Maryborough to Darwin for Indonesian Rally. Darwin to Bali, (May to September 2010)

We spent 14 mths on the Gold coast living onboard our yacht “Erica” at Hope harbour marina and later Hope island marina. Nov 2009-Feb 2010

We both worked to build up the “Cruising kitty”. It was a great time to be close to family who live on the coast and a short flight from family in NZ.

In February Cathy flew to Mt Isa for a 3 mth midwifery  contract and Eric sailed to Maryborough  to slip “Erica” and do some maintenance.

1^st May….We left  the Mary river in May excited to be on our way to Darwin for the start of the 3mth Indonesian rally to Malaysia.

We stopped at the lovely Lady Musgrave island 50nm NE of Bundaberg for 2 days  Being shallow draft we were able to anchor in  the lagoon which we had to ourselves.

 Then we sailed on to Fitzroy reef. There is a narrow entrance into the lagoon, completely surrounded by reef. This was a beautiful spot and great fishing. We dined on fish as the sunset.

We sailed up through the reefs off Heron island and anchored off North west island. There were a school group camping here and in the night a motorboat dragged on its anchor and disappeared.

We could hear radio contact between them and coastguard, so as we sailed north we kept a lookout for the boat. We spotted it several hrs later floating safely. The conditions were too rough for us to take it in tow or get aboard so we called coast guard and told them the GPS position of the boat. From here we continued on to Curlew and Shaw islands where we stayed a few days.

17^th May…The next stop was Hamilton island, where sister Maddy and bro in law Pete flew in from the Gold Coast.  

We stayed in the marina 1 night and explored the resort island.

The parrots were beautiful

We decided after spending a couple of days sharing  our favourite Whitsunday island spots and Whitehaven beach  that we would sail out to the start of the Great Barrier reef and chose to stay overnight at Hook reef.

Reading on passage

                                               

 

 Nara inlet....Maddy and Pete feeding the cockatoos

The beautiful Whitehaven beach

Early morning sail to Hook reef with a gorgeous sunrise

Snorkelling at Hook reef

From here we did a non stop run to Townsville arriving on the 22^nd, where we picked up some fresh supplies. We stayed up the Ross river which is right in the Town Basin

24^th May..Havannah island was a special stop where we had the anchorage to ourselves and enjoyed walking on the beach. Peter caught a beautiful mackerel on our way north giving us some magnificent fillets to cook and freeze

25^th May..In windless conditions we motored in to Zoe Bay, Hinchinbrook island. It is a special place with a walk through the rainforest to the waterfall.

There were signs warning us of crocodiles but we only saw a Goanna up a tree

 Here we enjoyed swimming in the cool waterhole.

26^th May…Dunk island was an enjoyable stop where we walked the national park trails

27^th May…Fitzroy island was interesting as we watched balls of bait fish under the wharf. The fish were being herded by bigger fish

28^th May….Green island snorkelling was fun and a visit to the museum was interesting.

 Crocodile museum

 We sailed to Cairns in the evening and anchored in the Trinity inlet. The next morning we berthed at the Marina and had a day together before Maddy and Pete flew home.

It was great fun having them aboard for the 2 weeks and to share our way of life.. Come again guys

We spent a week anchored up the river in Cairns doing some maintenance jobs before sailing on to the Low Isles

Here we had friends Alex and Rick caretaking the island so we spent a lovely evening with them ashore.

9^th June… Lizaard island kept us amused for several days. We walked to Cooks lookout where the view was great and socialised with other yachties who were joining the rally in Darwin as well.

We stopped overnight at Fitzroy island then sailed on to Morris island. This is a pretty little island where we fished off the beach.  Cathy was surprised by a huge croc as she ran into it’s path on a morning jog. Luckily it was headed for the water and continued its track.

The sailing from here was superb with enhanced trade winds from a weather system closing the isobars. There was nowhere sheltered to anchor so we sailed nonstop to the Escape river where we sheltered for a couple of days. We noticed many huge crocs basking in the sun on the muddy flats.

We took the Albany passage between Cape York and the Torres strait islands. It was exhilarating sailing with 30kn winds from behind us and strong currents to our advantage. We took turns on the helm as it was such fun. The autopilot was given a rest!!

