General Weather Internet Sites

Here are some of our well used internet sites. Some via HF as well.

www.buoyweather.com

•https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/wxmap_cgi/index.html

•http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/

•http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ (Geostationary Satelite Server)

•http://www.wunderground.com/ (Excellent for current sea surface temperatures)

•http://www.weather.gov.sg/wip/web/Marine

•http://www.myforecast.com.my/ (Malaysian Gov forecast for fishermen..tend to overforecast)

•http://www.grib.us/ (Great free download for grib files.)

Dabbling in Darwin. May - Sept 2008

Sailing down to Darwin from Malaysia was Peter’s decision as he was going to be doing the work that was needed on Stolen Kiss. Of primary concern was our Perkins 4108 that needed an overhaul and we had finally decided that the usual Perkins oil leak(s) were to be no more!




Having Naffa (a fantastic diesel engine mechanic, undoubtedly the best in Australia) work on the engine alone washed away any doubts we had of coming back, not only because he was a super neat worker, (important when you are living aboard during all of this) but he knew exactly what had to happen and could do the work on the engine without having to haul the engine out of the boat. He also listened to the engine and knew exactly what needed attention (not much at all) and saw that we required a new engine mount. (That accounted for the new vibration we felt over the last 500 miles!) Rather than get a new mount, which would take around 6 – 8 weeks, he took ours off to have it machined and re-welded; the end result in his opinion, much better than a new one! Our engine now has the all clear for another 15,000 miles or so. The very affable Naffa is Egyptian and reminded us that if in Egypt, all his labour would only cost $100; however, as neither of us was in Egypt…..

The company Naffa works for, RANms, was a lucky find via a web search. Peter’s confidence in him was inspired through email contact as he actually understood exactly what Peter was asking of him and had a straight forward solution to our engine concerns.


The cooler weather in Darwin during the dry season was another deciding factor as Peter could work on the boat without sweating profusely. Then of course was the fact that I could easily find work here which would provide us with some fun tickets (which was just as well given the slippery slide in the world of finance) and would get me off the boat and out of Peter’s way during the day. Peter has also been able to find some part-time work re-building a trimaran for a wonderful guy in Cullen Bay Marina.


Lucky for us, ‘rum currency’ still works in Darwin! Another problem that arose on our last leg to Darwin was the rudder bearing. We were able to swap a bottle of rum for a beautiful repair on a bearing that was machined and a new bush inserted..

As furling the headsail was becoming increasingly difficult, especially for me, (how could this be after all the weights we did at Sutera Harbour??) Peter took what he could of our profurl apart, only to find that perhaps something was amiss. A specific bearing puller was needed and just as it happened, the agent in Darwin (Sea Fleet Marine) had had the said tool sent up from Sydney to do the same to another profurl. Too easy!

Other projects continue, like putting in a microwave, a ‘J’ shaped galley so we can actually stay in the galley when we are on port tack, a new floor, new insulation inside the hull, replacing the copper earth strip, adding a quarter berth/aft cabin, re-establishing the water tanks underneath the saloon floor where they were originally and moving the two additional fuel tanks to the middle of the boat as well. We expect that moving the weight of the tanks back to the centre of the boat will make Stolen Kiss a little stiffer and improve her windward performance. Although a little more storage space has been created, mostly it is a simple exercise of shuffling items around the boat. We know we will forget where some things are stored!



Ripping up the original teak and holly floor was sad but in doing this, Peter found a huge amount of timber that had been put under the floor in various places (perhaps by the previous owner) to try to counteract the effects of an ageing floor!! To think that we had hauled all of this around the Indian Ocean!!!!!!!! Our waterline is forever going up!!


Darwin has actually been a hoot! The dry season, the main tourist season, is jam packed with amazing entertainment. Being a major defence post, there have been several war games in the water and heavens. Pitch Black involved air to air combat between the Australian Air Force, several SE Asian Nations and that of Canada. It was a little noisy for a while but also interesting to watch. An open day afforded us (with all and sundry) the opportunity to participate in a ‘show and tell’. We had a wonderful chat with two Australian Pilots of an F-18, who were nice boys and obviously very switched on.

We have seen the rallies come and go; as always with some entertainment. Peter has really enjoyed checking out some of the yachts, which I am sure are in his dreams! We still cannot fathom some of the European women, rather endowed with body mass, working on their boats in the marina in their g-strings or semi naked. We just put it down to a cultural difference!! Sadly though, the SE Asian cultures understandably find this highly embarrassing and insulting. Sad in that there are many westerners that do not recognise the need to be a little more modest in these countries.


The idea of getting around Darwin without a set of wheels was just too much for us to comprehend, so within 3 days of our arrival we had purchased a Tarrago van (with camping gear) from some backpackers. The van is excellent and actually very economical. Vehicles can be had for a bargain up here if purchased the day the backpackers are vacating the country!

We have passed the odd hour or two at Fannie Bay Sailing club enjoying the amazing sunsets, washed down with food and beverages available. Although the Mindil Beach Markets are very touristy, we go every now and then to have dinner and walk along the beach, once again at sunset. The town centre is very much the focal point of the community and is alive after hours. We have always managed to find a parking space in town. Everywhere in Darwin takes 10 minutes to get there with no traffic hassles.



As Peter had never experienced a Rodeo, off we went one night to see the cowboys do their stuff. We had visiting cowboys from Canada and the USA, so it was quite an entertaining evening. We left just before the band, booze and the odd fight started. One girl who had spent a few hours up a tree to get a good view sadly had a little too much of the good stuff and fell out of the tree, breaking a few limbs (hers) in the process.





