Thus Spake Obi-Wan-K’noathi

Back in Northwest Oz overything settled back into its usual WA rhythm. We are drinking like troopers and Louie conjures up huge cooked breakfasts before we even think of hoisting sails. We are getting bloody good at this! With Lisa aboard via Warroora to Cape Farquar, which is a bit of an iffy entrance and mooring. And no shootable fish inside the reef, the abundant large Grey Nurse sharks must have eaten the lot. Outside the reef we dangled on a long rope behind Tribute in amazingly clear but cold water and Mix was the lucky (and fearless) one to dance with a humpback whale which came to sniff us out. Crew additions at Gnaraloo- Nats, Megsie and Sandra joined and miraculously we were treated with another beautiful mellow downwind sailing day, with whales, wine and a big mackie. Once at Red Bluff, the girls had to swim in through the shorebreak. And the mackie was trussed to a surfboard to float in with them.
Anyway. The home stretch tomorrow.

Obi-Wan-K’noathi is a redneck philosopher/fisherman who lives- or ought to live- in a shack somewhere round Cape Farquar. He is old as the weathered red rocks and his language is colourful as the reefs. The fresh Southwester blows through his mind and I spend the days thinking up aphorisms to attribute to him. So far, they’re too rude to entrust to these pages so I must leave you, and this blog, and this trip and this ship with the observation that all this rah rah about the merits of travelling and arriving has really got to stop.

Come forward, you can see the end from here!

Almost home. .we sailed -upwind of course- via the Montebello's to Coral Bay. The Australian skies are clear and the air is crisp and chilly in a hard Southeasterly, blowing from the Great Sandy Desert over the Indian Ocean. And after pondering the meaning of life for three months, drenched by the ocean and scorched by the sun this realisation dawned on me: I am but a small cogwheel in life's vast machine and my purpose during this reincarnation is to host hen's nights.

Prenatal poultry calculations

To say that we have arrived would be premature. But were anything to go wrong now, we could swim to the mainland. It is just past midnight and we are approaching Dampier. The whole area is lit like a christmas tree with wellheads and drilling platforms, it is tricky seeing if any of them move or have navlights.

But be that as it may, we are expecting to make landfall just short of five days after hoisting anchor in Lembar. Five days of wet and bouncy upwind sailing, we had to park the boat for a while just off Lombok before we even dared to enter the cocktail shaker where currents, wind and swell collide. After that- shipboard routine of reading, dozing, cooking and being on watch. Every day at 1700 heaving-to for regimented callenistics and a saltwater shower. We made a 183 nM day, not bad if you consider that the current downwind record for Tribute is just over 200 nM. Highlight was a marlin, hooked, landed and released by Marlin today.

The wellheads turn out to be a traffic jam of huge ships. Cheers!

PS- Made it! Moored at 0500, customs phoned at 0615, by 0700 we had the officials aboard. Remember the race between Oz & Indo bureacracy? Everyone was friendly and efficient. And dare I say it, two of the customs officers were actually rather dishy. But the quairantine officer removed a bag of garbage plus an apple that we had overlooked and then charged $680 for the honour while apologising for these government regulations... It is a draw, I think.

Meanwhile back in Oz for three hours, and we already have four thwarts under our belt:
- The $680. Ouch.
- Our first encounter with an Australian native, a burly bloke in a fishing stinky did not acknowledge my friendly 'g'day mate'. But he could be deaf or distracted of course, so I repeated the greeting with the same result.
- A bit later a very pumped up grumpy bloke told us that we were not allowed, 'under no circumstances!' to tie up to the jetty. He was about to untie us, but we managed to delay him by a minute so the officials could get off.
- If we want to see the Monties at all (with Nathalie's enticing offer of using Tribute as her hen's night venue with 'fourteen bikini babes supplied to the boat' in mind), we have to make a move again tonight and into a headwind as well .But the shops are closed, and a taxi vv to Karratha is $100. Which means that 1/2 a day in Oz costs more than a month in Indo. Kenoath!

Anyway. A luta continua.

Huu

For reasons not quite clear to me we are travelling under assumed names. ‘Yella ‘ after Louie’s yellow Corona-filled Esky that he’s effectively twinned with. ‘Marlin’, presumably because Mix would like to catch one. And Seuss, as in Doctor. But not much else has changed in Tribute’s travelling routine. From LBJ to Kanawa, then to Komodo where we trundled for hours through the shrub and bush without seeing a single dragon. The guide was apologetic but laughed away our suggestions of a refund.
Anchorages on Sumbawa’s South coast are rare, but I spied some promising features on the chart so we checked it out and found a village hidden deep in a narrow bay. Fishermen pointed us to an anchor spot and we took the duck ashore where M&L were a bit overwhelmed by their sudden popularity- all 150 kids in the village swarmed around them, pointed, chattered and laughed while I took pictures. We were lucky to watch the weekly soccer match with 12 very fast players on bare feet seemingly unconcerned about the rocks on the dirt field.
From there we followed the rugged coastline with a pit stop at Huu, where the presumably famous ‘Lakey’s Pipe’ is with its attendant tourist infrastructure. Mix & I got a very pleasant surf in the next morning with three Americans on ‘Nanga’. We even tried to kitesurf for a brief while until the wind died, much to delight of the villagers.
Supplies are low. In most villages there is a small toko where eggs, rice, coconuts and sometimes cabbages are available. We’ve been trying to make our own roti’s out of flour and essentially live on this with pot noodles for lunch. But for even simple things like canned tuna we have to wait till Lembar, with luck. And I have run out of books.
This morning- with trepidation- we shot through the Lombok Strait once more and made arrangements to clear out of Indonesia. But the forecast looked a bit iffy (not that I’ve ever seen it favourable for getting back to Oz), we cancelled Abou- our Agent -and are now storming North at 12 knots to await better weather on Gili Air. Again.

