LWH – Week 14 : Arafura Sea Crossing

Sun 07 Oct – Day/Night 1
We left at 6.15am and stayed well clear of the headland. We motored into a reasonable swell with a few very big waves which was a bit of a hang on and close the eyes job! As we got further away from the islands it settled a bit and we tacked to try to keep wind in the sails – motor sailing. We emailed (sail mail) off our letter of Intent to return to Customs. Saw a big clump of seaweed with a turtle floating beside it eating the seaweed. The skipper saw a pilot whale. Just on dark a beautiful booby bird started circling and flying alongside us. A magnificent beautiful bird. He landed at the bow of the boat and preened himself but it wasn’t a comfortable place to be and he fell off a couple of times. Once he landed on the deck but took off again and by now it was dark and he came in from behind and hit the wind generator – he didn’t see or hear it. I looked back and he was lying in the water stunned – I cannot get the vision out of my head. He took off and went a short way and disappeared. I fear we killed him. What a horrible horrible thing. Still haunts me. We went through the night with breeze on the nose and lots of current against us. The seas were very comfortable though.

Mon 8 Oct – Day/Night 2
Cannot get the booby bird out of my head. So sad. The skipper said he should clean the filters before they clogged again but I wasn’t keen to stop the engine. Something about if it aint broke don’t fix it. Well at 11.30am that was proven to be folly when the motor stopped. The skipper had to change the engine fine fuel filter (we have only one left!) and the pre fuel filters (we have two left). We had been unable to secure anymore in Tual. The dirty fuel is proving a disaster. He was able to get us going again and has tried to clear up a used engine fine filter just in case There is not enough wind to sail so are following the rhumb line and it is so painfully slow. Doesnt feel like we are making anyheadway. And its so worrying about the motor. We have very calm seas but no wind so we cant sail. Heaps of small dolphins travelling with the boat in the late arfternoon. I did a three hour stint through the night but apart from that the skipper let me sleep. Tired and depressed so needed it. Slept really well.

Tues 9 Oct – Day/Night 3
What a gorgeous day – amazing what a goodnight’s sleep does. Sea so calm, current not quite as bad. Have seen six turtles snoozing on the surface. The skipper did the 8am sked, cleaned both filters and went to bed. Had both sails out for a while but the wind was on the nose – its really just a breeze. Have been able to read a book this passage which is really good as it certainly passes the time. There is nothing but sea to the sky all the way around. So lovely and have got used to stopping the boat in the middle of nowhere! We crossed into Australian economic waters at 11.08am so took down the Indonesion courtesy flag and put up the yellow Q (quarantine) flag. Passed a big tanker in the afternoon on its way to Singapore. Saw a few tankers on the AIS after that. One changed course to go behind us. We heard the coast watch plane call up a couple of boats but they didn’t call us. The half moon came up at 1.15 and the sky is so full of stars. Saw five fishing buoys which we hadn’t expected to see here.

Wed 10 Oct – Day/Night 4
11⁰23.071S / 136D53.237E
The sea is so calm and its a beautiful day. We motor sailed and rounded Cape Wessel at 3pm – as far as crossings go it was pretty good – just long. And then the nightmare began. The skipper turned the motor off and was so excited because we were sailing and doing 6 knots but when he went to start the motor again there was a terrible smell and though the water pump was pumping it wasn’t pumping water. We sailed till around 8pm with the skipper working on the motor the whole time and then we lost the wind altogether and were slowly heading towards land with the current. So we had to anchor 20 miles out to sea in 43m – the first time we have had to use the 100m of rope.

Thurs 11 – Day 5
12⁰10.919S / 136⁰40.060E
We didn’t sleep terribly well and had the anchor hauled in and the sails out by 6.00am. We knew our weather window was closing and strong winds were predicted for the afternoon. We sailed with not a lot of wind so we got the jenniker out and that got us along quite well and as always we left if slightly late to get it in and thats a huge struggle. We saw a tanker on the AIS go right over the spot where we had been anchored!!!! Australian Customs called us around 3.45 as they had been expecting us in the morning so they told us to anchor where we could and they would contact us at 8am. As we got closer to Gove the wind was building and then it changed direction and went on the nose so we had to tack all the way across the harbour to the beach in gale force winds with spray coming off the top of the waves. The skipper estimated 30 – 40 knots and 3-4 m waves. The conditions are the worst we have experienced as we had to head into it. He sailed across to the beach on the other side (I say he because I was a screaming wreck on the cockpit floor) but that was no good so he tacked back towards Gove just behind the big jetty and we anchored there. He pulled in the headsail first and we slowed too much so had to use the motor to get us a bit further in – an awful knock coming from it. Dropped anchor and luckily it grabbed immediately so he dropped the main and laid the anchor out and I secured the sail. It was a little more sheltered from the waves but the wind was howling – its a horrible noise. The skipper cooked a pork roast bless him. Went to bed but didn’t sleep well.

Fri 12 Oct – Gove, Australia
12⁰12.043S / 136⁰41.919E
We didn’t sleep well. The wind howled all night but the sea settled till the early hours of the morning. Customs called us at 8am and they said they weren’t coming to where we were and we should move so we advised that we needed a tow so they had someone contact us but he couldn’t come till 11am. The Michael J came for us after 11 and towed us the extra 2 – 3 miles round to the anchorage. It was very rough and still blowing like mad with waves. We anchored about 1 km from the shore and just sat. An hour or two later we had Customs, Immigration and Quarantine on board. They were pleasant young men (one was from Pine Rivers) and of course they took all our meat and fruit and veg and noodles which we had expected. But we had to pay them $330 for the privilege. No it is not a fine – it is what we Australian citizens have to pay to come home and if we come in on a weekend you can just about double it!! We don’t pay it if we fly in – these guys get paid for doing their job so why the fee! It cost us about that to replace all the stuff we lost. Had a quiet night on board feeling a little bit traumatised!
Miles: 480 TTT: 2,460

Well here we sit in Gove awaiting a new water pump. The weather is too bad to leave yet anyway so we have an enforced stay. Which is probably good recovery time. There are a few boats here waiting to leave – some have left and come back a couple of times. For those who think we are nearly home – we aren’t!! Its still around 1800 miles to go and its all pushing against the wind and waiting for weather windows. We are grateful that we made it and are here to tell the tale!!!

Much love to all
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter