WEEK 16 8 August - 15 August - Ambon - Wakatobi

Day 107 - Saturday 8 August - Amahusu (Ambon)



Three miles from Ambon
Got up at 6 to leave at 7am. Blue Marlin had already left. Called up Whistle Down the Wind but they didn't want to leave till 4pm so we agreed to wait (have to get the arrival timing right). We all went to town in a bemo and I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. Got back to the Tirta Kencana Hotel and had a couple of bintangs and decided to stay another day!! Because we can!!! Single Malt had been in this area 15 years ago and met a family so they were showered with hospitality the evening before by the same family. We joined them on their cat at 4pm with a heap of people from that family - lotsa kids. This family is very musical and has been around the world playing their music and are very well educated. Nicko was explaining about the troubles a few years ago and he said it was never about religion - religion was just a tool. They managed to visit the Muslim village across the way (under threat of being killed) and negotiated a peace with them. Very brave. The father of one of the young men there was killed in the troubles. We ferried some of the family back to shore and had ten people in the dinghy!! A heap of us went to the hotel for dinner.

Day 108 - Sunday 9 August - Amahusu (Ambon) - Night one of the passage
We walked all through the little town being greeted joyfully everywhere we went. Bought some eggs and dessicated coconut at a little store. They have a machine run by a generator and feed in the pieces of coconut and it grates it all up. Had brunch at the hotel - fruit, omelette & fried banana with chilli. Back to the boat to prepare for leaving. Five young lads came out in their canoe. Kevin had impeccable English and had been to Darwin where his father lives. We invited them onboard and showed them through the boat and they were all fascinated. At 3.30 Whistle Down The Wind called up and said lets go so we upanchored at 3.45pm and left to horns and whistles being blown by Wave Sweeper and all the kids waving! We had dinner when it got dark and set the sails and sailed through the night.

Day 109 - Monday 10 August - at sea - Night two of the passage
Morning found us going along nicely with the seas pretty good. Had to motor for six hours as lost the wind and the main was flapping and we broke a shackle so took it down and just went under headsail. Sat on the deck for sundowners and dinner. Put the stereo on for my night shift which really helped pass the time and the moon is so bright.

Day 110 - Tuesday 11 August - at sea - Night three of the passage
Happy Birthday Dad and vaile Robin Shaw - deepest sympathies to Robin's family
Peter had Mr Fleming on all night but hit something which turned the boat 90 degrees - Peter couldn't steer it either but it cleared after ten minutes - possibly the remnants of a floating net. We just plodded along for the rest of the day and evening slowing down to arrive at a good hour tomorrow.

Day 111 - Wednesday 12 August - Wangiwangi - Wakatobi
05°20.01S 123°31.88E
Came into Wangiwangi anchorage at 9.30 am past some fish traps and Wakatobi Information Centre consisting of Gino, Aday and one other bloke came out to assist us to tie up to a buoy. There are 12 buoys here. There are lots of big old boats which look as if they have been washed up on the shore but I think they have just been parked there. We had a snooze then went to town - we pull up to the restaurant and leave the dinghy there. There were 6 yachts in and we were all invited to the Regent's house for dinner. We were thinking it would be like the King's dinner and we would have to wait ages to eat so we had something at the restaurant - big mistake!! We were collected by car at 7.20 and taken to the Regent's house where we were welcomed by the dignatories of Wakatobi and were sat at the front of the house on lovely seats where the Regent welcomed us. We then went to a room where the Regent showed us a powerpoint presentation of the area. The name Wakatobi only came about in 2003 and it is made up of the first two letters of the four main Islands - WAngiwangi, KAlidupa, TOmia, BIongko!!! Wakatobi. Then we went to a lovely room with round tables beautifully set and a huge buffet dinner - so much food. I was given a sea urchin thing to eat - even ate it - not too bad but I wouldn't race out to find another one!! After dinner we returned to the front of the house and were entertained by young ladies who performed two cultural dances. All the men (9 in total - we were a small elite group of guests) were presented with a woven sash - the women got nothing - I suppose it's an islam thing) And then we were returned by car to the restaurant, went to our boats and fell into bed!!!
Miles : 300 Total 3,355

Day 113 - Thursday 13 August - Wangiwangi , Wakatobi
Left at 10am and walked all around the town. Heard some loud music so we went in and it was a music school. The teacher sat at the front of the stage playing a bass guitar, and boy could he play it! There was a keyboard, drums, two electric guitars and a young lady singing. The third song she sang a little bit of English for us. It would be so cool to be able to play a musical instrument and join in!! We then went back to the markets which were more extensive than we had realised - bought some bananas and some salak which is an Indonesian fruit which has a peel like snake skin. The lady at the market peeled one for us and let us try it first. Whistle came for sundowners and we missed our sked with Cilantro because we forgot about the hour's time difference! We then went to the restaurant and had 2 beers and 4 dishes and it was only about $3.50 each - good food too!

Day 114 - Friday 14 August - Wangiwangi, Wakatobi
Having a quiet day on the boat. There are no tours or anything here despite the fact that they are trying to promote tourism. Will have to see if we can organise something. There are supposed to be 100 buoys here but they have managed to do only 12 and boats are coming in. They just tried to move 3 boats inside the reef but I am not sure they realise our boats have keels - anyway the first one touched bottom so they are all now back on the buoys. That same poor boat had its buoy take off down the harbour when they first got here!!. We are not going to Hago Island as they are rafting up on the buoys over there. Indonesian Day is on 17th so will stay for the celebrations - I think they will be pretty big. Finally, after asking lots of different people one of the blokes here said he does tours and showed us the brochure so six of us have booked a car for tomorrow morning. We were told about the march tomorrow which is a community march with kids, old women and old men so over a couple of bintangs Jean and David (Whistle Down the Wind) and we decided we should march too!! They are continuing to put buoys in here and are working really hard to accommodate us.

Day 115 - Saturday 15 August - Wangiwangi, Wakatobi
Our tour started at 8.30 and while we were waiting we asked if it would be ok if we marched in the community march. He got all excited and said I will tell the Government and we thought oh no! So we alerted the rally boats that are here (about a dozen or more now) that Team Sail Indonesia would be marching and to all wear their Sail Indonesia teeshirts. We then left on the tour and saw how they harvest sea weed which is a big industry here and then went to a 1500's fort and Mosque and then down to a village which is built on reclaimed land with canals all through it - amazing stuff. When we drove in there was a corner where everyone beeps their horn and there was a parrot in the house which beeped back!! So funny. Some kids had a tiny little pool table and cues and were using marbles for the balls. They are so inventive here and they use absolutely everything - nothing is wasted. A part of the coconut shell becomes a spoon for scooping out the coconut - amazing. We then went to a beach where we thought we may be able to snorkle but it was shallow reef and then a huge drop off. We walked out to the drop off and it was very picturesque. They are in the process of building a resort here and it will certainly be lovely when it is finished. We were supposed to go to the lookout but we got a phone call saying we had to be back by 12 as we were registered to march in the parade - what had we done!!!!!! Raced back to the boats and got changed and met back at the restaurant. We quickly made up a Sail Indonesia banner - Jean's old curtain, some texta and a couple of sticks and Jean had her big Indonesian flag. The fleet all turned out for the march which was fantastic as we had visions of just six of us marching!!! We were officially team number 10A but didn't quite get there in time so we went after team 12 which was between two lots of lovely ladies who marched impeccably. We found ourselves with a police motor bike escorting us and an army soldier joined us half way round. We were supplied with bottled water all the way round. It was a huge day and was about 7 km in the hot sun and after every km we had to dance for about 50 metres. We thought what the heck do we do so everybody did the swing around the arm thing in pairs and the crowd went wild!!! Every time we halted the crowd cracked up - we were getting better by the end but obviously still not up to standard!!! People waved and gave us the thumbs up and towards the end were yelling out we love you. We had to march past the Regent and all the officials and salute. All the officials stood up and loved it. (Everybody else only had one official take the salute!!). At one stage we got mobbed by the crowd. Aday was our whistle blower (which kept us in step - mostly!). When we finished after about two hours (whew) one of the lovely good lady marchers came up to me and said thankyou and kissed me on both cheeks which was really touching and took me by surprise. We were then taken to the Regents house where they sat us behind the officials and gave us all a little snack pack (really needed) and the Regent came over and thanked us which was really lovely. A fantastic day which everyone really enjoyed and we sat and talked about it over dinner at the restaurant and then an early night. We commented later that we thought we were the only old men and women in the march!!!