PS-Actually set sail on the 14th, early am. Hoping for a five day crossing, six more likely.

All the way to LBJ

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the captain should go down with his ship. To Davy Jones' locker, or to Labuanbajo for the fourth or fifth time. In hindsight Tribute could have travelled further through Nusa Tengara if there weren't three separate crew movements through LBJ.

Ever since the owner of a mooring demanded money, Tribute's been strung between its anchor and a stern line which is tied to a lamppost in the police station's garden. When leaving for the morning's nasi, the gentlemen in uniform and I exchange selamat pagi's. And likewise malams at night. They made a handy profit out of our last fuel transaction and now often ask if my jerrycans need refilling. There is a mosque just up the road and both Peter and I are impressed with its imam. He has a good strong voice with range and passion and there is variety in what we presume are prayers. In the distance we can hear his colleagues but they don’t have a patch on ‘our’ guy. Little things like this matter, especially at five a.m. And just behind the cops is the harbourmaster's office whose inhabitants have yet to bother us.

Back in Oz, many commented on my Indo plans by saying 'piracy'! Some skipped that word and simply asked what guns I'd be taking. The sailing press was reassuring on the piracy front but pessimistic about another scourge, the bureaucrats. As I understood it an official of some flavour would row, swim or motor out of every hamlet and village to demand copies in triplicate of all possible paperwork as well as arbitrary fees for this honour. Now, it is unwise to sell the skin of the bear before one's shot it but so far this has happened only once. And there’s the possibility that on our return the Australian Customs and DPI will outhassle Indonesian Officialdom. Any takers for a bet?

But I digress- the friendly humans in uniform are as the rest of LBJ's citizens. Not a grumpy Indonesian have I met, and the ones who speak English cross the (currently broken up) street to get some practice in. LBJ is a bit of a transit port for dive charters and visits to Rinca or Komodo and it has some low-key tourist infrastructure. A couple of simple restaurants, a few dive shops and a souvenir store where wood carved dragons are displayed. And secluded in the forest up the hill is the Paradise Bar.

Paradise has a colonial atmosphere. The entire clientele is Caucasian except for a gaggle of local boys who all have Rasta hair and who seem focused on meeting girls. For the others there's food, Bintang and live music. On guitars which are out of tune in themselves and between each other a selection of world music is performed. The artists swap instruments, the waiter joins when he's free, the audience is invited and overall (like I noticed in the Philippines) there seems to be a refreshing lack of ‘look mama I can play' attitude.

I rented a small motorcycle to explore the hinterland of LBJ. Without a map I followed my nose until the road or track petered out, and then returned to repeat the same in another direction. Eventually I found the main road to Ruteng which was so rutted and gutted that I took it for a dead end. You'd think that off-road bikes would be very popular here, but strangely the roads are swarming with the standard issue Asian motorcycle. The type that can carry an entire family. I am unsure what they are-there's no markings apart from the brand. How can anyone own a motorcycle that is simply 'Yamaha'? Where do they get their bragging rights from-the colour? Is there no need in Asian society to be able casually mention that your Howazuki GXR-Z 1100 Mk II has not only got ABS but also RSVP? It is all very odd and I cautiously made my way up a distant pass where the air was cool and bamboo grew four stories high.

Meanwhile I'm on my own and moored in a pretty bay on the Northern tip of Komodo. I set a new Zen record by taking 8 hours to cover 17 miles- and that is as the fish swims. Until half an hour ago it was idyllic, half a moon and a glassy sea and silence except sounds of splashing fish and indeterminate animal noises from the land. Pure tranquillity. Then a small motorboat came into the bay- I suddenly thought of pirates and guns again- but they scouted a mooring for a large and brightly lit tourist barge which motored around the headland later. The sanctity of nature was shattered, the music and laughter carried miles across the water and I thought fuck you too & started the generator after all.

So, back to LBJ to pick up Mix and Lou. I hope Bali doesn’t damage them too badly. The clock has started ticking again. There’s a mission and a schedule and there’s the wild South coast of Sumbawa and Lombok, and after that the Indian Ocean.

...I once travelled with a Swede who took his time to deliberate the postcards he wrote. But he always settled on the same phrase, which he explained was the nicest thing you could wish someone and that he couldn’t think of anything better to write:

‘May all your dreams come true’.