Although Darwin has changed significantly in the 5 years since we have been here, evidenced by a little more than just the towering skyline, there are still many people here who are happy to help out. The characters of the Top End can be found in all walks of life. Where else would you see neatly emblazoned on the side of a ute, ‘Nangifuckinggulley’. Not sure where the Gulley actually is but one can only imagine of its whereabouts.




We have ventured outside Darwin to take in some of the sights and waterholes, with still many more to re-visit. Both Peter and I have been here in our separate lives, albeit some time ago and for me, most was viewed through the meniscus of a wine glass! We plan to do some aerial flights over Arnhem Land during the wet season and visit places like Fog Dam (a well visited picnic spot) and Leitchfield National Park.







There was a 10 day camp (wanting an extra staff member) involving 19, 15 year old boys (who are in need of a little more guidance than others) paddling down the Ord River from the Lake Argyle Dam to Kununurra, a total of 46km and a further 3 day paddle on Lake Argyle. Having previously lived in the area some 25 years ago, it was too good an opportunity to miss out on. My absence was also an opportunity for Peter to rip the floor of the boat up.


It was an easy paddle with stunning scenery with some nice white sandy beaches (a surprise!). One of the main objectives of the camp was for the boys to experience the consequences of their decisions. They had to buy their own food, carry and cook it. Of course this meant that blood sugar levels were often in a see-saw state and those who did not buy wisely then stole food off their mates. As we know on boats, when you get out into the wilds with people, you get to see another side of their characters. This in itself was good for the boys to experience and they dealt with this (or not) in different ways. There were never any fights (a few disagreements) and the boys, to their credit, spent time talking over issues that arose between themselves. The supervised cliff jumping was enjoyed by most, but not necessarily undertaken by all. It was good to see some boys jumping off a smaller cliff without comment from the higher risk takers in the group.

After we had finished paddling the Ord down to Kununurra, I asked a professional fisherman if there were any ‘salties’ between the dams. Apparently there were two that he knew of – one lived around the bottom of the Argyle Dam and the other ‘hung’ out near one of the beach camps we stopped at! I was happy that I chosen not to swim! There were always salties in there when I used to live up here. One rather large one jumped up to try to grab the skids of the heli that was hovering over it! Gave the pilots a bit of a scare! We saw many freshwater crocsodiles who kept away from us. We suspected one had a nest near where we camped on the lake.

The paddle in itself was a challenge to most of the boys as there was no way out. They had to push through the hard bits to get to the end rather than having someone come along and bail them out, offering an easier option. The scary thing for us was that these boys will be driving in a year.



Julie and Marg are just in the process of delivering a large Beneteau down the West Coast, and after delivering several yachts across the Gulf of Carpentaria, they still prefer our old girl, saying that she handles the seas much better than the production boats, which is no great surprise. Of course with the exception to her previous Hallberg Rassy and the more expensive boats like the Amels. This just helps us to verify our decision to Keep Stolen Kiss and keep throwing money at her to keep her looking grand. For Peter it is very much a labour of love and we are very attached to the old girl. She has been across the Pacific three times with her previous owner, in fair winds, so maybe she will do the same for us!

We have committed ourselves to staying in Darwin for the wet season so we can finish the re-fit. The marinas here are becoming expensive given that there are no/poor facilities that go with the price and an ablution block that is rarely cleaned properly. (Tipperary Marina). Jules and Margaret may come north next year, so we might meet up with them in the Kimberley. It would be fantastic to spend some time with them. We will defer our decision to go east or west until then. The Indian Ocean beckons once again. We have been thinking about the Ashmore, Christmas, Cocos, Mentawi Island route. Cocos Island will be implementing a weekly charge next year, but given the rest of the Indian Ocean islands do the same, it was only a matter of time.



We return to Perth in Nov for a few months to ‘house sit’ our house and hope that Darwin is spared from a direct hit by any cyclones!!!!

Kingpins of the Kimberley

Crocodiles of course!!!!!!



Having observed that most, if not all, Darwin yachties have ‘tinnies’ (as in the dinghy variety) we re-visited the Kimberley with somewhat a little more circumspection in our RIB. The old adage that inflatables were ‘teething rusks for crocodiles’ was echoed by more than one person! Perhaps it was because we would be there on our own this time that we decided we should be savvier and go prepared on any expeditions in the dinghy. So off we would go armed with spare water (in case we got stranded) and the verey pistol to defend ourselves against any crocodile that decided we could be fair game or in the slight chance we wanted to attract (wanted) attention!

The thought that we would be there on our own was merely wishful thinking! In 2003 we did not see any other yachts (except the two we were in company with) for 9 weeks until the King George River where we found one charter yacht and two other yachts from Darwin. This time (July) there was a total of 21 boats during our two week stay. Whilst this may sound alarmingly like being in the middle of a metropolis, we still managed to spend 4 days anchored on our own up the river. The wave of boats coming and going was in response to the tidal variation which did or did not allow you across the bar. There were considerably more charter boats this year than there had been in the past which were always more active. The Orion anchored out in Koolama Bay and had ribs full of happy punters going to and fro from the falls or whizzing around in the helicopter.

We also managed a quiet walk alone up the cliff and along the river, (with many cairns to guide us) which was beautiful and cool (if not freezing!). Apparently about 5km along the river there
are some wonderful aboriginal paintings, although we only walked for approximately 2km.

