Oops, nearly forgot!

Yes, we almost forgot to mention that we are now 'home' in our marina berth at MBTBC Marina, Manly Boat Harbour.

After dropping anchor at 2:30 a.m. at the Sandhills on Moreton Island for a few hours sleep, we headed on into the marina. We arrived just after 9:00 a.m. with a very excited 3-year old grandson there to welcome us. Our daughter, her husband and 1-year old granddaughter were also there and it was fantastic to see them all again.

Strangely, coming across Moreton Bay and into the Marina we felt as if we had never been away. A lot of the same boats were still there, some of the same people and it all seemed so familiar. Plus, the Bay was in a good mood with a light breeze, flat seas and blue sky. Then a busy day catching up with friends, putting covers up, etc. and then off to a street Christmas party with our daughter before finally falling into bed!

Position: 27 27.29 S, 153 11.315 E



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Getting There!

It's 1.15 a.m. and we are coming down the shipping lane in Moreton Bay. We crossed the Wide Bay Bar this morning to cover the remaining 113 NM to Manly. It has been a good day with some nice fast sailing at up to 8 knots. Late afternoon, just before Mooloolaba, the breeze dropped and the current changed direction so it has been a bit slow since about 6.00 p.m.

About that time we decided to check the weather situation but nothing much had changed except that to the south near the New South Wales border there were some thunderstorm cells making their way north. They were described as very dangerous! One was predicted to cross into Moreton Bay so we slowed down even more. We had noticed the cloud build up from where we were at least 60 miles away. We monitored the situation as being close to land we had a good internet connection. Yes, one could be heading our way. It was quite unbelievable though how within about 20 minutes that both systems decayed and disappeared from the screen! What a relief that was.

Once inside the protection of Moreton Island we had very calm conditions. It is a lovely night with a moon getting close to full and lots of stars. Ships have been coming and going since we entered the shipping lanes so we have been kept busy watching out for them.

We still have about another hour before we will drop anchor at the Sandhills on Moreton Island and have some sleep before we continue on our way after sunup to Manly and our berth in MBTBC Marina.

Position: 27 13.653 S, 153 20.088 E

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Getting Closer

Another 193 NM ticked off our distance to run to Brisbane. We left Rosslyn Bay Marina at 0500 a.m. yesterday morning and started off with some good sailing. Had the engine on for a couple of hours in the morning when the wind dropped away for a bit but then sailed again until about 0430 this morning before had to start the engine again. The most sailing we have done for a long time!

It was pretty lumpy from about sundown yesterday due to the following NE wind and the SE swell which was still apparent. By the time we got into Hervey Bay the wind had started to increase and by the time we made our way down the Great Sandy Straits to anchor just north of the shallows the wind was blowing 20-25 knots. It is forecast to drop down this evening when we are expecting some isolated thunderstorms.

We will leave early in the morning to catch the 0600 high tide over the shallows at Sheridan Flats and continue on through the rest of the Straits. We will probably then hang about this area until at least Saturday. There is a one-day window tomorrow which might get us as far as Mooloolaba but then Friday it is turning SE once again! We may be able to get away on Saturday to go overnight to Moreton Bay.

Position: 25 31.124 S, 152 57.194 E

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And For Our Next Trick...

After just surfing into the Keppel Bay Marina we think we'll give it a rest! Thirty-four hours and 203 NM after leaving Shaw Island we arrived at our destination. Almost. We had planned to anchor out at Great Keppel Island to wait for another southerly blow to go through but the forecast changed slightly today and the winds are set to last a few days longer than originally forecast. With having to motor so much we decided we would come in here to get more fuel and have a rest! Apart from Shaw the last couple of anchorages have been uncomfortable as we waited out southerly blows so we thought we would take the easy way out this time and be tied up snug in a marina.

Yesterday, when we left the winds were light and went from SE round to NE during the night. We actually did some sailing during the night but it was not the enjoyable experience it should have been. With the spring tides we had a lot of turbulence as the waters tried to rush between groups of islands along the way. Once around Cape Townsend this morning we thought things would improve but the lumpiness took over then the wind came up. It was pretty blustery out there and coming across the shallows to the marina the waves looked fairly threatening. Nothing scares Jon though and he brought Tweed safely into the marina riding a couple of waves along the way.

The marina has been expanded since we were last here in 2005 and using the diagram we had from back then we quickly picked out our berth as it was just around the corner after the entrance. That was it - second from the end and with 25 knots not giving us much chance to notice as fenders and lines were positioned, we went into a berth too small for us which is part of the extensions. Our berth was further down the pontoon! Darn, with the wind blowing us hard onto the dock it was too difficult to try and back out and go to the correct one so here we are until the wind eases a bit. Maybe after some sleep it will not seem such a daunting task.

Position: 23 09.661 S, 150 47.257 E

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Another Step South

With spring tides approaching we had quite a fast passage this morning from Airlie Beach to Burning Point on Shaw Island. We also had 10-15 knots on the nose which made for very uncomfortable conditions! Our speed varied from under 4 knots to over 7 knots depending on the turbulence. We had 3 knots of current with us. The wind definitely slowed us down! Very nice here in this anchorage though.

We now have just another 2-day weather window to get further south before more strong southerlies arrive. We hope to leave tomorrow and go overnight to Island Head Creek or even to Great Keppel Island. Conditions on the day will decide. We will have spring tides on Thursday and will be passing Thirsty Sound - the biggest tides in Queensland are in this area and the tide fairly sucks you into the sound or pushes you out! The range there will be over 8 metres on Thursday, a bit less where we will be. At least it won't be against us, just across us.

Position: 20 30.212 S, 149 03.024 E





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Another Blow from the SE

After a couple of days at Horseshoe Bay and enjoying some time ashore on Magnetic Island, we had a two-day window to get going southwards once again before the next southeaster comes in. We left early yesterday morning, Friday, to go 130 NM overnight to Airlie Beach. Conditions were quite good once the seas settled yesterday morning and the wind came round to the north. We managed to sail for about eight hours before it died off and it was back to motoring.

It was a good night passage with some cloud cover, no other traffic to worry about, and the moon rising some time after two o'clock.

We arrived here just after 6:00 a.m. The wind is still light from the north so it is pretty bumpy here at the moment but things will change early tomorrow when the southeaster comes in. Saturday farmers market gets underway this morning so we'll be off shortly to see what's on offer.

Position: 20 15.565 S, 148 43.287 E

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More on the Weather

Protected Juno Bay may have been but being anchored on a rocky bottom with a light westerly swell made for a wakeful night. Even with a snubber the anchor chain rumbled across the rocks with the rocking swell and also the bow roller needed lubricating so that was noisy as well!

A check of the weather this morning and the BOM had changed their predictions which now match the Gribs. Light N-NE this morning following by light E-SE this afternoon. Well, a good opportunity to lift the anchor and head down to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. The breeze was actually W-NW and we had a great first leg of six miles, doing high sevens, which was fantastic. The wind then eased off so it was motor sailing the rest of the way under blue skies - a first for a few days now.

We had noticed a prop vibration over the last couple of weeks and had ticked off a couple of possibilities. Once at anchor yesterday, Jon dived in to the water to check the cutlass bearing - maybe it was worn out with all the motoring. It was still as good as the day it went in but the prop wasn't feeling too good. Our feathering Max Prop had lost its grease - probably caused by all the motoring we have done over the last four and a half months. This was soon remedied with the prop now fully greased.

Today was the test for the prop vibration. It didn't seem quite as bad this morning but there was still a bit of a vibration present. Jon opened the floor and pressed on the intermediate bearing - aha, no vibration! One of the nuts had vibrated loose and fallen into the bilge. We stopped the engine and Jon retrieved the nut and washers and refitted them to the bolt. Vibration gone and now all nice and smooth once again.

Horseshoe Bay is almost deserted with just six boats here. Every other time we have been here it has been crowded out but then it is the end of the cruising season. We are expecting 15-20 knot E-SE tomorrow and then a bit less on Thursday but should be able to get away on Friday when they come back round to northerly. So a bit of R&R on this lovely island.

Only caught one small spotted cod yesterday but it went back for another go at life.

Position: 19 06.817 S, 146 51.540 E

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Anchored at Last!