Do the Sumba and the Tonga

Tribute's crew is down to two and the boat has grown, partly because Peter and I travelled together for 25 years and have reached that matrimonious nonverbal state. With no-one to please but ourselves and 10 days to do that we tacked and gybed and plotted our way through the Komodo archipelago, doing a bit of reading, photography and snorkelling on the way. To translate Nescio: 'I am nothing and I do nothing. And even that is doing too much. I don't think either, thinking is for dumb people. It is best to gently fade out'.

Excitement there is little, although I came close to suffocating in an attempt to have some scuba-divers discover me sitting on the seabed at 14 m in lotus position, hidden just around the corner of a bommie they dived on. And at an anchorage on Rinca there were SIX dragons on the beach. A plague of them!
With so few goals in life we created some. And curiously, after not meeting a boat for over a month we immediately ran into the Dutch crew of 'Kolibrie' at Komodo and quickly broke our vows of not smoking or drinking. And the next day the Oz crew of 'Bonnie' left a pack of cigarettes behind for Peter which was the end of his asceticism. It obviously was not meant to be and he has accepted his karma.

Karma,dharma and general laid-backness have a numerical value on Tribute, it displayed on the speedometer. I have not been able to help BUH understand that if you're going nowhere in particular, then there is no need to rush the departure or to laboriously squeeze every fraction of a knot out of the boat. Just accept the number on the screen, om mane padme hum. The quickest way to get to a destination anyway is to decide that it is here. Consequently, the boat has two speeds under motor: 6.5 knots is cruise, 4.5 knots is a psychological band-aid. The latter has been used a lot because it is so hard to lie still or go slow. Peter and I have now managed to endure hours of sailing at four knots which is a new Zen record.

These biodegradable non-directive wanderings have landed us on Sumba, an island where headhunting was practiced in living memory. The Lonely Planet is lyrical about it but there is not much I can say yet except that the coastline looks a bit like the landscape North of Geraldton. We spent the night anchored near a ferry terminal and were not keen to go ashore. There are no published anchorages so we are feeling our way along the coast, making sure to inspect possible spots that we could get back to later. With the promise of a fuller report later I wish everyone fair winds, I trust that 14 knots just aft of the beam would suit all?

PS: That was it for Sumba. No anchorages in the past 30 miles, three hours of light left, nothing conceivably anchorable within range. C-map useless, the pilot written two centuries ago 'Anchorage achievable with local knowledge... line up a conspicuous tree and a rock and anchor in 60 metres of water' and even the paper charts were published in 1904 by the Nederlandsche Hydrografische Dienst. We have tacked, turned North and are preparing for a night-sail across the Sumba Sea!

And pix can fly

Hi all, nothing's happened really. Moored in Labuanbajo in sight of the local police station. At night we chain the dinghy to the station's fence before pottering off to the Paradise Bar. It is stinking hot, we still have to organise fuel then we're off direction Sumba . By the sounds of it that will be very remote! Tribute's resident artist has made a collage of some pix so I thought I'd post them here, for your enjoyment and comfort.

The day of the dragon

Well hello, all!

It has taken us over a week to get to the Komodo archipelago, home to 'some of the most tempestuous waters in Indonesia' according to the Lonely Planet. It has been pleasant all along. Most days tacking along the Northern Sumbawa coast in a F5 headwind, sometimes motoring through the lenghthy calms. We stopped for a restocking session in Bima, the capital of Sumbawa. Hustlers on motorcycles greeted us at the dock jostling for our business. Peter and Kate went off in a 'Ben Hur'- a horse chariot- to get food, and after some negotiations in which I only got badly ripped off I left with a little fleet of motorcycles each with an empty jerrycan on the pillion seat. Loaded with money I rode through the seedy parts of town with a motorcycle gang. After the fuel & food was sorted both Peter and I made another raid into town for a box of beer, the purchase of which is probably similar to scoring drugs in the Western world. My 'fixer' spoke to some people, who directed us into the slums, where other people were questioned until we got to a small shop where a tray of Bintang was dug out from the stores.

Which brings me to the subject of alcohol- Tribute is a sort of Big Brother setup, with three people marooned on a small boat in a foreign country. On our involuntary teetotal days we play chess. When there's beer aboard, everyone becomes more amicable and we even had a Latin Party in the cockpit, illuminated with headtorches. I have long thought that it is an evolutionary oversight that we all aren't permanently at the one or 2 glass level socially speaking, but there you are. Quite another thing is that the hassles in the Middle East may just be better approached through the opening of bars rather than starting another war.

Be that as it may, we've pottered gently (headwind & adverse current wherever we go) through the archipelago of hundreds of rocks and islands which rightly is a World Heritage area. Shallow reefs and raging currents in the sea and the sawtoothed spines of mountain ranges on the islands mark the horizon. Very varied- yesterday, in the area between Komodo and Rinca the landscape was more like I'd expect of Cape Horn, with towering black granite cliffs and jagged spikes of rock poking through the surface of the clear blue water. It is only fitting that Komodo dragons live in a prehistoric area like this.