18^th June…We stopped at Seisha on the other side of the Cape York peninsula and met fellow cruisers who were heading to Darwin as well.

The crossing across the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Wessel chain of islands was one of our most uncomfortable passages. 

At the beginning it was fairly passive and the sunset impressive

The wind and waves and swells were in competition with each other so it was like being in a washing machine!  In 33kn winds in darkness our furler jammed and we couldn’t reef the sail so Eric had to get up on deck and drop the sail. We were pleased to get to the anchorage but had to anchor well out of the bay as it was dark and we didn’t want to proceed further into the bay. We reanchored further in at daybreak and were pleased to set foot ashore.

We were priveledged to see these whale bones on the beach. This area is very remote across the top of Arnemland

With 2 other yachts we explored some of the remote islands. We wanted to go closer to the mainland but these waters are poorly charted. After spending a night ontop of a rock shelf as the tide went out (our calculations of the depth were wrong in these huge tidal ranges) We were cautious and stayed in the charted areas.

Newly made friends on SV "Sassoon

Oxley island was really windswept and barren with remains of fishing nets and bouys along the beach. We watched sand sharks in the shallows chasing small fish.

It was fast sailing again on route to Cape Don where we anchored in a bay for the night. There were lots of fires on the mainland. The Indigenous people do a lot of controlled burning and the sunsets were magnificent. We got together with other sailors to calculate the tides to make our run towards Darwin. If you get it right the tidal flow can increase your speeds dramatically, but it needs to be correct as some areas are shallow and you need to be there at the right time. By taking the shallower passage it saves a lot of miles in distance.

As we were going through this passage in pitch blackness our computer navigation went down and we sailed blind until we could get the GPS out and plot our course on the paper charts..This was nail biting as we were between 2 reefs at that point and in shallow water!   Phew!! We did make it unscathed thank goodness.

3/7/2010……Arriving in Darwin was exciting. There were fireworks going off and we thought it was for the arrival of Rally bound boats and celebrations for our 34^th wedding anniversary!!

Later we discovered it was Northern territory celebrations!!

We spent 2 weeks getting repairs and maintenance done and spending time at the Fanny bay yachtclub catching up with friends and making new ones.

Cleaning the hull and replacing zinc anodes

We took a road trip with friends Dave and Melinda to the Leichart national park and visited their friends.
In their garden they had these massive jack fruit

Dave, Melinda and Eric looking at a termite nest

22nd of July 2010..Great excitement as Mark arrived to join us to Bali... Eric ferried him out to our yacht to have an official piping aboard

This was originally used to give orders on warships when shouted orders could not have been heard. The piping was done by the ship's boatswain and therefore the instrument is known as the boatswain's Pipe or boatswain's call. The two tones it gives and the number of blasts given off, signify the order given. It is also used in a ceremonial way, i.e., to "pipe" someone aboard the ship — usually captains, including the ship's captain, and more senior officers.

We enjoyed cold beers watching the sun going down

On the 24th of July it was very exciting as the Indonesian Rally boats set sail. 2 courses were set. We chose to do the route up through the Banda sea (the yellow track) We didn't go to Ambon, Buton or Makassar but chose our own route stopping at other places and joining the route in Flores

We chose to wait a few hours before leaving with the rest of the fleet.

We stopped in the lee of Babar island to shelter for a night with friends on “Sassoon”.

It had been a brisk passage with winds around 25+ knots and confused Arafura seas and being Eric’s birthday we saw fit to have a break. Officials came out to the boat and welcomed us to go ashore but we were expected to checkin at Banda so we declined.

Eric getting the Quarantine flag ready as we approached the Spice islands of Guning Api, BandaNeira and Banda Besar

Official check in by officials

We were in the last group of yachts to arrive due to our stopover and all the reasonable anchoring sites were taken.  We ended up having to anchor in a depth of 60m. With only 60m of chain attached to the boat so we had to pull a further 60m out of storage in the bilge and attach it. This took some doing and in the rush to get ashore for official celebrations we damaged the anchor winch.

Eric wasn’t happy with the arrangement so we sent Mark off to join in the festivities and we followed later.