Miss you all heaps. Special love to Jessie, Jack and Rosie.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas (that worked last time I said that!!)
Dell and Peter

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WEEK 15 3 August - 7 August - Banda Islands - Ambon

Day 102 - Monday 3 August - Bandas - Ambon
03°43'55S 128°08'50E


Left Bandas around 10.30am for an overnight sail to Ambon. As we were going past Ai Island we heard the dreaded words: "yachts passing Ai Island we are stuck on the reef can you help"!!!!! NO!!!!! So over we go. Cilantro tried to pull their mast down and we tried to tow their stern line (25 tons of yacht). Felt we moved them a bit and held them at bay as the tide was falling then Wave Sweeper who had doubled back 5 miles to assist managed to get their mast down enough so they could get off. Didnt get on our way till around 2pm and had a good night sail (actually!!!!).

Day 103 - Tuesday 4 August - Ambon
Arrived Ambon around 1pm and had missed the lunch and welcome. We found we had to tie up to the wharf stern in!!! This was a first for most of us. They had moved out all the fishing fleet so the 70 yachts of the fleet could have the wall. We reversed in (drop the anchor two boat lengths out) but I couldn't drop the anchor so Peter made a mad dash forward and gave it a good bash. Ann and Lou off Serannity helped fend us off and Jack off Barbara Ann supervised so we were soon tied up and helping others to come in. Quite an experience. There are 70 boats tied up at the wharf all stern in.
Miles: 120 Total 3,052

Day 104 - Wednesday 5 August - Ambon
Left around 10am and went to town in a bemo (a small van with horizontal seats either side) cost is around 30 cents. The markets were the dirtiest, narrow, muddy, hot noisy. Not nice The supermarket in town was good and had everything you could need. The town and harbour very grubby. Went for lunch at one eatery and were told it was soup and there was a confusing array of stuff on the table so we cowardly retreated to another local eatery where we got a bowl with steamed things - dim sims, meat balls etc which they then promptly poured soup all over!!! Oh well. Found a bemo and retreated to the restaurant in the port precinct to recuperate. Ate at the restaurant again. We didn't do the tour but other people enjoyed it.

Day 105 - Thursday 6 August - Ambon
Another wasted day waiting round for fuel and water. There was a free festival in the afternoon but we only found out about it half an hour before and decided to have a quieter afternoon visiting the Australian War Cemetery down the road. In the evening buses collected us to go to the gala dinner. Once again we had the full police escort - vans, cars, bikes all with flashing lights and sirens stopping all traffic so we could go through. We were greeted by the King of Muluku. There were huge marquees and the seats all covered in a white fabric with gold bows. We listened to the Indonesian drums and music then went inside the building - more covered chairs and gold bows and were entertained by singers (one a close replica to Louis Armstrong), graceful lady dancers with the longest fingers which seem to bend slightly back and vibrate (amazing) and then the fishermen's dance with their nets - so good, then of course the children's band. Then a dinner of more than anyone could eat. The Minister of Fisheries was accorded a special honour by the king and dressed up in a symbolic costume. Afterwards we all joined the dignitaries and children and danced the night away. Had a police escort back. We have been so well looked after - constant police on the wharf - security is amazing. The Indonesian people are just beautiful and so welcoming.

Day 106 - Friday 7 August - Ambon ( Amahusu)
Today the fleet left to go to Bunikin. Cilantro went too which was very sad as after much soul searching we decided the distances are too great and too tiring (400 miles to Bunekin & 500 miles beating back into the wind and tide). So we decided to leave the rally for a while and make our way to Wakatobe (290 miles - huge trip but gets us back down to do the western route of day sails). We are currently anchored three miles up from the wharf with 12 other like minded boats anchored in 18 metres of water. A major problem with indonesia is finding water with depths shallow enough to anchor in. Today we chill out and tomorrow we will start the big trek to Wakatobe. Very sad to leave but now we don't "have to gotta go" and the relief is immense! And we will join up again when they all catch up!

Many thanks to all who have emailed. Really appreciate it and will get back to you as soon as we can.
Meanwhile take care - very homesick
Fair Winds
Dell and Peter

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WEEK 14 24 July - 2 August -Saumlaki - Banda Islands

Day 92 - Friday 24 July - Saumlaki - Batuputhi Village nr Seira Island
07°39'6S 131°08'1E

We left Saumlaki at 8.30am with Cilentro and headed up the side of Yamdena island. Yachts were stopping at pretty villages along the way but we decided to keep going. It was supposed to be an easy day - about 25 - 30 miles, but someone who shall remain nameless worked the mileages on 5 mile measurements instead of 10 miles so it turned into a very long day indeed. We arrived in a channel just as the sun went down and anchored in 5.4m of water. The night was so still you would not have known you were on a boat - best night's sleep in ages!

Day 93 - Saturday 25 July - Batuputhi Village - Ngurbelck Village -
07°33'.056S 131°11'.591E
Caught the attention of a couple of blokes fishing and gave them the fillets of a fish Peter had caught plus some rice and a couple of apples. A while later five blokes came out in very long boats with outriggers each side (held by string). Jackey was a school teacher who had gotten the headmaster's permission to visit us. They all came aboard for a chat and we agreed to visit the school. We took both the dingheys in and it was a soaking wet trip a mile or two in to the village. We started walking in but you had to be very careful as the mud just sucked your feet down - nearly fell a couple of times (couldn't imagine being flat out in that sort of mud!!) Located Jackey and walked past the bigger school to the smaller Kristen school. (People in this area - Tanimbars are Christian). There were two classrooms and we visited both, took photos and videos of all the kids and gave them some exercise books and a couple of kiddies English books which was just as well as the only English book we saw was hot chicks (and we don't mean chickens!). We had a lot of fun and then Jackey escorted us around the village which is very clean. They sweep the dirt away so there is no dust. We saw how they made sago from the trunk of a palm tree. Had an 'exhilirating' ride back in the dinghy surfing down the waves and our yacht was doing circles in the wind and the tide - time to go!!! Headed off just a little way further up the island and dropped anchor at 3.10pm and had a bit of a two man party playing all our music!!
Miles 8 Total 2,713

Day 94 - Sunday 26 July Ngurbelck Village - Wotap Island -
07°33'.056S 131°11'.591E
Upanchored at 8.30am and had a great sail up the south side of Wotap Island. There were six yachts in the little bay and as we came in we could see the reef either side and in front and also the fish lines (all held up by plastic water bottles in a row - quite hard to see) also either side and in the front. Anchored in 18m of water. Four kids came to visit so we gave them tee shirts and books and pens (big mistake!!). Sundowners on Cilantro.
Miles 25 Total: 2,738

Day 95 - Monday 27 July - Wotap Island
07°19'.306S 131°14.195E
We were awoken by people in boats 'hey mister' and so the procession went through the morning. Some people were a delight and some not quite so. We gave away a stack of stuff - rice, made popcorn, sox (then they asked for gloves!!), books, pencils, reading books and one old man was very happy as we gave him a pair of reading glasses. Gave the soaps, shampoos, sewing kits we had collected from all the hotels Peter had stayed in over the years. They all wanted tee shirts - we were cleared out yesterday. It was exhausting so we went snorkelling on the reef. Very enjoyable but the people too much to bear. Have decided in future we will trade - even if it is a seashell off the beach. We seemed to have made a rod for our own backs so will be more careful in the future. Peter had given some tobacco to a bunch of blokes in a fishing boat earlier in the day and negotiated a price for some lobster. Late in the afternoon they brought us two - a big one and a little one so got them for about $3.50 & $2. Wotap was a beautiful place but the people too exhausting so decided to leave the next morning.

Day 96 - Tuesday 28 July - Wotap Island to Banda Islands - Happy Birthday Linda
Left at daylight in the company of Cilantro, Harmonica, Cookie Cutter (both Canadians) and Two Up (a cat). Started off with a nice sail but then the seas came up to 3 - 4 metres and it got downright scarey!!! We got shoved sideways a couple of times - terrifying. Depths were up to 6km deep so we had to turn our depth sounder off as it was very confused! Linda, was thinking how much I would have preferred to help you celebrate your birthday and not be out there in those seas!!

Day 97 - Wednesday 29 July
Early morning, nearly got taken out by one of the other yachts who came from our port quarter. We both veered away about the same time but rattled my chain a bit! Daylight came and the seas improved a bit and as we came towards the Bandas saw at least five whales blowing and saw one huge one travelling along. We sailed slowly around Gunung Api Island which is a volcano 666m high. We went between Gunung Api & Naira Islands to the anchorage but it was 70 - 90m deep in there and a dozen or so yachts had reversed in to the stone wall and tied up by the stern so we motored out again and around Naira Island and anchored at the bottom there in 8 - 10m with about 40 other yachts at 2.30pm - exhausted!! But Cilantro called up and said they would pick us up at 4.30 so we showered and went ashore. What a little jewel of a place this is - absolutely amazing!!! Walked through the town - all dutch colonial. Had dinner at a little cafe called Nasantara for around $5.30 per head. The beer however is around $4.50 for a bigger bottle but we are lucky to get it I guess because this is a totally muslim area. Great meal- we asked for 4 different dishes and ended up with beans in a chilli sauce, chicken, fish and eggplant with the local almond sauce - and rice of course - brilliant
Miles: 194 Total: 2,932

Day 98 - Thursday 30 July - Banda Islands
04°32'.149S 129°53'.625E
Went to town about 10am and walked up to the fort which was built in 1611 by the Dutch. There are 7 main islands in the Bandas. We are anchored in the middle of Palau Gunung Api (volcano) Paulau Niera (main town here) and Palau Banda Besar. The volcano last erupted in 1988. The town is full of old dutch colonial houses, the majority of which are in a state of disrepair. In 1621 the Dutch killed 14,000 of the 15,000 Bandanese inhabitants. Had a full Indonesian dinner (included a whole barbequed squid!!!).

Day 99 - Friday 31 July - Banda Islands
At 10am we headed up to the north of Gunung Api where the lava flow reached the sea to snorkel. There was a very deep drop off just 10 feet from the shore and bits coming up and down covered in coral, some with some very unusual shapes and it was just like a big garden. It wasn't all that coloured but just beautiful and heaps of fish, albeit fairly small. We were amazed that so much coral could grow back after just 20 years but then we were told that it actually grew back in 2 years. We then drift snorkelled one of the older corals . That evening we went to Aba's (a bit of an entrepreneur) guest house for dinner. He has an absolutely beautiful house with a waterfall and fish pond and lovely tiled floors and beautiful furniture. There were only 8 of us and the food was fantastic. Started with a potato, corn & nutmeg soup, a huge fish, ripe & green papaya salads, eggplant etc and then dessert - all for 60,000 rupiah each (about $10!!!). Aba also has a pearl farm apparently and sells pearls! For those people who would like to visit this magic place, you can stay at the guesthouse for around $20 a night including breakfast!!!! It is really worth the trip to get here as the whole place is enchanting.The water is absolutely chrystal clear even around the town

Day 100 - Saturday 1 August - Banda Islands
Went on Aba's nutmeg plantation tour to Banda Besar. We all piled on one of the local boats - we all sat on the roof! By the way the Indonesians are the best boat builders. Quite amazing really. We visited the ruins of another Dutch fort - went up and down steps all over the place. The Christian church was just a vacant block as it had been burnt down and no Christians live there anymore - it is totally muslim and every village has a mosque. The plantation had huge gnarled almond trees over 300 years old and about 40m high (different to our almonds but taste nearly the same) They protect the nutmeg trees. We had a demonstration of how they get the almonds and (tediously) shell them. The nutmeg is in a large round shell and when it is opened the nut is covered in red mace. The darker the nutmeg the better the quality. All very interesting. And then on the way back Peter finally saw his clove tree (out of season for cloves). Had a nasi goring special at Nasantara for lunch then wandered down the other end of town and found the ruins of the really old fort(!) and heaps of wonderful old colonial houses - big with colonnades etc. Some are quite well preserved but most in various states of decay. Bought some nutmeg (whole), mace and cloves in the local market. We found ourselves very tired at this stage so after pancakes at another cafe headed for an early night.

Day 101 - Sunday 2 August - Banda Islands
A clean up day today - Peter finally made the water catcher so we can catch fresh water and not rely on the water from shore. Did some washing and this afternoon will go ashore to the market for some fresh produce and dinner and then head off tomorrow for Ambon - it will be another overnight sail (I hate them). We will miss some of the festivities but this place has been worth it.

Hope you are all well. Badly missing our puppies. Have tried to phone but have to sort it out a bit more.
Fair winds (and calm seas!!!!!)
Dell and Peter

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WEEK 13 : 18 July -23 July -Darwin to Saumlaki - the good the bad and the ugly!!!!

