2010 Blog; 

 

The Voyages of SV Island Time

New Zealand December 17^th – January 14^th 2011 – It was great to be home and enjoy the company of our friends and family over the Xmas/New Year period. We stayed at our daughters flat (a house the two of them have rented).  We a fabulous time catching up with everyone and enjoying plenty of wonderful kiwi food!! It was great to have access to such a vast variety and range of good quality food again. We indulged the gourmet food on offer with great enthusiasm. We also needed to renew our passports and obtain Visa’s for India whilst home so got this done, and obtained a variety of parts and bits and pieces for Island Time. We stayed in Wellington until the 6^th of January, Matt resolved a number of car issues for our daughters while he was home and we sorted through and got rid of a few of the things from the move of our gear from our house in Lanyon Place, Whitby. We were reminded of the ferocity of the Wellington winds shortly after our return, with storm force winds of up to 170km/hr hitting the region a couple days after we got back. We also enjoyed a day trip out to Soames/Matiu Island in the middle of Wellington harbour which had previously been a quarantine station up until the mid 1990’s. We hadn’t been out to the island since its opening the public at that stage and so were impressed with the changes to the environment since then. The growth of native bush, return of native birds and we even got to see Tuatara which are now living out in the wild on this island.

Then a few days up in the Rotorua area from the 6-12^th January enjoying time with our camping friends the Vlaars, Lawsons and Norries and all their ski-boat toys. Our daughters Sue and Nicki also managed to spend some time with us there as well. The water was reasonably warm although a cold wind blew most days – it was good to be part of this annual experience. I ticked off a new challenge by joining Judy Lawson who is doing some triathlon training in a swim of the length of the Blue Lake (approx. 1.5 kms). I was pleased with my effort. We left New Zealand on the 14^th of January for our return trip to Malaysia. A bit sad to leave the kids again!

 As we a number of hours to spare in our stopover in Brunei we took the opportunity to explore the city with one of their transit tours. Visiting the National Museum, National Mosque, had a tour of Royal Regalia used for significant celebrations and viewed the Sultan of Brunei’s Royal Palace, which is claimed to be the largest residential palace in the world (he has over 6000 cars!!) We also had a ride over the waterways to the water village known as the ‘Venice of the East’ where we had afternoon tea in one of the local village traditional styled houses.

 

Friday 3^rd December -14^th December;  We moved over to Rebak Island Marina resort where we have organised to haul Island Time out of the water for some much needed maintenance and anti-fouling. We are here until the 14^th of December when we fly home to New Zealand to catch up with family and friends over the Xmas/New Year Period. Matt also decided he wanted to replace the propeller for the yacht as we still had the old one from prior to the engine upgrade which is underpowered for the current engine configuration. A new one would give us better speed and fuel economy and so pay for itself. Unfortunately we had a slight glitch with this propeller which we found out only when returning Island Time back to the water and found that the propeller sent had incorrect blades rh rotation which meant that we engaged fowards we actually went back and forwards became reverse!!! Hence Matt had to take the new propeller off again and we got a replacement one when we returned to NZ for christmas. Our auto-pilot had also packed up on us on the last few days in Indonesia and this had meant that Matt had had to hand steer most of the way up the Malaysian coast. As this most largely day sails it wasn’t too much of a problem, but this is something we cannot do without on long ocean passages so replacement parts for this were also installed. We did have some time off to explore the local environment and took a ride up the 919.5 metre long cable car into the mountain tops where the views of the island are extensive. The structure itself is quite impressive with a cantilevered cable bridge at the top which you walk over to peer into the cavernous rock formations below. We visited  the waterfall known as the Seven Wells, promising ourselves to come back for a swim on our return to Langkawi. Whilst here we also had our last functions with the Malaysian rally group which included a sumptuous banquet dinner and outing to the Mahsuri tomb.

 

Thursday 2^nd December;  There were pleasant conditions for our sail up towards Langkawi, arriving at what is locally referred to as the ‘Fiord’ on the outskirts of the Island group. The landscape was quite stunning and resembled our home cruising grounds in the Marlborough Sounds with even steeper sided, bush clad hillsides, and cliffs. The various differing formations of rock structures were great, and flying around the tops of them in the thermals were groups of the local eagles.  We settled here for the evening in this calm enclosed anchorage.

 

Wednesday 1^st December; Today we planned to a do a bit more exploring and set off firstly to visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. This which was built at the end of the 19^th Century and was the former residence of the Chinese Kapitan, Chung Keng Kwee a prominent and affluent family of the time. It features very elaborate Chinese carved wood panels, English floor tiles and Scottish ironworks. On display are numerous fine arts, porcelain, glass and furniture of the period that have been handed down through the generations.

Then over to Fort Cornwallis which as a wooden stockade was originally erected in 1786 by the East India Company of the British Fleet as their first military and administrative base. The wooden structure was replaced by a more substantial brick structure in 1804. We climbed up a nearby lighthouse structure that is built to resemble the mast and rigging of a sailing ship!

Finally  we caught a local bus to town  to get a few fresh supplies to take us on the next leg to Langkawi Island our final destination in Malaysia.

 

Tuesday 30^th November;  This morning we headed downtown to find the local chandlery shop, disappointingly once again there was little of value for us to purchase there. We found then wandered up to find the free around town bus service which took us around the central part of town out to one of the main malls. We explored the shopping facilities and then decided to catch a screening of the latest Harry Potter movie before a meal and back to the marina.

 

Monday 29^th November;  For those of us anchored at Jerejak the expectation was for us to proceed up the harbour this morning under the famous Penang bridge, (at one stage claimed to be the longest in the world)  that links the island to the mainland to the main part of town. As usual there was little to no wind so it was a motor procession. We obtained a berth in the central town marina, caught up with washing and odd jobs. That evening we enjoyed a nibbles and drinks session in the comfort of the air-conditioned marina lounge with a group of others from the rally before heading into town for a meal in the little India area.

 

Sunday 28 November ; Today we were hosted on an Island Tour.

Our first stop was at Pen-Marine Yacht centre (one of the sponsors of the event) to view their repair and refit facilities. They were interesting, but still not “modern”.  Next it was into town to browse through one of the local market places. We were provided with tokens to purchase local food. Having plenty of time, we ventured a bit further than most, to check out the shopping district. We found a chocolate and coffee tasting place and indulged!! ( and made purchases of course).

Next on the tour was a visit to the vivid blue Cheong Fatt Tze mansion built in the 1880’s. It is a grand piece of architecture designed for a Chinese immigrant who arrived here penniless at the age of 16 and became one of the wealthiest, most historic and flamboyant personalities of the era. The mansion has 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and with 220 art nouveau stained glass windows. It was designed to have superb Feng Shui qualities. Our tour guide was highly entertaining and informative of the colourful life and times of Cheong Fatt Tze –it was a well worthwhile visit.

Next stop was a recently completed hospital (a bit of a weird destination!)  that specialises in Medical Tourism. This is a rapidly is a growing industry in this region. After an elegant afternoon tea our group was guided around the superb facilities with all the latest in technology on offer. It made our health care system look quite sad in many ways! It is certainly is an option worth considering if you want to jump the queues and delays at home, with very reasonable costs. A number of the cruisers took the opportunity while in Penang to get checkups and tests done.

 Following this we headed to the dinner celebration. This was held at the local Open University and the food was absolutely stunning. There was a vast range of local and western food - the best we have enjoyed yet on the rally. The evening was also the culmination of the photo competition so some stunning images to view, and awards presented. Each table was also given the task of designing and building a yacht out of a polystryrene sheet, bamboo skewers and a plastic sheet. There was then a series of races to in some specialty constructed water channels to determine the winning design. It was a fun night but unfortunately there was a torrential downpour for much of the evening and as the event was hosted outside in a large marquee the ground was soon sodden and we were up to our ankles in mud.

 

Saturday 27^th November – With around 64 miles to complete today we were away at first light (around 7am) to head up the coast. Another day of very little wind and so once again we were motorsailing. Fortunately we had a good tide push with us giving us around 2 knots for a good part of the day which is of considerable assistance. As we got closer to the island of Penang (also known as Georgetown) the sea was littered with the local small fishing boats and their nets. They were everywhere even throughout the main shipping channel which made navigation quite a task as we weaved in and out  to avoid their nets. We anchored at the recommended anchorage of Jerejak mid afternoon, and the high humidity soon eased with an afternoon shower that cooled the atmosphere. A quiet night on board ready for the rally tour the next day.

 

Friday 26^th November  - We enjoyed a lazy start this morning and awoke to find that most of the fleet had already departed for the next destination.  The young Spanish couple that Mei and I had met at the beach the previous day then appeared an so we showed them around Island Time and Matt gave them some information about the world of sailing. Matt was also still hopeful that a parcel of new equipment for our autopilot system might arrive and so wanted to wait till lunchtime before heading away. After tracing the parcel he was told it was still awaiting customs clearance so we topped up the water tanks, cleared out and headed the short distance of 15 nautical miles to the island of Palu Talang where we planned to spent the night before making the remainder of the distance up to our next destination of Penang the following day

 

Thursday 25^th November  Today was the official Malaysian Rally tour of Pangkor Island which Matt and I decided we would join even though we had already been across to the Island with Matt’s parents. We saw pretty much the same sights as we had previously but this time also viewed the colourful Chinese temple which claim to fame is the mini wall of China they have built in the grounds. It was an interesting sight and highly decorative temple. We were hosted for lunch by a local Chinese seafood fishing company and were offered a great number of tasty dishes that filled our tummies. After the luncheon we were welcome to return to the yachts or explore the island further at our leisure. Matt headed back to the boat while I decided to join Mei from Whisper HR for some relaxing time back at the beach. While at the beach we were joined by a young Spanish couple who were cycling through Malaysia and were very interested in the concept of sailing having found that the bike touring in this climate is extremely tiring and exhausting. Mei invited them to come over to the marina the next day and make enquires about possibly joining up as crew onboard one of the yachts.  We headed back across to the marina late afternoon to get organised for the official rally dinner that night. It was an outdoors function under the canopy of the ferry terminal and associated shops and we were once again treated to a very tasty meal with plenty of variety to suit all tastes. Just as the speeches were completed and things were getting organised for the dancing a torrential tropical downpour commenced bringing the function to an early demise as it was difficult to talk or hear above the clatter of rain, thunder and lightning.

 

Wednesday 24^th November  It was a quiet day today with Brian and Judith getting packed and organised this morning ready for their departure at lunchtime from the marina to the town of Ipoh, where they will fly out to Singapore from. After farewelling our crew Matt reorganised his tool cabin now that there is a bit more room in here with the surplus bags of B & J gone. I relaxed with a good read of my current book. We were invited onboard the yacht Mr Percival for drinks this evening and got to meet Peter’s wife Jill who had recently joined him from Scotland for this part of his travels. It was nice to finally meet his wife after hearing about her throughout our travels with him. After our drinks and nibbles we decided to head up to the shops where we sampled locally made burgers (I had Rabbit) and sate sticks for our meal this evening.

 

Tuesday Nov 23^rd: Caught the ferry over to Pangkor Island at 10am this morning, where first we did some shopping – Judith bought some T-shirts for gifts, and Jo got a wrap around skirt. Then we hired a one of the local pink taxi vans to take us around the sights and over to Coral Beach on the other side. We stopped and observed a local boat building yard, then headed over the steeply inclined bush clad hill with monkeys evident on the side of the road. We passed yet another Malaysian resort that is being reclaimed by the elements and bush before stopping at a Chinese temple on the beach front that appeared to be more like a mini theme park with figurines of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse standing at the entrance! Next we headed down the road to Daddy’s Cafe, which is recommended in the guide book. On our arrival there we found the crews from Umbra Luna and Sasoon had stopped there also on their trip around the island on pushbikes they had hired for the day. We all enjoyed our beautifully presented and tasty lunch. Us Paulins then retired to the beach front of this very pretty and idyllic looking bay to relax enjoy an afternoon siesta under the shade of a tree. Jo went for a long swim (as is her habit), then around 4.30pm we hired another taxi and completed our tour of the island past other beach fronts and visited an old Dutch fort, circa 17thC, and then returned to township of Pangkor, where we had another yummy cold drink, prior to catching the ferry back to Marina Island. This is Brian & Judith’s last day here, as we are leaving for home at midday tomorrow. We quite sad that our lovely holiday is coming to a close. M & J have been excellent hosts, and B & J have immensely enjoyed their time here in Malaysia!

 

Monday Nov 22^nd: We had a cooked breakfast this morn8ing, courtesy of our chef Jo, and since then have been doing computer work – more on photos, and more diary. This afternoon we plan to take a fast ferry to the island of Pangkor and do some exploring, and perhaps have a swim, which would be nice. However, that didn’t happen, as we missed the ferry, because getting the tickets proved to be such a hassle. Instead we took a taxi to Lumut, had some lunch and then bought another lap-top, one for Brian this time. We got ourselves some groceries and then headed back to IT, where Matt spent several hours setting up Brian’s and Sue’s computers, so that they will be ready to take home on Wednesday. We finished the day with a meal at the local bar and then back to IT for a good night’s rest!

 

Sunday Nov 21st: Raising the anchor from the muddy bottom this morning proved tricky task because of all the old fishing nets and rubbish in the mud that we had hooked up, so some cutting was necessary! We got away early as planned and did the trip of almost 74 NM in record time, motor sailing, with a good tide behind us, and a little bit of wind, arriving at Pangkor Island just after 4pm. We were lucky enough to get a berth in the marina although we had been warned that we might not be able to get in until tomorrow. There are several friends here already, so had drinks before dinner with them, both on the boat and at the local bar-cum-restaurant. We came back for dinner aboard which had been prepared by Jo on the trip up as we had not expected to get into the marina. The boys had an early night, whilst Jo and I did work on our photos.

 

Saturday Nov 20^th: This morning we had breakfast and set off on the next leg of our journey, about 400 NM, today to the Selangor River, where we will spend the night. After leaving the marina at Port Klang we sailed into a huge delta area, where we encountered an amazing amount of shipping.  Port Klang is a huge container port servicing the Kuala Lumpur area, where we counted 16 container ships being loaded; by about 4 cranes for each ship, and that was only approx half of the operating port, on a Saturday!  The sea was like silk again today, and the tide helped us along, at an average speed of just under 7kts.  Now we are anchored in the Selangor River, in brown water, with greenery on either side of us, and lots of local fishing boats which come to look at us and say “Hello!” while we were having our drinks and nibbles in the cockpit. We intend to get away tomorrow about 6.00am in the morning, as we have 74 NM to travel to tomorrow’s destination.

 

Friday Nov 19^th: A lazy lie-in this morning, our last in KL. Had breakfast in the hotel, and at a quarter past eleven we left Maytower in their free bus, to visit Beryl’s chocolate factory, where we bought a wher1kg bag of mixed chocolates. We then headed to the famous Petronas Twin towers (The tallest twin towers in the world). The Twin Towers are an engineering and IT feat. The breathtaking 360 degree views were very impressive - it was a not-to-be-missed experience. Afterwards we watched a video about the conception and construction of the project, and then went to lunch in the very flash shopping mall of the towers. I have never seen so many people queuing up for lunch in my life! After lunch, Matt, Jo and Brian went to the Petronus hands-on science place that focussed on the oil and gas exploration of the Petronus Industry and was a mix of theme park type experiences and interactive science displays - it was a very comprehensive and interesting. I had 1 ½ hrs to look around all the famous label shops in the shopping mall which abounded there.  I saw handbags, jewellery and shoes by the thousand and for thousands of $$’s! When the rest of the family appeared, we got a taxi back to Maytower to pick up our bags, and then another taxi to the Main Railway station where we had a simple meal of Thai food prior to catching the suburban train back to Port Klang.

 

Thursday Nov 18^th: This morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and then went out by taxi to the National Monument (for the war dead), which had an immense bronze sculpture of fighting men (see photo) and several lakes, fountains and a sculpture garden.  Next we walked over to the Lake Gardens to the Butterfly Park, which Matt and I opted not to visit, I don’t like having bugs flying around my head!  In addition to the butterflies Jo and Brian said they saw huge beetles, grasshoppers, spiders & 18-inch long millipedes etc, so I was very pleased I had not gone in!  We then headed to the National Planetarium which was remarkably good. We saw an excellent film on the universe and space exploration, and learned about the Malaysian involvement in space exploration, and other interesting facts about space.  Next we walked to the National Museum which we had missed out on yesterday, and spent a couple of interesting hours there, studying Malaysian history.  By then we were once more footsore, so got a taxi back to the hotel for another cool swim before dinner.  Another thunderstorm came on so we shelved plans for dining at a different restaurant, and dined in again.

 

Wednesday 17^th November:  Got up early this morning ready for our trip into KL. We had a taxi booked for 8.00am to take us to Port Klang city where we caught a local commuter train to KL.  The train was very clean and tidy and the trip into the capital efficient journey (1 hour 10 mins). All the train station platforms were made of coloured concrete tiles, and looked very attractive, and some stations had attractive plantings around them, which made for a pleasant atmosphere. It was an interesting trip in via the suburbs and observing the passing countryside. We were impressed by the central KL railway station too, which is huge and is the hub for a variety of transportation systems for the city including – monorail, light rail, suburban, intercity, bus, taxi and transportation out to the airports. We secured a taxi to take us to our hotel, The Maytower. So we offloaded our bags here before taking a taxi to the National Museum, only to find it was not open as it is a public holiday today. While we rethought our plans we decided to grab lunch at a Dunkin Donuts outlet, which did nice filled rolls, and had an amazing selection of donuts, both plain and fancy!  During lunch we read in a local paper that the amazingly spectacular thunderstorm we had experienced in Port Klang the previous afternoon had caused traffic problems and surface flooding when it reached KL.  From here we headed to the well known Merdeka or independence Square. It is the historical heart of KL with numerous restored buildings from the British colonial rule, mixed in with the modern architecture of the current era. It was here that the Malaysians celebrated their independence from British rule on the 31/8/1957. After this, we boarded a special tourist bus called the “Hop on Hop off” bus which continually covers a circular route of 20 tourist hotspots. You can chose to either get off and take photos, or get off and visit the particular site, and then get back on the bus later, to carry on to the next site.  During the day we visited the National Palace, Chinatown, little India, the golden triangle of shopping centres, the Lake Gardens including the Orchid and Hibiscus Gardens, arriving back at our hotel for a cooling swim at about 5.30pm or so.  Later we dined at the hotel, and settled down for a good night’s sleep.

 

Tuesday Nov 16^th: We left the marina this morning at about 8.15am for a 46NM trip to our next destination, the new marina at Port Klang.  Another very warm day today, with little wind, and the water like silk!  With a bit of tide behind pushing us along quite well, along with some sail plus the motor, we made an average of 7.5knots today, making this the best trip since we came aboard.  There were lots of vessels en route today, many container ships, tankers, supply ships, and others from the Sail Malaysia group plus the local fishermen with the ubiquitous nets up to ½ a mile long. The vast array of vessels making their passages up and down the coast made for interesting viewing on our passage today. We arrived at the new marina at Port Klang late afternoon. This marina is still in the process of being completed and so it has no staff yet only the security guards who are minding the main facilities are still being completed and so the place is being looked after by security guards who are minding the place. The guards had rescued a young monkey that had been orphaned and were caring for it. It entertained us yachties by playing with the toys it had been given, and through its antics of swinging from the rope playground they had made for it. This marina is located at the end of the Klang river which winds up to the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and is on the out skirts of the greater Kuala Lumpur environs. Our plan is to leave the boat here for 3 days while we head inland to the capital city and explore what this city has to offer. That night we had yet another immense and scary thunderstorm, which lasted for about 20 minutes and thankfully cooled down the humid atmosphere somewhat, it was also useful in helping to fill up the water tanks again.