This morning we are moored in Teluk Ginggo on Rinca which 'ranks up there with the best anchorages worldwide', according to our cruising guide. Just after sunrise a 2m dragon sauntered onto the nearby beach so Peter and I launched the dinghy and armed ourselves with two big sticks hoping to get a better picture of it. Yesterday, in Komodo, we saw about 6 dragons on a guided tour and they seemed pretty docile. But this one was alone on a deserted beach in a rugged, uninhabited area. We approached with caution, the dragon licked the air with his forked tongue and slowly disappeared into the bush again.

It is a magical area and it is surprising that we have seen only two other cruisers since we left Bali, and very few tourists at all. The guide said there were only 10 people on the island most days and I remember knowing about Komodo since Primary School, it is that famous. Meanwhile the wind's picked up and it is time to move. We are dropping Kate off in Labuanbajo on Flores in a few days time, Peter and I hope to have a look at Sumba after that. Mix & Louie- I suggest you get a flight to Labuanbajo as well, because this area is not to be missed. I'll be in contact later.

Slogging Eastward

Sumbawa:
As I write this in the port hull of Tribute I hear Peter and Kate teaching each other to sail and having lively arguments about the readouts on the instruments in the cockpit. They are both wrong, but on the calm waters, and without any fixed plans for any day- who cares? Since the last blog we've picked up Peter from Gili Trewangang. The Lonely Planet warned that it was a bit of a party island, so Peter and I retired to the boat. Kate however went hunting in the pubs for the elususive Two French Doctor Chicks that are so vital for my future plans. She later thought she managed to find one, but got very drunk in the process and fell out of the dinghy and wrecked her phone and whatnot.

The whole crew decided to aim for a life of moderation and contemplation for the rest of the trip. And remarkably, that is what seems to be happening. After a bit of snorkelling and wandering on Gili Air we bit the bullet and sailed to the other side of Lombok. Near a nameless village we dropped the anchor and went for a sightsee to find we had left the tourosphere. Between Peter and myself there's a 20 word vocabulary in Indonesian, but, to parapharase Chairman Mao: with a smile and a background in charades you get further than with a smile alone. A boy cut down some coconuts from a tree for us and someone else showed us how to skin them with a machete. Everyone is smiling and helpful. The daily chores now include swotting Indo from a phraseboook.

The next day we travelled to some uninhabited islands between Sumbawa and Lombok that looked really good on Google Earth but are otherwise not mentioned in any of the guides aboard. It was magnificent, we snorkelled in water with 30 m visibility over imposing reefs and I wend wild with the camera. We crossed the strait, spent hours finding an anchorage on Sumbawa and were the main event of the week for the many kids in the village we visited this morning.

...Two days later, and we lie moored on a coral reef. Directly below Tribute there is a near-vertical, coral encrusted precipice going down to unmeasurable on the depthsounder. The water is incredibly clear- often I saw the crew's bright fins underwater in the distance before I could see their heads above it. Snorkelling over the wall felt like taking off on a hangglider. The moon is full and there is a warm breeze coming off the island, carrying wafts of woodsmoke with it.

We seem to make slow progress Eastward. There has been little wind and so many distractions! We anchored in Tor Potopaddu yesterday, an almost fjordlike indentation in the Northwest Sumbawa coastline. The fishermen pointed out a good anchorage and hung around the boat for an hour or so, later replaced by all the kids from the nearby village who paddled out in their little outrigger canoes. They were mainly curious, but also hoped to get a pen or a magazine or sweets. I dished out some of each but soon realised that the demand was endless.
Today we made it in a nice breeze to Moyo Island by lunch. Despite lots of healthy snorkelling, and being up before dawn, and playing chess, and meditating a bit at sunrise- the absence of vegetables and beer will drive us toward some sort of town. But of course, there's a volcanic island with a saltwater lake on our way and probably more reefs and sights. It may just take a while.

And the boat goes on..ladidadidi,ladidadida

One of the 3 surfbreaks off Lebongong

An installment on the wanderings of Tribute: BUH, Hutch and I meandered from Gili to Senggigi, the main tourist resort on Lombok. We played to our strenghts in this foreign country by eating more nasi goreng and drinking Bintang. The water, already filthy with plastic and other debris got even more so after a short deluge which washed the sewers into the sea. Next day to Bangko-Bangko near Desert Point where on the arvo there was no swell, in the morning it looked frighteningly big with a four knot current sweeping past the point. Gave that a miss again.

We headed West for Bali. The fast current swept us Southward where we saw an endless line of big breakers- overfalls in 200 m of water. I don't know how high they were because it was hard to judge distance but it looked very nasty out there. I was quite tense for the next couple of hours, there was not enough wind to sail out of trouble if the engine were to conk out. BUH and Hutch shrugged their shoulders, draped themselves over the couch and closed their eyes, only to awake near Nusa Penida. The Southern coast consists of 50 or 100 m high vertical limestone cliffs. Deep, dark blue water, upwellings and whirlpools around the cape and no sign of the usual little fishing trimarans all morning, it was a bit eery.
Made it into Benoa without major dramas where Kate was waiting for us. We waved to a fellow cruiser in a dinghy who shouted back 'Zat was ze WORST anchoring ever! I vill tell ze Harbourmaster'!
Granted, it wasn't slick or elegant but what is it to a grey and grumpy German?