Day 86: Saturday 18 July - Darwin to Saumlaki
Up early and in to the Sailing Club to wash all the sand off the tender and fill the water jerries then to the Sailing Club for champagne and orange juice and pastries for breakfast!! Back to the yacht and at last everything seems to be in place and a place for everything!!! We put Kev our big blow up kangaroo up the front in place of honour and upanchored a little later than the keen starters and crossed the start line about 11.10 without a skerrick of wind and motored away from Darwin with very strange feelings!! Sailing away from Australia. We tried putting the jennicker up but it just fell in the water - no wind. Thus we were lulled in to a false sense of security and no seasickness tablets were taken!

Day 87 - Sunday 19 July - Timor Sea - Happy Birthday Phil
Had a good night but had to keep a good eye out for other yachts as the waters were pretty full of yachts and cats all going in the same direction. The morning found us with a good bit of wind and we commented it was the best sail we had had in a long time!! THEN it all turned pretty ugly and the wind came up - 20 - 25 knots on the nose (we were beating into it and getting slugged badly from the side). I went below to get something for us to eat and that was the last time i could go below! Came up rather pasty faced but ok. Suffice to say that Peter had seven and a half hours sleep in 60 hours and I was rather ill for the rest of the day and night - think I may have lost a little weight!!!! Peter knew we had a problem with our impellor as we were not getting the water through the engine as much as we should but he could not go below to work on it either so he was watching the temperature. Later transpired that about 5 cogs had sheared off and we had a heap of seaweed in the works!

Day 88 - Monday 20 July - Timor Sea to Saumlaki
I spent the day on our little bunk at the back of the boat which is the lowest most comfortable place you can be wondering if we would ever get there and where was all the calm water we expected. We had NE winds , beating into it and it was not nice. Lots of big waves onboard and very wet We did not eat!! Had the main sail with one reef and the head sail half furled and the engine going so as to get to Saumlaki before dark or else we would have to spend another night at sea! Eventually made it in at 4.45pm and anchored at the back of a heck of a lot of yachts. Passed lots of fish traps etc on the way in.
Miles : 307nm Total: 2,652nm

Day 89 - Tuesday 21 July - Saumlaki
07"57.796'S 131"17.484'E
A day of total frustration. We had to wait till quarantine boarded our boats before we could go ashore (Australia is a declared swine flu area). There was no rhyme or reason in the way they chose which boat to board and some boats had been waiting 2 days (but they had jumped the start!!!!). Anyway suffice to say that it was very frustrating to see boats that came in after us get their clearances before us. They would come to the boat near us and we would think we are next and then they would go away over the other side. We finally got cleared around 5pm and so did Cilentro. There was supposed to be a boat come to pick us all up to take us to the evening's gala dinner but we are not slow learners so Cilentro collected us in their dinghy and we made our way in - absolutely no idea where we were going but saw a jetty in the dark so went towards it and found ourselves in a myriad of fish nets held up by plastic drinking bottles. Managed to extricate ourselves and found the jetty and there were a couple of men helping people in. We had to clamber over a couple of other boats to reach the shore and clamber up some steps that sloped backwards to the wharf. A bus then took us to the dinner where there was food down both sides of the building and most amazing food and speeches and traditional dances and it was a really good night. A bus took us back to the wharf and we had noted where to go so made it all the way back ok.

Day 90 - Wednesday 22 July- Saumlaki - The most MAGIC day!!!!
We went in to the wharf about 9 to do customs and immigration and discovered that there was a bus tour on. It took an hour or three to clear customs and immigration then jumped on the red bus - there were about 4 big buses and 4 little buses and police cars at the front and back and police motor bikes and we took off through the town with sirens blazing at the front and back of the convoy and police motor bikes blocking roads off so we could go through!!!!!! The people all came out to wave and shout and the children were laughing and waving and we had to wave at absolutely everyone and it was amazing! The first village we came to the women welcomed us with a dance and we went through the village and inspected the stills of liquor made from coconut palms and had to have a taste - (sharing and caring from the same glass but being 45 percent proof no bugs could live in there anyway!!). We looked at their pigs and dogs (all look like dingos) and houses and had our hands shaken and smiling, smiling happy people. Back on the buses to the next village where a man with a sword and the headman greeted us and had a little ceremony and then the women did a dance which indicated a boat and fishing because they were fisherpeople. One young lady starting flirting with Peter and told him in Indonesian that she loved him very much and all the young girls were laughing then Peter answered in Indonesian that she was very beautiful and he loved her very much and there was much laughter and carrying on (you can all imagine how much peter enjoyed the encounter!!!) then they grabbed us and we danced our way through the village with them to a hunggi where they dug the food out of the ground and fed us. On the way out I shook hands with all the little children standing in a row to much laughter and hilarity. They are the most amazing people and we felt a bit like royalty I think!!!! Then it was back to the buses - more police escort and sirens to another village and then more police escort and sirens to the beach and another hunggi and finally back to the dock where we went to the hotel and had dinner and a much needed bintang!!! I cannot tell you what an absolutely amazing day this was and how much trouble all these people went to to make us feel welcome. The Indonesian people are truly beautiful. The only troubling thing to us was that at the start of the day we did not know we were going on this tour and so had no gifts to give to the people. From now on we will keep stuff in our backpacks just in case!!!!

Day 91 - Thursday 23 July - Saumlaki
We learnt that although we have done quarantine, customs and immigration we now have to do the Harbour Master for clearance out of the port! So we went in around 8.45 and joined another long queue. Peter had to line up to go and register and get 110,000 rupees from one office to take to the office next door to give to that office to get the health clearance and then we had to line up for the Harbour Master and then we realised Peter had forgotten one document so Sandra and i stayed in line while Peter and James went back to the yacht for the paper. We only had to let one person pass us before they returned with the recalcitrant paper and then we finally got our final clearance after about another 2 hours. Hurry up and wait but for goodness sake keep smiling!!! Some boats lost the plot and did not cope but in all honesty we were seriously warned that this was how it would be. It only took us 3 days to go through the bureaucracy of formally entering the country. We then walked through the town greeting and being greeted, went to the markets and then to a local cafe for a very nice meal and good interaction with a local family then back to our yacht to try to decide what we are going to do next!!! We are finally free to go! Some people are leaving the rally now and going west and I don't think many are going to beat into the wind to go to the next point of call which is probably going to be very disappointing to the villagers there. We have decided to go (with Cilantro) around the western side of this island and find an anchorage - either 30 miles or 45 miles whichever we make. If we like it we will stay but the ultimate aim is to go to Banda (which is supposed to be fantastic) and then to Ambon. We have decided that we cannot call it cruising anymore (as sometimes it may not be so relaxing!) but rather it is adventuring!!!

Have taken heaps of photos but of course can't post them at this stage.
Take care all and fair winds
Dell and Peter

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WEEKS 11 & 12 : 4 July –17 July –Darwin

Day 72 – Day 85: Saturday 4 July – Friday 17 July – Darwin
Happy Birthday to Jessie on the 13th (2) and to Stuart on the 17th

Apologies to all for my tardiness in updating this website! Suffice it to say that we have been fully occupied with preparing for our trip and socialising with other yachties – its been all go! We have dined at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club, the Darwin Sailing Club, Dinah Bay Sailing Club and the all you can eat seafood (and every other food you could think of) buffet at the casino , the Mindil markets, the Parap markets and a barbeque in the park. The markets are very multicultural with heaps of different foods. We have attended the sunset opera at the casino but it proved to be a little too much culture for us and we left at half time to utilise the free $5 pokies chip and free cup of coffee.