 

Monday Nov 15^th: Today we had to move berths due to the maintenance on the marina. Matt spent time tweaking the rigging, after replacing the baby stay we broke on the way here with a temporary rope one. Jo had a massage today, and Brian & I read our books in the garden and swam, had cool drinks served by the pool, and thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely pace.  We finished the day with another nice Kiwi BBQ meal aboard, and settled down for our third night here. That night there was another spectacular thunder and lightning show about 6.00pm, and the rain carried on all night – no wonder everything is so green and lush here in this environment.

 

Sunday 14^th Nov:  After a good night’s sleep in this peaceful, secure environment we enjoyed some time by the pool facility and explored the resort surroundings. We caught up on some boat jobs, emails and Skyped a few people on the computer as well. That evening we had dinner at the posh restaurant with Peter from the yacht Mr Percival, then headed back to our boat for coffee and liqueurs.

 

Saturday 13^th Nov:  This morning we set sail at 9.15am en route to Port Dickson, our next port of call. We motor-sailed about 48 nautical miles in very pleasant weather, with blue skies – the best day we have experienced so far, but very hot indeed.  I spent an hour whilst travelling, on the fore-deck in the shadow of the mainsail, in order to both be in shade, and to catch maximum breeze!!   The coast along which we travelled was a little more above sea-level than that which we have become accustomed to, as often there is so little land showing above the near horizon that it is reminiscent of Venice!! But what landforms do rise any distance above the sea have a definite volcanic look about them, so some parts look quite like home to us.  Nearing Port Dickson we passed some affluent-looking homes, and long beaches thickly clothed with beach umbrellas, and it all looked very civilised! Arriving at the Avillion Admiral Marina, we were delighted to find it very very nice indeed! Especially after our experience at Melaka!  The marina is lovely, in spite of being in the midst of some serious maintenance.  It is part of a large hotel- cum- resort, which has two restaurants, a bar, laundry service, and best of all, a chilled-pool complex, surrounded by beautiful gardens, garden furniture, and a free pool-towel service.  There are discreet security guards in smart uniforms everywhere, who are gracious and very pleasant. After a nice refreshing swim to cool ourselves down we followed this with a cold beer at the bar.  We finished the evening off with a leisurely meal on board, and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our good fortune. This was followed by a wonderfully restful, non-rocky night, which was very welcome after our experience at Melaka!

 

Friday 12^th Nov: A very rolly night, with lots of rain and more thunder and lightning!  Matt has gone off on foot to buy an electrical plug he needs, and the rest of us are doing jobs – mine is to write the log! Think we will move on tomorrow. Went to town about 1.00pm and had an ethnic lunch in an ethnic food market before setting off to see a series of excellent museums, the first being inside the replica of the Portuguese galleon Flor de Lamar, which was quite good, telling of the sea-faring history of Melaka, and aimed at children – there were lots of school kids there.  The second one was adjacent to the first, and was fairly basic telling about local marine life, with good illustrations, and encouragement to treat nature with respect. Following that we had some more food in a charming local food-cum-B & B establishment just opposite our next and favourite museum, the Cheng Ho Cultural museum, which we toured with an excellent guide. It told of Cheng Ho, a brilliant administrator and the first Admiral of Melaka, who, tho Chinese born, and a eunuch, servant of the Chinese Emperor, together with the Sultan of Melaka, built Melaka into a powerful force with a large Navy, comprising a fleet of about 300 vessels, which controlled the Spice Trade in the 15^th Century.  This was a very informative session, during which we all learned history we had no idea about prior to today. These fleets carried livestock, including poultry, a good selection of vegetables, including some that were in cultivation on board, and of course much preserved and dried food, as they were well aware of the importance of a healthy diet!  Also they catered for entertainment, with games and music as recreational activities.  That evening we had a very ho-hum meal in a big shopping mall, followed by excellent tea and coffee at Starbucks, then home to a very rolly night again in this decaying marina!

 

 

Thursday Nov 11^th:  This morning there was a huge thunderstorm, with impressive lightning and torrential rain, which went on for a couple of hours or more, in contrast to the short sharp episodes to which we have become accustomed over here.  The marina we are in here at Melaka is only a year old, but it has been very inefficiently built, and some of the boaties refused to come in here, and are anchored out in the river inlet.  We and some of the braver ones decided to risk it, but it is very rolly, and we are tied diagonally across a double space, so are not rocking and rolling as much as some other craft.  Some of the crowd have even left their boats in Danga Bay, and have come up here by bus, and are staying in hotels!!  The marina does not have a solid wall between  the mooring areas and the outside river/ocean, and therefore a swell rolls in constantly, which has broken the walkways out to the mooring berths, whilst the rivets are all popping on the walkways, the cleats are not all securely fastened to their decking, and the whole place is a disaster.  The marina office building is very nicely designed, and has great air-con. It houses a customs and immigration office, but hardly any boats come in here because it is so dodgy, so they can’t be very busy.  We hear that a great deal of money will soon be spent here, to rectify all the obvious shortcomings, and it can’t happen too soon!  After the thunderstorm eased off a bit, we went to town by taxi, and did a bit of shopping.  M &  J bought a few items for the boat, and Brian bought some new jandals and a pair of sandals, and B & J bought a portable hard drive to enable us to do back-up on our computer, and a new memory-stick. We had lunch there and later B & J came home for a rest, whilst M & J set off on foot to find a hardware shop where they could buy a new shower head for their bathroom.  When they came home with their purchase, they had earmarked a nice-looking Chinese restaurant where we later had a very nice meal indeed! The restaurant, tho somewhat colonial in its architecture was recently built.  It had lovely green and white tiles on the floor, and linen tablecloths – always a good sign – and the service was great too.  Once again we were the only Europeans, the other diners being exclusively Chinese – another good sign.  We were able to walk both there and back, which B & J thought is an indication that they are coming to terms with the heat!

 

Wednesday Nov 10^th:  We have been in Malaysia for two weeks today, and it has flown, in spite of the extreme heat –to us – that is.  Today we got up early and left our Water Islands anchorage, to sail into Melaka to the marina there, in time to go on an organised bus tour, with the Sail Malaysia people – three large bus-loads of us, with a police escort in front, making all traffic give way to us, and ignoring red lights etc. The buses were brand-new, and beautifully appointed, even having decorative swag curtaining at the windows.  First they took us to a luxurious resort owned by the Prime Minister, and recently opened, as I think they perceive us as being very wealthy, and no doubt some of this crowd are, and they showed us around – great pool complex with waterfalls – wonderful spa & beauty therapy facilities, etc, but it was a very hot day, and it was not very interesting to us, tho’ we would have liked a swim in their pool.  There only seemed to be about 3 proper guests, and there were 201 chalets, ranging from the expensive to the outrageously expensive!!  Though they did tell us that they were almost fully booked. Following that we were taken to see a traditional Malay home, with a beautiful garden. We were able to see inside the house, and they gave us little sweet cakes and hot sweet drinks. Then came lunchtime in a big shopping mall, where we could choose and pay for our own lunch, following which we were taken to the former Sultan’s Palace which is now a history museum.  That was architecturally interesting, built in 1764 or so, and housed interesting diorama representations of Malay history, and some clothes and jewellery of the times.  Nearby was a historic fort which I (Judith) chose not to visit since it was up about 300 steep steps, and my feet were already quite swollen in the heat.  However Brian, Jo and Matt did so, and learned about Portuguese, Dutch and British local history.  Next, the boys went home for a shower, and Jo and I opted for some R & R in a big shopping mall instead.  In the evening we were taken to a floating fish restaurant for a rather uninspiring meal, with entertainment by a very loud, tho’ competent, Portuguese band.  Seeing fish  here is not inspiring, and we are becoming far more aware of how fortunate we are to have Cook Strait and its seafood easily available to us at home.  Brian & Matt were appalled sat how tiny the farmed mussels were (10mm long!), that were served as one of the courses. Came home and watched a movie before bed.

 

Tuesday Nov 9^th: This morning had breakfast and Jo & Brian set off in the dinghy to do a bit of a reconnoitre of the area, and find out the timetable for the ferry to Melaka.  Matt has done some maintenance jobs to the rear toilet, and I have done some hand-washing, and some emails etc., and this journal.  Good to have some time to do little items. Jo & I had a swim off the stern of IT, tho mine was just a dunking really as there was a quick current running by, & I was afraid of being washed away!  But this is the cleanest water we have been in so far, so it was good to cool off.  After lunch Jo and I went on some locals for a good explore of the island, which was very interesting.  We met a Tamil Hindu man who gave us some delicious coffee flavoured lollies, of which we bought more later.  We visited a shrine of a Moslem saint called Sarah, and had a short lesson on the Moslem religion from a local bigwig at the shrine/cum temple. Then we walked around a huge deserted resort, with marble floors and furniture still in place, huge pool complex, tennis courts, large lake, dozens of chalets, and all on a delightful tree-fringed series of coves, called Paradise Island, ironically, and we heard from some locals that the resort was closed because it interfered with the religious activities and aura of the shrine area adjacent to it. We had another couple of swims in the course of the afternoon, and on returning to the boat, had drinks with Mr P who was anchored next to us.  Later we went ashore again, to the island, and had a meal at a local very primitive Thai cafe, where we were the only Europeans, and a couple of skinny cats wandered about begging for food, which we didn’t supply!  The food was tasty and freshly cooked, and we enjoyed it, and afterwards we motored home in the dinghy under a relatively clear sky, by which I mean we could see a small number of stars!!  Like about three!  We watched a movie on deck, on the computer, before turning in for the night.

 

Monday Nov 8^th:  After a rolly night, we got up at 6.00am had breakfast and left at 7.00am on our longest sea-trip since Brian & I arrived, about 12hrs or so, approximately 70 nautical miles, to reach our nest anchorage, at Water Island, just off the coastal city of Melaka, which we will be visiting later. The ocean colour remained green during today’s trip, which was quite a comfortable one, in spite being a bit lumpy from time to time.  We saw several huge and ugly car-carrying ships, international vessels with not a graceful nautical line between them, and a small number of dead fish, also small,  three or four swallow-tailed sea-birds, and a number of local fishing craft, which are a danger to cruising vessels like ours, because they put out miles of nets, often not clearly marked at their end-points, so it is risky to sail between the fishing vessels in case of becoming entangled.  One of the local fishing craft followed in our wake for a few minutes, then passed us to starboard and crossed to port in front of us.  Matt said that is because they think they can pass off any bad luck they might have, onto the vessel they have passed!  We laughed!  Arriving at Water Island, we passed a peaceful night at anchor and slept well.

 

Sunday Nov 7^th: Judith is writing this in a lovely little bay at Pulau Pisang, where we have anchored after today’s sail from Kukup.  We had a leisurely sail today, and were pleased to see the water colour change from brown to green.  It is warm again, and overcast, and while I write, Matt is fixing the salt-water pump, Jo is in the water scrubbing the dinghy and a bit of the hull, and Brian is lying in the cockpit reading his E-book.  Mr P is anchored nearby, and we are just having a bit of time-out.

 

Saturday Nov 6^th: We left Danga Bay Marina about 10.15am to sail to our first destination, Kukup, a very ethnic Malaysian fishing village, with all the houses rising out of the sea, on stilts. We had a very relaxing sail of about 27 nautical miles, out of the Straits of Johore and into the Straits of Malacca.  I counted 34 large items of shipping, but on the AI*S or automatic identification system, there were 314 of them all identified by name and destination. The quantity of shipping is absolutely amazing! After we had anchored, Mr P came over for a drink, and also another skipper who was anchored near us, and we had a convivial happy hour prior to  our first BBQ with M&J since our arrival here.  We had sausages, potato salad and lettuce salad, and corn on the cob, and it tasted delicious after so much local food recently!

 

Friday Nov 5^th: The fridge repair man was to come today for some final enhancements, and to collect his money, so we  couldn’t leave today as we had planned. Therefore Jo and Judith set off by taxi for a special supermarket in a big shopping mall a few kms away.  The supermarket was called Cold Storage, and was the best of the three s/mkets we have visited to date. And we were aable to buy excellent ham, fruit, vegetables, milk etc.  Prior to that though we inspected all the promising shops we saw, and bought one or two gift items.  There was an excellent department store in the complex, with a different department on each level.  Saw a wonderful selection of handbags, all on sale as it is the end of the summer season here, and the best menswear dept we have seen in ages. Went for drinks with Karen & Jean-Francois on Intiaq, a big catamaran, at 5.30, while Matt contributed some IT expertise!

 

Thursday Nov 4^th: This morning we went on a very good bus tour provided by the Sail Malaysia people, which left at 8.15am. This suited us because the fridge man was coming to re-gas the fridge, so the four of us went on the tour.  First we went to view the new Govt Centre, both Federal and local, and the architecture and gardens were most impressive! (The Beehive looks so small!!) Then we stopped at a brand-new marina Putari, where we had a good look around- also most impressive. Then we went on to look at the Southernmost tip of Malaysia, where we took walk to the viewing platform where we could see both the Straits of Johore and the Straits of Malacca.  Also saw some monkeys, and saw the queues of tankers, barges and other shipping which frequent these shipping lanes.  Following that we visited a kampong or village where the locals put on a hot meal of local food for us, two courses, with fruit cordial, at the same time as a mock-wedding, so that we could see some local colour, and hear about customs etc.  This was very colourful and interesting.  After lunch we toured a pineapple museum, which was interesting, then bought some fruit at a local stall, including papya, watermelon and lady-finger bananas, and arrived back home about 5.15pm.  had a meal at one of the local restaurants and fell into bed about 9.30pm, well pleased with our day.

 

Tuesday Nov 2^nd & Wednesday Nov 3rd:  The heat has to be experienced to be believed, at 32C most days, and not much less at night.  The aircon has been wonderful, but still not as good as being in a big shopping complex!  We are both sweating so much that it must be slimming – we hope!  But it is too hot to eat much, & alcohol is not very appealing as we need lots of liquid – heaps more than at home – and they sell a huge variety of delicious drinks here, both fruit, soda types, and chilled teas & coffees, all yummy! Yesterday (Monday)we went to the Orchid Gardens and the Zoo in Singapore, and in the evening went to Raffles for a Singapore Sling,($NZ30 each!!) as you do... The orchid gardens and the Zoo were both excellent and I have taken lots of photos needless to say. In the Long Bar  at Raffles we fell into conversation with a handsome young man who was a Kiwi, and turned out to own a piece of land and a vineyard next door to our nephew Kevin Paulin in Central!  After that we found a wonderfully cheap food hall place where we had our evening meal and a cold drink for about $NZ12.  This was in a huge & glitzy shopping mall where most of the goods on display were too dear for me to even consider, tho’ many brand-names were the same as in the Porirua mall, but somehow looked a lot classier in S’pore.  Came home by two taxis, including a customs clearance each way of course, which makes it a bit tedious. It is strange to see S’pore from Danga Bay Marina, which is in Malaysia of course, and to know they are two separate  countries.  It is like looking at Eastbourne from SH One in Wellington.  We have been to shopping malls in Malaysia which are good too, and Malaysia – that is Johor Bahru, the area where we are based, is thriving and bustling, but S’pore is much more sophisticated, and of course it is all so densely populated that it is astounding to us.  Most people are very friendly and can hardly comprehend that Matt has sailed Island Time all the way from New Zealand. The Malaysian Ringgit is worth about  NZ32 cents, whilst the S’pore dollar is about the same as the NZ$.  Shopping in the local supermarkets is very interesting, and some of the fruit we have bought is peculiar to look at but tastes good. This morning we ate some passion-fruit which was khaki-coloured on the outside, but inside was just like our passion-fruit, & tasted just like ours.  Matt works terribly hard here not only maintaining his own boat, but also helping other people with radio & IT problems – he is much in demand, and should really be charging a fee!!  Contrary to our expectations, he does not while away hours drinking beer & G&Ts with other boaties, but every minute seems to be spoken for!  However we can sometimes drag him away for a bit of sight-seeing, as yesterday, and we are enjoying our stay so far. 

Monday Nov 1st:  Did a few jobs today, and a bit of shopping, and in the evening went to the Thai restaurant we had been taken to by Lia, for our evening meal.  They were delighted to see us, and once again we enjoyed the food and the company, as Lia and Amiro came to see us again as soon as the word spread that we were there!  The management had collected us, and also took us back to the boat, when we had finished – so very gracious and kind of them.

 

Sunday 31^st Oct:  Today did a bit of washing and then set off with Matt & Jo & Brian to Johor Bahru tgo do some shopping, and bought a lovely small pink lap-top computer, complete with pink mouse & carry-case, with some software etc.  We are thrilled with it, and it was remarkably cheap compared with prices at home. Matt later set it up for us, so that it is easy for us to use, and we are enjoying having it here, and practising daily!! In the evening we attended a formal dinner of welcome for all the members of the Sail Malaysia group, and it was most impressive.  There were about nine courses, each local cuisine and beautifully presented.  We all sat in groups of ten, at round tables with linen tablecloths, and were served a central platter, from which we served ourselves. Each dish was exquisitely presented, and before they began serving, all the wai sang and played Westernters came in doing a song-and-dance act, and twirling trays and napkins, just like a lavish Hollywood musical routine!  During the evening there were speeches from dignitaries, and beautiful local dancers  presented cultural items at regular intervals.  Local musicians sang & played Western items in between times, and some items were contributed by members of the boating fraternity, all in all a very interesting and enjoyable evening.

 

Saturday 30^th Oct: This am went to Johor Bahru with Jo and Brian on the bus, and posted a letter to Sue, and then walked not very far to visit the old Sultan’s Palace which is now a museum. Almost as soon as we arrived we met a lovely Muslim girl called Lia, and her brother Amiro, who were also visiting the museum.  Lia speaks very good English, and she & Amiro became our guides through the museum, which is very interesting, both in its history and its furnishings and architecture.  One of the previous Sultans married an English girl, and she became the Sultana Helen, and they produced some good-looking children.

After the museum, Lia took us to lunch at a lovely Thai restaurant and introduced us to the manager & staff, and then she delivered us home so that  M & J could attend a Sail Malaysia briefing session. We took Lia & Amiro to see Island Time, which interested them very much, and then they went home, and we went to the briefing session too.  After that was over we all returned to the boat, and there awaiting us were Lia, Amiro and Sabiya, their mother, bearing gifts of freshly cooked Malaysian food, and fruit, called, I think, dukong.  It is small and round and greyish khaki coloured, easily peeled and delicious! The food consisted of a sliced beef dish with rice, and an absolutely yummy dessert made from young bamboo tubes filled with brown sugar and something else, and rolled in shredded coconut. It was so kind of them and they are all so charming!  We ate their lovely food for dinner that night and enjoyed it.

 

 

Friday 29^th Oct: Went out with Jo & Brian today and bought some cheap shirts for B to wear whilst we are here.

