note: We can’t upload any images while we are offshore, but will share the images from this leg with you when we arrive somewhere with wifi access.
Friday, November 24.
It was raining pretty hard when we got up at 7 this morning to head over to the customs
dock for our 9am departure.
Unfortunately, the only slot available with Australian Border Force for us to clear out was right at low tide. We had less than a foot of water under the keel but we managed to clear the narrow
passage into Cullen Bay and tied up.
At 9:30 there was still no sign of a Border Force agent so we gave them a call. Apparently,
the two officers scheduled to clear us out had “a collision with an
object” and couldn’t come out. Hopefully, everyone was okay.
Around 10am they sent two officers down and they were very friendly and
efficient and it took less than 10 minutes to clear us out.
The wind was very light and we alternated between motoring and sailing,
when we could find a patch of wind. We have enough diesel on board to motor around
1000nm, but we still want to conserve as much of it as we can as the wind will likely be
fickle all the way to South Africa.
Overnight a booby landed on our bow for a nap and refused to budge even
when we went up there to change the headsail.
Saturday, November 25
Our resident booby flew off to catch some breakfast around sunrise. The
wind is still a very light 2-4kts on the nose.
A curious pod of dolphins and eight pale brown and striped sea snakes swam over to take a look at us as we bobbed around. I’m not sure how poisonous these ones are but I don’t think I’ll be going
for a swim here!
A thunderstorm a couple miles to the south created enough wind for us to
sail through the night.
At around 2am a 990 foot oil tanker passed us heading
east at 12kts, after about an hour it did a u-turn and started heading
west maintaining the same speed. I’m not really sure what was going on there
but it was very strange.
We were kept company most of the night by two small white and black birds,
who left at sunrise.
Sunday, November 26
The wind is back to 0-3 knots and the water glassy, although now with a
light swell.
With the wind so unpredictable we are being very careful with our water.
We have 2.5 litres each per day spread out over 5, 500ml servings. One at
10am, 12 pm, 2pm, 4pm and 10pm.
These watering times have become something to look forward to as we drift
on a glassy ocean.
It is very hot today! By 10am it had already reached 40 degrees Celsius
and the deck will burn your feet.
At 1030 we got a visit from Australian Border Force. It was a bit of a shock, the
complete silence of the ocean was suddenly filled with the roar of a twin
engine airplane skimming just over the water and close enough that we could
just about see the pilot. Five minutes later our VHF radio crackled to life as they called us up to ask us where we were headed, then helpfully confirmed that we were in fact headed there and had filed all the appropriate paperwork. They asked us to report if we see any suspicious or strange activity. We refrained from telling them about seeing the tanker do a u-turn in the middle of the night, which we thought strange but I am sure they are aware of. Apparently, we will see a lot more of them along the way as the Australian Border Force has very large presence up here.
We found ourselves in the midst of thousands of swimming crabs, so thick in
the water that they looked like snow, covering an area almost 2 miles across.
We had a rain squall come through and managed to catch 12 litres of fresh rain water in less
then five minutes. This will give us enough extra water for another two and a
half days out here and as a celebration we each had a brimming glass of
fresh caught water.
Monday, November 27
We have a nice wind from the north east! It is good to be sailing again
and not having to raise and lower the sails every hour or so as the wind
builds and dies. There will likely be more of that to come but we are
enjoying the wind while it lasts! The water is still flat, although no
longer glassy, which allows for a perfect 360 degree view of the slightly
curving horizon.
We are now well into cyclone season in the Indian Ocean, which means the North East monsoon is fading out, causing the light, unpredictable winds we have been experiencing.
Cianan and I were using the luxury of flat water to sit up on the bowsprit
and read when a pod of dolphins showed up! They would come within inches
of touching my feet dangling off the bowsprit and the puffs of spray as they
took a breath misted us. They stayed with us for over an hour and not long
after they left a pod of three Orcas showed up and swam right under the boat.
Our 12kg of potatoes we bought in Darwin are starting to go mushy. We moved them up into the v berth where it is moderately cooler. We have been eating a lot of french fries and are trying to come up with some other ways of eating them. We thought we would try curried potato salad for a change or stuffed baked tatties.
Tuesday, November 28
We passed a large offshore fishing boat heading east 3 miles off our port
bow.
Around noon we spotted a thunderstorm heading towards us and, excited
at the prospect of catching some more rain water and maybe getting an extra ration
today, we hurriedly set up our water catchment system. Unfortunately at
the last moment, the rain cloud decided to about course and head back the other
way. The water is like a mirror from horizon to horizon, 360 degrees with
barely any swell to mar the cloud’s perfect reflection. It’s times like
these that I am very glad to have a motor. It is beautiful out here but the slow progress has serious implications for our precious water and fuel supplies.
We built a solar water distiller today. We took the wash basin and put an inch of sea water in it and a cup in the middle, then stretched a bread bag over it with a few coins in the middle to weigh it down. It worked pretty well, although it produced only about a 1/4 cup of water. The water tasted really good with no hint of salt.
Wednesday, November 29
Not much to report today. We tried chasing down some more rain storms but
they got away. According to the GRIB files (meteorological data) we are now approaching the wind!
We were able to sail all day which is a welcome change and got a visit from
a pod of very large dolphins.
Around 4pm Australian Border Force buzzed us again but didn’t bother to hail us on the radio this time
Thursday, November 30
The remainder of our cheese and salami has gone off. We still have a dozen eggs left. After an unfortunate incident in the Pacific with rotten eggs, we float test the eggs before cooking them. If the eggs float then they have gone off. It’s truly remarkable the speed at which things go off at sea in this climate.
The barometer has climbed to 1015 and it is exceedingly hot, with temperatures inside the cabin reaching over 40 degrees Celsius and precious little shade.
The wind built to 8 knots westerly and around 3pm it shifted to the WSW and built to 10-12 knots. It is so much better being under sail! It is almost getting to be too much for the Genoa.
Australian Border Force buzzed us again from the west before banking hard and skimming past us again from the east to take another look.
Friday, December 1
We are heading to Ashmore Reef Marine Park. The park is about 180 nm from mainland Australia. The park is home to a large number of sea birds and dugongs, as well as being a nesting site for green sea turtles. Most of the park is a sanctuary zone restricting human activity to scientific research. there is very limited mooring available so hopefully, we’ll be able to overnight there.
We had to clear it with the Australian Border Force as we had technically left the country but they said it was no problem.
We can see the reef from a long way off with the light blue light reflecting back up onto the bottom of the clouds.
We made it in! We are on one of the further out moorings as it was getting pretty dark and it is a very complex channel going in. There are three other boats here but it is really too dark to make out what they are. We had thought we would have the place to ourselves seeing as we are so far out. It will be interesting to see it all in the daylight.