Cruising is all about changing plans when necessary! Last night we continued on from Fitzroy rather than stay there and glad we did. Our plan was to continue to Little Pioneer Bay on Orpheus Island but this morning we changed our minds and planned to continue on to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. Our arrival time would have been 1700 at the earliest. On reflection we decided that it was going to be too exposed to the north easterlies so a last minute change saw us take a turn to port and we are now anchored in Juno Bay between Orpheus and Fantome Islands, in the Palm Group. It is only a few miles further on from Little Pioneer Bay but gives good protection from NE and SE.

We have had conflicting weather predictions overnight. Our Grib weather files are showing fairly strong south easterlies by Wednesday, however, the BOM continues to predict north easterlies. Who do we believe? We will probably stay here a day or two until the predictions sort themselves out and we are sure we can do the overnighter to Gloucester Island, at the top end of the Whitsundays, with northerlies. If the north easterlies continue there really aren't too many options on that leg so an overnighter it will be.

We have done 152 NM since leaving Port Douglas so a good slice out of our southward travels. The sky is overcast and gloomy but the wind is quite light at the moment. Friends tell us they have caught some nice fish in here so maybe it's time to put out a line.

Position: 18 40.131 S, 146 30.271 E



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Monday Already

Here it is, Monday already! We left Port Douglas yesterday morning just before 10:00 a.m. planning to stop overnight at Fitzroy Island. As we approached we decided to continue on to Pioneer Bay on Orpheus Island in the Palm Islands some time this morning. The weather seemed as though it was going to be a bit more stormy in the Cairns region so hoped to avoid that. There definitely was more activity when we looked back and about an hour and a half later Fitzroy had disappeared into the rain. We had some drizzle and could see some thunderstorms but they left us alone.

The wind varied from NW to SW and back to NW. Speed also varied so we did some motoring, some motor-sailing and managed a total of just three hours sailing up until 6:00 a.m. By the time we get the anchor down we will have done 145 NM, so a big section out of the way.

Position: 18 08.043 S, 146 19.244 E

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Where Are Those Northerlies?

Forecast northerlies seem to be avoiding us. We had light SSW winds during the night along with some drizzle for a few hours. Both dropped out though so we motored all the 133 NM from Howick to Marina Mirage in Port Douglas. We did have the engine off for a short time but less than two hours. The forecast is still for light NE winds so fingers crossed.

We arrived off the Low Islets about 5:30 this morning and were planning to drop anchor and have a sleep while waiting for the right tide to get in to Port Douglas. The anchorage seemed pretty full though so we just slowly motored the last 8 NM to give the tide a chance to come in a bit before we entered. We found the entrance was not too bad and the shallowest section was in the marina itself. We soon parted with lots of dollars as we refuelled once again and then went into our berth.

No rest for the wicked though. We took ourselves off to the supermarket to boost our provisions but as we were only on foot we ended up doing two trips using the shopping trolley to cart it all. We should be right now to probably get as far as Bundaberg, especially if the winds do the right thing.

So a very tiring couple of days and we are looking forward to a nice meal of mackerel and an early night.

Position : 16 29.158 S, 145 27.573 E

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En route Port Douglas

We are now en route to Port Douglas, an overnight passage from Howick Island. Late this morning the weather closed in and now it is light drizzle with no wind. Not sure how long this will last but should be able to anchor at Low Isles tomorrow morning prior to entering Port Douglas when the tide is getting high.

Position 1630: 15 11.123 S, 145 23.039 E

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Fish and Ships

We have forgotten to mention our fish catches! Two days ago we landed a 70 cm mackerel tuna. This is a red meat fish and if bled immediately and the dark meat removed they come up really well when lightly oiled, rolled in cracked pepper and quickly seared. More melt-in-the-mouth than a rib eye fillet, believe me. Yesterday we hooked a very big fish which we decided was too big to land or keep. We were trying to work out how to release it when it flipped and snapped the line. That's one more fish in these waters with a 'piercing' - we aren't the only ones to have lost gear to a big fish. This morning we hooked another large fish but we weren't sure what it was. Unfortunately, it also managed to get free but not without somehow catching itself once again on the lure and then getting free. This afternoon another catch was finally landed. This time a 1-metre Spanish mackerel. That one went into the fridge. As well as these catches we have had strikes but were unable to set the hook so no catch. We have enough fish now to keep us going a few days.

The shipping lanes have been very busy today. After seeing only one or two ships along the way, today we have had ten coming south and four going north. We were surprised to see that more than half made their way past Howick Island which is not marked as a shipping channel on our charts. They were big container ships doing 20 knots weaving their way through the reefs. We were glad of a light easterly this afternoon as we chose to anchor on the SW corner of Howick rather than the northern side where the wake from the ships would come into the anchorage. Some, even the big ones, have barely discernible wakes but some have a double wave which is quite violent as it passes us. Mostly Maersk Line ships. Maybe it is the shape of their props.

Today has been another day of motoring as the wind has been very light. Motoring out of Owen Channel this morning as the sun came up, the rocky hills of Stanley Island turned a gorgeous red. It would have been nice to have spent a few days there. As we passed Cape Melville we could see the huge granite boulders that cover it and make up the several small islands off it. They seem to be unique to this particular area. Thunderstorms have built up over the Peninsula and have mostly decayed. The water has been the most brilliant turquoise. Queensland waters certainly have a lot going for them.

Position: 14 30.153 S, 144 56.917E

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Flinders Group

We left the tiny sand cay at Morris Island and had another mixed day today. Light SE followed by a slightly stronger SSE where we could turn off the engine. Then it dropped off before a NE came in and we finished the day with a nice sail to the Flinders Group off Cape Melville. We are anchored off the south of Flinders Island just off the entrance to Owen Channel, separating Stanley Island.

These islands are continental islands as opposed to sand cays or coral atolls. The anchorage is very protected in the conditions, which are fairly light but we have heard there could be thunderstorms crossing Cape York and coming east. We have seen thunderstorms each night, usually over the land, but so far have not had any come near us. We are well anchored here though.

Still undecided about tomorrow. May go as far as Howick Island tomorrow and then overnight to Port Douglas, or overnight to Hope Island and then a day sail to Port Douglas. Stay tuned....

Position: 14 10.754 S, 144 13.733 E

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Morris Island

A reasonably good run today with some motor sailing and some sailing. Arrived Morris Island just after 4:00 p.m., 60NM from Portland Roads. A nice little island with a big reef behind it which offers good protection in the SE. Today is a bit more easterly though so it is a bit bumpy here with a fresh 10-15 knot breeze. Hopefully it will settle down overnight.

Tomorrow we will overnight to Howick Island or may even continue on to Port Douglas. Will see how it pans out.

Position : 13 29.530S, 143 43.250 E


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We have been sailing!

Good conditions today for a nice sail down to Portland Roads. Once we left the anchorage at Margaret Bay and were clear of the islands, we turned on to our course to motor sail for a short time. The wind then came to the party and we sailed for the rest of the day with a nice forward of the beam 10-12 knots kicking us along at 6+ knots for most of the day. We cut down through a reef area to stay on course and the seas were flat. We dropped our three sails just out of the anchorage to motor in. Just perfect.

There is a small settlement here and during the gold rush further inland it was used to land supplies. Still no mobile phone or internet though. It's a nice protected anchorage in these winds.

Tomorrow we hope for more of the same on our next leg to Morris Island.

Position: 12 35.669 S, 143 24.317 E

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Margaret Bay

A long day! Up at 3:45 to leave by 4:00 this morning. As we motored out of Escape River the almost-full moon set behind us and the sky started to lighten ahead of us. We followed our inbound track out in the darkness with no problems and set off for Margaret Bay, 71 NM away. We pushed current for longer than anticipated - the tide never seems to turn when you think it will. The wind was at the right angle so we managed to get some sailing in for a while until we had to come back into the wind a bit so then motor sailing the rest of the way. The tide didn't seem to come with us though but nevermind.

Very different moving down the coast of Cape York. It is very flat with some reddish rocky headlands, scrubby vegetation, and very white sandy beaches. Such a contrast to the volcanic islands of Indonesia. The other big contrast is that it is so isolated and sparsely populated along here. No fishing boats pulled up on the beaches or any sign of habitation. This also means no mobile phone towers or internet! It is also not as hot or humid here which is surprising. We just assumed it would be more of the same as we are still in the tropics. It has been quite pleasant most of the time and great for sleeping.