 

Malaysian Holiday on Island Time: 27^th October -24^th November 2010

Wed-Thursday 27^th – 28^th

We – Brian & Judith arrived in Singapore at 7.00pm on Wed 24^th Oct, to be met by Mat & Jo, and taken to a very nice hotel the Golden Village Landmark where they shouted us a night of air-conditioned luxury to break us in gently to the new very hot temperatures!  We slept well, and after a tasty smorgasbord breakfast, set off on foot for a marine chandlery, where Matt wanted to buy a few bits for the boat. After a bit of a look around, we decided to visit the Jurong Bird Park, which is excellent, and well worth a visit. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel, where  we loaded ourselves, our luggage and the new aircon machine into a taxi van and travelled across the causeway into Malaysia to our destination, the Danga Bay Marina, where our new home Island Time is anchored for a few days. The marina is very very new – in fact not completely finished – but it is very pleasant, (and free due to its unfinished state),  all lit up at night with fancy coloured lights etc, and a string of air-conditioned restaurants which offer a variety of both Western and Asian food at very cheap prices.  The Malaysian Ringgit is worth about 1/3 of our NZ dollar, so things look dear but are in fact very cheap when converted.

That night we ate at the Italian restaurant, and came back to our newly air-conditioned boat for a much needed sleep.

 

Crossing the Singapore Strait - 23^rd October

We had originally planned to go to a marina in Singapore for our next stop as Matt’s parents are flying to Singapore on the 27^th October to spend a month with us. However we were informed by other yachties that customs and immigration costs to clear into and then out of  Singapore with a yacht would be around $500. As we had been offered a free marina berth at Denga Bay, in Johor Baru through the Sail Malaysia organisation, which is only which is just across the river from Singapore we decided to head straight for there. Apparently crossing over to Singapore via bus, train or taxi is just like going over the harbour bridge in Auckland to the North Shore, except that you have to do customs & immigration clearance in and out on each side. This is completed very effectively and efficiently for no cost as approx. 37, 000 Malaysians travel to Singapore each day for work. Also as today is the 21^st Birthday of our eldest daughter Sue, we wanted to obtain a decent internet connection to enable us to join in the party my sister Di was organising for her via a Skype connection which we would be able to do in either of these locations.

Anyway crossing over the shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait from Indonesia to Malaysia was quite an experience. This shipping lane is one of the busiest in the world, as it is the crossroads for shipping from the pacific and Asia travelling up to Europe, China and India. It is like crossing a multi-lane highway! The weather was very, very hazy on this day, with visibility of only about a mile. Using our electronic AIS (Automatic Identification System) Matt identified 281 ships showing up on the screen within the proximity of the passage we were going to make. We saw a huge variety of shipping, many towering above us like small cities on the move. We made our way across the strait in convey of five yachts and up the coast between Singapore and Malaysia. The Singapore border control vessels were stationed every couple of miles and would come over to inspect you if you ventured too close to the Singapore border. The international marine radio station was constantly full of calls between the various vessels and port authorities. It was very difficult to get a call in, all  different languages and with hardly a pause.

 

Across the equator and onwards to Malaysia -16-23^rd October

Belitung was our last formal Sail Indonesia location, and with our 3 month visa’s due to expire on the 24^th October it was time to move further north towards Singapore and Malaysia. We spent the next 7 days completing day sails up to the Straits of Singapore, crossing over the Equator on the 18^th of October. This was a memorable day as the weather conditions were ideal for sailing with the wind slightly behind us and blowing a nice 10-15 knots. Unfortunately our autopilot steering system has been intermittently playing up, and rather than holding a accurate straight course keeps steering off course 20 degrees one way, and then over correcting itself and heading out 20 degrees off course in the other direction. This makes us cover a lot more ground than we need to and creates a very wavy course line. Matt has been playing with the settings but nothing seems to fix the problem. So for the last few days we have had to manually steer which becomes quite mentally and physically demanding, thankfully we are only doing day passages at present! We will have to get a technician &/or replace the faulty part once we get up to Singapore/Malaysia. It is not safe do long ocean passages with just the two of us the way it is working at present.

Anyway the day we crossed the equator was lots of fun with the good sailing conditions, lots of chatter on the radio between the yacht fleet as each boat crossed the line and celebrated the event. Matt was enjoying steering in the conditions of the day and we were within shouting distance of the yacht beside us, a catamaran called ‘Ultimate Dream’, this made for some lighthearted competitive racing to see which one of us would cross the equator first. Then about 10 mins before going across the equator I went below to prepare our toast to King Neptune and noticed water bubbling up under the floor boards - not a good sign!. On opening the engine compartment Matt discovered we had blown a seal on the waterpump which was causing the leak. He completed a patch up repair job before we could continue our journey across the equator. This is another part we will have to fix properly once we get to Singapore/Malaysian where they have facilities to allow us to do this.  

So we belatedly crossed the equator at about 12.10pm, toasting King Neptune with a traditional tot of rum. In sailors lore this now means we are transformed from the status of “pollywogs” (sailors that have not crossed over the equator under sail) to “shellbacks” (sailors who have been initiated by King Neptune!) We had an enjoyable party on the beach that night with King Neptune’s representative (Dale from Umbra Luna -as he was the only one of us who had previously crossed the equator under sail) officiating at the event (see photo).

Following our equator crossing celebrations a ‘lay day’ was required! (staying put in one place – not going sailing). The next few day sails took us up further between the final Island groups of Indonesia. We stopped at some interesting bays/fishing villages and enjoyed “happy hours” with other cruising yachties each evening in each bay that we stopped. Since crossing the equator we have not seen a blue sky during the day! The weather conditions have been very hazy with poor visibility. We wonder if this is the effect of northern hemisphere pollution.

 

Belitung 12^th -15^th October

 

Belitung, (or in English, Billiton), is an island on the east coast of Sumartra, Indonesia, on the Java Sea. The island comprises a total area of 229, 369 hectares and is known economically for its supply of tin (mineral) and pepper for the world market. Approx. 150,000 people live here in around 40 villages. We were one of the later yachts to arrive in this anchorage as we had taken our time to sail from Kumi to here, opting to do day trips only and no overnighters as we were getting pretty tired of the constant travelling at this stage - Indonesia is a very spread out set of Islands to cover!

Anyway we were delighted to find on our arrival a beautiful white sand beach, in a sheltered anchorage with numerous large limestone boulders littered around the wide bay. It is certainly quite a different and distinctive landscape to any that we have seen on our travels to date. (see photos) The other cruisers also informed us that it was the best organised location they had been too, with dingy boys on the beach at all times to assist with your dingy handling and security of it while you are ashore. A diesel supply was readily available on the beach to refill your jerry cans, saving us having to lug these to the nearest fuel supply (no such things as fuel docks for yachts in these parts). The beach had a number of local food outlets and supplies for sale. The locals come here in the evening after a day’s work to watch the sunset and enjoy a meal by the beach.

The following day we joined a tour that took us around the locality to view the sights, and we joined a tree planting project that was part of the local initiative to reforest their environment. Large tracts of rain forest have been destroyed in this part of the world for the tin mining. That night there was gala dinner hosted by the local community for us with entertainment by local cultural groups and singers. It was quite an entertaining event with a special act put on by the two eldest cruisers in the rally who had both just turned 70 during the week. (Judith and Peter Boardman from the multihull yacht ‘Camille’)

The next day Matt and I organised with the local guides (which were provided by the Sail Indonesia organisers) to hire a local car and driver for some exploration of our own. We ended up with 3 delightful young guides joining us for the outing as most of the other cruisers had gone on an organised event that didn’t particularly appeal to us and so they had nothing to do! We wanted to go to a fresh water river and swimming hole that was promoted in the local tourism guide. We enjoyed being guided around in an air-conditioned car seeing the local terrain and being entertained with the local knowledge of the guides. Unfortunately because it had rained heavily overnight the water was a bit discoloured when we arrived there, but at least it was refreshingly cool. On the way back just on sunset they took us to a lovely little secluded beach that is a favourite spot of the locals – the rock formations were quite stunning. (see photos)

On our final day in this lovely location, buses had been organised to take the yachties into town (about 20 mins away) so we could resupply. We found the best bakery we have come across in Indonesia so far, - they had wholemeal bread which was a nice change from only being able to get white bread, a reasonable supermarket and local fresh fruit and vege market. While at the local market there was a monsoonal downpour which latest for about an hour. Everyone rushed to a nearby shop to purchase umbrellas or rain ponchos to enable to get back to the bus park dry. Matt and I also sheltered in an electronics store where we did some bargaining for a couple of blackberry mobile phones that we had promised our daughters for xmas - and we also got a new lightweight notebook computer to replace my broken computer -easier to lug around  on our travels when we need to update our website and emails. The pricing for this sort of thing is very good here.

 

Kalimantan/Borneo 26th -7th Oct

We left Bali for Bawean, making the stop at Palau Raas overnight to break up the voyage. We anchored at Raas about 4pm, but it was not great for swimming, and we just stayed the one night, leaving at first light for Bawean, still 140 odd Nautical miles away. This is an overnight passage, and we arrived at Bawean about 9am. The trip was interesting, with fleets of fishing boats out at night, all without correct Navigation lights, and some with no lights at all unless you get close enough - then they use a torch or a multicoloured strobe!. However, we have so far managed to miss the boats and their nets, although not all the rally boats have been so lucky!

We stayed at Bawean for 2 nights to get rested up and de-stressed, then left bound for the Kumai river on Kalimantan. This is another overnight passage, and we left at first light, arriving at the Kumai River anchorage, 20 miles up the river, about 4pm the following day. The river is large, several miles across in places, and is used as a commercial port. The river is dirty brown silt laden and mostly slow. About 2.5 knts max flow in the anchorage Large barges full of palm oil, and their tending Tugs, are commonplace here. However, the river entrance is only 4m deep, and it is surprising the size of the vessels they get in here! The barges are designed specially for this task, and therefore don't draw more than the 4m depth. Despite this it is not uncommon for them (and the ships) to go aground, or at least to bump the bottom! I did enjoy the experience of coming up the river by yacht - not something you can do in NZ!

 

We  arranged a jungle tour on the river - local tour boats- about 14m long, for a 2 night trip to see the Orang-utans, stared on the 2nd. Pics are here.

The jungle trip was great, with many of the fleet saying this has been the highlight of the voyage so far. I really liked it, but Jo just thought is was OK - its not really her thing. It was great to see and get close to wild Orang-utans, and we also saw gibbons, proboscis monkeys, several types of snakes, and several bird species I'd not seen before. Of course there are other animals in the jungle here we were not lucky enough to see - clouded leopards, rhinos, elephants, large pythons etc. If you are fortunate enough to find yourself here at some stage, make sure you do the overnight boat trips - you can do the same places in a powerboat, but at 30knts you'll miss at lot!

 

Following the Jungle trip we fuelled and watered, an headed off on the 7th for Belitung, several days sail away. The first night we stopped and anchored off the SW corner of Kalimantan - the sea here is very shallow, so we just stopped in the middle!! It is best to anchor if possible to avoid the possibility of becoming caught in the fishing nets that proliferate at night around here! Next morning, off again at 1st light (5am) to an anchorage at Pulau Gelum for the night before the very long day passage to Palau Pesen, where we spent the next night, then the short (20nm) hop to Palau Nangka, for the next day and night. I won't bore you with details, but all of this was done in winds of 5-10 knts, and mostly sunny, but a little rain. The only stronger winds we have had was coming in to Kumai river, where we had squalls of 25 odd knots! This place is nothing like NZ!!!

 

The Temperatures here have been hotter than normal this year, and there has not been a real Dry season - everyone is saying that the wet has now started early! It's been 30-35 deg C here most days, and "down" to about 28 at night. Humid as well, so it makes sleeping uncomfortable...

 

We are currently about 25 miles out of Belitung, so I'll post his when we have service again, should be later today (12th October)...

 

 

Bali 20-25^th September

An early morning start (4am) to make sail down the coast to Bali today. We enjoyed very pleasant sailing conditions and even got to sail properly for a while in 18 knots of wind from behind – a nice change not to be motor sailing all day. Arrival was  late afternoon at Lovina Beach, and we found a pleasant place on the beach for an evening meal.

The next day we took my Mum (Fiona) over the hill to Denpasar (a 3 hour car ride – for 100km!!). Matt and I had organised to stay the night in a hotel over there as Mum’s flight wasn’t until 12.45am the following morning. We enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool and lunch in a cool air-conditioned room. We then decided to get a ride out to the famous Kuta beach so Mum could have a look around this area before leaving Indonesia. We took a stroll up the beach but the surf wasn’t good enough that afternoon to invite any of us into the water - the waves were small and dumpy. We found a place on the beach to enjoy an evening meal before heading back to the hotel for Mum to sort out her bags and taxi to the airport.

Matt & I enjoyed a good sleep in our air-conditioned (what luxury!!) room and had a late breakfast before checking out at 12 noon to meet our transport back to Lovina Beach in time for the welcome ceremony/dinner. The scenery on the way (there and back) was quite stunning; the Hindu influence in this area the architecture of the buildings is very ornate. We passed through the mountain area and market gardens – the fruit and vegetables all look very healthy and a good variety to choose from.

23^rd September – This morning there was a cultural display and Bull racing demonstration for us to attend. The bull racing is a traditional art that has developed from the use of bulls to pull the ploughs through the rice paddies. The bulls were fine looking animals adorned in fancy harnesses and bells that pull the farmer along on a plough like frame (see photo).

That afternoon Matt did some engine maintenance, while I sorted out what our provisioning requirements would be for the next month. We then went for a short tour of the local area on scooters, spending some time cooling down at a local waterfall called Sing Sing before heading back for a meal.

24^th September – Today we shared the cost of hiring a car with driver with another couple from Gypsy Rose. We headed up into the mountain area of Gurung Batukaru to see more monkeys, visited a local Balinese temple at the lake of Banu Bratan, which was very peaceful and serene, then headed to the mountain markets and purchased some supplies, before heading back down the mountain road to stop at Gigi’s (twin) waterfalls. The path down to the waterfall was well maintained and edged with beautiful tropical plants – I enjoyed a cool swim in the mountain waters – the others thought it was too cold! I found it delightfully refreshing. Heading back down the hill to the town of Singraja for lunch, and then to the supermarket (the best we have seen so far) to restock with more supplies for our next month of travel where we will once again be in more isolated places. It was then time to get back to the boats for the early evening dance performance by some local Kindergarten children and a traditional shadow puppet performance before we headed out for dinner.

25^th September – a quiet day today getting organised for our next leg that will involve several overnight passages up to the area called Kumai where the Orangutans live.

 We’ll update the blog again from there if there is Internet Access!!

 

 

Lombok 14-19^th September

 

We arrived at ‘Medana Bay Marina’ late afternoon. Although called a Marina this is a developing facility, and not what we would normally call a Marina, -really just an anchorage. It had a few mooring buoys, a simple thatched building as clubhouse and restaurant, along with a toilet and ablution block. We headed ashore for a meal, to catch up with the various crews and find out what was happening here.

After enjoying a sleep-in the next morning (following the several early mornings to get here) we joined the free local cuisine cooking demonstration. This region is renowned for its Chilli’s – (Lombok means Chilli!!), so it was all quite hot and spicy! In the afternoon we arranged to get a Bemo (local taxi) to the nearest international ATM, as we all needed more cash.  

The ATM is in the main local town, called Senggigi, about an hour away. The trip took us through the mountain rain forest area where there were wild monkeys sitting on the side of the road and in the trees (see pics). On arrival we were accosted by ‘friendly’ hawkers selling their wares, bracelets, beads, watches, bookmarks etc. After being persuaded to buy a few things we found a lovely Swiss bakery for Lunch. It was very civilized compared to many locations that we have been too, and I discovered the ladies toilet had a shower in it and so enjoyed a pleasant shower before lunch. It was luxurious standing under the cool water without having to worry about turning off the water between lathering up and rinsing as on the boat (where we have a limited water supply). The place was also air-conditioned and we laughed to see that it was set to the cool setting of 27 degrees which felt very pleasant to us, now that we are becoming accustomed to 30-35 degree days!

After lunch we found a lovely little gift shop and Mum and I purchased a fan each, which is something we had been on the lookout for since arriving in Indonesia to help keep us cool. Our bemo driver then returned to deliver us back to the yachts. On the way back it hosed down through the rainforest bringing a welcome respite from the heat and humidity.

15^th September – Today we joined a tour viewing various highlights of Lombok, heading up the road to the rainforest area, and stopping to feed the monkeys with peanuts that were provided for us. The monkeys are very aware of humans, knowing this is a popular roadside stop to hand feed them. If you weren’t careful they would steal the peanuts out of your pocket or take the whole bag from you! One monkey even helped himself to a water container that some other people on a scooter had left in their bag – cheeky little monkeys!! They could be a bit aggressive if denied what they wanted. Hand feeding wild animals is bad.

Following the Monkeys, we then visited various villages that are renowned for their craftsmanship in furniture, pottery and weaving. It is very labour intensive handiwork they are creating in some pretty atrocious working conditions, however were impressed with the detail in the carpentry work -very fine and ornate.

Then a visit to the Kings Summer Palace, where he used to retreat to in the hot summer weather (before the Dutch took over and he committed suicide). It is now simply a tourist attraction with numerous pools and winding paths. One of the pools is claimed to hold holy water that if you bathe in will keep you young forever! I had a go on a large flying fox that went over the top of one of the pools for a bit of thrill seeking (see photo). We returned late afternoon along the coast road to the “Marina” and a welcome ceremony – dinner was also interesting (with the customary display of local music, dancing and fine costumes).

Next we had a laid back day sorting out washing, catching up with emails and our webpage. Matt fixed a couple of yachts computers (more weetbix! for the provisions). We also purchased a concrete block with our yacht name placed on it - this is part of the local village initiative to promote the re-growth of the coral in their bay. One of the locals invited us into their village and served local coffee and snack treats at his home. We reciprocated by inviting the guy back out to see our home ‘Island Time’. After he left, there was a heavy monsoonal downpour with thunder and lightning that meant we could top up the water tanks again – good free water!

We had moved in closer to shore to a mooring buoy that morning as several yachts had moved on and this meant we could get out of the rolly swell we had been experiencing at our location further out in the bay and would mean a much more pleasant night’s sleep. We enjoyed a quiet dinner onboard and had an early night to catch up on some of the lost sleep we had experienced in the rolly anchorage conditions of the last two nights.

18^th September - headed out to the nearby resort island of Gili Air, approx. 4.5 nautical miles away. We enjoyed two days in this very low key and laid back island resort. Took a cart and pony tour (locally referred to as Lombok Ferrari’s – a prancing horse is front, like the Ferrari logo – but only 1 hp!!) around the island, in the afternoon we spent our time cooling down and soaking in the Oceans 5 PADI Dive centre pool.

The owners of the facility were happy for us to use the pool for a small donation and provided we used the shower before getting in the pool (not a problem for cruisers who are happy to take a shower with no restriction on water supply!! :-) This complex has been only completed in the last five months by an Australian couple and was a very nicely finished and a great way to chill out and relax. We enjoyed gelato ice-cream, and met up with other cruisers for cocktails and a meal at one of the bars.

We had a good night’s sleep at the mooring, awaking the next day to overcast and humid conditions. Matt went for a dive with some others out to ‘Shark Point’ in the morning, whilst Mum did some sewing jobs for us and I caught up with the website blog and had a snorkel. We headed in for a lunch and a swim again at the dive pool for the afternoon, before Mum and I headed out for drinks and a meal in the evening. Unfortunately Matt was suffering from a bit of an upset stomach and didn’t join us this evening.

 

 

 

Komodo National Park 10^th—13 September

We enjoyed a good afternoon sail down to Rinca, our first stop in the National Park area, which is supposedly the best place to view the Komodo Dragons.