Banda was a unique place and we had a great time exploring the old Dutch fortifications and the town.

Cinnamon sticks

 The waterfront was interesting and we explored by kayak.

When some of the fleet left we tied up to a large bouy with 2 other yachts and enjoyed each others company

The island of  Banda Besar was a worthwhile trip. We took a local boat over there with a guide.

The nutmeg plantations were the main suppliers of nutmeg and mace until the mid nineteenth century

Cloves drying

An early morning hike up the volcanic mountain Gunung Api left us all breathless but the exertion was well worth the view. It was pretty hard going with rubble underfoot

We snorkelled over the lava flow and were amazed at the amount of coral growth in just 20yrs.

This mandarin fish is so colourful and it’s logo was used on the banner. A friend filmed this while we were snorkelling under the wharf

Some of the fleet sailed to Ambon but we stayed on longer.

6th of August 2010.... It was a sad farewell to the lovely Banda islands. We sailed to the Wakatobi islands via Run island. We stopped at Run island and snorkelled but it wasn’t safe enough to stay overnight so we sailed on with yachts First Light and Sassoon.

9th August.....Wangi Wangi, Wakatobi island

We stayed at Wangi Wangi for 8 days.. The anchorage at Wangi Wangi is inside a reef which is not shown on electronic navigation or the local Indonesian chart. We arrived in the morning and had radio contact with Gino the local rally official. We could see other yachts in the lagoon and were guided to enter. We were told how to enter the lagoon behind the reef..

We were made very welcome and the port check-in was painless and organized by Gino. He asked us for sunglasses but we didn’t have any to spare so Eric gave him a pair of orange rimmed safety glasses which were unique and he continued to wear. His headquarters were alongside the Dinghy dock/ restaurant

They had organised teenage "guides" to show us around and interpret, no payment was required, they just wanted to practice their English. 

Wakatobi is a marine park consisting of 4 islands whose initials make up the name. We envisioned a small sleepy village not the busy and overpopulated Wangi Wangi which is the main commerce centre for Wakatobi. They have 3 markets spread around, a morning, mid-day and night time market. The night time one is the most fun and you can eat your fill of prepared food and snacks for very little money. None of the vendors tried to rip us off. Overall the food in Indonesia is pretty good and very cheap.

There's less rubbish in the water here as the population is beginning to realize they have something worth protecting and dive tourism is just beginning to take hold.

We were anchored near the mosque and if we weren’t woken before sunrise with the call for prayer, we hardly slept at all with sermons and music throughout the night.

Some yachts left after few days.

We explored the floating village. The homes are built on reclaimed land made from coral and rocks taken from the reefs and lots are built on stilts. It was fascinating and children came out of the woodwork to smile and wave to us.

The government sponsored a free dinner and cultural dance show at a new resort, which included lavish food, dances and speeches. We were all called up to the stage and given gifts of brightly coloured woven scarves

The next day they invited the cruisers to a cultural festival being held as part of their Independence Day celebrations. The celebration abruptly ended when protestors began destroying one of the props, protesting among other things they resented the money the government was spending on the visiting yachts and that we were eating during the day. It was Ramadan and it is against their religion of Islam. The cruisers were escorted by the police back to the boats and were advised to stay onboard that night. The next day was Independence Day August 17 with more celebrations planned, but about 1/2 of the boats left in the morning including ourselves.. A sad ending to an otherwise good stay.

17th August......We stopped at a reef to do some swimming and snorkelling in the pristine water but a squall came through so we only stayed a day and night. We decided to sail to the unknown island of Batu Atu. Unfortunately there was no shelter there so we sailed on to Bona Rate island.

19th August.......This is a boat builders dream and Eric thoroughly enjoyed looking at the many boats under construction. He would have liked to have had time to teach the workers some boatbuilding skills.

We invited 2 of the men out to our boat as they were keen to see a modern boat and Eric showed them pictures of the building of our “Erica”

Everywhere we went children followed us. We made our way to the harbourmasters home to get our papers stamped and a letter was typed on his verandah. Children watched over the balcony as he used the typewriter

After 2 days we sailed on heading for Flores

23rd August.....Labuan Bajo, Flores

Labuan Bajo is a town to get in, get supplies then leave. The town is pretty dirty and the people were keen to get the tourist dollar. They have some tourism, mostly backpackers, and many local boats and dive boats to cater to them.