It is still such a long way to get to Brisbane but day by day we will be making our way southward. Once we get into the northerlies we will be on our way! They are already blowing further south so not much longer before we hope to be sailing more and motoring less.

As we are now back in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park we have to be aware of the zones where we are not allowed to put out a troll line. Our charts are marked but not sure how up to date they are.

Tomorrow our destination will be Portland Roads, about 50NM.

Position: 11 57.425 S, 143 12.247 E

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Escape to Escape River

A late start from Simpson Bay waiting for the turn of the tide. It was a bit slow to turn but we left anyway and pushed 2.5 knots for a while getting out into the open water. Across the top we went into a 15 knot breeze which wasn't too bad as we were actually in behind the Great Barrier Reef so no swell to thump us. We had a glimpse of Cape York between the two islands off the top and then it was round the corner and into Albany Passage. Here, the speed finally picked up and we were doing over 8 knots with the current flowing south. It was our first time here as when we came north in 2006 we did an overnight from Margaret Bay and went outside Albany Island and continued on to Seisia.

Despite the 15 knots and sometimes higher breeze the conditions were not too bad and we arrived off Escape River just on low tide. Across the bar we had a lowest depth of about 3.6 metres so 1.2 under the keel. Not too nerve-wracking but good to be over it. We made our way into the river keeping watch for mud banks which were exposed with the low tide. We had pearl farms on our port which we went past and then anchored in 7 metres.

It was soon brought to our notice that on the opposite bank there was a crocodile visible. Sure enough there was and he was a beauty! Looked very well-fed indeed. No walks tonight.

Plan for tomorrow is to leave early, about 0400, and get to Margaret Bay about 72 NM south of here.

Position: 10 58.350 S, 142 40.186 E



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Simpson Bay

An easy day today - just under 10 NM up the coast a bit to Simpson Bay, inside Possession Island. Possession Island is where Capt Cook took possession of the east coast of Australia from here to 38 deg south (near Lakes Entrance). Wind still gusting 20+ so hope it eases off a bit tomorrow for the passage over the top and down the east coast. We should catch the tide and pass through Albany Passage and thence on to Escape River. Mud crabs? Mmmm, let's hope so.

Position: 10 44.926 S, 142 24.992 E

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Arrival Seisia

Arrived Seisia at midday, almost exactly the time we predicted. The night went well despite a thunderstorm to the north of us. We had a little rain but overall pretty good. The wind gusted up this morning with some showers about the place but they cleared and the sun came out again. Seven boats were already in the anchorage and six have arrived today. Needless to say the anchorage is rather crowded. There is just a central channel and then it is quite shallow so not a lot of room.

We will be here until at least Thursday waiting out some strong winds over the next couple of days. It will then lighten off and we should be able to get round the tip of Cape York and start southwards down the Queensland coast.

Position: 10 50.874 S, 142 24.774 E

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En Route Seisia

We are now almost at the end of our second full day since leaving Gove. We departed on Friday about 3:00 p.m. to confront the 15-20 knot sea breeze which was blowing outside the harbour. The seas were petty lumpy and residual swell from the previous few days was very uncomfortable. We battled on though to pass the shoals north of Bremer Island. This island, not far out of Gove, was very tempting to head to, to find a quiet anchorage, but that would have just delayed the agony. We soon turned on to our course of ENE but this had the wind head on so we altered our heading southward a bit to make the ride more comfortable. This continued on through the night with the boisterous conditions making it difficult to get any sleep but we both managed to snatch a bit here and there.

The sun came up and this was a positive as now there were only two more nights to go. We made east southeast until late morning and were 20 NM south of our rhumb line but winds were predicted to come round east southeast which would allow us to come back onto course. The weather files were correct and about lunchtime we altered course, the wind eased, the seas slowly dropped off and the swell was looking less than the 2-2.5 metres it had been.

It's amazing how Tweed can ride these swells quite nicely but all of a sudden everything gets out of sync and the swells bash into her bow and slows her down, taking a minute or two to get back up to speed. Some are worse than others and occasionally the bowsprit buries itself with a shudder. Hate that.

While eating our lunch, the fishing line went off... we had a fish... on our new Halco lure! We quickly wound in and landed a 60-cm Northern Blue Fin tuna. It was immediately humanely killed with a spike to the brain, bled, cleaned and put in the fridge for cook to deal with later.

Conditions settled fairly quickly during the afternoon and then late in the day the engine surged. Fuel filters and fuel tanks were changed and inspection revealed that the starboard tank was contaminated. This was fuel bought in Tual, our last port in Indonesia. We had filtered it through the Baja filter going into the tank and added biocide. We knew at the time that it was really dirty but not a lot more we could have done. The big problem is that the fuel came from open 44-gallon drums and was ladled by hand into our jerry cans. The port tank is showing no sign of contamination and has been filled totally with diesel from Gove which, along with the 80 litres on deck, should see us through to Seisia.

A very comfortable and quiet night followed and the pace picked up. Now just one more night left at sea. We had only achieved 118 NM during our first 24 hours and anything would be better than that. We passed our half way mark and had some current with us. We overtook a catamaran during the night and drew closer to another boat which had not gone south the previous day as we had. Tweed was doing well.

So far today, the wind picked up again from the ESE this morning but not quite as strongly as yesterday and the swell is not the battering ram it was. It should ease off during the afternoon and remain light and variable for the rest of the passage.

Cook has taken the fillets of the tuna and even snuck a few slices of sashimi while doing it. Mmmm, better than fresh-shucked oysters and it doesn't wriggle. We think seared tuna is the way to go. We'll see what the sea conditions are like when it is time for dinner.

ETA Seisia about lunchtime tomorrow, Monday.

Position at 1448 NT time: 11 17.348 S, 140 30.748 E


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Gove

Since arriving in Melville Bay, Gove, late Sunday we have had a busy time. Most of Monday was taken up with clearance procedures. This all went very well. Customs and Border Protection were happy with us and did a quick check below, opening cupboards, etc. We had nothing to hide so no problems. The Quarantine man just took our fresh vegies which were by then quite minimal. He did a visual check of other items I thought may have been confiscated but they all checked out OK. A hull inspection and a check under the floors also found nothing of interest so we paid our $330 and we were free to go ashore.

We are anchored off the Gove Boat Club but unfortunately the club was closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It is manned by volunteer staff so is not open every day. The only other notable sites around the bay were the bauxite processing plant, which is huge and is lit up at night like a large cruise ship, and the very long loading jetty off the end of the point. The bay is huge, quite shallow and very protected. There are a lot of local boats moored or anchored here with some liveaboards. Seven boats were cleared in on Monday and two the previous Friday. All from Indonesia. Some of these have already left to cross the Gulf, more are leaving this afternoon and others tomorrow.

The closest township is Nhulunbuy, about 15 mins by car. We have shared hire cars while here which has worked out well. We have all had to purchase diesel and more food and the local Woolies has been great. They keep their prices the same Australia-wide so we were surprised at the lowish prices. The barge full of fresh produce had arrived on Monday so the shelves were full of a good range of fruit and veg as well as meat. We did buy some meat from a local butcher and the Scotch fillet was the excellent - very tender.

Tuesday, eleven of us enjoyed a Melbourne Cup lunch at the Arnhem Club. $25 for a hot and cold buffet plus a complimentary drink. Pam won $60 on the sweep so that was a nice bonus for the day. Most people in our group seemed to win something. All good fun.

We hope to catch some fish in the Gulf. We are loaded with new lures which are guaranteed to at least catch a mackerel. Time will tell. Also have a new crab pot so looking forward to fresh mud crab along the way down the Queensland coast.

We will be leaving this afternoon about 4:00 for the 360 NM crossing and hope to arrive in Seisia on Monday. We will keep a watch on the winds on the tip of Cape York and maybe even get around there.

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Arrival Gove

The last leg of our passage from Indonesia to Gove has finally been completed! We are now anchored off the Gove Yacht Club in Inverell Bay, Gove. We left the lovely anchorage at Elizabeth Bay at midday to time our arrival here after 4:30 p.m. We will now be officially checked into Australia along with the five other boats that arrived today by Customs, Immigration and Quarantine some time after 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Sail down today was a beam reach with a lumpy swell and winds about 15 knots. Coming between the islands as we left Elizabeth Bay was quite smooth until the last section when we had a lot of turbulence throwing us about the place, or the couple of things that hadn't been stowed securely! Once clear of the turbulence the sailing was good but would have been better if we had not been trying to slow ourselves down to arrive later than 4:30.

The anchorage here is well protected and very flat. There is not a lot to see apart from a long bauxite loading jetty, the bauxite processing plant and what we think is part of the bauxite mine - the earth there is a brilliant shade of red. The land is very flat as is all the land we have seen so far. Scrubby vegetation with a few taller trees in behind and mangroves lining some sections of the shore. In front of us is the Gove Yacht Club - out of bounds to us until tomorrow - which we have heard is very welcoming so maybe looking forward to a Melbourne Cup lunch on Tuesday.

Position: 12 11.96 S, 136 42.173 E

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Through the Hole

Up at dawn this morning to make tracks to the Hole in the Wall. We arrived just on the end of the flood tide which flows east and it carried us through nicely. A little turbulence towards the eastern end but once clear we experienced more turbulence for about a mile as the water bundled its way into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Wind was now easterly and had a great sail, without the engine, all the way to Elizabeth Bay, about 25 NM. Anchored in 11 metres in turquoise waters just north of some extensive pearl farms. The pearl farms are bounded by markers which have radar reflectors on them - how civilized. As we are in quarantine until cleared we have had to stay aboard all day so doing a few jobs prior to arriving in Gove tomorrow.

We are expecting slightly stronger winds tomorrow but they should weaken slightly by the afternoon. We will leave here about midday, arriving in Gove after 4:30, we hope.


Track us at http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VMQ8796

Anchored in Australian waters

For the first time since 2006 we are anchored in Australian waters. We arrived just before 2:00 p.m. Central Australian time and dropped anchor in 6 metres of beautiful turquoise water in Guruliya Bay. We have travelled 414 NM since leaving Woha Bay in Indonesia in just less than three and a half days in reasonable conditions. A bit bouncy at times and a lot of motoring but we have experienced a good passage compared to others who have come this way before us and had a hellish time. We are thankful for this and that we did not have to wait very long for our weather window to Australia.

Now we are surrounded by an ancient land which has a beauty all its own. The Wessel Islands are very flat with low scrubby vegetation, white sandy bays and sandstone headlands, surrounded by clear blue waters, and in deep contrast to the rich and volcanic islands we have just travelled past in Indonesia. All are beautiful though. Guruliya Bay is referred to by yachties as The Boot due to its shape and provides very good protection in waters less than 10 metres - another contrast to recent anchorages.

We had hoped to arrive earlier today so that we could have done the transit through the Hole in the Wall and continued on to Gove. This would have allowed us to clear customs, immigration and quarantine before the weekend. Now we have to try and delay our arrival until late Sunday but the weather is not looking that good for Sunday. Mmmm, we were led to believe we could just sit on our boats and wait until Monday but now it seems if we arrive Saturday they will clear us on Sunday at overtime rates. It's all a bit too hard to think about now as it's time to rest up.

Position: 11 35.974 S, 136 17.704 E






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Blog: www.svtweed.blogspot.com

A Better Day

Well, what started out as a good day yesterday, ended up an even better day! Just after sunup we had a big pod of Spotted Dolphins join us for well over half an hour. It was fantastic to watch them swimming along with us at the bow and alongside, leaping out of the water and generally looking like they were having fun. They always give you a good feeling.

The prediction for the winds to strengthen slightly and come further east did not happen. The winds stayed light, the seas almost completely flattened out, and with hardly any swell to bother us we started to make good time. Our hopes to reach the Hole in the Wall seemed attainable. These conditions continued for the whole day under mostly sunny skies.

Early in the afternoon we had our first flyover from Australian Customs and Border Control. They sounded very nice as they took our details, visiting five yachts in the vicinity. They assured us that so long as we did not go ashore or visit any of the other yachts while at anchor we would be able to delay our official check-in procedures until Monday morning. This will allow us to avoid paying the $288 overtime fee on top of the $330 fee we will pay to AQIS for quarantine clearance. Our plan is to anchor just south of the entrance to the Hole in the Wall tonight and then pass through the Hole tomorrow morning just on the top of the flood tide. We will then continue to Gove where we will stay at anchor with getting off the boat until clearance on Monday.

The Hole in the Wall or Gugari Rip is the strait between Guluwuru and Raragala Islands in the Wessel Island group. It is about 1.5 NM in length and less than a mile wide. The tide can travel through there at up to 12 knots. It is best to do the transit on the slackening tide so you can enjoy the scenery and also maintain control of the boat. We have not done this pass before so are looking forward to it.

Today looks set to be another beautiful day. We managed to do another 133 NM on our third day and now have less than 45 NM to get to our anchorage.

Position: 10 55.02 S, 135 56.35 E


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Another slow day

Light winds yesterday morning did not last that long. We did have the engine off for about three hours but then the wind came further to the SE so sails furled and engine on. Winds about 15 knots and swell cotninued to keep our speed down. A bank of cumulus clouds continued to come across us. Some developed black bottoms and dropped torrential rain behind us but not on us. Wind strengthened to 15-20 which slowed us even more and this continued on into the night. Quite boisterous.

Wind eased back a bit by 3:00 a.m. and came slightly more to the east allowing us to use the cutter sail once again which improved our speed. Too tight for the headsail though. The sun is now up and we still have about 177 NM to run to the Hole in the Wall.

It seems the easterly winds predicted a few days ago have changed to ESE and a little stronger. May have another boisterous day but should start to calm down once we get closer to land.

Some stats:

Passed halfway point to Hole in the Wall waypoint, 206NM, just before midnight. 42.5 hours.
Day two: 104 NM, Day one: 131 NM :( with 177 NM to go.
Fish count: Troll - fish nil, plastic bags, not even one (a significant change). Morning inspection of deck: 12 flying fish, all dead. Yesterday: 9 flying fish, all dead.

Track us at http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VMQ8796
Blog: www.svtweed.blogspot.com

How Slow Can You Go?

A long 24 hours has seen us make only 131 NM. Conditions when we departed yesterday were light head winds and a 1.5-2 metre swell which kept our speed down. It was quite uncomfortable and made you quietly think "what the heck are we doing here?". Thankfully, time passes, and during the evening we crossed our final deep channel of over several thousand metres to the relatively shallow waters less than 50 metres between New Guinea and Australia. The swell seemed to drop out after that making the motoring more comfortable.

The lights and looms of fishing boats along the way gave us some light until the small crescent moon rose just on 2.00 a.m. lighting our way until dawn.

This morning the predicted easterly tentatively came up at about 10 knots. It was enough to turn off the engine and hoist all three sails and enjoy some quiet time. Slow though, at about 4 knots, so we have the problem now of trying not to arrive in Gove before late Sunday to avoid the extortionate quarantine fees which are doubled at weekends. Today's wind predictions are showing easterly for the rest of our passage and they should pick up but will it be enough to get us into Gove on Friday?

Track us at http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VMQ8796
Blog: www.svtweed.blogspot.com

Ready, Set And About To Go

Monday has come and gone and we are still anchored off Woha Island. A change of plan this morning and we are now set to leave early tomorrow, Tuesday, and set sail for Gove. There is a good weather window over the next few days and seems too good an opportunity to miss. We should be in Gove by Friday! Wow, cheddar cheese, vegemite, red meat!

The wind may be a little strong tomorrow but should be bearable and then it lightens off so should be able to motor-sail or even sail with the wind angle to make the west side of the Wessels. We will then go through the Hole in the Wall and on to Gove. We haven't been through the Hole in the Wall before so looking forward to that.

So, today we have been busy doing last minute jobs prior to our arrival in Australia. Jon has dived on the hull to remove any remaining barnacles and growth. The dinghy has been stowed on deck. Food has been cooked. Fuel filters changed. Australian Customs notified of our change of arrival port and ETA. The suddenly noisy fridge cooling water pump has been cleaned and is running quietly. The only fishing boat to come near since arriving here was sent off with a bag of vegies and other goodies which we will no longer need and which we would not be able to bring into Australia. They certainly had nice big smiles when they left.

The other big news was that today we celebrated Jon's 70th birthday. Thanks to all those who remembered!

Track us at http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VMQ8796

Almost through Indonesia

Since the last post we have made a lot of progress and are now checked out of Indonesia, but still in Indonesian waters for a bit.