Just as we anchored a big rain storm with thunder and lightning went overhead and we hurriedly put up our rain catcher to help keep our watertanks filled up.

I enjoyed a snorkel to see what the fish life was like in this national park area. I certainly saw much bigger fish than we have seen anywhere else, as most places are seriously overfished by the locals. The conservation practices being applied in this region are certainly working. The local fisherman no longer have to spend a week out fishing to get a catch they can come back within a day with sufficient to meet their needs. We enjoyed evening nibbles and drinks with the crew from Umbra Luna (one of the crew is a GP and she has been keeping an eye on Mum’s health/foot issues for us which is reassuring) we could see Monkeys and local bird life fossicking on the beach as the sun set, before we headed back for our meal and an early night before the early start to see the Komodo dragons the next morning.

A group of us yachties met at the ranger station on the Island to join a morning tour of the local Komodo dragon community (morning being the best time to see these creatures before they head off to snooze in the sun). We enjoyed the educational wander through their natural environment and the rangers were full of interesting facts and information. It is currently the breeding season and we saw the nesting areas and even one protective mum in her nest who we kept a good distance from. Once the eggs hatch they have to quickly scurry up into a nearby tree, to keep away from their hungry mothers who often turn into cannibals after the young are born.  If they survive they stay up in the trees for the first 3 years of their life before coming back down to ground. The rangers also informed us that they had recently had a team of research scientists doing a documentary on the Komodo Dragons for the BBC. They have determined that the long held belief  that the Komodo Dragon were non-venomous, but had nasty bacteria in their saliva is incorrect. They do in fact have a venomous bite, but it is of a low toxicity. When their prey (primarily water buffalo) go into the water  the wound becomes infected, as the water is full of bacteria and toxic in this climate. This often leads to their death, following which the Dragons get their meal.

Following the morning tour we left the anchorage as it was very busy with tourist boats coming and going and headed out into the marine park area for a quieter anchorage at the top of the north end of the Komodo Islands, where one of the other yachts ‘Ultimate Dream’ needed some computer assistance. Matt fixed their system and we enjoyed a shared meal together before a very peaceful and quiet night in this anchorage. When we awoke the next morning the heavens opened and it poured with rain for about ½ hour. We replenished our water tanks and I got a freshwater shower standing in the downpour out the back - a great way to start the day! After this we decided to head on our way again, stopping briefly at the Island of Lawa Darat, a well known dive location, for a drift snorkel before the currents became too fierce. The currents around this area are phenomenal, coming from every which way, causing big tide rips and whirl pools that you have to carefully navigate through as they push your boat around quite dramatically and are impossible to proceed through if you don’t get them at the right state of tide. Matt and I really enjoyed our snorkel here with fabulous clear water and coloured colours with large fish everywhere (the biggest we have seen so far). Matt rated as the best he has seen so far in Indonesia. Following our snorkel we continued on through the passage between the islands, before the current became too strong, to our next anchorage at Banta Island.

We arrived mid-afternoon after battling the currents for the last few miles. It was a sweltering day with little airflow and so had motor-sailed the whole way. As soon as we anchored we lept overboard for a swim, the clarity was not the best and this bay seemed to be a natural rubbish collection point, with the currents collecting plastic rubbish from the surrounding area into this bay. It was quite horrendous with the water, coral and beach littered with it. I felt quite sickened by the state of this place. There was some sort of abandoned monument structure on the beach, that we renamed “trash monument”. I made the suggestion to the other 5 yachts that were also in this bay that instead of having a happy hour onboard that evening we have a beach cleanup as some sort of effort to enhance this location. Although I knew there would be more rubbish again the next morning at least instead of just complaining about it we had done some small thing to resolve the issue. Everyone joined in and we cleared a portion of the beach in front of the monument. Matt dug a large hole in the sand behind the high tide line to allow the plastic to disintegrate under the UV of the sunlight in one location rather than being scattered all along the high tide mark.

The next morning we continued on, leaving early in the morning as the general consensus was that we would catch the current at this time. Unfortunately as no-one had accurate local tide information, this was not to be, and we ended up battling the current the whole way to Juli Point. It was a full on day passing some quite stunning volcanic scenery and spending our time changing sails trying to make the best of the light wind conditions and give us some more power to fight the currents. We arrived at the anchorage late afternoon and I went in for a swim, and a walk along the beach out to the lighthouse on the point. I got back just as it was getting dark, with the others well into happy hour onboard with crew from Gypsy Rose.

It was a long haul to the next anchorage of Medang today, with most of the other boats in Juli Point leaving at 5am. We slept in and didn’t hear them go and so got away late (7am) after also having to refill our diesel tank from the spare jerry cans on deck. We have had to motor sail most of the way through this area with very light conditions and the predominant local current on this coast flowing against us, so have been sucking up our diesel supply. It was a very hot day today sailing as the wind was light and behind us, so very little wind flow through the boat.  I spent the day cooking in the galley, bacon & egg pie for lunch, pasta and bread & butter pudding for our dinner and baked a cake for Peter on Gypsy Rose, as it was his birthday. We were invited to join him for nibbles at the anchorage that night (see next paragraph).

It had been a long day sail, but we’d made up good ground against others, making good use of our gennaker and spinnaker. Being a lighter boat than most we travel a bit faster..., but despite that, due to our late start, it was just after dark when we arrived and were assisted into the anchorage by the other yachts giving us waypoints and turning on their deck lights so we could see where they were. We joined Gypsy Rose and others for a couple of hours to celebrate Peter’s Birthday before all heading to bed for an early night as it was another long day of sailing ahead of us with most yachts getting up to leave at 3am the next morning to make the distance to the next rally destination (Lombok) the following day.

We awoke around 2.30am and there was a pleasant wind blowing in the anchorage so we decided to make the most of the conditions and head out. The wind stayed with us and so we made good progress under sail until dawn when it slowly disappeared to 2-5 knots. Another day of motorsailing and constant sail changes and adjustments to give us the best performance!! However, we did have a pod of pigmy pilot whales (we think) around the boat for a time, and then a real whale, first blowing a mile off, but slowly closing only to sound 30-40 meters from us with the classic tail up-dive straight down pose! That was a highlight for the day!!

 Arrival at ‘Medana Bay Marina’ (although called a Marina this is a developing facility, and not what we would normally call a Marina. It had a few mooring buoys, a simple thatched building as clubhouse and restaurant, along with a toilet and ablution block) was late afternoon.

Off ashore for a meal, to catch up with the various crews and find out what was happening in this location.

 

 

Labuan Bajo - 5-10^th September 2010

Upon arrival at Labuan Bajo we learnt from other cruisers that a meeting was planned the following morning to sort out details for visiting the Marine park areas and sanctuary’s for the Komodo Dragons, which is a world heritage site.

Arrangements were also made at this meeting for a trip inland into the cooler mountain rainforest area to see a local village and with a trek to Cunca Rami waterfall. We were keen to give this trip a go to get away from the humidity and heat at sea level, although it meant an early 6am start the next morning to fit in the days travels.

The drive up into the mountains was quite spectacular as the bus climbed up the steep road into the mountain area. We got a couple of good viewing points and photo opportunities on the way up before hitting the cloud and mist of the rainforest area. At one point we stopped on the side of the road to see candle nut trees.Prior to the introduction of other fuels the locals literally used these for candles. Inside the outer shell is a firm waxy layer of oil that they burn like a tea lite candle, with a seed on the inside that tastes similar to walnut.

When we reached our destination - the waterfall -, the track proved to be a steep downhill clay track. This was unsuitable for Mum to clamber down so she stayed at the top with the buses along with another lady who had a hip replacement some months prior to this sailing venture and felt going down the track was too dicey for her. They were soon inundated with local village children who kept them entertained with questions and wanting to practice their English skills.

The climb down the hill was quite treacherous with the recent rainfall and slow progress was made by some who had unsuitable foot wear. At the bottom of the hill we clambered across a local rice paddy field before dropping down into the valley of the waterfall.

The fall was stunning (see photo) and the water positively cool after swimming in the sea and our exercise of getting here! We then enjoyed a local packed lunch and were invited to join the rice paddy workers for a brew of their local coffee and cooked taro. Then it was time to climb back up the hill.

I decided to wear my togs on the way back as I knew I would be a sweating melting pot by the time I reached the top. It was quite a workout and certainly increased your heart rate, shame there wasn’t another waterfall at the top to cool off in. One of the local guides kindly assisted me up the track with a helping hand from time to time (I think he was quite taken with the large buxom lady in her swimwear! – see photo), so we were in the first group back to the top to the applause of the locals who acknowledge the steepness of the trek.

On the way back down the mountain the rain really set in, but we still had another local village to visit who were showing us their local whip fighting dance & had prepared us some of the local and very powerful palm wine, coffee, beatle nuts and bananas which we sampled as part of special ceremony. They also wanted to sell us some of their traditional woven cloths as well as vanilla bean pods from their plantation. We purchased some vanilla pods for our boat cooking. I know my mother-in-law Judith would have been envious of the bundle of them we got for under $10, as she reckons they are just about more expensive than gold back home. It was then time to head back to the boats to rest our well exercised bodies.

The following day was another full-on organised tour hosted by the local tourism office as part of our Sail Indonesia programme.

The first stop was at the local fresh food market (the best one we have seen so far)

Next we were taken to a recently opened plastic recycling bank that rewards deposits of plastics with cash payments. The dumping of plastic waste into the sea is a real concern here in Indonesia, after years of throwing local organic matter into the sea the practice has continued with the introduction of western ways and plastics into their culture which they still think they can simply throw away. I was really impressed however with the whole approach to conservation in this local area, with all sorts of action plans to limit the impact of humans on the environment, from limiting numbers of tourists to the national marine and Komodo Park, encouraging building of eco-tourism facilities to promoting recycling with and care for the environment in various ways through education of the local youth and tourists a like.

Next stop was to the limestone formation of ‘Mirror Cave – Batu Cermin’, which at certain hours of the day makes a shadow mirror like reflection on the walls of the cave from the light hole in its top. The cave has been pushed up from the sea floor and has a number of fossil formations in it including fish and turtles. The limestone formations themselves were quite stunning and it was an easily accessible cave to manoeuvre through, so Mum was able to join us. There was also a large Banyan tree above the cave the roots of which grew down underneath to form Tarzan type vines to swing from. (see photo’s)

Our next stop was to a tourism school, which is a local government facility to train local youth in the requirements for serving the tourist industry of this region. We were provided with snack boxes on arrival &, freshly squeezed fruit drinks. After watching displays of local cultural performances where we were invited to participate in also we were given a gourmet smorgasbord lunch followed by more cultural displays.

Next stop was to a local viewing point named “lovers hill” that overlooks the town of Lauban Bajo, then we headed to an orphanage and treatment centre that was set up by German Nun 40 years ago to provide facilities for those who would normally not receive them. This was quite a humbling experience meeting those in their care, but you could easily see that the children (up to 29 years of age) were well cared for & loved in a very pleasant and therapeutic environment. Donations were made by the group before we headed back to our boats.

The next day Mum and I went shopping to top up all our fresh supplies and shopping requirements till our next port of call whilst Matt did jobs on the boat. Late afternoon we headed into town to obtain the necessary permits and passes for entrance into the marine and Komodo park areas. We also had to buy new jandals for us all as these had been stolen out of the dingy when left on the beach the previous day during our bus tour. We enjoyed a pleasant meal at a cafe/bar with internet so were able to catch up with our daughters on Skype and they were able to give us a guided virtual tour of their new flat. It was great to see them and touch base as I was feeling homesick around this time of Nicki’s 19^th Birthday.  Whilst at this cafe I saw a sign promoting a massage facility that provides employment for blind and deaf masseurs. I felt in the need of the massage so the next morning Mum and I headed back into town to find this place for a well deserved treat before we headed out into the National Park area. The premises were very clean and cool with a young girl on the reception who spoke very good English, she had trained at the Tourism school we had visited earlier. Our massages were divine - both our masseurs were deaf but they certainly knew how to target just the right places. We got back to the boat feeling very chilled out, pampered and relaxed with Matt all ready to head out to sea.  

 

 

 

Travels to Labuan Bajo

Our first overnight passage on our trip down to Labuan Bajo was in very pleasant sailing conditions with 8-10 knots with the wind just forward of the beam.

 

A good clear night with a full moon to brighten the way to our first stop at Taka Lambaena Lagoon outside the Island of Karompa Lompo. There are numerous fishing vessels here.

The lagoon was very clear and the best visibility we have experienced so far, unfortunately the coral is nothing special but Matt did manage to spear a fish for us (our first!).

 A number of the local boys came out to visit us in their local canoes; one spoke quite good English and had originally come from the Island of Banda, so we were able to share our experiences and photos of our time spent there with him.

We then went into the village to make our introductions, asking for the local head of village. This is a pretty remote and unvisited location so English/Indonesian translations were a bit of a struggle! Our presence was welcomed however and we were kindly invited into the chief’s house.

Following our introduction, we had a tour around the village. The village was very clean and orderly with each home constructed out of local materials (Bamboo, Palm Fronds & local timber).Each yard was tidy and swept with timber for the cooking fires stacked up neatly under the houses, along with crops that they were drying eg Corn, fish. Also the two main thoroughfares’ were fenced off to form a sort of “main street” – a very organised and well laid out village.

The locals all greeted us in a most friendly manner throughout our tour, coming up to windows and doors to greet the ‘white faced people’, we were quite an attraction and must have had all the village kids following us practicing their basic English skills on us.

We enjoyed two nights here in the lagoon, along with the multihull Camille with us each hosting drinks and nibbles at sunset on our respective vessels a very pleasant way to end the day.

Our next overnight passage was to Lingeh Bay, on the main island of Flores. We started off in very pleasant sailing conditions but the wind dropped off and we ended up motor-sailing arriving at our destination of Lingeh Bay around 9am the next morning.

It was a nice surprise to find upon entering this bay a number of yachts that we had travelled with up the coast of Australia and who had done the other ‘Sail Indonesia’ passage from Kupang and up through the main island group.

We anchored off the coral reef and then it was time for a morning swim to freshen up and enjoy the underwater view of lovely coral and fish life.  

Soon we were visited by a local man with two of his children with freshly grown tomatoes to offer us in exchange for pens and paper, money for children’s immunisation, or a pair of glasses for his eyes (I think he really needs a cataract operation). We invited him on board to look at our floating home and exchanged what supplies we could for his tomatoes. He invited us to come ashore later in the afternoon to his home.

 A number of other local children in their boats came out looking for pens and paper for school also and we provided some to each before deciding it was time for another swim in these warm conditions. Later in the day we spent some time catching up with some other yachts we hadn’t seen since Darwin, and then headed into the village to meet our ‘friend - Blasius’ and his home and family.

We were escorted to his home by a girl who was on the beach helping her family sort out their fishing nets. This village was very primitive and not as clean as our previous stop, but everyone was friendly and welcoming. We saw a couple working on constructing new palm frond walls for their home which was interesting.  On arrival at Blasius’s home we were seated and offered a brew of hot locally produced coffee (in this area a lot of coffee is grown then sent to Java – where it is sold internationally). We were introduced to his large extended family, including two gravestones in his front yard where his parents were buried. They asked us to take photos of us with them all, and were all very intrigued with digital photo technology and looking at their pictures. We said we would print out a copy and bring it back the next day for his wall display of his yacht ‘friends’. Following this his eldest son took us on a guided tour of the village and into the crop and animals area, once again a gaggle of children followed us and people came out to shake our hands as we progressed around the village.

After heading back to the boat, we were invited to ‘Drinks and Nibbles’ on the yacht “Whisper HR’, a Halberg Rassy 42. As they had anchored closer to the village they were being inundated with requests from boatloads of children for supplies, mostly wanting pens and paper for school, with them continuing to come up even when it was dark.

After dropping a laminated copy of the ‘family photo’ into Blasius’s family we sailed down to Inca Village and enjoyed a more peaceful anchorage here without boatloads of requests for supplies! This village had a large Catholic based congregation with a large newly created church on the hill. An invitation was generously extended to join the locals at a wedding that evening, but we felt we didn’t want to intrude on this special event for the Bride and Groom and become a distraction to their special day. I enjoyed a pleasant snorkel into the beach and then headed back in with Mum in the dingy to spend some time under the shade of the trees with our books and beach chairs for the afternoon.  

Time to move on again the next day and so we made our way along the coast to Gili Bodo (an Island) As we made our way carefully through the reef into this bay it became obvious it was a popular stopping point with a good gathering of ‘yachties’ anchored there already. Both the coral and visibility here were stunning with white sand underneath to highlight the coral colours and visibility.

I spent hours in the water enjoying the view, and Matt speared a Bat fish for our food supplies (which are being to dwindle as we reach the bottom of the freezer and our meat supply from Darwin). Aas we had been forewarned, getting items such as red meat, dairy products etc are difficult here in Indonesia. The rally fleet is beginning to hang out for a decent supermarket when we reach Bali!

We enjoyed a couple of nights here in Gili Bodo because it was so picturesque and with no local village we could relax and enjoy the environment without associated Mosque Music at all hours, and requests from locals.

On the second morning I woke early to a lovely sunrise and convinced Matt we should make the most of the cooler early morning conditions and climb up the hill behind the boats for a viewing point. This proved to be a more challenging task than initially imagined looking from the deck of the boat, where it appeared that the hills above the bay were rolling pasture with a few trees scattered around. In fact it was large volcanic boulders scattered amongst ‘hook’ grass and made for quite challenging walking. We went as far as the first hillock, took a photo of the yachts in the bay and then headed back down as our shoes and socks were covered in the barbs of the hook grass and the temperature already rising to an uncomfortable level for climbing, so back to the boat for another snorkel in the very pleasant surroundings.

The next day we decided we should head on towards our next destination, Labuan Bajo, for the events planned buy the rally organisers, and to restock with fresh supplies.

The topography has now changed considerably in the region we are sailing into – it is much drier volcanic area with browned off grass covered hills and only a few trees at the bottom of each island, much different to the lush green bush clad volcano’s of our earlier travels.

We had very pleasant motor/sailing conditions today with the wind behind us making for easy progress. Part way along we heard a loud crash and I looked up to see our radar reflector falling down from the rigging and into the sea. I offered to jump in and try and get it but Matt didn’t want to pull down the sails and turn around so suggested I go and try and retrieve it the dingy which we were simply towing behind us today. Unfortunately by the time we launched the dingy I could no longer see it so I guess it probably sunk. It’s another item we will have to add to our list of replacements when we reach either Singapore or Malaysia, as there are no marine shops to speak of here in Indonesia. Matt isn’t too concerned about losing it as he wanted a newer, better model anyway, as tests on the old one had proven it not to be very effective!!

We arrived in the town of Labuan Bajo in the afternoon and found the Anchorage for the rally yachts. We sorted out fuel and water requirements and then headed into the eco-resort that was hosting us in this venue for a well deserved and cooling swim in their pool. We enjoyed a set menu 3 course meal, with linen tablecloths, serviettes, salt and pepper and glasses set on the table without even have to request these items. A real step up in the world compared to most places we have seen to date which only have plastic tablecloths and you have to ask for items like cutlery, glasses condiments.

 

 

Bau Bau

 19/8/2010 -26/8/2010

We arrived in BauBau, electing to stop with several other boats at Lakeba beach, a few miles short of the town centre. Good for swimming and no Mosque!! We had a couple of quiet days here. One night a local Norwegian who has a house on the beach here provided a spit roast pig for all us yachties anchored here, the proceeds from which were being put back to the local community. We also enjoyed a meal at the local hotel at the end of the beach. The snorkelling here was pleasant with some very interesting coral that appeared to change colour from purple to a blue/green hue as you swam over it, never seen anything like it before.

