for 24 hours a day.

Anchorage Lizard Island

We went ashore in the dinghy a few times but no swimming and the famed snorkeling water wasn't tempting. The wind stirs up the sand and it is not as clear as in calm weather. We did however walk to the top of 400m high Lizard Island which is what Captain Cook did to find his way out of the Great Barrier Reef. When we got to the top it was like standing at the top of Mt KauKau on a windy day. Even though it was not the clearest of weather we could still see the line of the outer reef and the pass through which Cook eventually took the Endeavour.


A Week of Brilliant Sailing Riding the Brisk SE.....
24 June 2008
We finally leave Lizard on Thursday at 0730, still in the SE gale. P notes that South East is the direction of Wellington......One good thing about the wind is that the sailing is FAST!. We really have been moving at a good pace....we sailed to Flinders Island, anchoring at 1730 - a distance of 80 miles. Top speed surfing off a wave was 11.7 knots.

The SE'er swept us past some magnificent rocky scenery

25 June 2008
Up anchor at 0700 for another fast sail to Morris Island - not exactly an island but a small flat blob with one coconut tree and a huge reef. The reef broke the swell but gave no wind protection although the holding was good. Another nights sleep in the gale.

26 June 2008
Next stop Portland Roads, which is described in the cruising guide as the last outpost of civilization going north. No shop, a part-time post office and one solar powered public telephone. Still windy. 10 people, one a kiwi woman from the Hutt Valley.....K1w1's are everywhere.

27 June 2008
Today we departed Portland Roads at the civilsed hour of 0840 and sailed a brisk 50miles to reach Shelburne Bay just north of Cape Grenville putting the pick down at 1345. A large very shallow bay, we motored in for over a mile in less than 5 metres of water to get some lessening in the swell. Still windy 25 knots plus. The hills ashore seem to be snow capped but in reality it is silica sand.

Big fish news... Today we landed a huge but huge yellow fin tuna. He was 700mm long and weighed 18kg. Quite a job hauling him in while sailing at 8 knots but even harder to slow the yacht down in a running sea boosted by thesE endless SE'ers.

The Evidence

After P filleted it and we eat our fill we froze 24 good sized steaks. Note B put out the line P took the credit. On the subject of freezing we have at last got our refrigeration in balance helped in no small way by purchasing 3 months supply of meat in Cairns and having the butcher blast freeze it for us. We are running our generator 45mins morning and again evening and everthing is holding down just like the fridge & freezer at home!!

28 June 2008
Departed Shelburne Bay early at 0600 heading for the aptly named Escape River and the prospect of viewing crocodiles as we have our sundowners on the aft deck....and to prepare for the biggy - Cape York. Will keep you posted.

30 June 2008
Cape York Ticked Off

Hello from Seisa on the west side of the York Peninsula.
On leaving Shelburne Bay early we had a great run up the coast, so great we got to Escape River well before planned so decided to continue straight on to the Albany Passage which separates Albany Island from Cape York the northern most point of the big country. Seas on the approaches to the passage were getting very big and we were surfing at 10 knots. Now this may seem small beer to the uninitiated but let us tell you this is as good as it gets sailing with winds at 30+ knots, tide in our favour and endless swells to ride. We went thru on the flood tide in the afternoon (about mid flood) and got a real boost from that. Think it was about 4.00 pm when we entered the eastern end.

The channel is about a bit narrower than Tory Channel but more spectacular with steep rocky faces on each side and about 2 miles long. It was very very windy approaching the Passage and seas in the last mile or so approaching were standing up.

Entering the boiling waters in the Albany Passage,
Cape York to port Albany Island to starboard in distance 

We talked about opting to not go through but instead going around Albany Island but a yacht in front seemed ok so we made the decision to go for it. We checked the preventer rope to ensure the boom was firm as we had our mainsail out but no headsail. Captain P promised B it would be a breeze....yeah right, moments later we gybed when the wind backed the mainsail as we surfed down a wave and broached. At the same time the snap shackle on our preventer exploded and the mainsail gybed violently across from port to starboard with a hell of a bang and crash.....(B notes: P was taking photos at the time and not concentrating on steering!!).

We recovered from that with P starting the motor to get Muskie back on course while B got a replacement shackle and repositioned the preventer line on the otherside. All this in 2 minutes which seemed much longer and we were still charging through the pass. We congratulated ourselves on the recovery team effort even if the blood pressure had gone up a notch or six !!

Chart Plotter approach track to Cape York

We rounded Cape York (which looks like any other headland) and sailed west toward Possession Island, so named because this is where Captain James Cook took possession of Australia (or a large slice of it) in the name of the King of England. We ultimately anchored that night in Simpson Bay between the mainland and Possession Island 11.5 hours and 100 nautical miles since leaving Shelburne Bay that morning.

We were totally pooped and were thankful for our first quiet anchorage for weeks. Think we got 11 hours sleep before motoring Sunday morning the 7 miles to Seisia where we currently are. Seisia is the port (ie it has a wharf) for the aboriginal town of Bamaga and is a little red dusted village with a good supermarket and a library but not much else about 10 miles south of Cape York. Six yachts at anchor (one Norwegian, one Pom, one Aussie and 3 Kiwi), rusty coastal ship at the wharf and ashore dozens of grey nomads at the camping ground, driving Toyota LandCruisers or campervans on the ritualistic pilgrimage to the Cape. Lovely dry 30 degree heat and the beach is pristine white but no swimming because the crocodiles are definitely about.

Now focussed on getting across the Gulf of Carpentaria to Gove and around our next major cape, Arnhemlands Cape Wessel. Will depart tomorrow morning Tuesday at 10am local time on the 350 mile hop to Gove.