A good reason to drink Bintang and eat nasi goreng in the excellent marina restaurant. A day of provisioning in Kuta was next (Mate! You Aussie? I can get you Billabong shirt cheap!) and I write this on the calm seas off Bali. The plan is to sail to Gili Air again to await Peter's arrival. But Tribute can't do much in 6 knots of wind, and 2-4 knot of headcurrent. Aiming for Nusa Lembongang instead, we may have to sail to lombok to get a favourable current because there doesn't seem to be one off Bali.

Update on the update: Lembongang is GOOD! There are some permanently moored docking stations for the day-cruise boats- complete with waterslides and live music- and one of the charterboats offered us his mooring. I gratefully swam over with a sixpack of 'real Aussie beer!' and got a batch of hot loempias in return. The water was clean and clear, there was coral onder the boat and by midday a grommet surfbreak suddenly appeared a 100 m away. Great fun! With a couple of local kids and some laid back old tourists on the waves, the kids shouted someting that sounded like'Yagibolobolobohoo!' when a wave came through, six people took off at a time with most or all falling off again. Lots of little restaurants ashore- this comes recommended, it is only an hour by ferry out of Benoa.



The Trades haven't started yet. It is hot, and there's hardly any wind at all. By night the sea is glassy. I've been sleeping on the trampolines and sticking my head through the hatch into the cabin to watch the nights' movie- we stocked up with 30 of them in Kuta. When there's a bit of swell, there's a vertical airflow trough the tramps as the boat goes up and down which is better than none at all.



I've been grilling the 2 passing cruisers that we've met for info on the Northern route to Komodo and what I've understood is that good anchorages are few, the scenery is stunning, and nightsailing is hairy but sometimes necessary. Looks like it is going to be a suck it and see affair. Peter and Kate will need a crash course in boathandling soon.

Anyway, all is well on Tribute. My fondest to everyone!

Bait is attached to a small kite which is then flown over the reef.

The T shirts are soggy

After 4 uneventful days and nights at sea we had Land Ahoy! Rinjani- the 3700 m volcano on Lombok- peeped out of its clouds just before sunset . But we also saw a Fish Attracting Device, a sturdy unlit construction of oildrums either floating on the current or moored in 2 km of water. We took it VERY slowly from there on in the moonless night. At dawn we entered the clifflined Lombok Strait under spinnaker. There were lots of little trimaran fishing boats around, with colourful lateen sails. By lunch we were in Lembar.

The friendly harbourmaster who was supposed to be aware of our arrival was not. And he was also adamant that there were no customs, immigration or quiarantine officials in Lembar. Something was very wrong. It was tropically hot and sticky in his office and between that & the worries I got soaked. But a couple of phonecalls later Abu, a representative of Ace's ( our lucky Lombok contact!) office apologised for not being there yesterday and arrived within an hour along with the relevant officials in his car. In Tribute's little duckie the dignitaries were ferried to the boat. Sheaves of paperwork, and I was short of at least two vital items. Thanks to Abu this was all smoothed over, rectified and mended on the spot. We almost got through it all by 9 at night but we were weary after our journey and I suggested we continue the next day.

Ashore in the harbour a group of men sat round a burning log. They offered me Arak and their guitar. So I sang the Carnarvon Blues and mixed a bottle of G&T for them in return.

By the next morning boat and crew were cleared for cruising in Indo waters and we set off to the Gili isles, about 20 nM North of Lembar. At Gili Air we anchored ( and dived, and tied ropes to unused moorings) and then went ashore. No motorised transport on the islands, just bicycles and horse buggies and there are 20 or more little restaurants dotted around the beaches.Palm trees, people building wooden boats, fishermen on the reefs. Nasi goreng for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The next morning I spied a breaking wave and a bit later Hutch, BUH and I were happily snorkelling, making pictures, or trying to surf. Especially the surf made us stay another day- the water is 28 degrees and the slow wave has a smooth 2 m face. We had the break to ourselves for hours. BUH got up properly a couple of times, I managed to escape the foamies to get on clean wave for a few happy seconds. And Hutch was happy as Larry with his underwater camera in the surfline or over the corals. Strange- the viz must be over 20 metres even with all sorts of rubbish floating in it.

Anyway- it is all very beautiful and exotic and whatnot. The weather has been kind, the water is warm and clear. We are making our way to Bali for a crew changeover.

Farewell!

BUH has arrived, and thrown a Hullett-sized spanner in the finely tuned organisation of S/V Tribute. He tried the old trick of 'forgotten my sleeping bag', but was fobbed off with a spare and still had to sleep alone in the starboard forward coffin. The victuals are getting hammered.
Brad Beaumont, and ex-Carnarvonite now deeply into the marine matters of Dampier, lent us his ute & threw a barbie for us so we are developing a soft spot for the harbour.