The King George was just as majestic as we had remembered it. The ochre colours of the towering cliffs in the early morning and sunset, along with the contrast of the pale green vegetation were savoured every day. The only other aspect that had changed was the number of crocodiles! We saw only one at the entrance in 2003, which of course does not mean that there were not more lurking! Perhaps the increase in numbers spotted could be attributable to their rate of breeding, the time we spent there and the increased number of boats that has perhaps encouraged them to gather in waiting!

This time we took the dinghy up the East Arm to the waterfall and the rope climb. A plaid rope of considerable strength has been placed by the Navy to assist climbers (rather than stop them) which was a welcomed thought in preference to the usual ‘nanny approach’ we often see in Australia. Knowing our limitations (me vertigo and Peter his sore shoulders) we decided to watch others (a very agile Stylopora) do the climb. Perhaps it was the crocodile lurking at the bottom waiting in anticipation that also put us off!! News that a very large crocodile often sat across the entrance to the East Arm on a falling tide (scarier than the troglodyte under the bridge??) ensured our timing so we did not get caught up there at low water.

We think we may have met this crocodile a week later when we anchored just around the corner near the mangroves to shelter from the screaming wind. Nudging up to the mangroves to drop the pick (Peter always says we do not get close enough and I say we are too close!) we inadvertently upset a very large, gnarly old croc! We presume he was hunting there! Although camera shy and did not like us going up to the foredeck to look down on him (us refraining from hanging over the side!) he was there for a few days at sunset glaring at us! At least we did not drop the anchor on him!! Having realised after the first night that we were in so close that our anchor could only be retrieved at more than ¾ tide, we did in fact move out a little.

Two of the falls were flowing at the head of the river, which was more than last time! The idea of filling up the dinghy and having a bath was shelved quickly due to another crocodile lurking, but more so because of how utterly cold the water was! We managed to collect water to fill our tanks, do the washing and have a good old soak, but like the crocodiles we then had to lie in the sun to warm up. Our days there were very cool, so much so that we spent one windy day below with the hatches closed and me in a sleeping bag to keep warm! It’s the first time in 5 years that we have not had to use the fans.

After the first week there we thought we may have had a good weather window to go down to the Berkley River, some 75 miles SE of the King George. We came out across the bar following other yachts who drew more than us to see if they had a deeper track than ours. Indeed they did but thinking that we would not be going back, I only glanced at our track rather than actually tracking our course on the charts. Our plan was to anchor over in ‘Koolama Cove’ near the beach, go for a walk then leave at night for the Berkely. We had to wait for the crocodile to finish basking on the beach (where there are many turtle nests) before we could go for our walk. As the wind did not abate at night enough to our liking (SE wind on a SE course..hmmmm) we stayed put and decided, given the wind warnings, we would go back in the river. Stylopora elected to stay out in the cove, which apparently was a reasonable anchorage.

When we did finally exit the river again, we thought we would have enough water. (A 2m tide at nearby Lesueur Is gave us a minimum depth of 1m underneath us on our initial track.) However, the tide was a little lower than anticipated but given our shallow draft and a minute change in the tide over the next 3 hours, we forged on. I was a little slack in keeping a check on our progress; preferring to be on deck rather than looking at the chart. Just when we could see the deeper water 2 boat lengths ahead, we ran aground. Bugger!!!!!!!! Our sounder had been on 00 for about 100m! So over went Peter in the dinghy and off went the 15hp outboard! That was enough for me to reverse and float off. Whilst Peter was having fun with the hand held depth sounder that was for some reason only happy displaying water temperature, I quietly ambled past him to where we thought the channel was. At one stage Peter did not hear me and got a bit of a fright, looking up at the bow hanging over him and moving! I did see him!!

Unbeknown to us, going aground jammed the centreboard up inside its casing. We only realised this at dusk when we were setting off to cross the Joseph Bonaparte (aka blownapart) Gulf in the calmer waters of the evening. Peter knew that it was only a matter of levering it with a screw driver which would take a minute, however given our company on the beach previously….we had to live with it!

We never did make it down to the Berkley but neither did many other yachts for the same reason as us. One of the cats we spoke to in the King George had come from the Berkley and had to push through 2m breaking waves to get out. Not for us!! We had planned to use the other, deeper approach, but even so it did not sound good.

But we did have a sensational sail to and from the King George. We had no moon on the sail down, which meant amazing starry nights. Afternoon breezes filled in giving us a good sail under spinnaker. Two weeks later we had the full moon to keep us company at night. Our night watches were relaxed and we still treasure the fact that we can sail along under clear skies without squalls finding us!!!!!! It was rather fortunate that we did have a light sail back (motor sailing most of the way) as we made a reasonable amount of leeway with our board jammed up!!

We almost made it there and back without being buzzed by Coastwatch. Customs (really nice chaps) had come by in their centre console RIBS in the King George to check us out (a lousy job but someone has to do it!) and were just as surprised as us that we had escaped Coastwatch. However, about 60 miles out from Darwin, just on sunset as I was snuggled up in our cockpit, came the flyby; mast height, so we could eyeball each other!

A dawn approach to the Cox Peninsular had us enveloped in an eerie fog, lasting well after sun rise. Further on we could see the myriad of masts across Fannie Bay, announcing the arrival of the rally fleet. Even so, there was enough room for us to go and anchor a little way from the crowd.

A day or so later, Peter made a call to the local ‘crocodile watch’ to see if there had been any sightings ( there had been one on the beach near the yacht club a week before we left – apparently just passing by) so he could go over the side to free up the centreboard. I stood on guard with the verey pistol (Peter ensuring that I clearly understood that I would shoot at any crocodile and not at him!!) whilst Tony (Stylopora) monitored Peter’s safety rope from the dinghy. Not more than 40 seconds later, and the job was done!