There was some official pressure to move to the designated anchorage, so we did this yesterday. I must say that the organisation here is a level above what we have seen in the other areas so far! We arrived, went ashore in the Dingy, and were immediately met by members of the Tourism department, and given a bus tour of part of the Island, complete with a police escort! No charge, and the Police seemed completely unconcerned about security - we think they have been assigned this task as we are officially guests of the governor here. On the tour we went to a local waterfall (see photo) which was made from limestone and had large stalactite formations cascading down it. Then we headed up to a local viewing platform that overlooked the city. Unfortunately it was raining rather hard by this stage so the outlook wasn’t the clearest. We have seen the first real farm stock, and the first real agriculture so far in our time in Indonesia, large rice patties, plantations and cattle.

22/8/2010 – Today a trip out to Lakasa Cave had been organised for the morning. From the tourist information that had been provided we were all expecting a walk in cave but in reality it was a potholing experience requiring us to clamber down a narrow entrance into the cave system that dropped down 120 metres to a pool. It was quite a physical workout. In the afternoon Mum and I participated in an inner city tour utilizing the local pedicab bikes which was fun.  

23/8/2010 – Todays tour was out to Nirwana Beach which the local people believe the waters will cure you from various skin diseases. Although the day began bright and sunny as we headed to the beach dark clouds appeared and our time spent at the beach was spent sheltering from rain squalls in between swims. The water was very inviting with a nice sandy bottom, Mum enjoyed her first opportunity to get in the water after damaging her big toe in Whakatobi. In the afternoon we participated in a local heads of villages ceremony that was to protect our travels and each presented with a frangi-pangi flower garland. Then we were whisked off to Keraton Wolio fortress (the widest in the world), it was quite a spectacular with a variety of entrances and a spectacular viewing point over the city of Bau Bau below. We were then hosted at a special ceremony where local girls had prepared a variety of food for us to sample, all presented on beautiful platters and glassware. As part of the tradition we were handfed our first mouthful and waited on hand and foot, with displays of local traditional dances to entertain us. It was a very special and memorable occasion.

24/8/2010- Today our tour took us out to a local Balinese community which has located to this area. The local architecture was quite stunning and we were hosted at the local school and treated to a number of cultural dance demonstrations before being provided with morning tea of some local delicious treats. It was then time to head out to a local pearl farm operation. That evening we were hosted at the Mayor’s official residence where dinner and various art performances were provided.

25/8/2010 – Shopping day today to restock on fresh supplies from the local market before our further travels. We will be going to some more remote areas next and supplies will be scarce.

After this we did a dingy trip up the river from the fishing harbour. See the pics of the kid on the banana tree raft.

26/8/2010 We leave towards Laubuan Bajo today. We have had a good time in BauBau. The local community and government have gone to great lengths to provide tours and services to us for little or no cost. BauBau is the cleanest of the larger towns/cities we have seen so far, and a large step up from Ambon. Food has been cheap when we have had to pay - NZD $3 for dinner! They are trying to promote BauBau as an alternative tourist destination to Bali, but they have a way to go yet, but the people were most helpful accommodating and obliging throughout our stay. 

 

Wangi Wangi

13/8/2010-17/8/2010

From Hoga, we moved north again the 20 odd miles to Wangi Wangi, the capital of this Island Group. Population about 30,000. The Anchorage is good, in a small lagoon next to the town, and still clean enough to swim in.

However, Wangi Wangi is very primitive for a town of this size, and the markets are an experience of small darks alleys between shacks. Also it is Ramadan, and the Mosques played really loud music (call to prayer) both during the day and at 2:30 and 4:30am!! Fiona and I found it difficult to sleep, but as usual Jo had no issues!

This is the first place in Indonesia where I felt the local organisers were just trying to extract money, and were not really interested in promoting Indonesia as a destination. An example of this was asking $50USD per person for a trip around the Island, and then when we explained we had only rupiah (the local currency) he stomped off.

14/8/2010 A group was planning to do a dingy tour of the local village Bajo Mola which is a tribe who have built their homes on poles above the sea and then planned to head out to a local beach to do some snorkeling. It was a pleasant trek and the villagers came rushing up to their windows and doors to acknowledge our passing, calling out and waving.

15/8/2010 – A trip around the island to visit various freshwater springs and Liya Fortress was on the agenda today. The springs were all underground caverns which the locals use for daily washing and bathing. There must be a reasonable flow through these pools as they remained relatively clear considering the amount of washing going on. The fortress was a bit of a disappointment being largely in ruins. Unfortnately during the tour Mum had her big toe crushed when the seat in front of her was pulled down on top it. When we returned from the tour she asked to see a doctor and they took us to the local hospital where it was determined that the best plan of action would be to remove the toenail all together! That evening we were hosted by the local Regent Major at his newly built resort for a formal welcome party. A large variety of food was offered, a slideshow featuring the highlights of the region and then a presentation of fabric scarves from the local textile manufacturing industry.   

16/8/2010 Today was a public holiday and carnival celebrating independence day. The event  was marred however by a small fraction of people we were informed who were protesting about the Sail Banda distribution of funds. The government have apparently provided $200 mil (!!!!) for this event, but the locals are seeing very little of it if any. Anyway, the protest at Wangi Wangi was becoming a bit aggressive, with the main stage dismantled at one stage which lead to a group of fleet members who had gone to attend the celebrations being escorted from the town back to the boats by armed police. The next morning there was first one Solider, then a platoon on the street at the anchorage entry, all armed with AK's. I felt, as did Fiona, that it was time to go. We had all had enough here anyway, so we moved on to BauBau, 75 miles away in SE Sulawesi the next morning.

 

PASSAGE TO WAKATOBI ISLAND GROUP

Our 3oo mile  passage to this Island group was in ideal sailing conditions with an average  15-20 knot breeze and well spaced waves making our travels comfortable.  Having made good ground during our passage in these conditions and with the tide assisting us much of the way we found a small reef to anchor on for the 2^nd night just as dusk was approaching. This prevented us reaching our destination in the wee hours of the morning whilst still dark and not safe to enter. The next morning after a good lie in we heard on the radio from those ahead of us that the anchorage with a dive resort a group of us had been heading for was in fact unwelcoming to visiting yachts. Several decided to anchor inside the safety of a nearby reef/lagoon (Karang Kaledupa) and so we joined them there.  We stayed here for a couple of nights – it is rather a weird sensation being anchored inside one of these surrounded by sea and with the land only visible in the distance. It was nice to have decent air flow through the boat and quite comfortable. We enjoyed some nice snorkelling conditions and with the camera working properly this time we had fun taking some photos. Matt also spent some time working on various repair jobs on other boats anchored here to assist them and make use of his large array of tools on board! After two nights in this location we have now moved on to Hoga Island which has a research unit attached to the marine reserve here with numerous overseas students here doing research projects during their summer break.

 

AMBON 2-6^TH AUGUST 2010

2/8/2010 we arrived in Ambon this morning and as predicted the crossing from Banda was flat calm – we motor sailed the whole way. On arrival we tied up to the designated spot on the wharf  (stern to a commercial wharf – with a large slop) then headed off to make the necessary port clearances.

 

 As the cuts my Mum received on the passage up from Darwin had become infected and were not improving with the treatment we had been giving,  (and she wouldn’t start one of the courses of antibiotics her doctor had given her for such circumstances without first seeing a doctor!) We arranged with one of the guides supplied by the rally organisers to take us to see a doctor/hospital.

 

 The hospital was some distance away, but on arrival we were immediately ushered in for attention by the doctor. It seemed quite obvious that due to being foreigners’ that we were being given preferential treatment over and above other locals who appeared to be in a much worse situation which we felt rather uncomfortable about. Anyway they cleaned and redressed her wounds and told her to start her antibiotics and gave us other ointments and dressings to apply 2x daily. Everything is clearing up nicely now.

 

When we returned from the hospital a number of yachts had already left the wharf for another anchorage as conditions at the wharf were proving less than ideal lined up next to each other and with large number of local boats and navy vessels in harbour for the celebrations with the president being in town it was very turbulent in this area with boats crashing about. Matt was keen to move out also and so we made our way further out as many of the others had.  

 

Rain started that night and it was not in ideal conditions that we joined the formal sailpast for the presidential reception. We were all expected to attend,following on in line astern after the official naval procession. We did our bit and joined the procession waving cheerfully to the president and his guests.

 

The rain continued to be quite heavy once back at the anchorage, so we made the most of the conditions using our water catcher to refill the water tanks. It continued to rain throughout the days we stayed in Ambon, with no improvement predicted in the weather forecasts. The only good thing about Ambon being that we had clean fresh rainwater for our tanks rather than using the local water supply, that based on the environmental conditions of the town and harbour would have been less than ideal healthwise. We caught about 600 litres..

 

That evening was the official presidential welcome and celebrations. For those yachts that had moved off the wharf cars were provided to transport us to the function. Driving conditions in Ambon are quite an experience with seemingly little respect for road rules, cars overtaking each other regardless of on-coming traffic and corners and with many scooters (with up to 3 people on them at a time) weaving in and out of the traffic all over the place and everyone constantly hooting their horns. It appeared our drivers were afraid of being late to the function and it was a rather spine tingling trip into the event! It was amazing we never saw any accidents during our time on the roads there but I guess this was in part to the average speed being no more than 20kms Limit is 80Kmh, but there is no room to accelerate!).

 

The celebration was an outside event under marquees, with the ground sodden and full of puddles and open drains all over the place. We were entertained with a variety of local village dance groups and types of music. Matt was called away to assist with a yacht that was supposedly dragging its anchor. When they got there they found all was well with the yacht concerned but another was drifting. They tried to assist but no-one was around to open the boat to enable them to use the anchor winch and too hard to lift by hand (its deep – 50m, and the chain was too heavy to move manually). On return to the function the food had run out, I’d saved a small bit for Matt but it was cold by now, and having had quite enough of the celebrations in these conditions we made arrangements to head back.

 

Ambon is the major city of the region with some supposedly good snorkelling and diving sites on the other side of the island however with the weather conditions experienced there it was not suitable for this type of activity. After hunkering down in the boat for a couple of days (we were actually quite happy to have a couple of quiet days after the busyness of Darwin and Banda.), with full water tanks we were ready to move on. We arranged clearance with the Harbour Master, purchased some fresh supplies and made ready to head off to our next destination of the Wakatobi Island Group as wind and wave conditions were easing.

 

 

OFF TO AMBON 1.8.2010

As it is only approx. 20 hours sailing time to Ambon, Matt and I decided to head into town this morning to have a proper look around the restored fort in daylight before leaving Banda. We walked around this impressive fortress and through another village area where the local lads were collecting coconuts and bought one of them before heading back to Island Time and setting sail to Ambon. Conditions are very light and it looks as if we will be motor sailing the whole distance. Most of the fleet has left today as we are expected in Ambon for the next round of celebrations and the arrival of the president of Indonesia who is going to greet us there at an official function and dinner.

 

 

Banda - Jo's version!

BANDA ISLANDS – 27^TH JULY- 1 AUGUST 2010

Hello everyone, we are now in the very remote Banda Island group of Indonesia (which isn’t even marked on many world maps) it was historically known as the Spice Islands - during centuries past the Dutch and other world powers fought and occupied this area in their eagerness to obtain nutmeg (this being the only place where it grew). After the great plague of the 1600’s nutmeg was renowned for its medicinal purposes making it a very marketable product, and worth more than gold at the time.

Anyway we arrived here after 3.5 days at sea from Darwin. We were about fourth or fifth over the start line, 1^st kiwi boat and 1^st yacht with our kite up. We had good sailing conditions on day 1 & 3, but day 2 was rather uncomfortable with 30knots and a lumpy sea. I sprained my ankle badly and Mum,  as yet without her sea legs took a few knocks and cuts to her skin (which is very thin and can bleed even when she rubs herself too hard).  Most people in the fleet were unhappy in the conditions with some saying it the worst they had experienced. Not unusual for Wellington sailors though!(I must say I still dislike these constant days at sea feeling that Ihave to be on duty all the time keeping everyone feed and watered so was very pleased to be back in harbour and on land again)

Our welcome here by the local community and officials was exceptionally friendly starting with boat loads of officials coming on board to clear our yacht into their country in smart uniforms. The yacht crews were feted and treated like royalty at the official welcome, with gifts and snack boxes of local food followed by cultural dancing and singing. These groups all had sumptuous costumes in bright colours and fine fabrics. They were immaculately presented and made-up with long skirts, shirts and even had stockings on their feet with high heels,  whilst we as the guests felt terribly underdressed sitting in the satin covered chairs sweltering in the heat in our shorts and t-shirts!

After the official ceremony they had local boats (koro koro) racing (similar to the Maori Waka), with each village in its own colours and individualised vessel. There was a huge fleet of local support crew out in their boats  -  which were loaded to the gunnels, and when they all leaned to one side to see their village boat go past it looked like they might sink. Following these celebrations we chose to have a swim in the clear waters of the harbour that due to the late running of the morning’s activities the culinary festival in the afternoon would be running late, sadly we were wrong and missed out on some lovely local cooking that was provided complimentary. We have made up for this during our time in Banda by eating out for lunch/dinner most days at local eateries for only around $7 dollars each. We have enjoyed the local cuisine and suffered no ill-effects.

 The locals are most obliging, bending over backwards to accommodate us and meet our needs.  On our second day we took the opportunity to make the most of the free internet site that had been set up at the local hotel for the media presence that was recording the various events that were occurring here during ‘Sail Banda’ week. We also organised getting our washing done by the villagers, and caught up with other cruisers and their experiences. That night there was a celebration at the restored Belgica fort,  which had been built by the Dutch during their occupation here in the 1600’s.  There was more local dancing and singing groups, telling the story of the history of the island through this medium of communication. As so called “distinguished guests” we were given the best seats alongside local dignitaries and were once again provided with snack boxes of local food to sample and enjoy during the entertainment. The evening finished with fireworks that were lit from the top of the fort. It was the first time they had experienced fireworks on this island and for some they found it a rather terrifying experience, running away quite frightened.

During the fort celebration one of the organisers suggested that she would organise a trip to a Nutmeg Plantation, for those who were interested. The following morning despite the rain, a group of us arrived at the designated time of 10am. As our guide was no-where to be seen we made enquires we were told she was getting dressed. We waited a further ¾ hour and still no appearance so gave up and headed off to the official ‘Sail Banda’ tour organisers asking them to help us. They made arrangements for us to visit a nearby island village via one of their local motorised boats. They took us through the village where there was quite a variety of architecture in the living accommodation, from quite upmarket to tin shacks. However they all had well tended gardens and swept paths. They showed us how they dry the nutmeg and cloves and offered us samples, which due to the freshness was so much stronger than we are used to purchasing at home. We then climbed up 230 steps to the remains of the Hollandia Dutch fort also built in the 1600’s, which lies directly opposite the one we had previously visited. My mum (Fiona) did extremely well tackling this quite strenuous climb at her own pace. Next we headed through the Nutmeg Plantation and observed an elderly local woman harvesting the nuts, using her specially designed basket and tongs for the task. Then it was then down the hill to the well of holy water that the local village ( with its strong Islamic contingent) uses in all their celebrations, before returning back on the boat. After climb up to the fort and back we all felt we had earned a well deserved swim before we headed out to dinner at a fine local guest house. There were more celebrations and dancing and singing that night but we were all too exhausted to stay long and were in bed by 9.30pm.

29.7.2010 -Today Mum and I arranged with one of the local guides we have met who is also local Junior High school English teacher to visit her school. Two of the yacht families who have children also joined us.  Matt helped another yacht out with some computer problems and maintenance jobs on the boat. We walked through the village and past the local Governor’s residence and village community hall before being warmly welcomed by the staff and headmaster in their staffroom. They  made us a cup of cinnamon tea and showed us some of the crafts the school children had been making and asked if we would like to purchase any to help purchase dictionaries for the school (very difficult to refuse the offer despite not really having room on board for such things) We were then led into one of the classrooms where the children had gathered and we were sat at the front of the classroom with a microphone where a question and answer session proceeded as they practiced their English, and sang us some songs both in English and Indonesian. It was extremely hot in the classroom as it was packed with students and teachers and did not even have a ceiling fan to stir up the air, and sitting on sticky plastic seats. The school day runs from 8-12noon Monday to Friday, and 8-10 on Saturday, with the families having to pay for their children to attend school if they can afford it or by getting a loan from the bank. The children we have met here on Banda are all delightful, well mannered and healthy showing a keen interest to practice their English with us. Following this we enjoyed lunch at a local pancake house that also makes homemade ice-cream, very popular in this climate! In the afternoon we took our dingy out to the harbour entrance to a local dive site, enjoying a couple of hours off the lava wall of the volcano observing the tropical fish and corals in very clear water that dropped steeply off the edge. On return to the yacht it was still hot so I snorkelled ashore to where some local children where climbing up the coconut trees and cutting them down and breaking them open by smashing them on the rocks below. They got one for me and shared it with me and then we had an impromptu English lesson introducing ourselves and singing ABC and counting songs while some of them were delighted to try out my snorkel gear. It was then time to head back and find somewhere for dinner.

The next morning we did some odd jobs getting ‘Island Time’ sorted and organised for our departure to Ambon the following day. Matt went in to see the officials and to arrange the clearance documents to the next port. In the afternoon we arranged for a guide tour across the Island to a beach with access to great corals for snorkelling over. Mum and I got a scooter ride from some local lads across whilst Matt and a lady from another yacht walked across with the guide obtaining some interesting local information on the way. The water was crystal clear with fabulous coral formations, sponges, sea anemone and of course fish. We spent a couple of hours in the water with the water temperature near the beach like bath water (so much so that I think there must have been some underwater thermal activity in this area). The guide then took us through his village and plantations showing us their various water wells, Koro Koro boat, cemetery and areas for drying crops before we headed back to our boat where I had arranged with the High School English teacher and some of her students to come out and see our accommodation onboard. They were delighted to be offered this experience and we shared another learning experience of questions and answers and learning each other’s language. It was then time to head out for dinner at our favourite pancake eatery before going to the hotel where a couple of DVD’s were being played about the Island.

 

 

28/7/2010  Here we are at Banda, a great natural harbour, although very deep! We are anchored in 45m, with all our chain out!!. The passage from Darwin was good, with one day a bit boisterous. We flew the Kite from the start, and a few others followed suit. At one stage we were the first monohull, but we were soon passed by more multihulls and one 66 ft ketch - cat rigged. That's very unusual!  Jo sprained an ankle in the large wake of an ocean salvage tug that cut thru the fleet (105 yachts) and passed us 30m away! Anyway, we finished the passage as 2nd monohull, disallowing for the boats that started a day early.

Banda (was the space islands) is a bit run down and remote, but the welcome has been great, and the bureaucracy has been nowhere near as bad as we had heard.

 

23/7/2010 Today we finished provisioning, washed down the boat , and then moved around the harbour to Fannie Bay Anchorage ready for the start  tomorrow at 11am. We had dinner at the Yacht Club, watching the sunset. See the Photos.

 

22/7/2010 I (Matt) went to the Doctors today as I have been suffering from a mild sinus infection since leaving NZ, and I can't seem to shake it. Another dose of antibiotics, so we'll see how that goes.