We had the pleasure of the company of our dear friends Andy and Robyn (Jack and Rosie’s foster parents) as Robyn was attending a conference in Darwin. We had a great time with them and we were really sorry to see them go. Andy had a hire car so we managed to get quite a few jobs done and we think Andy enjoyed coming out to the boat in the mornings (he did learn to bring a spare pair of trousers after getting a wet butt the first couple of times!). We have done the tour of Darwin city. Darwin is a great place – a big country town really and lots of bike paths. We have ridden our bikes a few times – the last time for me to take the laundry to Parap as there is only one washing machine at the Darwin Sailing Club to service all the yachts in the bay.

The foreshore is always crowded in the evenings as people bring their tables, chairs, alcohol, meals etc and sit to watch the sun go down. I must admit it is a very impressive sight as the sun is a big red ball.



We had our first official function on Saturday which was a barbeque at the Sailing Club with all food and alcohol provided – a very nice night and the first time the fleet has come together. Tuesday the 14th was our briefing day and it seems that we are going to be escorted all the way to Bunekin and back down again. Feel a bit like being herded but it should be fun. The escort ships arrived in Darwin on Wednesday 15th. It is finally starting to hit home that we are actually doing this! We have American dollars and Indonesian rupees, have all the charts we need and have 40 casks of wine on board (the water line went way down! - you cant get wine up there) and collected our duty free on Thursday (St Remy 1.25 litre bottles of French brandy for $12 a bottle). We did our customs clearance this morning. Customs came out to the Sailing Club to do our outward bound clearance. Saturday morning is supposed to be a champagne breakfast but am not sure that is such a good idea!!

Our first port of call is Saumlaki (Yandema Island) where we do inbound customs, immigration, quarantine and port clearance. There will also be a welcoming ceremony. Saumlaki is only 290 nautical miles from Darwin. I had no idea Indonesia was so close to us! The fleet is madly rushing around trying to get everything done in time. We leave at 11am on tomorrow, Saturday 18th – crossing the start line with about 120 yachts.

It became apparent on Monday that our chart plotter was beyond repair so Raymarine sent up a replacement which thankfully arrived this morning!! Peter has installed it and it is working so that is a huge relief. Our tender has been repaired and is staying up so that also helps. Peter is currently putting in new speakers in the cockpit. I wrecked the old ones when I overbalanced when we were crossing the gulf and landed rather heavily against one! That can sure do it. We are currently preparing the boat – trying to find a place for everything and Peter hasn’t even started on the shed and our bikes are still ashore.

We have really enjoyed our time in Fannie Bay. Although it was quite a way to the beach in the tender and when the tide was out it was quite a way to drag the tender up the beach but it is a lovely sandy beach (not mud as we had been led to believe) and it has been great.
Anyway tomorrow sees us on our way and the adventure begins! We will probably be out of internet range for quite some time but I will endeavour to continue to update this via the HF radio and sailmail which means there wont be any photos till I find an internet cafe or something.
We hope you are all well and miss you. Take care. Cant believe we are doing this!

Fair winds
Dell and Peter

WEEK 10 : 28 June – 3 July – Cape Hotham to Darwin

Day 66 : Sunday 28 June – Cape Hotham to Darwin –Happy Anniversary to us
Today we opted for a 4.30am start instead of the 2am we should have started at. We figured the seas are flat and it is neap tides (not much different between high and low). The Clarence Strait had lights marking the islands so we headed straight out towards those in the pitch dark and caught a good bit of favourable current going along at a good rate of knots, however, the tide changed before we got through the Strait and we were punching into a slight westerly headwind and current doing only 2 knots – we thought we wouldn’t arrive in Darwin til 7pm! Once we got out of the Strait and we started making our run to Darwin (motoring – still no wind!) and Peter worked out a bit of a shortcut with his navigation, we finally made it into Darwin at 3pm!!!!! Yay. We were welcomed as we came in by Vulcan, Kristie 1 and Wave Sweeper. We anchored about a mile from the shore – as close as we can get in because of the big tides here and headed for the Darwin Sailing Club on shore for a reunion and also to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. We swapped lots of stories and had dinner and headed back to the boat late-ish. We had to tow Cilento’s tender as their motor wouldn’t work and it was hilarious because there were so many yachts in the bay we couldn’t find ours!! Took a while but we got there.
Miles: 68 Alcaro Bay to Cape Hotham
Miles: 45 Cape Hotham to Darwin Total 2,345

Day 67: Monday 29 June – Darwin
Caught a taxi with James and Sandra (Cilentro) to drop their outboard motor off and our chart plotter off for repair then headed to town for a look around and a haircut for Peter. Collected the outboard on the way back (they couldn’t find anything wrong with it) then we adjourned to the Sailing Club to collect our Sail Indonesia instruction packs. Escape came in and anchored close by.


Day 68: Tuesday 30 June – Darwin – Happy Birthday Yvette
A busy day of running around. Caught the bus into town and headed to get our charts but they weren’t ready. Went to customs, booked our boat in to get duty free fuel, applied for Social visas at the Indonesian Embassy (it was so hot in there we thought they were trying to acclimatise us!), to the doc for Hep A/B booster shot then back for the charts – had to wait but finally got them.

Day 69: Wednesday 1 July – Darwin – Happy Birthday Jeremy
Left at 9.30 and motored to Cullen Bay Marina fuel dock for duty free fuel. Pulled up in front of two other yachts – got our diesel (83 cents/litre) and our petrol (85 cents/litre) and filled up with water. Saw some boats going through the locks into the marina and were really pleased we didn’t have to go through that. We then anchored back in our old spot. The bay is really lovely and the beach is sand not mud and it is very pleasant. Much better than a marina I think. Today was cracker day in Darwin and they started letting them off before it even got dark. People are allowed to buy their own crackers and let them off privately. We were in the perfect spot as the main display was from the beach just to the side of us. It was fantastic and went for quite some time and almost seemed to be in 3D. People kept letting them off for ages and we saw a big fire over to the left!! I believe there were quite a few – the firies must hate cracker night!!! A Good night.

Day 70: Thursday 2 July – Darwin
Tried to get flights to Adelaide to visit Jack and Rose but couldn’t get anything – could get down but couldn’t get back. Devastated – really wanted to see them before we headed OS. Bit of a work day – washing etc then we went in to a barbeque and had a few drinks with quite a few yachties. We didn’t have anything to barbeque so Escape, Cilentro and we all walked do the Mindi markets and bought dinner (heaps of interesting food) and went back and had a nice evening.

Day 71: Friday 3 July – Darwin
Just caught the bus to Casuarina Shopping Centre and back. Blog could get a little boring from now on as we are not scheduled to leave till 18th July. By the way it is very hot up here.

Our gorgeous little grandson turns 2 on the 13th of July – would have liked to have been there for that too.

