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
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