Our last reported anchorage was as Wakal on the northern Ambon coast. Our next stop was at Saparua Island a little to the west of Ambon. It was a very good anchorage and just tucked in around the corner from the SE swell. There was plenty of room in about 18 metres on hard sand to choose from.

Ashore was a very good market with lots of fresh produce to choose from but no fresh chickens. It seems in these parts we just have to be satisfied with frozen chicken from Surabaya. There is always fish available though. It was a very colourful place and one day when we get good internet we will publish some of the pictures we have taken. We felt the people were not quite as friendly here but with a bit of effort on our part they soon thawed out. Mostly Christian here although there was a small surau, or Muslim prayer room, attached to one of the houses close to the markets.

We left the next morning for a short trip across to Nusalaut Island where we made our way into the anchorage through some reef areas. As we approached a fishing boat hailed us and showed us the way in as the light was not that good for picking out the reefs. It was quite deep though as well as close to reef areas and we did not really feel that comfortable. We had a snorkel on the reef but soon were packed up ready to go and we left on another night passage to Banda.

Beautiful Banda! We enjoyed our stay here where we were moored stern-to to some palm trees, a bow line to a big mooring buoy and the anchor down the side of the drop-off just ahead of the bow in 30 metres. Our stern was in about 7 metres. The next morning just after sunup brought a squall which had us on our toes as we drifted close to the boat next to us. One of our lines slackened as the wind came from our starboard bow area. The slack line went below their boat and we had both started our engines just in case as we were blown quite close to the rocks behind us. Unfortunately, our line had actually caught above their prop and when they put it in gear the rope was wound around it. A few panicky minutes before it was cleared with our line having to be cut. The wind soon died down and we were able to reorganise our lines so that this would not happen again which luckily it didn't.

We were just off the Banda Yacht Club and Caesar, the owner, was away in Ambon but the staff were very accommodating with a nice area for sundowners and a couple of memorable meals. A local guide was employed and we went on a tour of Banda Besar Island where we saw nutmeg, clove and cinnamon trees as well as a local almond which is nothing like an almond but the nut bears a resemblance. The guide was great and it was all very interesting and informative. We stopped off at a local coffee shop where nutmeg coffee is the go. We then went off to a lava flow on Api island which is home to an active volcano. It last blew in 1998 when a whole village was demolished. There are now no villages on the island. We snorkelled off the lava flow which was supposed to be very good but didn't really impress us.

The town had a lot of Dutch and British colonial buildings still in use and the whole is overseen by a fort which is still in good condition. It seems every town we have seen since arriving at Ambon has a Portuguese/Dutch fort which housed the colonials to keep them safe. They needed to be kept safe knowing how they exploited the natives. On Banda 14,000 out of 15,000 locals were massacred in one incident. People from Java and Sulawesi were relocated to repopulate the island. So much history but not enough room to expand on it here.

We left Banda for another overnight passage to Tual in the Kei Island group. Our primary purpose for going there was that it is an arrival/departure port and we had our clearance papers done there with Immigration, Harbour Master and Customs. The first two were straightforward although a bit slow but the Customs took over six hours. There was so much paperwork to complete. One being the export of our boat. Under Indonesian policy our boat has to be imported and then exported. Payment is waived as we are a private sail boat. Somehow our agent, Raymond Lesmana, had not supplied the export papers and when contacted we were told to do it ourselves! Very disappointing attitude. One form Jon filled in by hand was not acceptable and the staff then set about recreating the document on Excel so they could print it! So, six hours later we were finally able to leave with all our clearance papers done.

We are now anchored near Woha Island and will leave this afternoon for the Aru group of islands to await a weather window for Australia. This may be as early as later this week. We are getting GRIB files with weather predictions each day to help us decide when to leave. Our aim is to get to Weipa but may have to settle for Gove given the wind direction. Time will tell.

Position: 05 48.854 S, 132 34.695 E

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Ambon

Here we are, anchored off a little village called Wakal on the northern coast of Ambon Island. A long two days. We left Tawa Island yesterday morning at 10:00 a.m. for the overnight passage timing it to arrive at Selat Kelang around dawn. All went well. The southerly wind didn't blow up like it had the day before which meant motoring all the way. We heard of another boat which left the western end of Obimayor and ended up taking 48 hours to get to Ambon as they were punching into 15-20 knot southerlies most of the way. So, it was a good decision of ours to wait another day. Better the sound of the engine than the noise of the boat pounding into the waves.

Late in the day we saw some spinner dolphins as well as a couple of whales. They were a bit far off though. We also saw two 'torpedoes', 2-3 metre steel cylinders anchored in depths up to 4,000 metres. These are FADs or fish aggregation devices and are usually unlit. Always a worry for yachties. There was no shipping, no fishing boats or anything else to avoid. The moon was up until about 2.00 a.m.

We arrived at our first choice of an anchor spot about 1:30 but with four boats it was difficult to find anything suitable. It was very deep - several hundred metres - rising up to a narrow shelf close to shore lined with reef. We spent some time meandering from bay to bay in a thunderstorm looking for something more suitable. Eventually we found a 'roomy' patch off the village of Wakal. It was still deep though and we dropped anchor in 32 metres - our deepest yet. A bit of a hitch though when some of our anchor rode followed the chain and the condition after sitting in an anchor locker for years on end did not look very confidence boosting. We then spent a bit of time hauling in the section that had gone out on the windlass until we had the chain safely back on the gipsy.

The sky then cleared, as well as the air. An interesting spectacle on the shore this afternoon was a young lad walking down to the water with a chicken - dead and plucked, etc. He walked into the water and then washed it, taking quite a while to make sure it was nice and clean!

Position: S 3 35.223, E 128 09.222

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An Easy Day

Light winds today meant five hours of motoring along the coast of Pulau Obimayor to our anchorage near the small Pulau Tawa. With just 25 NM to run we were there just on lunchtime. Entrance to the anchorage was through a channel between some reefs but with a sunny sky and the sun overhead, it was all very easy. Just prior to arriving at the entrance the wind piped up to 20-25 knots but being off the land it wasn't a problem and we found a spot where it is very protected in water about 10 metres all around.

The wind files for tomorrow are not looking that good for our next leg to Ambon which will take us west of Ceram and through a narrow channel southwards. Currents there are reported to be strong so we have to try and time it right. It will be about 100 NM to the entrance so another overnight passage for us. If we don't get the time right we have some anchorages in mind to wait out the right tide. So we intend to have a lay day tomorrow and do some relaxing...maybe.

No fish caught or whales seen today. The other three boats here did see some dolphins but we must have been looking the wrong way.

Position: S 01 32.868, E 128 03.066

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A Whale of a Day

Left our calm anchorage in the lagoon on Tuesday just after 0600, safely crossed the reef in the dawn light and motored into the 10-15 knot breeze to Bacan Island. We entered the Strait Sambaki with current in our favour but wind up to 20 knots straight up the strait onto our nose. Quite turbulent in the narrower sections but quite easy.

In this section we found that our Navionics App was spot on while the Plan2Nav App was out the same as the CMap charts. The Google Earth overlays were spot on as well.

We sussed out one anchorage on the Nusara Island to the west of Labuha but ended up choosing the well-protected deep Belangbelang Bay, just to the north of it. Position: 00 36.617 S, 127 25.025 E

Wednesday we all motored across the 4 NM to anchor off Labuha. Fuel was quickly organised at a good price and then we set off down the main road along the shore to find the ATM, fish markets and traditional markets. It was a noisy walk with many becaks (trishaws) passing us with their car battery-powered boom boxes blaring out. The road was lined with small shops selling the usual bits and pieces and food items. The fish markets were surprisingly clean. We came back later and bought a nice sized tuna for Rup20,000 as we found the asking price of Rup450,000 was a bit over the top for a small frozen chicken from Java. That's A$2 compared to A$45!

Along another noisy street to find the traditional markets which had most things we needed (just no fresh chicken). By the time we had finished our business the onshore wind had sprung up so we hurried back to the jetty in a becak, loaded the jerry cans aboard the dinghy and went back to the boat. We quickly up-anchored and set off back to our nice protected bay.