We hired a boatman and guide, Ardi and he organised a Bemo (van) to the morning market.

This way we didn’t feel too ripped off. 

After  a beautiful sunset and nights sleep we headed for the island of Rinja to see Komodo dragons. It was a very scenic route taking us close between islands and the mainland through fiords.

Fishermen stopped us to sell/trade crayfish. On our arrival we were visited by craftsman wanting to sell carvings and jewellery. We bought some black pearls and a Komodo dragon tooth

24th August.......We cautiously walked along the beach to find a dragon then got in the dinghy to safely follow one along the foreshore

26th August.......Now in the Indian ocean we had some strong currents and eddies flowing around the headlands and it didn’t ease until we got back up to the lee of Sumbawa island.

As we sailed along the top we saw many different boats.

We were visited by a man and his sons and they were most appreciative of the mask and snorkel and fishing gear we gave them. We accepted fresh fish from them and the next morning they arranged to visit us early  the next morning before we left.

27th August......They appeared at dawn with peanuts from their gardens for us. They wanted us to visit their village off Batu Kapal island but we had to keep going. We let the son steer our boat to the anchorage off their village then said our goodbyes

We noticed lots of fishing boats of varying designs as we continued across the top of Sumbawa Island stopping in the late afternoons for the night at Tg Djoeli, Palau Medang and Gili Lawang.

The mountainous landscape all the way to Lombok was spectacular. 

31st August......We tied up to mooring bouys fore and aft off  Medana bay where there was a  marina restaurant and were able to pull the boat back and tie to the wharf to fill up with water

A Cidomo pony ride to the local market for fresh fruit, vege and eggs was fun

Later the ponies were brought down to the water for a swim. The kids had fun in our kayaks

Lynda and Tony from SV Amazing Grace invited us to join them in a hire car to tour Lombok. Lynda was an exceptional driver taking us along the coast , through the very busy city streets of Mataram, then up to the mountains and back to the anchorage

We gave these monkeys our drinking coconuts which they loved

Threshing rice

coconut husks

3rd September..... Goodbye Medana Bay,Lombok

The mountains of Bali could be seen from Lombok and that’s where we headed for Mark to catch his flight from Denpasar to NewZealand.
We stayed the night at Lambongan Island at watched the surfers on the reef and the big ferries coming and going from Bali

4th September........We spent a few days at the Bali marina in Benoa harbour.

The marina was being readied for the Round the world ( ARC) rally fleet.These guys were trying to get this engine reassembled

 The water flowed in bringing rubbish which was pretty unpleasant. The restaurant was nice where we ate at a couple of times.

We walked to an industrial area to buy parts and noticed these fishermen coiling their lines

A driver took us around the Denpasar area to source engine parts and spares

The motorbikes and loads carried were amazing.  Often babies asleep with their heads on the handlebars with as many as 5-6 on a bike and others carrying huge loads.

Bro in law Mark took a tour on the back of a Harley Davidson before he left which he said was great.
All too soon it was time to say goodbye after 7 wks together... It was great to share the rally experience and give him the opportunity to cross an ocean, which was on his wishlist.  Looking forward to sailing with you in NZ with your yacht “Saffron”  Mark. 

We left Benoa harbour on the 9th September. While heading up the coast we noticed a guy on a kayak waving his arms so we went over to investigate. He had been surfing and had his inflatable kayak anchored but it had flipped and swamped his outboard motor. He had a very light paddle and hadn't been able to get back ashore and was drifting out to sea. He was an artist from Western Australia. He was pretty cold and tired so we gave him a warm shower and filled him with bacon and eggs.
He stayed with us for most of the day as we motored to the nearest port where he got a bus back to the Sanur beach area
My sister Margaret has a friend at Candidasa on the coast with a lodge, so we stopped there to meet her (4 sisters and I had a booking later in the month) before continuing up the coast.

We stopped at Losaka beach and T Jombelo beach overnight. All the way up the coast were resorts and the beaches were lined with umbrellas, sunbeds and boats

We arrived at Lovina beach in the north on the 13th of September.