Unfortunately we could only spend a little more time at anchor as we needed to secure a birth back at Tipperary Marina to finish our planned work on the boat and to go back to our day jobs. An American boat coming into the marina the following day cut the corner on a falling tide, went aground and ended up on his side (good time for a bottom job!) for a considerable amount of time. Coming out of the King George River could have been worse for us!!!!!!!!!

Singapore Superlatives

Salubrious – the new Keppel Bay Marina

Sumptuous – the food, especially in Little India

Scintillating – the assault on your senses; the noise, the people, neon lights

Spotless – can sit anywhere without dirt or chewing gum!

Suave – Raffles Place

There were a few reasons which shaped our decision to go for the zig zag route from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah via Singapore to Indonesia then on to Darwin. A chance to catch up with a friend, a dose of western culture, much needed boat parts, shopping and a chance to just escape from all that was Malaysia.

With the news of the new marina at Keppel Bay, there were a few choices. Although in many respects Raffles Marina would have been more ideal, the new Keppel Bay Marina was located a mere 8 minute walk from the MRT and more importantly for Peter, the new mega shopping complex of Vivo City with fantastic supermarkets to boot! Although the marina was originally built for the residents of the new surrounding high rise development (with more to come) it sees the prospect of visiting yachties to add to the charm of the place!!! Keppel Bay also own Nongsa Point Marina (Indonesia) across the channel which facilitates checking in and out of both countries. Having no laundry facilities proved a little challenging, but we were assured that this would be soon rectified. Immigration is done via Western Immigration near Sentosa Island a few miles away (via boat that comes up to your stern and documents exchanges) and the marina clears you in and our for $10. So easy.

There is never enough time to spend with company whom you enjoy! That’s the downside of cruising. We only had a few weeks in Singapore as we needed to get down to Darwin before the onset of the SE monsoon. Necessary engine parts needed to be sorted as most of our journey south will be motoring and any sailing done would be an absolute bonus. Singapore service is second to none as most of what we needed was purchased over the phone and delivered to the marina, free of charge or at little expense. Peter eventually found himself a birthday present – a moisture meter!

We visited our favourite boat shops like Suneast in the bottom of Sim Lim Tower which house ICOM, JRC, Raytheon and other electronics. One can never have enough toys! A wander down Orchard Road to remind us of the finer things in life unearthed some great shops that we have stored away for future reference!

Little India has a wonderful fruit/veg and wet market (not that we needed the latter!) similar to what we were familiar with throughout SE Asia. A wonderful, economical place to provision for our journey south. We also became familiar with the many fantastic restaurants around there. Strange (to us) the Annalakshmi Restaurant was actually in China Town. We enjoyed the usual fantastic food that these restaurants provide wherever they are (there is one in Perth) and went back for a traditional singing concert presented by the local Indian Performing Arts School. It was all that you would expect – colourful, loud and full of life. A visit to Changi Sailing Club was well worth the trek (albeit easy via public transport) to enjoy a lazy lunch in a much more quiet and laid back part of Singapore.

The weather being a little out of character was a tads wet at times with some very colourful thunderstorms. We waited for a break in the weather for our departure so that we could at least get to Nongsa Point Marina before the afternoon deluge. A little confusion with the Marina and our clearance papers (them saying we did not need the stamped crew list to for check out and the immigration officer on the boat at Sister Island saying we did) delayed our passage across the shipping lane by almost two hours. Seeing the massive thunderstorm developing behind us, we wondered if in fact we could keep in front of it. With possible zero visibility in the thunderstorm in the shipping lanes could have been a real test for our newly acquired AIS! However, having tide with us we were tied up on THE only pontoon in Nongsa Point before the tail end of the storm hit us. It was very short lived at that stage! Another pucker factor moment!

So we departed (somewhat sadly) with all those little extras we like to eat and thanks to the unsurpassed generosity of he who shall remain anonymous; we also depart with 10 bottles of rum! That makes for a lot of rum balls!

Anchorages in Kalimantan, Indonesia, 2008

If sailing from Australia, it is possible to clear into Indonesia at Maumere, Flores. No charges. Anchor off Sea World Resort:
08 38.085 S 122 18.481 E. 9m. Be aware that the bottom shelves up VERY quickly!

Clear out at Nongsa Point Marina, Batam, opposite Singapore:
01 11.79 N 104 05.77 E (VHF Ch 72)

Banjarmarsin

An amazing, bustling town where no-one takes any particular notice of you! There is a new 4 story shopping complex that has just been built which has a fantastic western supermarket inside.

There is a channel marked on the charts which is lit, that takes you across the bar into Sungai Barito. We would not recommend going in at night. Anchorage is available near the channel entrance to wait for tide/light.

There are many barges that are loading large ships anchored off the entrance to the channel (loading copper??). In the channel the traffic was passing green to green, the reason being that as you cross the bar, the channel goes into a dog leg and the deeper draft vessels needed the outside of the bend. Depth in the channel varied from 5 to 7 m. We kept to the edges to stay out of the way.

It is well worth watching where the small ships and barges go as the channel across the bar changes and it is not always well marked. The only vessels going aground on the way in were the local prahu, which obviously had less of an idea than us!

Once in the river, anchorages can be taken anywhere out of the way of traffic. There were fuel barges in the river where we could have purchased fuel, although we ended up taking fuel from the floating shops just around the corner of the Police Post.