 

21/7/2010 - Today we spent at some of the attractions around Darwin, starting with the Aviation Museum. It was very interesting, including a B52, a Mirage A110, and many other aircraft and associated equipment. See some of the photos.  Following that we did the War Museum, which was good and help us understand the extent to which Darwin was involved in WW2. Then on to the Mindl Markets for dinner, and then to the theatre to see Shrek in 3D, as Jo is still in "professional Development mode! (She's still a Kid really!)

 

20/7/2010 – Today it was Tony, Di and Alex’s last day here as they are flying back to New Zealand in the wee hours of the morning. They enjoyed a quiet day at the pool,  We did jobs  and then went to see a movie at the outdoor (deckchair) cinema.

18/7/2010 – Fiona, Di and I headed into town today while Tony minded Alex as he still recovering from the “bug”, and Matt worked on jobs for the boat, including getting our new stack-pack sail cover installed that has arrived, which should make life easier when bringing the main sail down, it will now all just fall into a big bag sort of thing on the boom. Our old cover was at the end of its days  falling to pieces (literally) every time we used it – the cloth was rotten after well over 10 years of use. We had some girl time shopping and Fiona and I went to the foreign exchange to get some money for Indonesia – we are now both millionaires – Fiona with 4.5 million Rupiah and me with 7 million! Back to the apartment in the afternoon for a swim in the cool pool then dinner and a game of cards.

17/7/2010 – Today we all headed off to the Territory Wildlife Park. We thoroughly enjoyed our day there except for Tony who on arrival was suddenly struck by the tummy bug that has been going around our group, so he ended up spending most of his day near the entrance close to the necessary toilet facilities! – not much fun for him. It was a very well set up park with a variety of displays in a very natural setting. Matt particularly enjoyed the birds of prey display where they had various birds demonstrating their hunting skills, quite spectacular to see these birds close up displaying their skills. They also had a fabulous aquarium display (much better than the one we saw in Darwin) with a variety of fish and aquatic creatures and habitats on display (Tony was able to join us for this part as it was air-conditioned with facilities), we went through a large walk through aviary that had numerous local birds, another area had a billabong with crocs, catfish, pelicans and giant waterlillies. At the end of the day we went into the petting area and hand fed very tame Wallabies that had baby joeys in their pouches, and Alex and I braved having a snake wrapped around our shoulders! (not my favourite experience I must say, but Alex said she would do it if I did so hard to refuse the opportunity)

 

16/7/2010 – A sad start to the day today when we learnt the news of the death of our sister-in-law Karen Paulin father, this was followed by a call from Matt’s sister to say her husband was back in Hospital this time with suspected Kidney Stones. Our thoughts go out to our extended family back in NZ today.

It was a boat job day to day, obtaining our Indonesian Visa’s from the consulate and various tasks and shopping required for getting the boat ready for our up-coming passage to Indonesia. This included finally getting back the piece of steering equipment from the engineering shop that had failed on our trip up the coast, and Matt had temporally repaired. It has now been upgraded and improved so it hopefully won’t happen again. Then dinner at the apartment in the coolness of the air-conditioning of the apartment my family are staying at, and finally a nice cool swim in the pool to cool down in before coming back to the heat at the boat.

 

15/7/2010 – Although it was Matt’s day for the tummy bug session, the rest of us (Di, Tony, Alex, Fiona and Jo) headed out to ‘Aquascene’ the fish feeding location in Doctors Gully each day on the high tide has sessions for the public to stand on the water’s edge hand feeding and tummy tickling the fish. This was a real hit with my 5 year old niece Alex who revelled in the experience of being up close and personal with the fish. Doctor’s Gully has quite a historic background, originally a popular place for the local Aboriginal tribe to catch fish, then purchased by a Chinese family to use as a Market Garden, a base for the flying boats during WWII, and after that purchased by a local doctor who initiated the routine of the feeding the fish and then opening the area for the general public and it now one of the most popular of Darwin’s attractions. Following this we went to the Indo-Pacific Marine Centre that gives you an appreciation of the coral reef system and type of corals and fish that you might see in these waters. We had an unusual guide for this tour who was full of knowledge on his topic but would suddenly stop part way through his conversation and disappear leaving you wondering if the tour was finished but then would come back a few minutes later and start talking again – weird!! It was then back to the apartment for lunch, a swim in the pool before dinner.

 

14/7/10 Today we went on a trip to Litchfield national park, and had a swim in the buley rock pool, which was good. The rest of the park was interesting, but one of the main swimming locations was closed due to the crocs! Back home just before dark Jo and I have both had enough of the boat for the moment - small space, constant boat work in 35 deg, and too hot to sleep at night!!!.

 

13/7/10 Jo's turn today for the stomach complaint. She took it easy and I went and got a replacement inverter, true sine wave this time (both 1500w, old and new) and installed that. Microwave now works on mains or Inverter (batteries). That took most of the day, as I had to run control cables etc. I did take a break and had a swim at the pool at the apartment.

 

12/7/10 We bought a microwave ($45!!) and modified the shelf over the stove  to fit it. It took most of the day, including putting in an alloy heat shield under it so cooking on the stove should not melt it - in overhangs the back of the stove 100mm. The damn thing won't work on the Inverter, but works fine on mains. The rest of them did the botanic gardens, and all of us had dinner at the apartment again. Di had been off colour with a stomach bug - Alex had had it earlier.

 

11/7/10 Jo's birthday 47. Fiona and Tony arrived early, and were a bit shattered, so Jo and I just did boat work for the morning. Jo wants to fit a microwave, as cooking with gas makes it even hotter in the boat. She went for a drive around Darwin with the rest of them in the afternoon, and we had dinner at the apartment.

 

10/7/10 Today we organised a rental car and then went to pick up Di and Alex at the Airport. Fiona and Tony  arrive together in the early hours tomorrow. They all have a rented apartment, so we don't have to have them all on the boat, which is good.  It is HOT here - 32c most days, and up to 35c odd in the boat, often not dropping below 30 until near midnight. Hard to sleep!

 

9/7/10 My Birthday. 48. Bugger Had calls and txts from the family, which was nice. Anyway, I took the Autopilot ram off the quadrant and found a machine shop to change the retaining bolt from 3/8 ss to 1/2 ss, as this was the bolt that had sheared off. Should be ok with a 1/2 inch bolt.  I also took off the failed Wind Generator and looked inside. The Circuit board is burnt. I ordered a new Wind Generator to replace it. We had dinner at a local Greek restaurant, which was nice.

 

8/7/10 I have lost a day here somewhere -we made the final trip into Darwin, and, having called forward, we were fortunate to get a marina berth in Bayview Marina. All the Darwin Marinas are behind locks - because the tidal range is 8 meters! Our first experience in a lock, but it was easy, once we had called the lockmaster and got him to come down to operate it! Jo's family (her mum, Fiona, and Sister Dianne, with her partner Tony and their Daughter Alex) are visiting in Darwin from the 10th, so we have a couple of days to get sorted.

 

6/7/10 Another early start, and on the wind. 25 knots on the nose and a head sea. It was quite uncomfortable for the first 3-4 hours down the Dundas Strait towards Cape Hotham. The course slowly veered off the wind, and conditions improved. We arrived at Cape Hotham in company with Anui, a 50ft Crowther cat that was in the Alcaro bay anchorage with us last night.

 

5/7/10 Today, another early start, about 6:30 off the Anchor and bound for Alcaro Bay, electing for another long day so we could arrived in Darwin Earlier. The trip was good, in 15-18 knots, but coming on the wind for the last few hours. We anchored in 6m about 6:30 pm, just before dark.

 

4/7/10 We spent the night at Entrance Island, rather than go into the Liverpool River, as we saw a sheltered (relatively) bay there on the way in, and it saved us a few miles for today. Better sailing conditions today had the kite on for a while and decided to continue on for a late evening arrival at Malay Bay, after a passage of 86 miles. We hot in about 10:30 pm, and anchored in 7m.

 

3.7.10 Left Ngurubudanamirri Bay  for the crocodile islands about 9am. It’s a short day today, only about 35 NM, as there is no suitable anchorage further across before the Liverpool River, which is too far for one day. The Trip was OK, but the short steep seas (25 Knts again) meant hand steering for a few hours, and as I had previously done something to my shoulder it was a bit of a test. Its a bit sore again tonight – perhaps it was not as repaired as I thought.

 

2.7.10 Left Bosanquet Isle about 8am after a comfortable night. Destination today is Ngurubudanamirri Bay  on Howard Island, after passing though the Cadell Strait. The Cadell Strain is a narrow and long (approx 20 NM) passage, shallow in places and requiring constant navigation. It was a long day and I was pleased to see the end of it. The anchorage was good – quiet sea although some breeze.

 

1.7.10 We left Gove about 8am bound for Bosanquet Isle, In the English Company Islands. We passed some very interesting formations in the rock clifs of some of the Islands and Headlands today. Had about 20-25 Knts SW again.

 

30.6.10 Got in to Gove about 9:30 am, so 2 Days and 2 Hours for 355 NM, which is quite good for us. Gove has a the largest Bauxite mine in the southern Hemisphere, and it is a company town. The facilities ashore are quite good, but the yacht anchorage is 12 kms out of town and very run down. Anyway, we went ashore, did some washing, hitched into town and had lunch, supermarket etc, then back to the boat for a restful night.

 

29.6.10 Halfway to Gove by Breakfast time. Sea state is short and steep from several directions, wind still 25 Knts SE. I guess the sea state is because it is so shallow, being not more than 50m deep the whole way.

 

28.6.10 Left Seisia for Gove about 7am. Wind still 25 Knts for SE. Distance 355Nm. Once we cleared the land the alarms all set again (AIS, Radar, Sonar etc) and away we went. Done 100 miles by dinner time.

 

27.6.10 Still at Seisia, filled the Jerry cans this morning, filled with water etc, preparing for the trip across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Finished that and miscellaneous jobs by lunchtime, so we hitched a ride into Bamaga with the crew from Magnetic, Trevor and Yolanta (spell??). That was a waste of time, everything was closed!! But Yolanta got to do her email at a local Motel. Trevor gave me a spare bolt for the Autopilot - not quite long enough, but ok in the meantime.

 

26.6.10 – Another early start. Up at 6am for the trip around the top of Cape York, and down to Seisia, the port for Bamaga.  One of the other yachts from the Escape River anchorage (another Kiwi Boat, Magnetic, from Whangarei ) led the way out, but everyone followed, so we had a small fleet rounding the top today.    However, we got the jump on them all when they elected to use the southern channel to exit – that channel is marginally deeper, but now the tide was further in, we had no issues with depth. We carried the tide up to and through Albany pass (tide flows were 4-5 knots, a good boost), where we saw a small crocodile at the northern end. The north end of this pass is shallow, and the course thru a bit complex, so only one other boat followed us through, although neither of us had any difficulties. The passage around the top and down to Seisia  was straightforward, except for a large cross tide in the entrance to the anchorage. It was good to be the first of our fleet into the anchorage as it is small, and we got the pick of the locations!

As we were anchored not long after lunch, we went in to the supermarket (you can’t really call Seisa a town, but it does have a supermarket, gas station and a camp ground!) and bought a couple of things. An easy afternoon.

 

25.6.10 – Today we plan to get to the Escape River anchorage which will be our final destination prior to going around Cape York at the top. We had another good day of sailing and made good time to this destination, however the entrance is rather shallow with a bar entering into it and Matt had an anxious moment or two as we surfed in over the bar reaching a top speed of 15.6 Knots as we crossed the entrance (it was too shallow for these speeds!! But in 40 Knots downwind, could not really prevent surfing).

This area is the base for local pearl farming and there was row after row of nets as you headed up the river which in the fading light were quite difficult to pick up. There were 5 other yachts in the river some of which had been waiting for up to a week for the weather to improve before making  the next leg around the top. The forecast is still the same for the next week. We’ll continue!

 

 24.6.10 – We made the passage of approx. 75 miles north to Margaret Bay just inside of Cape Grenville today. We quickly discovered after getting out of Bathurst Bay that the wind abated quite considerably from the 30-35 we had been experiencing down to a more comfortable 20-25 Knots. This made it quite apparent that Cape Melville acts as a wind funnel to cause the localised effects that we experienced here. We had a good passage today making good time in the conditions, but nearing the end of the passage the autopilot failed! The Autopilot tiller to Ram atachement failed, shearing off the 3/8 SS retaining bolt. That bolt is supposed to hold it on, not take the steering load, so I'm not sure why this happened. I scavenged a bolt from elsewhere and got it working again after we had anchored. I'd had a few hours of steering  before then!

 

23.6.2010 – Today we headed into Bathurst Bay inside Cape Melville, which is listed as a Dugong Sanctuary. As we headed around the point of the Cape the wind really started to blow, gusting 40 -50 knots as we tried to enter the bay. We ended going quite some way down into the Bay before being able to head back up to the anchorage. The scenery is quite spectacular here with the hillside a mass of boulders toppling down the hillside. There were a couple of local fishing boats sheltering here and another yacht (Son of the Sun) came in on dark, but could not make the anchorage against the wind and ended up a long way down the bay. The wind continued throughout the night and was still strong the next day so we remained anchored for another night. The forecasts continued to indicate that the wind was going to remain strong so we made the decision to tackle the conditions and continue our path north.

 

22/6/2010 Still crap in this anchorage. We decided to go anyway. 35-40, with some gusts to 50 Knots as we left, 10 miles out was 25-30, and stayed that way. We arrived at Morris Island about 4:30. Only one other boat here, a 60ft Cat. It’s another Windy anchorage, but not as windy as Bathurst Bay- about 20-25 knots. There is no shelter from the trade wind at all, but the reef breaks up most of the sea. As I am writing this it is high tide, and a bit bouncy! Hope it improves as the tide goes out and the reef is exposed giving us more protection, so we can get some sleep tonight.

 

21/6/2010 I spent quite a bit of time on the SSB getting weather faxes etc. The forecast is still for 25-30 Knots SE, but we were experiencing 40 knots, so I called up a passing ship who confirmed the conditions were bad further out so we decided to stay put.

 

20/6/2010 We left Lizard island about 7am bound for Cape Melville. Again conditions were 25-30Knots, except at the end. As we rounded Cape Melville for the anchorage in Bathurst Bay, the wind lifted to 40 then to 50 Knots. Very steep seas made it hard to come back in the final mile or so to the anchorage, as the wind was on the nose. Anyway, we made it, but are again anchored in strong winds – the odd gust of 45 knots. On our way in the Wind generator has failed – braking system not working, and bad noises. I have lashed it down.

 

19/6/2010 Today we explored (some of) Lizard Island, and spent a pleasant couple of hours on the blue lagoon beach, then walked back to the resort (where we weren’t allowed in!), so back to the boat. We had evening drinks with the crews from Thumbs Up and Balu, both of which are doing the sail Indonesian rally as well, a very pleasant time.

18/6/2010 Left Cooktown about 6:30am, headed for Lizard Island, arriving about 3pm. The weather was not nearly as bad as we thought it might be, but it was still 35 Knots when we left Cooktown. Mostly we had had 25Knts, so we made good time. Jo had a swim and a snorkel, and I cleaned the hull, with Jo’s help.

17/6/2010 We stayed in Cooktown again today, as it is still up to 40 Knots here in the anchorage. We went into town again for lunch and paid a visit to the local supermarket for some extras.

16/6/2010 Today we headed into town, wandering up and down the main street reading the local historic information signs. {Cooktown was where Captain Cook spent 48 days repairing his vessel the Endeavour after damaging it on the Barrier Reef).  As I remembered from my motorcycle tour up to Cape York some 15+ years ago, it is still a quiet little backwater although it is busier than I remember due to there now being a sealed “all weather” road into town from the south. We had a nice lunch at one of the Hotel, and then spent some time looking around the local historical display in the old Westpac Bank.  

 

15/6/2010 We left Port Douglas about 7am, headed for Cooktown.  As we came in to Cooktown, the entry is very shallow, and was made difficult in the breeze which had built to gusting 40 Knots.  The anchoring area is very small, and we (me) managed to go aground about 3 times. After an hour or two, the tide changed, we swung around and hit the bottom again. It was now getting dark. I tried two anchors (one up, one down the stream) but the wind was now 40Knots + in the anchorage and we did not hold well. There is an alternative spot to anchor, but it is over a sandbar, and the chart is poor. I decided to try it anyway, and we made it into a better spot, although we got abused by a woman from another boat for being too close. So we moved again, 30 meters further away to avoid the stress! Cooktown is a very windy anchorage – it seems to be a natural wind funnel, although this is not mentioned in the cruising guide.

 

14/6/2010 We left the marina at Cairns about 8am, and made the fairly short trip up to Port Douglas. We anchored up the creek (river?) in the mangroves. We went in the dingy down to the small town, had a bit of a walk around, posted some mail home,  then had dinner at local RSL

.

13/6/2010 Today I spent mostly on boat work, with Jo going to the markets in the morning. We had lunch at the botanic gardens, then returned the car and finished getting the boat ready for the next leg to the top of Cape York.

 

12/6/2010 Today we went out to Kuranda. Jo was keen on the butterfly house, so we went there followed by Bird world. Both are well worth the visit. We looked around the local markets, then walked the Barron River falls walk. That was cool, a very impressive series of drops and good viewing platforms.  Jo then went back down the SkyRail gondola through the rainforest canopy - I’d done this before, so at $43 per person I drove the car down and met her at the bottom.

Next to the lower Skyrail station is the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and we went there for the rest of the afternoon. Their shows are interesting, and we had a go at boomerang and spear throwing. Lucky we don’t have to rely on that for dinner!!

 

11/6/2010  (Part 2)We arrived at Cairns about 2:30 pm today, sorted the marina, and went in to town to arrange a rental car. Then off to Whitworths Chandlery to get a few bits and pieces, followed by the supermarket for resupply.  We also stopped at Spotlight to get some new sewing supplies so we could rebuild our mosquito netting systems for the hatches

 

11.6.10 – We continued our journey to Cairns today in order to resupply. This is the last city before Darwin, which we need to be at by the 10^th July. This morning we experienced our first fly-by and check up from customs service, who wanted to know our plans, port of registration etc. There were 3 yachts that they checked in on this morning within VHF range of us. We had been informed by other cruisers to expect frequent enquires from the customs service/planes once we reached the northern waters of Australia so will expect now to hear from them every couple of days as they check your progress and whereabouts and ascertain that you are doing what you are supposed to! During our stopover in Cairns we plan to do a couple of highly recommended tourist attractions, including the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre which is a multi-million dollar centre showcasing the history of the local people in an interactive approach that is rated as one of the best in Australia. I also want to visit the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary located just outside of Cairns.

 

10.6.10-We had a shorter passage today so didn’t set the alarm waking when ready, and getting away around 7.30am. We planned our route to arrive at Dunk Island in time to have lunch at the local resort. This made for a nice break in the day after several days of sailing all day, we enjoyed a short walk about the Island after a nice lunch on the beachfront, and then I swam out to the boat, while Matt rowed, to continue our journey further north to the small natural harbour Mourilyan which is a small commercial port dedicated to the loading of sugar.