Our view of Bacan Island was dominated by the massive 2,200-metre Mount Sibela. It was mostly covered in cloud but very impressive. We left this morning, Thursday, at 0600 with grey, overcast skies to continue southwards and arrived at Tanjung Anggai on Obimayor Island just on 1500. Best day's sailing we have had for a while. Once we cleared Bacan Island and the turbulence we had about 10-15 knots which was enough for us to switch off the engine.

A nice surprise was to pass through a pod of whales which we think from the pics may have been Humpbacks. They were not that close and as they surfaced we could only see their backs - couldn't see their heads or tails.

The wind increased up to 20 knots and we were getting along at high 6s and high 7s. We would have gone faster if we were not pushing 1.5-2 knots of current. It was quite gusty as we came behind the island to the north of us but no swell to deal with so pretty good sailing.

On anchoring we were met by several fishermen in their tiny dugout fishing boats. Very friendly though and they didn't ask for anything. We later gave them some fishing tackle - we still have a large number of weights which the tackle shop owner we met in Taiwan gave us in 2010 - plus hooks that we don't seem to use.

Position: S 01 21.223, E 127 45.101

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Back into the Southern Hemisphere

Today we finally crossed the Equator! A couple of days later than we thought we would. Ternate was very busy the first day, meeting up with Infinity V, getting fuel, groceries, etc. so the next day we decided would be a rest day before we set off the 60 NM to our next destination. Saturday was fairly busy as well as we decided to take on more fuel. Easier to keep the tanks topped up and the jerry cans full while we can. We also took a walk further down town past the mega mall to the traditional markets. The markets seemed to go on forever and you wonder how so many vendors can sell all the same things and who is buying it all. We opted to buy a live kampung chicken (free range from a village rather than imported frozen from Surabaya). At least this one was cleaned properly.

Nights we went ashore to eat at the food stalls which are set up in the late afternoon and go through until three or four in the morning when all the stalls are disassembled and taken away. Busiest time is between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. We were in bed by then. Enjoyed the food though - barbecue fish, chicken and side dishes with a huge plate of rice, then the next night, chicken and goat satay, and gado gado. There was a lot of atmosphere and walking back to the jetty there were people everywhere. Along the 'strand' the other side of the jetty were food carts, one after the other, all selling steamed sweet corn in the husk.

Sunday morning we were up with the call to prayer at 4:45. With numerous mosques blaring out the call at top volume it is difficult to stay asleep any longer. It was a good time to get on the internet though as after about 8:00 the network just cannot handle the volume. There was a strong signal but quite frustrating trying to get things done. One task was to capture Google Earth KAP files which we can overlay on OpenCPN for the proposed anchorages. The accuracy is very good.

So, back to getting the anchor up. As the boat was put in gear to head off a terrible clunking noise from the prop. Darn, something must have hooked onto it. We dropped anchor and then tried it again - still noisy, then reverse and that seemed to clear it. Back in forward and even worse clunking. Let out the chain and waited for a bit of light to appear in another hour. Jon went overboard at 6:00 and nothing on the prop. Engine on and in gear - noise gone and so were we. Had a good current with us as we headed down between the main Halma Hera Island and the chain of old volcanic islands going south.

About 18 NM down the track the engine gave a lurch and lost power. What now? Seemed like an overheating problem. Jon checked out a few things and decided it would be best to return to Ternate so our buddy boat Seventh Heaven came along with us. By this time the wind had died out and thent we were into the current. We maintained low revs keep the engine temp down to get us along at about 3 knots but coming around the last island we had some current and 15-20 to get us back to the anchorage. Dropped anchor and then Jon set about solving the engine problem and came to the conclusion that it was probably a blown head gasket. Not a problem, he could fix it but it would take a bit of time. Due to the wind over tide situation Tweed was not pulling back on the anchor so we decided to wait for the tide to slacken and then give the engine a good run under load to pull back on the anchor and see how the engine went. In the meantime Jon decided to go overboard to check the prop to see if anything had stayed stuck on it from the morning's prop problem. He was back up in a few seconds. We had picked up a big woven polypropylene bag and it was totally enclosing the prop apart from the tips of the blades! Wow, such a simple solution to what we thought was a big problem. We now realise that something on the prop does not necessarily cause any vibration or make a noise but it will of course cause the engine to overheat.

So a bit of a celebration aboard Tweed with crew from Daedalus Too and Seventh Heaven and then an early night. We were awoken once again by the mosques and on our way just after 5:00 a.m. Motor sailing again with variable winds and variable currents. Tweed crossed the Equator at 1:43 p.m. - we are now back in the southern hemisphere. We arrived in the anchorage on Kayoa Island just on 4:00 p.m. Using waypoints from Infinity V we navigated into the lagoon watching on Google Earth and also keeping a good eye out. We had to cross a reef just before our anchor spot and saw a nail-biting 4 metres at the shallowest. Anchored in 18 metres. Tonight an Equator Crossing party - a first for Infinity V.

The rubbish in the these waters is unbelievable. The water itself is very clean and clear but moving along there is an incredible amount of plastic - bags, shoes, packaging, etc. - floating past or suspended in the water and going down for metres. No wonder we caught the bag on our prop. We see this sort of rubbish in most places where there are people but this area seems to be the worst. Plastic is so widely used but its disposal is turning into a huge environmental problem. We see people everywhere just discarding their rubbish straight into the water. As yachties we always take our non-biodegradable rubbish ashore for disposal but unfortunately in some places it is just thrown on the ground in a heap and then later burned, or gone through to find anything worth keeping and then just tossed away.

Position: 00 00.719 S, 127 28.186 E

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Ternate

With 149 NM to cross the Molucca Sea to Ternate, we left Petimati along with Seventh Heaven at 7:40 for a night passage. Wind predictions were showing about 15 knots during the morning, easing in the afternoon and night. The predictions proved fairly true and we were able to sail for about four hours once clear of Sulawesi. Just after lunchtime though it was back to the engine and motor sailing!

Thunderstorms building over Sulawesi slowly crept out to sea but stayed behind and to the north of us. During the night though there was lots of thunder and lightning which seemed threatening but which stayed clear of us. We had some stars on and off but no moon. A bit more sailing in the early hours until just after sunup, which was pretty spectacular as the sun rose behind Ternate Island. The island is basically a very large still-smoking volcano. We were swept into the channel doing over nine knots and anchored off the town just on 9:00 a.m. Already anchored here was Infinity V who we hadn't seen since Miri - Pam since May and Jon since June. They hadn't seen another boat for six weeks and had been having a wonderful time cruising through Sulawesi.

No crosses predominating here though as in Manado and being a Friday the mosques were doing the calls to prayer almost nonstop. Definitely a Muslim town and we look forward to going ashore later.

We will be here one night before making a definite move to the south. Tomorrow we will cross the Equator and be in the southern hemisphere aboard Tweed for the first time since October 2006 and heading for the Land Down Under.

Position: 00 47.120 N, 127 23.476 E

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A Change of Latitude

The last anchorage at Wori ended up being a bit of a worry. It was a bit swelly when we arrived and we went ashore with some others for a drink and a meal at the little resort. Nice meal of local food.

We were all pretty tired from the night before in the Manado anchorage so were a bit put off when the wind came up at 11.30. Light at first but got up to 20 knots straight into the anchorage. It lasted for 3-4 hours 10-15 knots which meant the swell and waves got bigger and we had a very uncomfortable night with the boat rolling fairly violently side on to the swell once the wind died out.

This morning we made the decision with Seventh Heaven to leave Wori for a bay near Petimati. It was open to the north but was much further east and almost on the east side of Sulawesi - maybe the wind influence will be a bit better and islands to the north may provide some protection from the swell.

We had a light NE against us but current with us so a bit lumpy. The channel between the northern islands and the Sulawesi coast had some turbulence as we came through but the bay here so far is quite comfortable. The wind has come round to the SW off the land and the swell is low. Here's hoping for a quiet night before we leave for Ternate tomorrow.

Position: 01 41.063 N, 125 08.923 E

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Manado and Wori Bay

An early start yesterday morning when we left Bolaang Uki at 4:15 a.m. A couple of hours later the wind came up a bit and we reefed the main and had the cutter out and the engine off and were sailing along nicely. The wind soon died though and it was back to the engine on and headsail in. Some flat motoring so made some bread and did some washing and then the wind again. So one of those days.