Anchorage 1. Near Kaget Is 03 25.6 S 114 30 E. 5m HW

Anchorage 2. Near Police Post 03 20 95 S 114 32.3 E 4m mid tide.

We left the yacht during the day and took a local water taxi to and from town. They will also take you to the floating markets if you can get the message across!! Police helped us organize a taxi. Very cheap!

T. Bujur

Anchoring anywhere along the coast is possible, depending on the weather. We anchored at 03 31.00 S 113 48. 739 E overnight. There were a few fishing boats around.

Between here and Sampit there were hundreds of small fishing boats. Not sure if they are out at night.


Sampit

There is a large bay at the mouth of the Sampit River, west of Banjamarsin. Once again ships are anchored here and loaded by barges. It is possible to get up to Sampit, but we were a little short of time.

Anchorage at T.Sampit 03 06.96 S 113 02.13 E This was a little too close to the sand bar shown on the chart and as a result we were held by the tide. A fishing boat came and anchored next to us until dark just to have a look!

Sungai Pembuang

This was an interesting stay. There is a good fresh market in town but not much else. Navy came over to assist us and have a look. They were very friendly and interested in what we were doing. They said that we were the first yacht to visit them and we made it on page 1 of their local newspaper!

Large tugs enter the river at high tide. Follow them! A fisherman showed us the channel over the bar. As a guide, from waypoint 03 26.939 S 112 35.452 E, line up the white tower (light house) on the point and head across to it. Deeper water is on LHS of river.

Kumai

We visited Kumai in 2003. They have many yachts visiting every year and are very good at looking after you and organizing the tour on their local boats up to Camp Leaky to visit the orangutans.

Anchor around 02 57.078 S 111 40.862 E to wait for tide/light. We watched the track the local traffic took to get into the river. We basically followed the coast to the end of the point (02 54 S 111 42.420 E) then made our way slightly north (02 53 170 S
111 42 066 E) then across to the other side of the river (02 50.660 S 111 43.5 E). From there follow the river until you get to Kumai! Being potential customers, they will find you before you have a chance to find them!

Kumai is a wonderful river town and the people are so helpful and friendly. You will probably be invited to go to the school to do some oral English with the students!

Karamata

Karamata and Serutu are two large, heavily vegetated islands off the west coast of Kalimantan and a worth while stop on your way to Singapore. Although we did not stop at Serutu (only has an anchorage with protection from the SE winds) due to westerly winds, we did stop at Karimata. There are many reefs to anchor behind. The people were very friendly and welcoming. Although the islands are a flora and fauna park there were not many fish left on the reef! Apparently their reefs are under attack from fisherman who come up from Bangka and Sumatera.

We followed a local boat in and anchored close to shore as our draft is only 1.2m. (01 39.614 S 108 55.474 E) We were anchored in 3.8m at LW. Depth around outside of reef was approximately 7m.

From Karimata there are many anchorages in the Riau Strait before you get to Nongsa Point Marina to check out.

Indonesia, Take 2. March-May 2008

Singapore to Darwin via Indonesia.

Having spent 9 weeks in Indonesia in 2003, we were looking forward to exploring more of the Riau Straits and other Indonesian anchorages. Although we opted for a Social Visa which gave us the option of extending our time in Indonesia, it ended up being an unnecessary expense as the closer we got to Darwin, the quicker we wanted to get there!

Our CAIT was organized via the internet with PT Kartasa Jaya (Jakarta) as our agent. The whole process was very smooth and took only 10 days. In retrospect, if you were to keep away from towns in Indonesia, I guess you could get by without either a visa or CAIT. However, we really wanted to visit Banjarmasin (which was fantastic) and both CAIT and Visa gave us peace of mind when we did stop. The Navy (who were always wonderful and helpful) were the main officials who came to visit us and although they were not sure what the CAIT represented, they certainly were happy that we were there legally! Of course, no CAIT, no check in.

We were constantly met by friendly, helpful people. At times the ‘hello mister’ became a little wearing, but such incidents were along the ‘rally track’ and we felt that the yachties had compounded this behaviour by giving generously. On the other side of the coin, these people were really poor compared to their counterparts in other areas and certainly overlooked by their own government. It was no bother to give these people our time and off load some of our ‘treasures’ as others had done before us.

The main island chain and the entire coast of Kalimantan and Sulawesi have mobile phone access, which was the most significant change since 2003. Once east of Alor, the situation was a little different. These islands were also predominately Christian, which perhaps has some bearing on what is provided by the government.

Our departure in March was timed so we arrived in Darwin by early May, before the onset of the SE monsoon. We departed Singapore on March 19 with the last of the westerlies which stayed with us until we cleared the east coast of Kalimantan, along with the rain, squalls and lightening. A SW swell ran with these westerlies, decreasing in size as we went east and finally died off after clearing the east coast of Kalimantan. Between Darwin and Singapore, the maximum size swell was a mere 1m and maximum wind gust (short lived in the odd squall) was 20 knots apparent! We managed some good sailing, but a lot of motoring, the latter of which was mainly low revs to push us along at something over 4 knots! The worst of the sailing was a 15 knot easterly as we were heading (east of course!) towards the Sulawesi coast, which lasted for 4 hours; the best was along the north coast of Flores and eastwards, especially down to Darwin in light E/S and SE winds. Good old Stolen Kiss would blast along at around 7 to 8 knots when the wind picked up and moved past 45 degrees off the bow. Along the north of the island chain, the morning breeze would typically be S/SE and the afternoon NE or NW, allowing for some wonderful sailing. For the whole journey, every night with only one exception, the sky would clear to expose an amazing star studded vista. Nothing beats sailing under the stars and at times, a full moon to boot!