 

9.6.10- Off again at dawn.heading to  Orpheus Island in the Palm Island group. Very light wind conditions 5 knots, so motorsailing today and we have topped up our fuel tank with some of the spare fuel that we are carrying. The weather is definately getting warmer as we head north, 26 degrees yesterday and 27 predicted for today. We had a giggle when we were listening to a local radio station the other morning and they were complaining that it was going to be a chilly high of 23 degrees that day! We think 23 degrees is a warm day in the middle of our summer, and this is their winter temperatures - I do like this climate for winter but sound like the summers are very hot and uncomfortable even with the high levels of humudity they experience at this time.As conditions calmed off this afternoon and we were once again motor sailing, so we decided to take the narrow passage between the Mainland and Hinchinbrook Island for a change of scenery (the Alan Lucas Cruising Guide we are using had dedicated several pages of his book to this area). At the Southern entrance is the world’s longest offshore loading facility at Lucinda, with a length of 5.76 kilometres - it actually dips two metres off straight to follow the earth’s curvature!  It contains a large conveyor belt that used for loading up to 25 tonnes of sugar cane per day- it is quite a structure (see photo in gallery). We followed the channel which offers quite a different type of scenery to that which we have seen previously with large granite mountains, native rainforest and mangroves coming right down to the edge of the sea. Apparently it is generally overcast in this area, due to the rainforest which it was for much of the afternoon, though still warm at 28 degrees. We anchored just on dusk for the night at Scraggy Point, where some ancient Aboriginal fish traps are located..

 

8.6.10 Up again early to head off to Magnetic Island, just outside of Townsville. Another good morning for sailing we arrived in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island just on lunchtime, and so headed ashore to check the place out and get something to eat. The local beach hire equipment guy recommended a place called "Noodies". We enjoyed lunch here - and no we didn't have to take our clothes off! After lunch we wandered down the beach and found a walking track that headed over the hill to the next bay. The landscape on this Island is made up of large granite boulders, and so our walk over the hill through the rock formations was very interesting with the steps on the track made up rocks. When we got to the top the path divided, with one track going down to a bay we had passed on our way in that looked rather attractive- it was also labelled as the local nudiest beach. We got to the bottom and there was a couple of other people there both clothed and unclothed. The water looked very inviting so Matt and I both got in for a swim before making our way back up the hill and on the track to the next bay, which was lovely also but not as enclosed and idyllic as the previous one. At this stage Matt's knees had had enough of climbing up and down on rocks and so we decided to take the road to head back to the boat. On our way a local couple stopped their car and offered us "oldies" a lift.(there we quite a number of backpackers around the Island looking for rides, but they thought we probably needed it more than they did!!) Anyway we accepted their kind offer, and they were kind enough to offer us a guided tour of their Island, as they were planning to head out to the other side to watch the sunset. We stopped at a bottle store on the way and we purchased some refreshments to watch the sunset with. We enjoyed their company,hospitality and local knowledge and got to see a lot more of the Island than we would have seen by foot before they dropped us back at Horseshoe Bay and our yacht for the night. 

 

7.6.10 We are getting into the routine of rising at dawn to make the most of the wind that seems to come up at this time of the day. We have found that the wind is the strongest in the morning and dies away in the afternoon, which is the opposite to what we experience at home. Today we have quite a long leg to complete as we know we still have some considerable ground to cover to reach of our destination of Darwin by 10th July, in order to be there for the required prepartions and documentation for the Indoenesain sailing rally, as well as meeting up with my family (Mum, Di, Tony and Alex) who are joining us in this part of the world. We orginally thought we would stop at Cape Upstart for the night, but later in the day due to the good conditions decided so keep on going into the night to Cape Bowling Green. Our morning sail started well with a good breeze, which quickly developed into a 20-25 knot southeasterly, with quite a well developed quatering sea of 1.5 meteres which gave us good downwind surfing conditions. We had put the bigger geneka up to make the most of the breeze for the distance we wanted to travel, but then got overpowered with the rising wind and sea that saw us taking a wave over the back of the cockpit that drenched one of our cockpit squabs and went through the downwind cockpit cabin window that we still had open drenching the bed below, and nearly going down into the main cabin. Tine to reduce sail, and Matt took over the steering from our autopilot to make the most of the surfing conditions. The breeze did drop back to 10-15 knots in the afternoon and we enjoyed having a day of sailing rather than motorsailing. Our approach into Cape Bowling Green around 10pm caused Matt a bit of grief with a number of unidentified fishing boats in our path off the top of the cape and then as we rounded the cape finding ourselves in considerably shallow water than we expected as we entered the suggested anchorage for the night. The sandbank at the end of this cape is considerably longer than our chart indicated and after some quick manevouring we anchored for the night behind 5 other boats who were tucked in behind the cape for the night also.Matt was releived to put the anchour down and go to bed that night

 

6.6.10 This morning we continued on exploring the Whitsunday group of Island, heading up to Hook Island, and into Nara Inlet to see the aboringal rock drawings that the people from the yacht 'Blue Loon' had told us were worth seeing. It was short scramble up the hill over a well laid rock step path to this cave location. There was lots of interesting information boards from the local tribe of the area who had used this cave in days gone by as a stop-off during their fishing expeditions of the area. There was also an audio commentary from a number of descendants sharing tales of their tribal anchestors. Following this we decided to head further around the island to another, less roly anchourage named Stonehaven. In the 1930's this bay had been used as a mooring area for the Hayman Island  flying boats which took people out to the what is now a very exclusive resort in the area. There is a Marina there for those with $$$'s but you can only use it if you rent a room for the night! -the prices whcih are well beyond our budget! We did see lots of very flash launches and yachts coming and going from this area so there is still quite a market in this area for this form of accomodation. I spent the afternoon snorkelling around the reef in the bay, which had the best coral and sealife that I have witnessed so far in our travels. Lots of different colours and forms of coral and fish, with good clarity. It really is an underwater world  extravagasna the coral reefs, and I often think of how my Dad would have enjoyed exploring these enviroments with his interest in tropical fish that he used to have.

5/6/10 we headed around to the world famous Whitehaven Beach that is renknowned for its fine white sands and crystal clear waters. It is the spot that is most photographed for tourism is this area and used for modelling/swimwear shoots. We headed ashore to the national park information area and then wandered the length of the beach to the lagoon at the other end. It was further than we anticipated being a 12 kilometer walk in total, so our legs were rather weary by the end of it. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and doing some snorkelling, while Matt hid from the sun for the rest of the day after getting a bit too much exposure during the morning from our  walk along the beach (first dose of sunburn he has got so far!)

04/06/2010

We spent 3 nights at Mackay Marina, which was built in 2002, and I must say one of the nicest marina’s we have ever been in. Very nice facilities, a variety of shops and cafes/restaurants etc. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, with quite a number of live-a-boards staying there. I meet up with a couple of interesting ladies in the ablution facilities, 1 who was doing the cleaning (she was Canadian,  and her and husband -an Auzzie cabinet maker, they had built their yacht to live-aboard and travel around, however they had only got from the Sunshine Coast to Mackay in 3 years!.( A distance we have completed in just over 3 weeks!) Another women I met was a very interesting and dynamic  lady, who had a background in finance and even spent time with the BNZ management in the 1970’s, then had married and settled on a outback station where she raised her family. Her husband and her both got into flying and are involved in organising flying rallys around Australia (having a plane each!), both own a large cruising motorbikes that they tour around on, and their other passion is game fishing (hence a launch at the Marina). She has been involved in real estate, designing and building several homes and also designed her own home furniture. While Matt was doing boat work she took me out one afternoon for a tour around the local highlights, to her home which was one of a small number in a small cove out at Dolphin Head with private beach access. I really enjoyed sharing time with her and getting the inside local information.

We also managed to get a replacement modem for our sailmail email system, so we are now back in communication at sea and able to get weather forecasts/maps etc., at a cost of $1600 later unfortunately-however a necessary item for our travels. We hired a small car for the day and zoomed around the area getting the supplies we needed to restock the boat for our next 2-3 weeks of travel up to Cairns. We also bought some more fuel cans which Matt has lashed to the deck, (he always swore he didn’t like this idea), but with the light wind conditions we have been experiencing and the distances we need to travel to get to Darwin before mid-July we are needing to do a bit of motor saling. We also purchased some more mosquito netting to make a new one for our front hatch, and repair some other ones, we are definitely in Mozzie territory now and Matt has been suffering from numerous bites. I also sewed (altered) the nautical duvet cover I’d brought in Mooloolaaba to fit the front cabin. It has a white background with blue shells on it and looks much more fitting for our environment than the old one, and has lightened up the cabin with it’s white background.

Today we are off to the well-known tourist base of the Whitsundays – Hamilton Island. It is part of the national park system here, but in the 1970/80’s a somewhat controversial consent was given to develop this area into a tourist hub with a marina, airport and resorts. We visited the chandlery,  had quick look around the shops and luxury boats in the marina, stopping for some lunch at the newly opened cleverly architecturally designed yacht club that sits prominently on the entrance to the marina (see photo) After a quick look around the island on the free shuttle base we headed off to nearby Gulnare Inlet on Whitsunday Island for the night. We had a very peaceful night here in this enclosed anchourage, with high hills, similar to what we get at home in the sounds.

 

3.6.10- Up early today to sail to Shaw Island, we had excellent sailing conditions 20-25 knots from the south, so a great downwind sailing experience and NO motor for a change. I headed ashore on arrival for some beach time, and Matt joined me later. We invited the couple from Blue Loon who were anchored next to for drinks and nibbles. They were from Sydney and have taken a few years out like us to do the sailing thing, following the unfortunate death of his 20 year diabetic daughter last year. Their travels plans are only sailing up and down the East Coast of Auzzie and then to sell the boat and go to Japan for 3 years, where her family are from. He also was in the IT business and she was a Japanese/English language tutor. We enjoyed sharing the evening and experiences with them and quizzing them about the best things to see and do in the Whitsundays, as they have spent quite some time in this area.

2.6.10 – We headed away from the Marina today out to Brampton Island (approx. 20 miles), we anchored just off the bay from the resort that is on this Island, and headed into shore as there are some walking tracks to do and hoping we might get a drink and some nibbles at the resort. Getting closer to the public wharf we observed it had obviously suffered considerable damage from the cyclone that passed through this area in March. The rock wall, and small tramway along the main pathway was also being repaired and the salt pool on the water’s edge at the resort had also had to be rebuilt.  When we arrived at the resort we were greeted by the duty manager who informed us that they were unable to serve us, as their licensing requirements were for guests only, not casuals. We explored the island a bit more and then headed back to the boat for our refreshments! I then decided to have a quick swim before dark, and saw the biggest turtle I have ever seen resting among the weed and coral.

 

30/05/2010 Another 10 odd days since my last post. We are now in the Marina at Mackay

 

In Bundaberg we got the supplies we wanted, then early on the 20^th we left the marina for Lady Musgrave Island. This is a day trip of about 50 miles. We had a reasonable breeze in the morning but it died off early afternoon so back to motor sailing, arriving about 3pm.

 Lady Musgrave Island, is a coral cay and atoll just before the start of the barrier reef chain. We tucked up inside the coral reef around the island for the night, then got into the water after anchoring, to give the hull a good scrub down as it had a bit of growth on it and was dirty brown colour after sitting in the Mooloolaaba River for so long.

This was our first opportunity to do this in some decent clean, clear water where you can see what you are doing! 

The next morning we went for a walk around the island and had a closer look at the coral. Considering the relatively easy access by a large local population, the coral and the fish were not bad! We even saw several live (but small – 300mm long) giant clams, which are apparently a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Jo saw a few coloured bits and pieces and lots of little fish- also a small turtle.

Jo took a couple of under water shots and then my little "tough" camera packed a sad- doesn't look too good. Got the images that she took off the micro-disc, but the camera seems to be a no go. Not very good - we only got it at Xmas and it is designed for going 10m under water, being dropped etc and so thought would be pretty good value for what we are doing- not happy that it has packed up when only snorkeling along the surface, will have to get something arranged to fix/replace it.

 

Later in the afternoon we went for another walk through the interior of the island and came across a group of young people camping there, very basic facilities-only a composting toilet and no running water. They were right into their spear fishing and invited us to share a meal and some of their fish bounty with a bonfire on the beach. We took some of them out to the boat and supplied fresh salad, fruit and bread and some cold beers that they were missing after nearly two weeks on the island. We enjoyed the fish baked in tinfoil on the coals, and potatoes done the same way. The downside of course being that you get covered in smoke, so I got a bit of washing done on the sail the next day out to Cape Capricorn (67 Nautical Miles- so quite a sail) We anchored that night in a little bay under the lighthouse just on dark. I went for a swim and and explore up to the Lighthouse, and along the beach this morning a which gave me a great vista of the local surroundings. Matt did some odd jobs and then we headed off further and are now at Great Keppel Island which is claimed to have some of the nicest beaches in the area.

 

The big resort at Great Keppel is closed and dilapidated, having been uneconomic. It would need some serious money to get up to a good standard again. We met a few people at the beachfront café, and managed to get a can of flyspray which Matt wanted to fight the midges. He’s had a few issues with them!

 

During our last night, the wind changed and we ended up moving twice, early evening and then again in the middle of the night as our anchorages were a bit uncomfortable.  

 

Time is marching on, still a long way to Darwin, so the next morning, another early start and we were off to Port Clinton, another 45 odd miles. You cannot go ashore here, as it is a military reserve, but it provided us with good shelter for the night. A sleep in the next morning was in order, as the plan was to only go about 15 miles this day to Island Head Creek, but Jo decided that we should look into Pearl Bay on the way past. We did, and ended up staying the night. We met some nice people from the Tasmanian Yacht In Decision, Kate and Robert, and their son Tim. Jo went for a beach walk with them, then we all had drinks together. They loaned us a USB disk with ½ a terabyte of movies and music on it, so we have copied that and added substantially to both our movie supply and our music. We now have about 40 movies, and a weeks worth of music! Next morning we were off again, along a section of coast with few anchorages for 100 miles. We studied the cruising guide and decided to try South Percy Island, about 45 miles off.

 

South Percy Island was good to us – we had a good swim on a deserted beach, walked around the beach area, and had a calm night. Off Early again (these 6am starts are getting easier!) toward Scawfell Island, 60 odd miles off.

 

A calm day. Motor sailed all day, arriving at Scawfell about 7:30 pm in the dark (it is dark here about 5:30).  On our way there we stopped off for a short stop at Middle Percy Island to go ashore to the little A-Frame Tin Hut that has been erected there by the local farmers for passing yachties to leave a memento of their visit. Several other boaties had told us about this stop, and we thought as we were passing we should add a record of our visit to the collection. On our way there Matt used his soldering iron to mark an old chopping board with our details, which we took ashore to hang with the varied collection of other mementos. It was really interesting to see the variety of items used to record your visit, including such things as old EPIRB's, toilet seat covers, oars, fishing floats, flags, items of clothing,embroiderey and even a discarded lower leg prothestheses!! After a good look around  (see photo) we headed off to Scawfell Island The anchorage here was a bit rolly, but it is all there is! In the morning we moved a few hundred yards for more shelter, as we had 25 knots from SW. We wanted to go SW to Mackay, so waited until after lunch to leave. This was a bit too late, as it calmed right off and we again had to motor sail.  Not much of this trip (since Mooloolaba) has been sailing yet, using lots of diesel!

 

So now here we are at Mackay, to refuel, re-provision, and hopefully fix/replace the faulty Pactor Modem which has prevented us from having email or weather files on the boat.

Our new fridge/freezer set up seems to be working well and keeping things properly cooled, and you don't have to run the motor all the time which is a bonus. 

 

 

19/5/2010  As planned, we left Tin Can Bay on the 17th at 6am. The day was a bit cold and grey. We motored, then motor sailed down the bay to the great sandy strait again, and headed through the narrow winding channel through to Kingfisher Bay, Fraser Island, ariving there about 2 pm.  Fraser Island is predominately a sand dune covered in native forestry along with numerous crystal clear lakes and creeks, it has been listed as a world heritage park.We went ashore to KingFisher Bay Resort, which is an eco-tourismLodge, to book a 4WD tour of the Island's highlights for the following day. We also booked into a number of free ranger talks about the islands wildlife- Dingo's, Snakes, Sharks and Rays  We also participated in a Bush Tucker talk and taste experience that offered a range of interesting culinary taste sensations The afternoon turned quite wet, on and off, and it began to rain heavily in the evening, so we made the most of topping up our water tanks by using our rain catcher. That night we had planned to do another 1 hour tour, looking at local nocturnal wildlife, but it was cancelled due to weather.  We're-booked for the next night.

The next day, (18th May) we did the 4wd drive trip around the Island, which was quite good. Our first stop was at Lake McKenzie (a dune enclosed perched lake, which is esentially a sand-dune enclosed lake formed by the accumlation of organic matter (humus from the forest) and sand cementing together to make a impervious seal called "coffee rock"  that fills up with rain water - these are really rare). The water is claimed ph level of 4.5 which makes it very soft and silky to swim in, which we did. We also visited several other points of interest, including a wreck, the forestry centre,coloured sand pinnacles, 75 mile beach, and Eli creek where we saw a Dingo. The trip was good for the comentary, and local knowledge of the driver who was quite entertaining. We would like to visit at some other stage to stay a bit longer to explore the place further with your own 4WD vehicle.This morning, we arose early again to head up to Bundberg - the home of Bundaberg Rum and Gingerbeer - a 53 Nautical Mile trip. Our anchour light needs replacing, and it appears my snorkeling mask was not packed with the diving gear. We need these things before we head out to the more isolated islands at the start of the Barrier Reef. We were able to get some good sailing in this morning but the wind died away in the afternoon so it was back to motor sailing. We are now in the Bundaberg Port Marina, and will go shopping for the things we need in town tomorrow, and update our website.

 

16/5/2010 Its been a few days since I updated this. Yesterday we finally got away from Mooloolaba after eventually getting our gear thru customs. Although there was no duty or GST in the end , it still cost $600 AUD to get the stuff out of the container, just for Ausy customs etc.

I got the heat exchanger back from Brisbane on Friday, and it looked good until fitted. It had a pinhole leak in one end plate, despite the engineers saying it had been pressure tested. Buy the time I found this out, it was 4pm Friday, and everyone had gone home. As the leak was only in a soldered joint, I have repaiered it inside the heat exchanger with "epoxy metal repair". It's working so far!

 

We have also bought and installed an Ozefridge multi voltage electric eutectic freezer unit into our existing freezer cabinet. The hope is that it will help stabilize the feezer temps. The engine driven unit has been struggling, so this should help.

 

We left Mooloolaba for the great Sandy Strait and Fraser Island about 6am on the 15th, with a forecast of 10-15knt SE. That did not eventuate, and we ended up motoring most of the way. We had another technical issue on the way - the alternator stopped charging, and the tachometer would drop out, then be ok again. I noticed a red hot area on the front of the oil cooler - with sparks jumping out! Before I could figure out what was going on, the copper cooling pipe feeding water to the oil cooler burst. No Motor. Bugger. Depression. After a bit of time for it (and me) to cool off, I removed the alternator to look at the oil cooler , and found the cause of both issues. The + terminal of the alternator had a longish crimped connection on the wire, and it had rotated unitl it was close enough to short out to the copper tube. In turn, the copper tube, mounted to the the oil cooler with a rubber sealing ring, had shorted to the cooler body. then arc across that gap, it had heated up, finally eroded itself and failed. So, after some more thought, and replacing the alternator terminal I filed off the rough end of the copper tube, and metal epoxied it into the cooler.  We then waited an hour for it to set, and tried again. Fortuntately it all worked, and we could motor again.