We arrived in the anchorage at Manado about 4:30 p.m. and it was very exposed and not very nice. A few hundred yards out and the depths fall quickly to 1200 metres. There is no real protection from the swell which had dropped a bit and a light 5 knot NW which we hoped would drop out as evening arrived. We were on a bit of a sloping bottom but secure in 11 metres good mud with a rock wall not far behind us.

Position: 01 29.239 N, 124 49.960 E

Our night in Manado was not quite as bad as we thought it would be. The wind was light and the swell flattened somewhat so we managed some sleep! Manado is quite a big city with a population of over 1,000,000 people and 85% Christian. We noticed lots of churches with prominent crosses as we came along the coast towards it yesterday. Seemed quite affluent going by the number of late model cars around. The supermarket was pretty super with lots of goodies available. We didn't make it to the traditional market as it was a bit far.

Had a busy morning organising 160 litres diesel and doing a bit of provisioning plus Pam managed to fit in a haircut - first for a while.

By the time we finished all these chores it was 1.30 so we lifted the anchor and came 11 NM to Wori Bay. A bit deep here and not a lot of room with five yachts and some local fishing boats. One side of the bay is very shallow and exposed at low tide so not much to choose from.

We will probably leave tomorrow to get around the top of this part of Sulawesi ready to cross the strait to Ternate in the Halma Hera group of islands.

Position: 01 36.236 N, 124 52.010 E

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A Bit of a Dreary Day

With thin high cloud and lots of smoke haze, hardly any wind but some uncomfortable swell, it was good to finally arrive here at Teluk Bolaanuki.

We had a thunderstorm through the anchorage yesterday which although it didn't last long, generated a swell which has been with us day. We are tucked around the corner here and out of the swell so should be a quiet night.

An early start tomorrow means an early night tonight - we leave before sunup for Manado, 70 NM away.

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Another First?

The usual early start at 0530 this morning from Pulau Paleleh. Our initial plan was to anchor at Pulau Papaya but it was very exposed so we looked at a couple of bays on the mainland and they were too deep so plan three: continue on a bit more to what seemed to be a very protected bay at Teluk Tudi. This was a very good move as on our way the wind picked up to 15-18 knots from the NNW and our bay opened to the NE so we have lovely flat waters, depth of only 15 metres, the shallowest since Kalimantan, and plenty of distance from the fringing reefs.

Now the big news. (Almost) another first for us. We actually hooked a 90cm wahoo and landed it! First time we have had a fish aboard since about 2009 from memory. So guess what we are having for dinner? Certainly not tofu, or chicken.

Position: 00 52.569 N, 122 43.176 E

That Was Only a Week...?

Time flies when you are having fun. We have now crossed the Makassar Strait to Sulawesi, enjoyed three nights in Toli Toli, and now at our second stop along the northern coastline.

The crossing went well. We had 150NM to travel and left Maratua about 0730 last Friday for a very easy exit through the channel and were quickly in water which plunged to over 3000 metres. Current was with us and we had about 12 knots of breeze. We were moving along at good speeds and when the wind picked up a bit more were travelling at high 7s, 8s, 9s and even hit 10.2 knots! But wait...this is too fast - we will arrive at midnight. We did our best to slow down but Tweed just hung in there. With a double-reefed main we managed to get the speed down to around 4 knots and arrived off Toli Toli Bay at dawn.

Toli Toli town is in another bay inside the big bay and we made our way into the hazy anchorage where there were a few other boats at anchor. We had travelled with another two yachts and soon we were all anchored in about 20 metres. Position: 01 02.773 N, 120 48.372 E.

No time for sleep though! It was the beginning of three very busy days enjoying the welcoming hospitality of local guides - all students of English at the local college and extremely keen to practice their English.

The town sits below a rugged hinterland which rises just inland. The hills are covered in clove trees which is the main industry in this town. Most of the cloves are exported to China for cigarettes. We found out later that the fallen leaves are now gathered and exported to India for burning at funerals. Nutmeg and mace are also produced. It seemed a lot hotter and more humid than Kalimantan which we thought may be caused by the hills trapping the heat in. Even the locals seemed to suffer.

Along the shoreline near us there were some very big outrigger fishing boats. They were on the mud in low tide but floated off later in the day to go squid fishing out in the bay. We have only seen this type of boat before in the Philippines.

The next three days passed in a bit of a whirl. Hendra must take responsibility for most of this. Not only does he teach English at college and secondary school, he also works for the Ministry of Tourism and is a an excellent photographer as well. He organised fuel for us, going miles away when the local man decided to double his price. If you are ever looking for somewhere different to visit come to Toli Toli, you won't be disappointed!

Our guides, Dina and Aresty, took us to the markets, a visit to a secondary school to meet students, lunch at a local warung where we had a traditional dish called Tinutuan or Manado rice porridge. A welcoming dinner the first night including the most delicious gado gado and smoked fish dish. A visit to a village of Toli Toli people, the traditional people of the area, was a highlight. We enjoyed a lunch of salt fish, sweet corn, boiled bananas, sweet potato and fresh young coconut juice.

Another excellent dinner followed with some local entertainment, including a bamboo 'brass' band. All the instruments were made by the musicians and it sounded just like a brass band. Then the fun of dancing the local 'two steps right, two steps left' dance that everyone, young and old joined in. We had also done this the night before but this night it continued on with many variations and had everyone dripping with perspiration! It was great fun.

We planned to leave Tuesday so Monday was spent at the markets topping up supplies. Pam needed chicken and ended up buying two live ones which were dressed for her. Or so she thought. When she got them home she still had the job of cleaning their insides! Another first for her. Jon had the job of getting the guides plus Dina's mother, Aresty's friend and Alfon, who had helped at the markets in the morning, into our dinghy and bringing them for a visit aboard but they didn't stay long. The anchorage was quite rolly and before long they were all feeling a bit queasy!

With some of our group we went ashore for dinner to eat at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed chilli crab and fried fish. Wow, the food here in Indonesia is great and much better than we remember from 2006. The people have been fantastic and we will long remember them.

We will now be travelling in a loose group of five or six yachts which are all headed back to Australia. On Tuesday we set off for Teluk Pinjan, about 39 NM away and around the corner to the northern coast of Sulawesi. Towards to top of the western side we struck the Makassar Strait current which slowed us down considerably and patches of turbulence made it a bit bumpy but the anchorage was very placid. The reefs at low tides were covered in local reef pickers and there were many small fishing boats out and about. Position: 01 18.670 N, 121 04.283 E.

Yesterday we did the 62 NM to Pulau Pelele inside a large bay. A light breeze allowed us to motor sail but with such a long way to go we kept the engine running. It is quite deep and we are anchored again in 20 metres. Very protected though. We plan to do some snorkelling and visit the village ashore before leaving tomorrow.

Position: 01 02.444 N, 121 57.873 E

Maratua Island

Left this morning as soon as we could see! Close to spring tides making life very uncomfortable on a mooring that had us swirling around the place at Derawan Island. The 27NM passage to Maratua Island was quite comfortable with current helping us along but as usual the wind a bit light. Today and the next few days it has a bit of westerly which will be good on the crossing to Sulawesi.

The last one mile through a channel edged with reefs was a slow passage as we had arrived while the outgoing tide was still running. Our speed slowly dropped from 6 knots to 5, to 4 to 3 and finally to .8! We could have stood off for a while but decided to push in. The channel is quite wide but there were whirlpools and the turbulence associated with a fast flowing tide. It was quite difficult to calculate the slack water time as the nearest tide station is on the mainland in the delta area.

This anchorage is just beautiful with the iconic turquoise waters over sand, reefs very discernible, a few scattered islands, fishing boats and tiny villages. We are thinking of staying over tomorrow as well.

Position: 02* 14.791 N, 118* 37.877 E.

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Kicking back in Derawan

After five days here at Derawan Island we can report that we have been having a pretty good time, including several 'first' experiences.

The island is surrounded by coral reefs and sand cays, and turtles are seen often in the anchorage area and also while snorkelling.  The tide fairly rips through - it settled down for a few days during neaps but now that springs are approaching again we are getting 2+ knots, whoops make that 2.5+ knots, during the strongest flow.  The turbulence has boats dancing about the place and everyone watching out in case another boat gets too close.  There are several moorings here which cannot be used as they are too close together.
 


A couple of evenings ago we were invited to participate in the release of over 200 turtle hatchlings.  It was a happy/sad time to see all the little ones make straight for the water, knowing that maybe only one would be lucky to survive the waiting predators.