Meanwhile take care and fair winds
Dell and Peter

WEEK 9 : 20 - 27 June - King River to Alcaro Bay, Cape Don

Well on Thursday disaster struck (not really but it felt that way!) Our new (purchased February 09) chartplotter stopped working. We could not get it to boot so not only did we lose the chartplotter but we also lost the radar and AIS (shipfinder). While it is (was) a nice unit and very user friendly perhaps someone should have mentioned not putting all your eggs in the one basket!!! You don't realise how much you rely on your chartplotter till you lose it! You particularly need it for going into all the little nooks and crannies in the bays and rivers. But all was not lost - we have always been very smug that we have a backup chartplotter (our old one) BUT it turned out that the new chartplotter had corrupted the data disk and it would not work in the old one either. Well, thank goodness for paper charts - we had a handheld GPS in our grab bag (bag you grab when you are sinking) and then Peter managed to plot our waypoints from the paper charts on to the old chartplotter (no charts in there) so what we have now is a blank screen with a cross (waypoint) and a line (to follow) and thats it! Oh and we have Cilentro still with us.

Day 58 : Saturday 20 June - King River to Mullet Bay, North Goulburn Island
It was actually quit chilly this morning. We were waiting for the tide to rise a bit then left at 10.25am. We followed our in line on the chartplotter out and Escape and Cilantro followed us. My line out was a bit like a drunken sailor as it is very hard to steer to a line! The lowest we went down to was 4.3 metres and then we were out with no wind. We motored up between North and South Goulburn Islands and anchored beside an absolutely beautiful island with lots of pandannus palms on the beach. It is written that this island is of significant Aboriginal importance. We noticed one house on the point. Heard a big bang and it transpired that it was a huge school of fish near the shore. Thought something rather large must have been chasing them and then we saw some rather large sharks at the back of the boat.
Miles 30 Total 2,063

Day 59 : Sunday 21 June - Mullet Bay, North Goulburn Island
Eric from Escape really wanted to stay for a social day so we stayed and had morning tea on Escape with the crew from Cilentro as well. We could see an Aboriginal man on the beach and he appeared to kill a turtle then went in the bush and came out dragging what we think was a goanna. Obviously these people still hunt in their traditional manner. We went to shore hoping to ask his permission to be there but he walked away from us back towards the house. We walked the opposite direction down to some cliffs and back again. Nice to stretch the legs! And the boys caught a few fish off the beach for dinner. As we got closer to the tenders (boats) we realised that Sandra's was floating off so we made a mad dash up the beach (then we had to walk - not real fit!!) and we got in our tender and I motored out to retrieve it. Much excitement!! Then it was back to Cilentro for sundowners. All in all a very social day!!

Day 60 : Monday 22 June - Mullet Bay to Valentia Island
It rained through the night - first rain we have had since Dunk Island. Left at 7.30 am with storms threatening but we managed to outrun them. Put the jenniker up and were doing up to 7.5 knots but then it started getting scary so we got it down just in time. The wind was all over the place and then dropped off so after a boring morning of trying to sail and getting slapped by the sea we started the motor. Rounded De Courcey Head - wonderful scenery, then rounded Cape Cockburn and headed down to Valentia Island. Peter caught a mackerel just before we got there. Anchored on the south side of the island in 6m of water. Sweet & sour fish for dinner!!
Miles: 44 Total 2,107

Day 61: Tuesday 23 June - Valentia Island to Point David, Croker Island
Had a lazy start to the day and left at 9.30am - had a slow sail just under headsail around to Point David on Croker Island where we anchored waiting to go through the Bowen Strait tomorrow. We were a bit worried about our chart plotter as we had heard that C-map was out by half a mile and we wondered if our Navionics Gold was too. Got in at 1pm and had a lazy afternoon. The bay is full of pearl racks so we anchored a bit further out than we would have liked.
Miles 15 Total 2,122

Day 62 : Wednesday 24 June - Point David to Berkeley Bay, Port Essington
We left at 6.30am and we led the way through the shoals and our chart plotter proved to be exact and we had good water all the way through until we got to the end and turned to put the mainsail up then ended up in 3.8m - thought we had stuffed up but the others found 3.8m as well so obviously it had sanded up a bit at the end. Wondered why we had to go such a convoluted way when another boat went roaring up the left hand side under full sail and appeared to have no trouble! A dolphin came and swam under our boat for a while - he had a few scars on him - lovely to have him though. Its great to lean over the bow and watch them just staying in front of the boat. It was a most frustrating long day with no wind except for when we came round Smith Point where we had a great sail (albeit very short). Anchored about 3.30 at Berkeley Bay in the most beautiful spot very close to some red cliffs. Escape anchored a bit further north and saw a 12 ft croc on the beach.
Miles: 44 Total 2,166

Day 63 : Thursday 25 June - Berkeley Bay to Black Point to Victoria Settlement to Berkeley Bay
Left at 8.30 and headed back to Black Point to go ashore to talk to the ranger. There is a small museum there and we got some good info and a map of the Victorian ruins. Here is the history lesson: Victoria Settlement was established by the British in 1838 when it was hoped it would become another Singapore Harbour in northern Australia. It lasted 11 years and was finally abandoned in 1849. The ruins which are left are in pretty good condition being made of stone/bricks containing ironstone. It had a jetty, Govt House, married quarters, hospital & kitchen, bakery, cemetery and garden etc. It was said of the hospital that "the garrison suffered from dysentery, diarrhoea, influenza, scurvy and malaria. At times the hospital was crowded with half the garrison being desperately ill with fever and others being only capable of light duties. At such times maintenance of the stock and gardens was not always possible and buildings fell into disrepair." It was impossible not to feel some of the despair these people must have felt. It was incredibly hot - couldn't imagine what it would be like there in summer.

It was on the way to the Settlement that our chart plotter died so we had to follow Cilantro up the channel and back again. After our 3.7km walk Escape decided to stay (very sad) so we followed Cilantro back to Berkeley Bay but we didn't get back till dark so we nudged our way in (its like being blind without a chart plotter) and our anchor didn't take so had to try again and at the end weren't really sure where we ended up!!!! Had stacks of garfish round the boat which would leap all over the place when we shone the torch. Also saw a small shark feeding on them and the next morning the dolphins take over!!
Miles : 26 Total: 2,192

Day 64 : Friday 26 June - Port Essington to Alcaro Bay, Cape Don
At last, we found out where Cape Don is - its always the last area on the weather report! Saw a dolphin leap right out of the water this morning! We left with Cilentro at 8am. We followed them out and then followed Peter's waypoints - he checked our position on the charts every half hour which got us to Alcaro Bay very accurately arriving at 4.15pm. Absolutely no wind so motored all the way. James and Sandra rowed their tender over for sundowners and we planned our next move. It is all about timing now as we have to catch the correct tides or we would be going backwards!
Miles: 40 Total: 2,232

Day 65 : Saturday 27 June - Alcaro Bay to
We left at 4.30am and it was so dark I was totally disoriented - it was like being in a black pool and not knowing which way was up. Currently heading down the Dundas Strait (went through heaps of whirlpools!) with 5 knots of current with us heading to Cape Hotham tonight for a 2am start tomorrow for our run into Darwin!!!! Got up to 9 knots speed with the engine idling. Not a breath of wind, sea like the desert.