 

We really needed the motor, as, with no wind, we had to cross the wide bay bar, at the southern entrace to the great sandy strait. The bar entrance moves due to it being sand, and the charts and leading marks are wrong.  While in Mooloolaba, we had bought the cruising guide "crusing the coral coast" by Allan Lucas. As he sugests in the guide, we called Tin Can Bay Coastguard on VHF and got the latest entry information. I really recomend you do this if you are to follow us, as the chart info would have you in the breakers. The entry is between two breaking sandbars, almost paralell to the beach. It is quite interesting. However, once safely inside, the sea is flat and we had a pleasant night in pelican bay.

 

This morning we went for a walk along the inskip penisular. It is a really nice beach, and a great camping area, with basic amenities. We saw a snake in the grass beside the campground, but we had no idea what type (brown and black..)  After our walk, we took the boat the six miles up the shallow inlet to the small town of Tin Can Bay, where we saw a turtle right beside us in the anchorage. It is very sheltered here, and has a very quiet feeling. 

 

We refueled  then visited the Yacht Club - said we would return for dinner. Then a short trip to the supermarket for a couple of things. While walking back we saw a flock of Sulphur crested Cockatoos, and a flock of parakeets. On returning to the boat (to put the food the freezer) we found the rudder just touching the mud. We moved the boat 50 meters into deeper water, then returned to the Yacht Club to find it closed despite the sign outside saying it was open till 8pm (this was just after 6pm). We had dinner on board instead

 

Tomorrow about 6 am we will leave for the narrows, and possibly Kingfisher lodge on Fraser Island. It is a long way to Darwin, and we are about 2 weeks behind due to the hold ups in Mooloolaba.

 

 

8/5/2010 STILL in Mooloolaba, Awaiting the arrival of the container. Getting very tedious! Fortuantley we have some friends here, Larry and Mary Haines. They run the apartment block "Windward", right on the front street by the beach in Mooloolaba (www.windwardapartments.com.au)

Mary's son, Jono, is also married to one of our good friends daughters, Katie Vlaar. Katie and Jonno to have been more than generous with transport etc. We have taken them out sailing, and while doing so we have had an engine cooling problem- so for the last few days I have been working through the cooling system to isloate it. It turns out that the "recondition", done last year by Ovlov Marine in Auckland, did not include the cooling system. The oil cooler was full of calcium (from sea life) and gunk on the salt water side, as was the main heat exchanger. I stripped the heat exchanger and cleaned it with acid (muriatic) - but now the damn thing leaks! Today it has been sent to Brisbane for a recore.

 

We should have the container stuff early next week, as it cleared it's customs hold up late on Friday. Our intention is to leave Mooloolaba as soon as we have it, and the engine/heat exchanger sorted out.

 

25/4/2010 Still in Mooloolaba. We are awaiting the arrival of the container from the Solo Tasman, which has our Dingy, Dive gear and assorted cruising stuff in it. It was supposed to arrive on the 22nd, but the ship has been delayed, and it is now expected between the 29th April, and the 1st of May. This is a real nuisance as we have a long way to go to Darwin for Sail Indonesia, and limited time to get there! We have also moved from Mooloolaba Marina to Laurie's Marina, as it is considerably less expensive. We have spent most of the time so far doing odd jobs and fixing the things that broke in the Tasman crossing. The Spin halyard problem turned into a bit of a saga, with the sheave being damaged and burred (that's what was chafing the halyard) and the axle being frozen into the masthead. It took some time and ingenuity to get it out and repaired, and my thanks go to Rhys (from the Solo Tasman, Yacht Spellbound) for his significant assistance - including more than 1/2 a day at the top of the rig!

 

Most of the other race yachts are either down at this marina as well, or have been berthed and the owners returned to NZ for a while.

 

We have met another boat who are intending to do the Sail Indonesia rally as well, they are currently here for repairs, and hoping to get away in  he next week, so we will likely have company at least partway up the coast. 

 

Most of our repairs and alterations have now been done. The sails are back from the sail maker, the kicker fitting has been fabricated at a local engineering shop and refitted, I've fixed the Spin Halyard, fixed the stb aft lower stay which was leaking at the chainplate, fixed the gooseneck bolts that had broken, the leaking tap in the fwd head, the toilet seal in the fwd head, fitted fans to the fwd and stb aft cabins in preparation for the heat (it's ONLY high twenties here!), and bought 9 new steps for the mast to enable me to climb to the top easily. However these are not fitted yet, as my (new in NZ before we left) 1/4 inch rivet gun failed after about 30 3/8ths rivets (in NZ on Trysail track) and ONE 1/4 inch monel rivet here. A casting broke rendering it useless. The 1/4 inch capable hand riveting tools are hard to get, but I hope to borrow one from the local rigger on Tuesday (Public Holiday here tomorrow) or find one somewhere here.

 

The sunshine coast has not really lived up to it's name over the last week, it has rained on and off most days, except today which was hot and sunny - we spent the afternoon at the beach today.

 

We'd like to get going  - it is expensive staying in marinas, especially with marine stores around us! Hoping now that the container is not delayed again...

 

15/4/2010 In Mooloolaba marina cleaning up. Thoughts on the race;

 Island Girl was effectively removed from the race a day or two from the end when she broke an intermediate stay. She was lucky not to lose the rig. All the boats have come in with some type of damage. It is interesting that the two boats in front of me are stripped out racers, so I feel I've done ok. The conditions have been typical Tasman - too much wind or not enough. I should have done more research on the East Ausy Current. Despite the breakages it was really that that cost me the race - I lost 30 miles or more to soothsayer on the last day. I also note that my average speed was slower than most of the others, yet I crossed the line third - so my route planning was better than theirs. It's all a learning curve! I could have pushed harder, but you also have to get to the end. My Autopilot is now excellent, and the electronics (especially the radar, AIS, and wireless remote system) allowed me to get better sleep than most - Although none at all for the last 30 odd hours.

 

14/4/2010. Crossed the finish line at about 0340hrs this morning, third over the line behind Apriori and Soothsayer. Both these boats are sailed by local Ausy sailors. I'm sure that the local knowledge of the east Ausy current has helped them significantly in the last part of this race. Jenny on Soothsayer had gone in so close to the beach her tracker shows her on shore! (Rob sent me and email with positions from the web - thanks Rob!)

 

13/4/2010 Strong winds (30Knts) from directly behind. Against the East Ausy current - steep and sometimes confused seas. I REALLY would not have liked to beat into this wind and sea! Surfing often up to 13 odd knots. Still no one in sight, not sure where they are now, as only one or two have kept the proper radio scheds. Still, they can't be far away.. About 6pm, now close to the end of Morton island, I raised a triple reefed main, as the wind had moved more toward the west rounding cape Morton. Maybe it will get me to the finish line if I'm careful. Out of the really big seas and most of the current now. Not far to go.

 

 

12/4/2010 Rob has sent me the positions, man this is a close race. There is less than 20 miles (distance to finish line) between the top 5 boats. Got to keep pushing. I think that some of the skippers have elected to go too far off track looking for wind, and are finding that the distance covered has not been worth it for the speed gains. I still have a shot at this! 25 kn southerly again, moving to directly astern slowly increasing. By 6 pm, 30-35 knots and large (3-4m) steep seas. Wind against the current (1.5 - 2 Knts)

 

Crap!!! Fell off one of the larger waves and gybed out of control. It ripped the kicker fitting from the mast step, snapping a piece of 10mm stainless. This fitting also holds the forward mainsheet block. No mainsail available now. I feel like that's the end of my race... I have lashed it together as best I can.

 

11/4/2010, pm The southerly is here - come in quite light, supposed to strengthen. I have flown the gennaker from the spare Genoa halyard. it is less than ideal - a shorter hoist, and as the halyard is under the forestay attachment, I have to make sure the sail and halyard do not cross the forestay. Sail set is not great, but better than nothing! it is good to be moving again

 

10/4/2010 Calming off was an understatement!! Today was very calm, slating sails all day. I managed the worst 24 hour run I have ever had with Island time - 57 miles! It would have taken little to convince me to chuck it in and motor!! There is another southerly forecast for tomorrow, looks like it might be quite strong. Anything is better than this!!

 

9th/4/2010 Fortunately today has been a  2 sail reach - to tight for downwind sails. A good day calming off in the evening.

 

8/4/2010 Wind has dropped right away to 3-4 Knts. I did not have the kite ready from yesterdays problems, but at first light I sorted the kite and hoisted it for a good speed gain. Slowly the wind came further fwd, so I could not hold the kite any more, and I changed to the gennaker. The new gennaker seems quite touchy re setup and trim, but when you get it right it sure has some power! Unfortunately after about an hour the kite halyard broke - inside the mast. I cant fix that at sea unless it's dead flat (unlikely) and it is much easier if there are a couple of people. This could cost me the race!!! No proper downwind sails...

 

7/4/2010 Winds have slowly moderated to 20 - 25 Knts. I've had a long debate with myself about putting a kite back up, and every time I decide I should, the wind goes back up over 25knts. Eventually I did put it up and had a hourglass twist in it - I had to take is straight back down! Lots of work singlehanded!

 

6/4/2010 The southerly came in this morning - gusts up to 40 knts, (some competitors reckon they saw 48) but, for me, mostly 35 and gusty.  Was a bit bumpy for a time, but I made good progress. No issues with sea-sickness either - I'm using a scopaderm patch. Running before it with triple reefed main and small jib rolled out. Good speeds under autopilot - 13.7 Knts!! This turned in to a good day, logging 178Nm, which is good for Island Time.

 

5/4/2010 - Early morning kite problems - I got a really good wrap around the forestay - took an hour and a half to free it and retrieve everything. Trying to make ground west to find the southerly, as are most others.

                                                                        

4/4/2010 Race day. Did customs ashore as a group. Not much wind. Said goodbye to everyone - perhaps for some time, although it looks like we'll have a week at home in 5 or 6 weeks to sort out moving out of the house and the purchase of a rental. Our current house is under a sales contract. The race start was in the fairly narrow harbour entrance. 5 -8 Knots  almost on the nose. I decided to stay on the mooring, sails up, ready, for as long as possible. This was partially due to the congestion, but also because my mooring was almost right on the starboard layline! Anyway I got the timing a bit wrong and had to do a 360 to waste some time. It worked out pretty well, and I crossed the line 2nd I think. However, 500m out from the breakwater the wind stopped! The course was along the waterfront, outside a coastguard boat, then around a mark on the main city foreshore. Eventually (several hours later, only about a mile covered) the committee shortened the course by moving the mark to the coastguard boat. It was a very slow start! As we got further out the wind came up a bit, and I went from gennaker to spinnaker. Everyone was looking to go south of the rumbline to find the predicted southerly. Start Pic Below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/4/2010 Spent this week doing last minute stuff (nothing critical!). A very rolly anchorage, and not great sleeping aboard, When Jo and family came up to see me off, I went ashore and spent the final two nights at my uncles house with Jo.

 

 

27/03/2010 Left Port Hardy motoring (no wind!) about 9am for New Plymouth. Breeze gradually increased to 15-18 KN just fwd of the beam. A very pleasant sail , finishing in Port Taranaki about 3am. We picked up one of the race moorings. They are very exposed, with no shelter at all from northerly sectors. 

 

 

 

26/03/2010 Left Mana with Neil as crew. Forecast was 10 kn NW, but leaving Mana we had 35KN!It slowly moderated as we crossed to the sounds, and then was pretty much gone as we passed through Stephens passage bound for Port Hardy on Durville Island. Spent a very calm night there on the club mooring in the SW corner.

 

 

 

23/03/2010: The Cat one is finished, and the boat is nearly ready, just food and clothes to go. No real issues with the rest of the inspection except the inspector was not really happy with the primary chain plates. He thinks the bottom bolts are too small, and that the load is taken primarily by the lower bolt. I don't agree with that, but he passed the boat on this point due to historical use. The race numbers (8) are on, the new jennaker is here, the electronics are all working. Sounds ready to me. Weather here in Wellington has been crap lately, 50 Knot NW yesterday, 30 gusting 45 in the strait today, forcast for more again tomorrow. I'm planning on leaving for New Plymouth Thursday 25th as I have to be there by the 28th. Weather permitting!

 

18/3/2010: The SSB problem is solved! The rudder feedback unit was the problem, and following the install of the new one, all is well. The rigger has been, and checked over the rig, the boat builder has been and we have reinforced the primary winch bases. I've wired up the VHF for DSC with GPS, replaced the on board printer with a small HP unit (DeskJet 3325), updated the PC with current Anti Virus, patches and versions of everything. Currently have an issue with drivers for the Quatech DSU 200/300 RS422 to USB converter. I may have to roll that driver back tomorrow. I have also changed the blades on the Air-X Marine wind generator with some from www.silentwindgenerator.com . They are blue, and significantly quieter than the original blades.

 

5/3/2010; Ok, I'm getting there with this. Navico have given me the following info;
Simrad RF300 rudder feedback units were modified in 2004 to pass new RFI requirements. The case and the product codes did not change, but if you have one where the letters between the Part no and Serial no are not FA, and you have an RFI issue, you need to replace it with a new one.
product code between the p/n and the s/n, i.e. XXXXXXXXFAxxxx.
This is not in any book or documentaion I can find, but this info came direct from the Navico Technical Team leader.
I have a new one on order..

 

4/3/2010; Got the plugs sorted, engine now working fine, and I'm happy with the connections now. The SSB  interference with the autopilot has turned out to be a bit of a major. I've had a radio tech look at it as well as me, and he's spent most of a day on it as well. The problem is the Rudder Angle indicator moves when the SSB transmits, despite the fact that the rudder is NOT moving. Here is what has been done so far.

1. Connect shielded dummy load direct to transmitter output. Rudder indicator output is stable, so issue is not within the SSB transceiver.
2. Connect shielded dummy load to ATU antenna output. Rudder indicator output is stable, so issue is not within the SSB transceiver or the ATU, or the coax between. Problem source is the Antenna or connections.
3. Replace Antenna from ATU out with Shielded  coax (shield connected to Counterpoise and batt -), then connected that to Glass Whip Antenna. Problem is present with either Antenna. Problem must be RF feeding back into Autopilot from the antenna.
4. Tried RF bypass capacitors on Rudder Feedback cable, + to -, + to Shield, and - to Shield. No help
5. Tried rerouting rudder feedback cable as far from radios as possible. No change. Removed Rudder Feedback  unit (Simrad RF300) and  put it in the oven (connected to Batt -, as a makeshift faraday cage) no change.
6. Disconnected Rudder Feedback unit completely, set autopilot to virtual feedback mode. Tests fine!! This means the problem IS in the cable to, or the Rudder Feedback unit itself.
7. Sent an email to Navico explaining issue. Awaiting response.

I've also removed the Autopilot ram and had the seals replaced, ram repainted. A new hose was required for the port side connection, and I've had a spare made.

 

22/02/2010; Today I sorted the Radar. The Kodan agent was not much help, so I stripped the unit myself. The problem was a bearing in the small stepper motor. I replaced both the bearings, and with Jo's help reinstalled the radar. All working 100% again! $20 repair, so that was good. I've also isolated the electrical problem to the relay socket on the engine loom. One of the connectors on it had been pressed out the back (out of site of course!). I have removed the whole connector frame from the motor so I can see it, and bent the spade terminal retainer back into place, then re-clipped it in. It is a bit dirty, so tomorrows job is to clean it all up and reassemble it. Hopefully that will fix it once and for all. Following that, I'll get on to the SSB/Autopilot interference problem that stops me transmitting on SSB when under autopilot. I have to have this fixed for the Solo Tasman...

 

21/02/2010; Today I removed the radar, and found that the scanner unit was not turning. Seems to be a fault in the actuator motor. The head unit is a Kodan, and there is a Kodan agent here in Porirua, so I'll take in the unit tomorrow and see if we can get that sorted.

The Issue I had with the engine not charging I have traced to the loom connector to the engine. Tomorrow I'll remove it and order a new plug and socket, that should sort it out.

 

 

20 Feb 2010; Got back today from the 500 mile solo voyage, having left on Tues 16th. I just went out to a point 250NM from Mana, about 130 Miles from New Plymouth. The trip out was good, but a bit light, however the last 12 miles were a bit unpleasant, as I had 25Knts on the nose and quite steep seas. Off Stephens Island a car carrier (Morning Mermaid) came up close behind, then turned toward Nelson. Man that is one ugly ship. Then, off cape farewell, I was passed by a huge cruise ship, the Queen Victoria. I had her on both radar and AIS, and she altered course when about 5 miles away so she'd miss me by about 4 miles. Looked like a floating city!

 About 2:10 am Thursday morning I reached the outer waypoint. It was good to turn around and go downwind - downwind is much more pleasant! However, just before the turnaround, I lost the radar system. That's a problem as the radar (and AIS) keep a watch when I'm asleep! They had proven their worth the previous night, and it means only 20mins sleep at a time until fixed.

Conditions continued to deteriorate over the next 24 hours, but to begin with it was a good downhill ride, beginning with the kite, then, as the wind strengthened, a fast 2 sail broad reach. The sea state was quite big, as there was an approaching depression further out in the Tasman. The surfing was fun.

By lunchtime on Thursday morning I had only the deep reefed main and a near storm jib size piece of headsail, and was still managing spurts of 11 or 12 knots. The wind was North to begin with : ) but then went NW (right behind me) which is rolly. A few hours later it was 25 Knots on the nose ( SE) again, but in worse seas. The Maritime NZ forecast described it as very rough, and the forecast was for gales in both the Stephens and Cook areas (where I was and where I was going!) I put up with this for few more hours, then, as I could no longer make my course, I bore away into Tasman bay. I hoped to find better conditions there, which I did, eventually. The wind rose again to 30 Knots SE - just the way I wanted to go! As I got into Tasman bay further, the Wind came around more towards the east, and I managed to follow it around until I made the entrance to French Pass. About 10am on Friday the 19th I motor sailed thru French pass, then sailed again, hard on the wind AGAIN, along the top of the South Island, concluding the 500 Miles just short of Cape Jackson. Being rather tired, I decided to go into Queen Charlotte Sound, and spend the night at Ships Cove. A very nice and peaceful night on the club mooring, and them home today in a Northerly which is much easier than anything from the east!

Here is a screenshot of the 500 mile qualifier

 

12 Feb 2010; Got the Trysail track, and fitted to mast. Seems to work fine. Test rigged both the trysail and the storm jib, both fine. Test rigged the sea anchor, with bridle and float for the snatch block. Hope I don't need any of this stuff!!

 

30 Jan 2101; Hull is sanded, re antifouled, with Vivid White.

 

28 Jan 2010; Engine out, the oil leak was a missing "O" ring between the front flywheel housing and the block. This was confirmed by Phil, from Strait Marine www.straitmarine.co.nz. The "o" ring was left out by Ovlov Maine in Auckland, when they reconditioned the motor last year. I have put the "O" ring in, and now reinstalled the engine.

 

 

26 Jan 2010;

Today, the local Cat one inspector came and began the stringent checks required for a NZ registered yacht before it is allowed to leave the country.  All is well so far, as I expected. As Island Time has had Cat One before, much of the structural stuff has been checked several times already, so major changes are not required, which is good. All I had to do so far was to replace the mast step screws with 10mm coach screws, and put spectra straps on the engine mounts (so they cannot fall off if inverted and the vulcanised rubber breaks). I've done that.

The antifoul needs another coat or two, and there is a bit of sanding to do. I also have an oil leak in the back of the engine, between the flywheel casing and the block. The engine has to come out to fix this gasket!! I'll start that tomorrow.