A two-hour boat trip to Berau City, the administrative centre of this Regency gave us our last glimpse of life in Kalimantan.  The city, situated quite a way up a river delta, is celebrating its 60th birthday and we observed one of the ceremonies although we were a bit late.  The ceremony culminated in the cutting of a huge, round, three-layered flattish rice 'cake'.  Not sure of the significance of this but a line of younger people carried smaller versions of the cake around. 

 Representatives from various parts of Indonesia, including New Guinea, were at the ceremony

We visited the former Sultan's palace, now a museum, had a very nice lunch, went to the Expo which has a new wet market area plus other retail outlets, and took the time to visit some shops where yachties could purchase some necessary bits and pieces.  It was a bit of a long drawn out day.  The boat trip back did not seem quite as bad as the trip in though and we were soon back to our own boats and relaxing aboard. 

Chicken tonight?

Yesterday we joined four other couples on a boat ride to visit three nearby islands.  At Sanggalaki Island we had the amazing experience of swimming with two Manta rays plus saw several others gliding gracefully through the water or along the bottom.  

 
Nearby Kakaban Island is home to a brackish lake which supports three species of stingless jellyfish.  This is only one of two places in the world where this occurs, the other being Palau.  We took the opportunity of taking a swim in the not-so-clear water to see these creatures but we think once is enough for this activity.





Tomorrow we will sail to Manatua Island for an overnight stop  before continuing on to Sulawesi.

A Friendly Welcome in Indonesia

With just over 100NM from Tawau to Tarakan in Indonesia we decided to break the trip and anchored overnight on the north side of Pulau Bungyu.  This anchorage was a little out of the way to get to but proved very calm and we slept well.  We could just as easily have anchored further south as the conditions were very settled.

 Coal loading facility on Pulau Bungyu

Next stop was Tarakan, our official entry port into Indonesia. Check-in procedures took time as it was a new country and a few hoops to pass through.  It was just a matter of being patient and spending a lot of waiting about!  Our agent had a driver at our disposal so we were able to get to an ATM for some cash, a fresh market for more produce and a mobile phone shop to buy SIM cards for phone and wi fi router.

We had arrived during big spring tides and the first afternoon we spent waiting for the tide to come in to refloat our dinghy which was sitting in the mud at the bottom of the jetty!  Pity we hadn't tied it further out.  A storm the first evening had us feeling uneasy as we dragged slightly and it seemed like we were surrounded by other yachts.  All was well but we decided to reanchor the next morning to give ourselves a bit more room.  When the anchor came up it had a piece of rubber caught on the point which prevented it from digging in properly so we were glad we had decided to move.


The water here is extremely busy with all sorts of boats - hi-speed ferries, water taxis, fishing boats of all sizes, etc.  Some of the boats now use outboard engines while a few still have the very noisy 'longtails' which have no mufflers.  We even had tugs moving along between us and the shore.  The wakes from all these vessels plus the strong tidal flow made it pretty uncomfortable at times but it quietened down during the evening.  All the passing boats were very friendly and called and waved to us.  We certainly felt very welcome with no cause for unease.

Tarakan has a big fishing industry with most of the fish being exported.  Coal is also mined and tugs and barges loaded with coal are seen sitting at anchor offshore waiting for ships to come in and be loaded as there is no real port here.   All of the coal is exported.

We had a late start leaving Tarakan due to a miscommunication regarding some of our papers.  By the time we were ready to leave it was after 1300 but along with two other boats we set off in the direction of Derawan Island.  The route was about 90 NM and we decided to break the leg to anchor in a small bay about 52 NM south.  The weather was still calm and settled, although there were rain showers about.  Light winds off the bow meant we had to motor sail as usual and we continued into the evening, arriving at the anchorage just before 2200.  The bay was very gently shelving and we anchored in 5M over mud.  Very comfortable.

On our way out of the bay next morning we passed about 50 fish-attracting structures.  We had seen the lights on them the night before and thought they must have been fishing boats.  These structures have a small shack on them for the people who man them and nets hanging below into the water.  We assume the bright lights at night attract the fish and they are caught in the nets.  




So it was another relaxing motor sail to Derawan Island.  It was so flat we brought the little twin tub washer into the cockpit and did all the laundry which we hadn't been able to get done in Tarakan.  It was all dry before we arrived!

Welcome to Derawan!

We picked up one of the new moorings put down for arriving yachts.  Some have come from Davao in the Philippines while the rest have come from Malaysia.  The channel is quite deep and the tide flows fairly fast once it gets going.  The moorings are good but not laid out very well.  We soon had a smaller boat almost alongside of us so we decided to move.  That one seemed too close to a reef for comfort so we moved again.  This one seemed OK...mmm.  Sleeping soundly at about 9.30 p.m. when we hear voices.  The boat on the next mooring had drifted down and Tweed's bowsprit was almost in their cockpit!  We managed to separate them without any damage but it was a bit unnerving to have a boat only about 5 metres away!

We knew another boat had left a mooring earlier so we shone the spotlight to see if we could see it.  We could so we marked it with a flashing light and moved across there in the dark at 10.00 p.m.  Safe at last!  There is another mooring buoy not far from ours so just hope any more arriving yachts don't decide they want it.  The problem seems to be that the moorings all have lines the same length without taking into consideration the depth.  The channel is 15M deep at the sides and goes down to over 50M in a very short distance.  We were in 35M so the mooring did not swing very far, whereas the other boat that touched us was only in 15M and he swung a long way each turn of tide.  Somebody didn't do the maths!

Love the colour of the water!

The main street - very clean.













Going ashore to the Mutiara Pelangi resort jetty restaurant for a welcoming dinner.

Ready, Steady, and Going Tomorrow

Our port, immigration and customs clearance procedures were completed this morning and the larder is stocked up.  The anchorage is calm at turn of tide after a bumpy morning due to strong spring ebb tide and a 15 knot wind for a bit.

So tomorrow morning we will set off on the falling tide which will help carry us out of this inlet called Cowie Bay and back into the Celebes Sea, towards Tarakan in Indonesia.  With 90 nautical miles to travel we will probably stop along the way tomorrow night and arrive in Tarakan on Sunday afternoon.

The pasar ikan or fish market is right next to the ferry terminal which houses the Customs and Immigration offices.  We did a quick walk through on our way to the produce market this morning and saw some huge fish including tuna and other pelagics, trevally and a dismembered Manta Ray which was a bit sad.  Also, crabs which look way too small to catch.

These fish look way to small as well!

Time Out in Tawau

We will probably be in Tawau until the weekend when we will leave for Tarakan in Indonesia.  There are about 22 boats anchored off the Tawau Yacht Club, most of which have arrived with the Sail East Malaysia Rally.  Some will be continuing to Derawan for the water festival and then making their way in different directions - continuing south of the island of Borneo to complete a circumnavigation of the island; returning to Malaysia; sailing north to the Philippines, etc.

There are many choices and some of us are planning to sail back through the Spice Islands of Indonesia to Australia, with some travelling over the top of New Guinea, others south or towards Darwin. 

Our stop has involved getting our Indonesian visas from the Indonesian Consulate here.  This is a very busy office with very friendly and helpful staff.  We applied for our visas on Monday morning and picked them up early afternoon. 

The town itself is quite busy and has all the shops and services that yachts people require.  The fresh market is huge and has an excellent variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, water buffalo, eggs, etc.  There seem to be numerous supermarkets to fill those lists of top-up provisioning and diesel has been easy to acquire at the right price. 

The Tawau Yacht Club has been very welcoming and we have had several good meals there.  Some of the crews gather later in the day after having showers in the facilities for a drink or a meal together. 

The anchorage itself has so far been OK.  We are approaching spring tides and the morning ebb tide certainly goes out with a rush - we feel like we are sailing at times.  The danger is a squall during these times but fingers crossed on that one.  We have had several thunder storms pass close by without any affect on us.



 This thunderstorm just missed us
















The harbour front which stretches along the shore both sides of the yacht club is busy with big ships coming and going, fishing boats ploughing through the anchored boats, fast ferries in the channel, and Customs, Police, and Maritim Malaysia vessels making their presence felt with the wakes they leave.  Oh, and don't forget the tugs.

Fishing the reef near Gaya Island