Love to all - miss you heaps
Fair Winds
Dell and Peter

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WEEK 8 : 14 - 19 June - Refuge Bay to King River

Day 52 -Sunday 14 June - Refuge Bay to Galiwin'ku
Left at 8am with a very light wind and had a beautiful slow sail. Were quite close to land and we weren't in a hurry. The sun was shining, the sea was flat and it was so peaceful. Passed a few houses on the way (we were told these were people who didn't want to live in the settlement). Saw a Telstra tower and finally at 2.30 came into Galinwin'ku, an Aboriginal community, and anchored in the bay. There were children playing on the beach and one little boy spearing a fish. A huge cry of delight went up when he got one! Dogs running around and later in the evening three children started lighting fires along the beach. We couldn't decide if there was a purpose to it or if they were just little pyromaniacs! Everywhere they went little fires would erupt - they all went out eventually. There were four tyres on the beach which looked awfully like they were still attached to an upside down 4 wheel drive. The sea was like glass and the sunset was beautiful.

Miles 25 Total 1,098

Day 53 - Monday 15 June - Galiwin'ku
We weren't real sure about the permit thing for visiting Aboriginal communities so James and Sandra (Cilentro) picked us all up in their tender and we all went to shore about 10am. We met one of the officials from (TBA) who said we didn't need a permit and pointed us in the way of the gallery. The door was open but it said it didn't open until 1.00pm. However Dion (a Melbournite) welcomed us and said we could look around while they continued their meeting. Dion was employed by the Cwlth Govt and worked for (TBA). They had 125 Aboriginal artists who all made a living from their art. There were 60 white workers and Galiwin'ku had 1,500 people which ranged up to 2,200 in the wet. The artists negotiate a price with the gallery (and the artists have to be happy with it) and get paid up front. The gallery then add its mark up. All the profits from the gallery go back to (TBA) which then goes back to the community paying for the weekly barge (fresh food from Darwin), health facilities, mechanic etc. If artists don't wish to come into town Dion flies to the homelands and visits them in their areas. The art was amazing. The lines and dots so meticulously done and we wondered how they did it without smudging and also without glasses!!! Beautiful and some of the artists are known around the world and have showings around our capital cities. Prices seemed to range from $20 for a necklace to $6,600 for a large bark painting. We then walked to the store and bought some fresh produce at very reasonable prices. Except for our ice creams which were $5 each!! A building which we presumed was the bank had a sign saying Money Business.

Day 54 - Tuesday 16 June - Galinwin'ku to Cape Stewart - Happy Birthday Suzanne
We got away at 6.45am and had a lovely sail on flat seas for the first five hours. Then we had to go past the shoals near the Crocodile Isles and we lost the wind and had the current against us and motored for a while and then had a very slow sail into Cape Stewart. A lot of the sea around here is either "Inadequately surveyed" or "not surveyed" which doesn't fill you with confidence!!!! We were lucky with Cape Stewart as it tends to be swelly in a wind but the wind dropped off and it was very slightly rocky but fine - quite comfortable.
Miles: 55 Total 1,963

Day 55 - Wednesday 17 June - Cape Stewart to Entrance Island, Liverpool River, Maningrita
Left at 7.45 and motored around False Cape which were rocks sticking way out in the bay. Got a good sail doing over 7 knots with seas building a bit so had to reduce sail. Lots of horrible tipping though!!! Arrived at Entrance Island which is at the entrance to the Liverpool River at the Aboriginal settlement of Maningrita at 2.30 An official looking boat came racing out and the Aboriginal officers on board photographed all our yachts then waved and left. We elected not to go into Manigrita as we had heard you needed permits and also it would take an hour to get in and an hour to get out. The anchorage turned out to be quite rolly so not so comfortable.
Miles 35 Total 1,998

Day 56 - Thursday 18 June - Entrance Island to King River
Departed at 6.30 with a reef in the sail and headed up around Cuthbert Point which was a very uncomfortable sail with confused seas. Once around the Point the seas settled and we had a nice breeze and nice sail. The Aborigines, we have been told, burn off in the dry season and the horizon was full of smoke and ash falling on us even though we were more than 5 miles off the coast.. Cilantro and Escape disappeared like ghost ships into the smoke. Finally lost the wind and motored the last little bit and got out of the smoke. Came through the King River entrance with a clearance at mid tide of 4.3m and came straight up the middle of the river. Once in, the right side had deeper water than the left. We headed for the point on the right with the mangroves and stayed about 50m off. Cilentro and Escape anchored in the middle of the river. We anchored quite close in (5.2m) and a crocodile came out to meet us within 20m of the boat. A croc fight erupted a bit further down and the croc moved like streaked lightning. Had no idea a croc could move that fast! A big one came to the front of the boat then disappeared. Peter fished off the boat with a great deal of care. Just on dark we moved a bit further out into the river so we would not swing around into the mangroves in the night. Could see the croc eyes in the torch light. A beautiful calm night where you don't even realise you are on a boat!!
Miles 35 Total 2,033

Day 57 - Friday 19 June - King River
Peter started fishing at 8am and one of the crocs was still watching us - a bit unnerving really! Caught a shark, trevally and some other thing but threw them back - no barra unfortunately -Had a quiet day. Couldn't believe Eric and Kim came down in their tender to visit us. Kim had a plastic bucket which could be used if crocidillus maximus attacked to stuff it in its mouth so you can make your escape!!! We were relieved when they made it back to their boat. A lovely relaxing day. Tomorrow is the day to find our way out of the river!!!!

Much love to everyone. Getting close to Darwin. Feel free to email us. Love to hear from you

Fair Winds
Dell and Peter.

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WEEK 7 - 7 June to 13 June - Gove to Refuge Bay

This has been a lovely week. Finally slowing down and starting to smell the roses so to speak. And the scenery in the NT is pretty amazing plus we have some good company to travel with.

Day 45: Sunday 7 June - Gove
A down day to catch up - washing, visiting and walk on the beach. Sundowners on Escape - an enjoyable interlude!
Day 46: Monday 8 June - Gove
Spent the morning catching up on internet stuff (not quite) then met James and Sandra (Cilantro) in the bar and they were thinking of leaving tomorrow so we hitched a lift into town (as you do!) with a school principal who visits all the remote schools and her dog Lulu. All the signs are written in English and also the Aboriginal dialect - isn't it amazing to think that English is not the first language of the Aboriginal people! The town has about 3,500 people so walked around and had a bit of a look then bought some fresh produce and hitch hiked back again. A family man gave us a lift to the main road then someone was heading to town and turned around to come back and get us to give us a lift back to the yacht club. Had sundowners on Wave Sweeper.

