8-4-00 We've been in Darwin over a week now, and have accomplished quite alot. We caught up with old friends, met new ones, picked up our mail (paper), replaced boat batteries, tuned the rig, replaced worn genoa sheets (lines that hold the headsail), inventoried the larder, doctor appointments - skin checks, ordered a watermaker from the USA, greased winches, went food-shopping several times, email, laundry, bought charts, called home, filled propane tank, repaired autopilot, .... we've crossed alot of projects off the list. There's always a list. Colleen also has been hoisted up the masts of friends' boats to help them do some work. She is becoming quite the "mast-monkey". Pat is thinking about advertising and charging for her services! We decided to replace our batteries here, as they were a couple years old and starting to loose their charging power. We have four 6 volt golf cart batteries that are tied together as our "house bank" which powers the fridge, lights, nav instruments, laptop, VHF and SSB radios, stereo, and fans. The battery bank is 440 amp hours and will last about 4 days, without recharging them. Luckily we've had enough wind for the wind generator (small "windmill" attached to stern) and the batteries keep their charge without running the engine. We also decided to install a watermaker before we leave OZ. A watermaker is a reverse osmosis machine that takes in saltwater and makes fresh water. For the last two years we've been successfully catching rain water or carrying jerry-jugs from shore and the water has been plentiful and safe to drink. But the water quality in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is questionable. Since we are planning to cruise SE Asia for over a year, we bit the bullet and ordered one from the States - cheaper than buying one here. They are not cheap at $2,000 US, but it'll be piece of mind, knowing our drinking water is safe. It should arrive by DHL next Wednesday. After we install it, we should be ready to clear out of OZ and head to Bali, Indonesia. So we have another few days of sight-seeing and provisioning before we get our DHL delivery.
8-9-00 Happy Birthday to Pat! It's his 40th birthday and we'll celebrate it with a dinner out and maybe a movie. "Perfect Storm" is playing in the cinemas here. Pat's choice. He's afraid Colleen might not get back on the boat after seeing that one! We bought a couple beer kits for Pat's birthday to try to brew beer onboard. They sell them in the supermarkets here in OZ. What a concept. Anyway, we probably won't brew until we're in Thailand, but we'll keep you informed. We've enjoyed Darwin, even though it was a working visit for us and we didn't do much touring of the surrounding area. A yachties definition of cruising: Maintaining a boat in exotic ports. It's true. There is always a list of things to do when in port. Some projects may be preventive and some are corrective, some are minor and some are major, but regardless, the list never seems to end. Pat gets the day off for his birthday today, no hard labor. We were just reminiscing, last year we spent Pat's birthday in Tonga. Cool. Well, we should be leaving The Land Down Under the end of this week after our 9 1/2 month stay. We really enjoyed OZ but the customs man says it's time to go. We'll sail to SE Asia and Bali, Indonesia will be our next port of call. We hope to stop at a small Aussie atoll on our way there - Ashmore Reef, about half way to Bali. It's about 500 miles from Darwin to Ashmore, then another 500 to Bali. Next update will be from Bali or Singapore. Will definitely have some pictures to add to the web by then.
8-13-00 Offshore in the Timor Sea, Indian Ocean (Lat 12°20'S/Lon 128°54'E), on our way to Ashmore Reef We left Darwin a couple of days ago. Not much wind out here, we've been motoring alot, the Timor Sea has been flat as a lake. We do have some wind right now and are sailing at a break-neck speed of 3.8 knots. But at least it's quiet. The diesel engine is loud and annoying, we're happy for the silence and a bit of wind to fill the sails. Earlier this evening, we came across an RAAF P-3 Orion aircraft on a training mission. They were dropping sonobouys and tracking a submarine. It was pretty cool, we watched them circle us for about an hour. It made us wonder if the sub wasn't hiding under us? There are two other sailboats out here within sight, one Swedish and one German. We cleared customs and left Darwin at about the same time. We've been keeping in touch on the VHF radio, chatting about the weather (no wind), the fishing (none yet) and what's for dinner (hot dogs) ,.... It's nice to sail in company with other boats. We're all about the same size and speed, so we're keeping fairly close.