A good time to make a final heading south is when the highs form over central Australia and timing your run after one weakens and the other ridges. There is usually a three to four day break in this cycle. Had we sailed one more overnight passage to a fantastic atoll, Meatij Miarang, it would have given us enough easting and a more strait forward sail down to Darwin. However, we easily managed our way east on the S/SE winds and south on the ESE winds. The weather on the continental shelf was actually different; the winds went a lot more east which gave us a good sail into Darwin, especially on the final approach when the NE sea breeze kicked in.

Nongsapura (Nongsa Point Marina), Indonesia and Keppel Bay Marina, Singapore, are now owned by the same company. The breakwater is finally being constructed outside the former to offer it absolute protection. Although under construction, we were allowed to stay overnight to check in, even though there was one pontoon and no facilities. We were charged $25 (Sing) for this privilege, which we thought was perhaps a little steep. However, the new breakwater was most effective and they still had another 100m to add to it!

It just so happened that the tide was in the right direction for an early morning departure down the Riau Strait. We had chosen what we thought was a nice looking bay which although well protected, was nothing more than a bauxite mine! (Batu Putih) We anchored quite a way out in the bay as it is very rocky. However it was calm and quiet and afforded us a good night’s sleep. We continued our way south the next day, seeing many large turtles, dolphins and even caught a huge spanish mackerel as we crossed the equator! Seriously! He was a large as me (no photo though as when Peter took it I did not have time to get appropriately dressed!!) We kept enough for a few meals then gave the rest to a fisherman who paddled by in the southern bay of Lingga Is, which is a wonderful, sheltered anchorage. He was a happy man as he only had a few little fish.

We stayed at Lingga Island for a few days to let the electrical storms to the south and east clear, then set off for Karimata Island in a pleasant westerly air flow. Our dawn approach to Karimata and Serutu Islands revealed two very large, wooded islands, quite unexpected. We were amazed at the collection of logs that had gathered in the tide line 5 miles out from the islands. There were hundreds and hundred of logs! We were not sure that one rather large bundle 100m or so long had somehow been tied together as there were small fishing boats around them. Maybe they were using the logs as a FAD? After picking our way through the debris, the waters were clear. This was the only place we encountered debris in the water throughout the rest of Indonesia.

The usual anchorage at Karimata offered good protection from the westerlies that were still blowing. We found our way in through the reef after watching a local boat enter, which was not difficult in good light as it is either 7m or nothing. We had read that other yachts had done this so we knew we would have depth once inside the reef and close to the beach, especially with our board up as we draw 1.2m in shallow mode! These islands are apparently a flora and fauna reserve – good coral but no fish. High fuel prices are forcing them to fish the reef areas more extensively. They were busy making fish traps (boo boo traps). Whilst we were there a boat from Banka/Sumatera came in. The locals warned us that these fishermen (some wearing diving masks that looked something like ‘The Clan’ would wear) were not good people and to be careful. Apparently these fishermen come and poach the reef around Karimata and destroy the coral. Some of the locals went out and moved the unwanted visitors around to another village.

Yachts are welcomed here and we had some visitors on the first day. A few of the men come out and took our dinghy and jerry jugs to fill with ‘solar’. The fuel was a little more expensive than the mainland (6,500 rp/l) and we worked out that the locals paid 6000rp/l, so we thought that was a fair deal. Mostly in Indonesia we paid 5000rp/l, with the exception of Leti, where the advertised price was 8000rp/l as it came from the Tanimbar Islands. Very expensive for them!

From Karimata we made our way south and east along the Kalimantan Coast, passing Kumai (we were there in 2003) and opting to explore the rivers further east (Joseph Conrad country!). We waited outside Sungai Pembuang to watch how the locals entered the river and were soon shown the channel by the local fishermen. This was a very busy river town with local prahu and tugs coming and going. The Navy came out to log us in (as they do with every boat) and asked us to anchor opposite their post so they can look after us. Indeed they did! We were taken up river in their speed boat to the market and taken wherever we wanted to go. They gave us their mobile number so that we could contact them if we had any problems. People were amused by us (silly orang putih!) and keen to know where we were from and where we were going. The reporter from the local paper came out to interview us and took our picture. We appeared in the next edition on April Fools Day! We were not bothered by visitors.

We decided that day sailing to Banjarmasin was perhaps a little more prudent given the amount of fishing boats around and the squalls (more rain than wind) that were still passing around us, reducing visibility. There are two large rivers to explore and some good anchorages. T. Sampit was a surprise as there were large ships anchored outside the river that were being loaded and unloaded by barges. It is also possible to anchor anywhere along the coast, which we did.

We counted 25 huge ships anchored outside the river at Banjarmasin, waiting to be loaded with copper by barges. Imray had mentioned that the channel across the bar often changed. Although reading this and knowing that the channel was also marked, we were perhaps a little too relaxed on our entry. The channel was quite narrow and very busy with tugs, ships and local prahu. We toddled along the edge following the traffic which was passing starboard to starboard; thinking that this was a little odd, but then all was revealed! Peter noticed that the barges were taking a hard turn to the east and we assumed that they were off in a different direction, as we could see port hand markers ahead. A local prahu aground in front of us alerted us to the fact that maybe we should follow the tugs! Another prahu that had been aground on the side of the channel earlier, had now caught up and was in the way of the tug behind (who was hooting madly!). At this stage we were at the start of the ‘S’ bend in the channel and could see a nasty situation was about to evolve. We bailed out (with 0.5m underneath us) and turned to go behind the tug. The prahu, making his way to the edge promptly ran aground (again) forcing the tug to reverse and stop his empty barge without colliding with the prahu and the full barge coming out! The skill of these drivers is second to none! He missed the prahu by a meter and same with the on-coming tug! We had our own bit of excitement as we had pulled in behind the barge and had to go in reverse when the barge stopped! Phew! The traffic had to pass green to green in the channel to keep the loaded vessels on the outside bend which was around 7m deep! Our exit was a little less exciting as we knew where we were going and there was not a lot of traffic.