Day 47 Tuesday 9 June - Gove to Elizabeth Bay
We all left at 8.30 for Elizabeth Bay which was purported to be a beautiful Bay but in actual fact it was a pearl farm with just a bit at the end left for us to anchor. We were supposed to come in on a flood tide but we came in on an ebb and paid the price! It was an exhilarating ride around into the bay (terrifying is a long time, exhilarating is terrifying but only for a short time!!!!) Peter commented on the radio that it was "exhilarating" and Cilantro came back and said that his partner would be washing her knickers for a week!!!!
Miles 28 Total 1,815nm

Day 48 Wednesday 10 June - Elizabeth Bay to Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island (via Gugari Rip)
We left at 6.45 thinking that everyone else would be leaving too but not to be - Only Wave Sweeper followed, the others going to Wigram Island. We passed a fishing boat and the skipper came on deck to wave to us - a little bit of magic. We headed off to the the Gugari Rip (otherwise known as The Hole In the Wall = THITW) - it is 64 metres wide, one and a half miles long and 9 metres deep and currents run at 9 knots plus so it is important to enter at slack water on the ebb of the Arafura Sea (which runs opposite on our side of the sea!) So we had to arrive between 10.30 and 11.00 so that was a skill in itself to make the 23 odd mile run to get the timing right. It looked quite wide as we approached but as we got closer the gap got narrower!! We entered a little early going against one knot but half way through it changed and we had a dream run through and the scenery was just stunning!. I steered us through and Peter was on camera duty and Wave Sweeper was right behind us. It was AMAZING! Then had a wonderful sail 6nm round to Guriliya Bay on Raralaga Island. A dream day.



Miles: 28 Total 1,843nm

Day 49 Thursday - 11 June`Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island
Waved Wave Sweeper off about 6.3-0am as they were keen to get to Darwin. We cleaned up and went to the beach where we saw a small crocodile slide and mud crabs just sitting there. Walked around then went to another beach and walked around all the rocks - such amazing country - so very ancient - absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful. Spent three hours walking around - saw a rock cod grab a crab and eat it and a family of mullet. About 12.30 Cilentro and Escape came around the headland followed by a wooden ketch called Sea Hog. We had sundowners on our boat with Cilantro and Escape and were happy to meet up again.

Day 50 Friday 12 June - Guruliya Bay, Raragala Island
Started off as a bit of an ordinary day - went fishing in the tender but all we got was very wet!! Eric however had caught a lot of fish so at 3.30 we all met on the beach for a barbeque. Everybody supplied a different salad and we feasted on coral trout and mangrove jack - couldn't get better in a top class restaurant. Sea Hog came too (John, Kate and their son Luke and dog Ralph). It was the most wonderful afternoon. Luke became Eddie Maguire and ran a Who Wants to be a Millionaire contest much to our amusement and then we finished with French cricket (very quick) as we all left as soon as the sun went down (very crocodile savvy these days!). Absolutely magic day!

Day 51 Saturday 13 June - Guruliya Bay to Refuge Bay
Escape, Cilantro and we all left at 8am heading 40nm to Refuge Bay. We had light winds so it was a very slow trip, albeit enjoyable. At one stage we got caught in the overflow around Stephens Island and we were only doing 1.5knots so had to start the motor as the current kept pulling us towards the island - we had about 4 knots going against us. Would have been a good ride if it had gone with us! Put the jenniker up and made some headway. Peter caught a nice mackerel and we got in at 5.10 and saw an amazing sunset.

Miss you all but especially Jackie, Rosie, Jessie (hopefully Jack and Rosie are not becoming Crow supporters!!! Anna!!!!!)

Fair Winds
Dell and Peter

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WEEK 6 - 31 May to 6 June - Escape River to Gove

Well we made it – we crossed the dreaded Gulf of Carpentaria and are now in Gove in the Northern Territory taking a little time out for some well earned R&R!

Day 38: 31 May Escape River to Cape York
Two yachts and a cat came in late yesterday afternoon so we called them up and told them we would be going out with them so we had a convoy leaving the Escape River heading to Cape York. Despite the strong wind warning the seas were surprisingly flat and we left at 12 midday to catch the rising tide to go through the Albany Passage to the Cape. Coming into the Passage was just magical. The current caught us and we floated through doing almost 8 knots but it didn’t feel like we were moving. Came out the other side and the sail was so good we just kept going and rounded the Cape and anchored on the western side where it blew an absolute gale and rained all night.
Miles: 30 Total 1,422

Day 39: 1 June Cape York to Seisia
We all abandoned our trip to the Cape as we couldn’t even get our tenders in the water it was so windy so left to go to Seisia. The sail was lovely until we rounded the corner past Possession Island where it gusted to 45knots!! It was a short sharp blustery trip down and we anchored on the western side of the Seisia anchorage with Whistle Down The Wind and Cillentro while Escape and Wave Chaser joined Kristie 1 in the bay. Went to town and had a nice walk. It is a lovely clean little town with friendly people.
Miles: 20 Total 1,442

Day 40: 2 June Seisia Happy Birthday Judy
Whistle Down the Wind and Kristie 1 left for their trip across the Gulf and we went to town – found a hot dog at the petrol station – amazing the things you crave for!! Spent some time in town, walked to the jetty and watched the kids fishing and met up with Eric and Kim from Escape. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at lovely little Seisia. Returned to the boat and Peter cooked meals for the next three days and we prepared the boat for the Gulf crossing.

Days 41 – 43 Seisia to Gove
We left under cloudy skies at 8.30am with Cillentro and headed for the southern channel of the Endeavour Straits. Escape, Wave Chaser and Play On left and headed for the northern channel. It was extremely windy and the seas through the Strait were like a cauldron and it was very hard to steer the course Peter was calling to me – correction followed by overcorrection etc but we finally got through so put the autohelm on and headed out to the Gulf. The seas were very confused with. very short steep waves from all directions -extremely uncomfortable. We did three hour shifts through the night and it was always comforting to see Cillentro’s light in front of us and their sail through the day. During my early morning shift I was singing all the songs I knew (that’s Dell not Peter) and came to the realisation that I did not know one song all the way through – just snippets and chorus’s. Very sad – resorted to nursery rhymes and then made up my own – whatever, it got me through the night. The first night was overcast and the second night the moon was up – personally I prefer the dark as if you can’t see the waves they can’t frighten you! Jeff off Wave Sweeper called us all up morning and night to see how we were all travelling and to give position reports. Coastwatch aircraft called us up again after swooping low beside us. Obviously their eyesight wasn’t as good as the last time as they called us Pacific Princess and Cillentro became Charlotte! Suffice to say it was a truly uncomfortable three days and two nights with very short sharp seas the entire journey and the sea was so dark. I saw my first sea snake and when we sighted land at noon on the third day small dolphins played around the boat. We had a lovely sail between the final island and mainland and made our way round to Gove closely followed by Cillentro. There is a huge aluminum plant on the point which looks a bit like a large fun park except it smokes! At night it lights up like a Christmas tree and is very pretty! We finally anchored at 5.30 and went to bed feeling absolutely shattered!!!
Miles: 345 Total: 1,787

Day 44 – Saturday 6 June Gove
We got up late and tidied up and then went in to check out the yacht club. Called in to see Wave Sweeper on the way and went aboard for morning tea. Met Tom who runs the yacht club and got some good information then had a couple of drinks with Kim and Eric (Escape) then back to the boat then back to the yacht club at 5 for drinks and dinner with the crews from Whistle Down the Wind, Cillentro, Single Malt and Wave Sweeper A lovely young girl was sampling different types of champagnes for her wedding in three weeks time so came over and asked us to sample them all to see which ones we liked the best. Suffice to say it was a good night out!!!
As I said we are finally in the NT and we will stay here a few more days (besides it is a holiday tomorrow and the shops are closed in the nearby town).



Miss you all.
Fair Winds
Dell and Peter