The Customs MAY be able to clear us out today so it is all hands on deck to fuel & provision everything to the gunwhales. The forecasts are for nice Easterlies initially and then a patch of at least 2 days of NO WIND AT ALL. There's a low lurking off Java, too.

But anyway. We're off soon, aiming for landfall after a week or so in Lombok. I wish everyone well!

Cabin Fever

We did an overnighter to the Montebellos, had a look around the lagoons and anchored in Champagne Bay for the night. That was fine. The next day it was 30+ knots all day until it eased in the late arvo, and I got a kitesurf in. That was all well and relaxing too. The next day- 25-30 knots again. The books were losing their charm, all the odd jobs had been done (Hutch even cleaned the cutlery tray) and we sat beady-eyed in the cabin eating a third breakfast and realised we'd contracted Cabin Fever. There is only one cure: we secured everything and set out in the late arvo into a 20 knot headwind. The waves, whipped up by two days of strong Easterlies were three metres high or so and we got drenched, slammed and centrifuged. Again a night sail. Tiring this time- Dirk the autopilot does the steering, but needed constant adjustments- in the gusts the boat would accellerate to 8 or 9 knots, then slam into waves and drop off the back of them. Wet and uncomfortable .The solution was to head up 5 degrees, to keep things at 6 knots or so, and following the waves up & down. But in the lulls this higher angle would stop Tribute in its tracks on the next high wave, cured by 5 degrees down again.
Anyway-after 16 hours of this we arrived in Dampier. Bruce 'Useless' Hullett is on his way and it looks like customs is closed until Monday.

Life at sea

While near the huge submarine radio base at Northwest Cape, it is prudent to shield your brain from radiation. Visit Exmouth to find out why.

We made it to Surerrier island just before sunrise this morning. A bit of snorkelling and recuperating, by late arvo we were on our way again. The Monties are the next stop and we need to get there with the sun high in the sky to navigate the bommies and reefs. Anyway, not much news, we are settling in nicely on the boat. Hoisting all sorts of sails to cope with the flukey winds and taking them down again. Making meals at strange times. Motoring over glassy sea in the Mary-ann passage at the moment, Hutch sound asleep. The lights of oilrigs and beacons litter the horizon. Moon low in the East, it is very pretty.

I've noticed that running the watches - asleep or awake at any odd time in the day or night interferes with memory. Mine at least. Everything becomes sort of blurry. Whatever!

We've changed the hooks on the lures to singles and crushed the barbs. And made some sort of a foamrubber slipway for the fish on the back, so we can release them (this is a 114 cm mackie) more or less unharmed.

On our way at last...

There was a pleasant farewell party on Tribute last night, where fresh VMG and tortillas were served. Checking my email later- Bruce and Hutch suddenly need a visa! Frantic phone calls, netsurfing etc, etc. Hutch and I left this morning just after sunrise and I'm writing this off Coral Bay, I had to check email to see how the visa saga was developing and I'm on watch anyway with nothing to do but stare at the swells, the moon, the single double-reefed sail and the dimmed instrument lights. It feels WRONG to be internetting on the high seas, but by wishing for everyone's dreams to come true at the next falling star, good may come of it after all.

A ray of hope!

It may be luck or chance but the past few days appear to have been guided by fate and karma more than anything else. It involves someone 4 degrees removed from a me, and resulted in stretching a conceptual loophole in the bond-system until it was large enough to allow the possibility of Tribute sailing through. If it succeeds, I am in karma-debt. You all are. Let's be nice to everyone.

The boat is asymptotically approaching readiness, and only another 100-odd pieces need to fall into place and arrive at three different addresses at the right time. My house and shed and finances and insurances, permits and taxes and other obligations are a different matter altogether, and if I didn't have likeable neighbours attached to my unit I'd be burning the lot behind me. I'd also like to sign my own death certificate to get registered as deceased by the bureaucrats for a while.


Anyway, it is all systems go and I hope to opdate this blog once Hutch & I are on our way to Dampier!

DISASTER STRIKES!!!!!!

I won't bore you with the good news- the boat is cleaned, antifouled & ready to sail & I'm on holiday. As of last week, Bali Customs is enforcing a 45% boatvalue bond system to release the boat for cruising in Indo. The procedures for paying it are hazy, there is no known system for getting it back and to my knowledge nobody's ever been game to try it. I discovered this three hours ago.

As things stand: The Bali Marina tells me that in Kupang things are more flexible. This is pure hearsay, last year Kupang was the only known port to actually enforce the bond and it caused the Darwin-Kupang Rally lots of grief. If this is confirmed or not denied, then Bruce, Hutch and I may have to sail to Kupang which is upwind. Bitch, bitch.

Bali is still an option, but for a max of 2 weeks with passports impounded.

I called the CAIT people, who announced that shipping agents and marina operators etc will have a meeting tomorrow regarding this. It is unlikely that any boat would ever visit Indo at all under the bond system, and they'd all be without a job. Something may come out of this. I'll find out tomorrow.

Keep ya all posted.....

It is coming together!!!

Good news all round!