Once inside Sungai Barito, we were amazed at the activity as we did not realize how large Banjarmasin and surrounds were. We anchored next to Kaget Island and waited for the morning flood to go the remaining 6 miles or so towards the city. Along Kaget Island there were many men diving for something…maybe gems???

The notes that we had gathered from a previous yacht indicated that you could anchor up the small Sungai Martapura near the city; however this river is now far too settled, with stilt houses on either side and a lot of industry at its mouth. We wandered back and anchored outside the police post in Sungai Barito, near junction of the Sungai Martapura entrance. The police were very helpful offering us the use of their showers and organizing a local water taxi to take us into the city. A much better option! We spent the best part of the day hanging out in the new mega shopping complex – air-conditioned and full of designer label shops and a huge supermarket to boot.

The floating shops just around the corner from where we were anchored sold us diesel for the usual price. So easy!

Once we left the Kalimantan coast, to our surprise, the only fishing boats we encountered were the small outriggers and squid boats along the shore and one large boat west of the Tiger Islands. This made for relaxed night passages along the main island chain.

We were happy to be leaving the unlit tows and fishing boats around Kalimantan and settled down to enjoy a relaxed sail to Sulawesi. The only aspect of this part of the passage we had a problem with was the adverse current as we neared the Sulawesi cast, which of course was the same time we experienced the adverse winds mentioned earlier!

Padang sounded a place to be missed so we headed for a village south of there offering some shelter from the SW sea breeze that came in, in the afternoon. Winds were now predominately SE. On the SW corner of Sulawesi T. Laikang is a deep bay offering good protection from all directions. Although we found where all the plastic water bottles in Indonesia had been hiding (floats for the extensive agar agar aquaculture) taking up the best anchorages, we found good shelter off Puntando village. NGO’s have a rather nice ‘eco resort’ set up where locals come and learn about sustainable living and environmental degradation. The SE winds tend to blow around 15 to 20 knots around the SW tip of Sulawesi, which tended to keep the heat at bay. Strangely, we were buzzed (low enough to see the pilots!) on several consecutive days by F/A 18 Hornets that looked to be American. They disappeared to the NE.

In company with Time Out (who had departed Kota Kinabalu and cruised south via the west coast of Sulawesi) plan A was to make our way east to P. Salayar, then over to the Tiger Islands and surrounding coral atolls. The wind, swell and current had other ideas! The best we could make in the light SE winds was a southerly course to Flores. In 2003 we had found a wonderful sheltered anchorage at T. Linggeh, so we headed for there. Many yachts stop here so there is a huge expectation of us in the form of gifts for the children and teenage boys. Whilst we were happy to part with some of the treasures we had been saving for such an occasion, three days of constant visitors was a little wearing. However this village is very poor and appears to have been overlooked by the government in terms of facilities. To our surprise and delight we were remembered by a lady who had cut our hair there in 2003. During our short stay at T. Linggeh, we noticed once again the weather changing - clearing to the east, making for light SE winds in the morning and NE/NW sea breezes in the afternoon and clear skies.

From Sulawesi to Darwin we encountered pods of dolphins every day. One pod had well over 50 dolphins! They were leaping around with absolute gay abandon, but we were never quick enough to catch them on camera. Not surprising that our lures only caught seaweed!! Several very large turtles were also encountered, especially in our final approach to Darwin.


Between T. Linggeh and Maumere, T. Riung offers good shelter and a lot of beautiful islands to explore. There is a large market up the main street, but we were not sure of the day it operated.

Although Maumere is not listed on the CAIT as a clearing port, it is possible to clear in and out of there. For us it was a little time consuming as the Harbour Master wanted us to go to immigration first and immigration the reverse! We had to wait for a few hours at immigration as ‘the boss’ had gone to lunch. We were all surprised when a phone call in immigration came through for Bill (Time Out) from the Harbour Master who was trying to find out what was keeping us! He very kindly stayed open until we graced him with our (somewhat wilted) presence. There were no charges and no gifts expected. Such wonderful, helpful people. Sea World, Maumere is a great sandy anchorage, but we were so relieved we were not running into the rally boats as we cannot imagine over 100 boats anchored there as it shelves very quickly! There is a fisherman who looks after the yachts and offered to get our diesel for 5000rp/l – which was an honest price. Easy for us! Local bemos run along the road outside the resort for a cheaper option than hiring a driver to get into town. (The latter of which was $35 USD for half a day!)

Imray makes mention of the confused tidal currents and consequent rough seas along the north side of Alor. He also gives an anchorage along this same coast, so thinking the current might actually be ok, we went in to find the anchorage. Big mistake! He was so right! Being in there was something akin to being in a washing machine or a bouncy castle! It took a lot of motoring to get out through the confused seas. Another overnight sail took us to Wetar.