8-19-00 We've been at Ashmore Reef (Lat 12°14'S/Lon 122°59'E) 3 days now, what a wonderful reward after 4 and a half days of light wind sailing and motoring from Darwin. And we have lots to tell you about Ashmore. It's a little speck on the map, the reef only 13 miles long by 7 miles wide, easy to miss without GPS. There is a break in the reef, so you can enter a protected lagoon. There are 3 small sandy islets spread over the reef and we are moored near West Islet. Ashmore Reef is an Aussie National Nature Reserve and supports a huge variety of marine and bird life. Over 700 species of fish have been recorded and 32 of the worlds 55 species of sea snakes live here. There are more species of sea snakes here than anywhere else in the world. We saw a documentary titled "The Sea Snakes of Ashmore Reef" when we were home in the States last year and it peaked our interest - and here we are snorkeling with them! They don't bother you, some are more curious than others, but they usually swim the other way when they see you. Yesterday we counted 17 during about an hour swim on the reef. The bird life is interesting too - it's a breeding area for seabirds such as terns, noddies, reef egrets, white-tailed tropic birds and red-tailed tropic birds. Lots of sea turtles too. It's so nice to get back in the water and swim again. We could stay for weeks. It's also an area that is well-fished by Indonesians in their traditional sailing prows. There are 7 of them currently fishing the surrounding waters. They have young kids onboard that dive for trepang (sea cucumbers) and trocha shells. There is also an Aussie ship on station here year round. Right now there is a 115 ft long, aluminum Aussie Customs Service vessel called ROEBUCK BAY. The customs vessel is part of OZ's Coastwatch fleet. Coastwatch plays a key role in detecting illegal entry vessels, illegal fishing, drug importation, trafficking, quarantine breaches, environmental concerns, etc, etc. The crew has been very friendly to us and provided a warm welcome to Ashmore Reef. However, a couple days ago an Indonesian motor vessel came into the lagoon with 71 illegal immigrants onboard. Such a sad story for those onboard trying desperately to flee their homeland (Iraq, Iran, Palestine, etc) and come into Australia. A ferry boat is enroute from Darwin to pick up the people onboard and their boat will be burned and sunk outside the reef. The immigrants will be processed in Darwin and the ship's captain will be detained. (imprisoned). Hopefully those allowed to stay will find a better life for themselves. Tonight we are having a barbecue on the beach with the Customs folks and the other 4 yachties in the lagoon - two Swedish boats, one Norwegian and one New Zealand.
8-22-00 Offshore in the Timor Sea, Indian Ocean on our way to Bali, Indonesia, about 130 nm to go. Not much wind out here, we've been motoring again. It's the transitional season now, between dry and wet season and hence we're in the tropical doldrums. We're not keen on motoring, especially since our electronic autopilot is not working and we're having to hand steer when we motor. When we have wind and are sailing the Monitor wind vane steers the boat, but when motoring we have an electronic tiller pilot hooked up to our our wind vane. We're ready to "deep-six" it shortly. We've had it repaired twice in OZ - circuit card replaced, connections resoldered, etc.... for almost the cost of buying a new one. We've had it apart ourselves, several times to work on it. (As engineers having worked in the electronic field, we were apt to take it apart sooner or later!) We've discovered it's not such a robust design, and most yachties do carry an extra one as a back up. But we only have one. So instead of our expensive electronic autohelm, we have a $1.00 bungy cord that it tied around our steering wheel and keeping SIMMER somewhat on course! Good old Yankee ingenuity. Hopefully we can get the autohelm repaired (again) in Bali and it'll work again.
8-28-00 Arrived Bali Aug 24th after a 4-day passage from Ashmore Reef. We're in the Bali International Marina in Benoa Harbor (Lat 08°45'S/115°13'E), since there is not much of an anchorage here. So we're paying about $14 US a day in the marina and we plan to spend a week. The marina is a bit dilapidated, but it'll do as our staging area for touring Bali. Bali is one of the 13,700 islands in Indonesia, located about in the center of the archipelago. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with about 200 million people, mostly of the Malay race. Indo is an interesting mixture of cultures, rather than a single one and we are looking forward to the experience. Bali has a fascinating Hindu culture and we are going on an inland tour this week to see some of the beautiful temples, Balinese dancing, monkey forests, and brilliant green terrace landscapes. The currency is an unbeatable bargain for us, thanks to the regional economic crisis and the collapse of the local currency - the rupiah. The exchange rate is about 9,000 rupiah to the US dollar. Colleen is looking forward to the affordable shopping! We've eaten a few meals out for about $2- 3 US dollars and have bought some music CDs for about $9 US. The city of Kuta is the biggest tourist center on Bali. We went there the other day and were amazed at the action and traffic. It has shop after shop, crammed into small stalls, kiosks, store fronts, alleyways, .... The hawkers really get in your face, trying to entice you to part with some money. It was fun and the hawkers weren't overly annoying, but they don't take "NO" for an answer easily. "Lady - look, nice watch for $1", "Lady - manicure for $3 ", Sir - bracelet for the lady?", "Sir - Massage?" , "Lady - wood carving, come see", "Sir - need transport?", "Lady - lipstick, perfume - cheap." etc, etc. Yesterday we just looked, now maybe we're ready to negotiate. It's all a game, but the end result is you get what you want for the price and they don't loose face.
8-31-00 It's now 2 years since we left home in Toms River, NJ and we're in Bali - almost half way around the world. (We'll cross our halfway point in the next week or so, on our way to Singapore at Longitude 106°E). We've been in Bali a week and it's time to move on. We would actually like to stay longer, but Colleen is flying back to the states from Singapore on Sept 26th, for a family wedding, and Singapore is still 1,000 nm away. Bali is so intriguing though and we thoroughly enjoyed our short stay. What a great mix of culture - Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim. We took a land tour yesterday and saw Balinese dancing, vibrant green terraced rice fields, monkeys, temples, wonderful artisans such as wood carvers & silversmiths, lovely countryside, mountains, flowers, etc. The major cities in Bali are touristy and the traffic is a nightmare - especially the way they drive! But it was calming to get out of the city and see the out of the way places on the island. Check out some of the pictures in the photo album for a glimpse of Bali. We'll be travelling in company with 2 other boats on our way to Singapore. In this area of the world, there is safety in numbers. There are many fishing boats, fishing traps, reefs, etc that are all unlit at night. So most yachties hook up and travel in company. We'll be traveling with two British friends on catamarans - OCEAN SWAN and LIBERATOR.
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