• Tribute has been included in the National Shipping Register, of course I'm still awaiting the paperwork but that's one potential unsurmountable obstacle out of the way.
• And it looks like I've got insurance! Pending this, that and the other and mindful of the fact that their idea of 'Indonesia' stops at 10' S which leaves some islands and a lot of ocean uninsured. Not having insurance and sitting on a boat >200K would make me think VERY hard about cancelling the plan so this is very welcome. Insurance is 4% of boat value, which makes me think that they have calculated that less than 1 in 25 boats go total loss on this trip. Nice thought. Inspires confidence.
• The shadesail is a work of art in black and marine blue and installs in minutes over the foredeck . We'll give it a test-run ( G&T at midday) over Easter, when a Monkey Mia trip is planned.
• BUH has picked up the new 2.4m RIB tender in Perth, reckons it will fit 3 or even 4 adults with a payload of 450 kg, and weighing 36 kg should not be too hard to stow on the back deck.
• The Australian Government has generously decided to subsidise the purchase of a satphone for Carnarvon Medical Centre.
• Haulout is planned for the 2nd of May, Craig will service the Yammy while Tribute's on the slipway which saves hours of akward lifting and carrying.
• The Indo, Oz and Q flag will be testflown today!

****** STOP PRESS***** Tribute is now officially the quickest boat in Shark Bay in 2008/9 and took the T-shirts home after a great weekend of racing. I know Ray Ellis and whoever owns the Shotover at Monkey Mia will doubt or protest this statement BUT having a big mouth is cheap. Please contest this on the racecourse- you've gotta be in it to win it.

And while blitzing the CYC cup in a haze of adrenalin and testosterone, Tribute also won a far sweeter, sociable and mellow trophy- that of having taken the most people along racing over the season.

I should explain that Division One of CYC consists of two boats- Tribute and Echo. And Echo was absent on a number of races, on one of which we had 12 or 13 people aboard.

Were there a prize for best catering and amount of alcohol consumed, we'd be up for that too.

Updates... The perfectionplanner has organised an Oz and Indo flag, the local upholsterer will fabricate a quairantaine flag while he makes a large shadenet for the foredeck. Tribute's cockpit is almost too well protected in any sort of heat, there's no breeze in it at all so I thought the trampolines might become a favourite hangout once there's shade. I stocked sufficient tinned food and staples in storage to last 4 persons a fortnight and replenished the spices and condiments. New fuel- and drinking water filter, a new VHF, water purification chemicals, a boarding ladder, parachute flares, 100 m mooring rope ( apparently one often ties the stern to a palm tree with the anchor in 30 m deep water- sounds interesting)- it is all being fitted and sorted.

Some things for the crew:
Take TWO polaroid sunnies please, get your immunisations updated and have a think regarding malaria. Although we'll be boating, there's still the usual stuff for everyone- to get some Rupia for example & have to a look at flights there and back and to have travel insurance.

I checked my inflatable PFD's yesterday and both were useless- worth checking for those who have one.

Meanwhile still hunting insurance...


Kees

More updates- Speaking with Mix and Kate yesterday, we'll try to put 2 mini-mal surfboards aboard (in my bunk!) to make a bit of watersport activity possible. There's a speargun too and I'll decide if a kite + gear is coming once the boat is stowed. Lil' Louie is joining Mix for the journey back, they hope to come aboard sort of 1 July when there's still a week or so of Indo left.

Insurance has been refused- I'm exploring other options.

Nat is exploring possibilities for Exmouth-Dampier and it is all starting to look good.

Passports, guys, passports!

Hi all!


**** stop press**** Peter Breevoort will be joining the Indo leg, and expects to land on Bali before the 1st of June. He used to live in Indo as a kid, with a bit of luck there's some remnants of the lingo deep in his brain. We've travelled widely together and have managed to chalk up but a single disagreement in the past 25 years while hiking in the Pyrenees in 1985. I really objected to his elaborate cooking preparations. A few years later, while free-camping neer Lago Maggiore he accidentally put metho rather than water in our dinner. It all evens out in the end....

Anyway- that makes 3. Room for 1 more. Although piracy is not a problem (allegedly) quite another thing is leaving the boat unattended at anchor. It is prudent to leave one person on the boat to guard the dragging anchors and possible pilfering. Meanwhile the others can explore the islands. With only two aboard that means solo expeditions, so I'm very happy with at least 3!

Time is now getting tight- the CAIT application has to be sent off before 1/2 April. And many people are still sitting on a variety of fences, however uncomfortable that may be for them. Remember- if your name is not on the CAIT, then being aboard Tribute is illegal in Indo.

Kate- she of 'planning to perfection' will be handling the CAIT application, and she'll be in touch with all the participants.

Tribute's good- Bruce Hullett will inspect a state-of-the-art rigid inflatable dinghy one of these days in Perth, an application for a satphone has been made and a 6-man surveyed liferaft has been purchased. It will probably be big and heavy and permanently in the way but there you are. The boat will have a haulaut before departure and all engines will be serviced, charts of electronic and paper variety will be aboard, I still have to find an Indo flag and a quarantine flag and heaps of other odds and ends but so far no insurmountable obstacles have been encountered.