At Wetar, we found the most wonderful sandy anchorage (excellent holding) in a bay called Air Panas. It was such a treat to be able to see the sand underneath the boat. Bullets (of the wind variety) kept us very cool and were at times around 20 – 25 knots. One of the local prahu kept dragging so we gave him 10m of chain for his anchor. This was in our interest to ensure he did not drag near us! There was a small village in the southern corner of the bay and goats that roamed the beach. We were not bothered by anyone and they seemed indifferent to us being there. A local prahu was anchored there as well. To our surprise they had a Quintrex tinnie and a Yamaha 8 hp Enduro outboard; Australian made!! There were a few surprises for us like the constant, significantly large earth tremors which the locals ignored (the earth moved for us!) and which were even more disconcerting when we could hear the rumblings and bangs under the boat! We were with Time Out and having both survived the tsunami in 2004 (us more than Bill!) we were a tads nervous. Another small surprise was a very large whale that came to visit. I was contemplating a swim around the yachts when Time Out alerted us of their visitor that surfaced on their stern to take a look at them. The whale turned to come over to us then perhaps realized we were in shallower water, so went he turned to go out to sea. Laps along the shore seemed a better idea, although I later realised I had an audience, probalby wondering what on earth I was doing! There was a wonderful fresh water stream behind the village and of course the hot water spring that we sat in at low tide every afternoon as this was when the fresh water flowed out. The water buffalo seemed to like this spring at high tide!

One of our best sails was from Wetar to Leti. Easterly winds enabled us to make our southing, then as we expected, nearing the East Timor coast, the wind veered to the SE allowing a fetch eastwards in flat water! The tidal race between Kisar Island and the northern tip of East Timor was non existent. We had a long ocean swell (have not seen one of them for a while!) and 1.5knots of current against us, which was preferable as wind and current in the same direction made for a calm sea. We were soon hooning along at 8 knots towards Leti

We did a bit of exploring along the west side of Leti and decided to anchor off the village of Tombra. The pilot actually describes the small sandy anchorage, although they are building a pier now on the drying reef, which actually offers even more protection. Apparently we were the first yachts to anchor there. The island is Christian (7th Day Adventists). There were many people who spoke good English and after we purchased some diesel to use up our remaining rupiah, the locals soon lost interest in us when they discovered we had no more money.

One enterprising person offered to change some money for us, so perhaps they had had western visitors in the past after all! A ‘hey mister’ at 0530 one morning was actually a fisherman who happily traded 5 large crays (some of the painted variety) for a bottle of rum! (We had another 9 on board!)

As we approached the Australian coast and crossed the exclusive fishing zone, we were buzzed by Customs in Coast Watch. We gave the required information and it was quite exciting to speak in English! A customs boat anchored at Melville Island also called us up and asked the same questions. We had emailed all of this information off to customs in giving our 96 hour notice of arrival, so they had it in triplicate! As we were arriving after hours, we were allowed to anchor in Fannie Bay for the night as long as we agreed not to get off the boat. No problem! Our anchor went down at 2330 hours and we collapsed into a wonderful quiet sleep!

By 0900 the following morning we were alongside Cullen Bay fuel dock/quarantine post for CIQ. We had emptied the boat of all the obvious restricted goods like fresh food and honey before entering Australian waters and declared our 8 bottles of rum! Customs were wonderful as the whole process was quick and very professional, with only a little of our stores being removed (things that grow like mung beans, chick peas and yeast). And yes, they allowed our rum! By 1300 hours, the divers had come along side and squirted what they needed up our intakes and we were free to attack Fannie Bay Yacht Club – showers, beer, fries and humongous servings of salad! The magnificent sunset topped the day!

We were soon in Tipperary Marina, busy washing the salt off the boat and continuing our culinary indulgence along the lines of spoons at the ready for gourmet ice-cream!

To our surprise and relief, no fumigation was necessary, which apparently applies to yachts if you check into Fremantle, or we believe, anywhere in WA.

We are very happy with our entire passage and found it easier than we anticipated. We met up with other yachts in Darwin who had all chosen different routes. One left Sandakan after xmas and took the eastern most route across the north coast of Sulawesi to Halmahera, then south via Ambon and the Tanimbars, arriving Darwin late April. They had significant squalls, but no lightening and a lot of rain as they were sitting under the ITCZ for a while. Another from Singapore to Bali, then down to Darwin, who had a bit of a bash into the SE winds in May. We met Time Out in Sulawesi. They had waited in Kota Kinabalu until the weather cleared in March and headed off towards Sandakan, then down the west side of Sulawesi. They, too, had motored considerably and had a relatively dry passage and no lightening. Somehow we again missed the ITCZ as I believe it actually lifts up over Borneo and part of Sulawesi. The week we stayed in Sulawesi we noted the weather to the south clearing. Once we reached Flores, we also noted the weather to the east clearing. The weather information available with BOM Australia and grib files is excellent and it also helps to have someone looking at the satellite picture. You can actually pick the weather you like!

After extolling the virtues of SE Asia to others that are now heading up, we wondered what on earth are we doing here. Apart from the obvious difference in the cost of living, we miss the free wifi available throughout SE Asia. Australia is just so behind the 8 ball in regard to this. We REALLY miss our World Space Radio whose service we lost 150 miles out of Darwin. So now it is back to the insular, limited world news provided by the Australian media.

However, it is good to be on familiar territory and the ease at which Peter can organize maintenance on the boat is wonderful. You don’t realize in Asia how you either make do with what is available or ship things in at great expense to the management. Darwin offers many options for future cruising. The immediate thought is another visit to the Kimberley, which is still one of the most stunning cruising grounds we have encountered.