Can everyone please also think about vaccinations and travel insurance and stuff?

Fair winds to all,

Kees

More Crew!

Dear all, I just spent a week upgrading my sailing skills. This needs more of the same, because Bruce and I are now officially the slowest multihull to enter the biggest WA regatta.

Updates, updates.....Micky Tarossi has signed up for the return trip, and he's a salty fellow. This is all great stuff, insofar that the bare minimum of crew (2) for each of the legs has now been sorted- any more is luxury. Kate Najar has actually taken the time off to do the Indo leg.

Spoke to the Customs people ( about 5 of them) and NO WAY can we skip straight from Indo to the Kimberley. It's Broome or Dampier or Carnarvon or the detention camp at Christmas Island. Our choice.

And corresponded with an agent who will handle the CAIT. The Bali Marine peoiple did not respond to 2 emails, but Andi Howes recommended another outfit who did get back quickly. They reckon they need a month to process stuff so I'd put a deadline for the SCANS of the passports on 1/1/09.

The Cruising Guide to Indo has also arrived, and is probably just about useless for us. But it is the only published guide and it would feel less than prudent to not have it aboard.

Keep you all posted.... KEES

update 1 and geological winds

Right! While trying to earn an honest crust, and make friends and influence people the following updates:

1. Kate is signing up for the island hopping, a month of it. That makes two. Sorted.

2. Starting the paperwork of the insurance . The kind folk at Nautilus would like to know the name, DOB, and (presumably sailing) experience of all crew. I filled in Bruce's experience as ' moveable ballast on a great variety of vessels, both as captain and crew'. And a list of all the safety equipment ( not easy, if you think that a boat in itself is really a bit of safety equipment to improve your chances over swimming). And what watch-roster we'd be keeping. And for me to list exactly what safety measures we would be taking 'while on passage'. That's a tricky one. On a small boat, 500 k's from shore- which measure is NOT a safety measure? Anyway, I'll plod through. Your DOB please.....

They also enquire if any boats of this design have done something similar, so I mailed the designer-Bob Oram- if he was aware of any Mangos crossing any ponds.

He wasn't, and so Tribute may have set the record for Mango offshore sailing while on her delivery trip crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria. I then asked him if there were any concerns regarding the seaworthiness of Tribute and he replied that the dearest thing in his life was his son. And that he would be happy to crew (?) with his son on this trip. Right. That's it, and gets no better.

3. They may look like simple pictures to YOU. Enjoy them. It took me weeks to find them. It looks like 20 knots of S/SE on the way to Bali, then 20 knots of E/SE on the way back on average.And sailing upwind along the island chain. Tim (of 3x Indo vv on a 21 ft Wharram fame) reckons the steep volcanoes make a local mess of the averages, and any messing with a headwind is a bonus!

Indo Trip Organisation

Hi all!

This BLOG has been created to share information about the possible Indo Trip aboard Tribute. Just about the only certainties for this trip are the locations of Oz and Indo, and that Tribute is currently a vessel afloat. Weather, timing, crew, route- it is all subject to change.

Another matter that appears certain is that the Indonesian bureaucracy is very particular about WHO is aboard WHEN. The entire boat gets a visa called CAIT which includes any aboard. ( see http://www.baliyachtservices.com/baliyachtservices_FAQ.htm) And this is the main reason for starting early.

Roughly speaking, the plan is to sail from Carnarvon to Dampier in the first 2 weeks of May 2008. Leg 1. Crewing wise, I don't expect a problem with this and Hutchie and Hullett have already signed up from Dampier to Bali, (leg 2) where I hope to arrive in the latter part of May.

So far, the idea is for Naomi and Jenny to join in Bali and to cruise around for a week or so. Then the island hopping Eastwards (against the tradewinds) starts and so far, I'm on my own. As it is daysailing, two aboard is the aim and four the max. Let's call this leg 3. It will likely start with the month of June. It appears that the public transport connections between the islands are good, but how and what is unclear at this stage. What is certain is that anyone possibly aboard needs to be on the CAIT.

The latter part of the trip is hazy, but somewhere in the Eastern part of the island chain- Kupang or Roti or Flores- the trip back to Oz starts. Leg 4. Beginning of July. Say 2nd week. Oz Coastguard is very likely to obstruct the otherwise brilliant plan to hop from Indo to the Kimberley to do some great cruising there. They will likely insist on a beeline to Broome or Dampier. Timewise, there's only 3 days between the 2 and there's only Rowley Shoals and Ashmore Reef to sightsee until the Dampier Archipelago and Montebello Islands can be visited- leg 5. Paul has exibited an interest in this bit.

Overall- everyone needs to make sure that their passport is in order and beyond to 6 months after arrival in Indo. Those who might be on the boat in Indo need to photocopy, or better scan the relevant bits of passport and send it to me. khbakker@yahoo.com .

I hope that people can let their minds wander to get an idea of what bits they might want to join. Let me know, and I will try to keep this blog updated with everything.