Departing Aus

We will be off in a couple of hours as we have a time of 10 am for our lock passage. Then it will be three days for our 450 mile passage to Kupang in Timor.

Everything came together yesterday and we now have an operating water maker and all other jobs are done. Nothing leaving everything up to the last minute. We really have not had a chance to even plan ahead so will just go with the flow when we get into Indonesia. Marian has just gone out to do last minute stuff,  taking back one of the pumps we tried but did not work for us, plus taking back the rental car and any last stuff she may find. All before 10 am so it will be a long day and with 100 plus boats leaving today we will have to keep a sharp watch as some of the yachties have never been offshore before.

I will post next week with hopefully some pictures as long as we can get online.

Darwin in the the NT

We have found out the true meaning of the the NT in the Northern Territories of Australia. It is not today, not tomorrow, not Tuesday, and not Thursday. This seems to be the way things work, or don't, up here as it is a bit of a frontier type of town. As you might have guessed the water maker is still not fixed and we have had an issue with the 30 amp charger that went into a run away flow mode. That is not so important as the water maker but we have ordered  a new one that will be here maybe today???

The water maker man came finally on Tuesday and took the pump to put in a new bearing etc. He came back on Friday and the pump overheated and then stopped working all together. I expect he did not put it back together correctly but be that as it may we will now have to get a new one. Not so easy as you may think as the flow rate and pressure are important. So today is Wednesday the 25th of July and we still do not have one but are told it should be here this afternoon.?? We are due to leave on Saturday the 28th so time is a problem.

On Sunday we did go for a drive to Litchfield which is a national park in the outback with a few small streams and water falls. It is a very harsh land with lots and lots of ant hills that are very big. We have had some good times with the other yachties and a couple of BBQ's out, one of which the marina put on for us all. Other than that it has been a frustrating week and I just hope we can get out of here on Saturday. It will be good to get back to sea.

Boat stuff

We had a good sleep after all the work yesterday. Today was one of cleaning the boat which took us three hours plus. We are on a dock that is a secondary one well away from the marine office and facilities so we have a ten minute walk to the bathroom and showers which is a pain. On Wednesday we shared a car rental with Sea Mist and did a bunch of running around looking for bits and pieces of boat parts that we needed. Marian and I also managed to get into see a doctor to get typhoid shots that we needed for south east Asia. That evening we got together with the four boats Sea Mist, Miss Behaving, and Y Knot for a dinner out at a fancy restaurant in town. It was a very good meal and lots of fun to get together. Y Knot is not doing the rally and is staying in Australia and have now flown back to Brisbane for a couple of weeks so we will probably see them again.

On Friday we did some work on the boat and I managed to get the water system working properly along with the foot valve for the grey water pump.  We had hoped the water maker guy would be over but now maybe tomorrow? We did drive out to a shopping center and did a little shopping for some of the bigger food stuffs that we will need for our three months in Indonesia. Marian is getting the bread machine up and running as we are told that you cannot get good bread there. There are lots of blogs from other boats that have done the rally before and have noted what you need to take with you as it is difficult to buy them there. One of the things is spirits, so we will stock up here, as Indonesia is mainly Muslim so no booze but we are told the beer is good and cheap. With the temperatures in the mid 30's and up that will be appreciated.

Saturday saw the new batteries arrive and thankfully our friend Ray helped me with the change over. The old ones were down to 40% so rather than worry going through Indonesia where little can be done we decided to bite the bullet and change them out here. It saw us lifting 13 batteries in and 13 out in stages. With each battery weighing 33 kilos we were definitely getting a work out. That evening we had a drink with Sara 2 who had just arrived at the marina. No water maker man showed up!!

The water maker texted us to say he would be over Sunday morning at 0900 but guess what he did not show and we could not contact him. All was not lost as Ray and Brenda came over and we went out for lunch with them and then for a walk along the main beach area of town. No swimming as there are a lot of salties here!! You are advised by the locals not even to walk close to the water as these things can move really fast. A quiet evening and this morning we got hold of the water maker guy and maybe this afternoon??? We will see!!

Darwin downtown

Marian lowering the bucket with the tools

Zulu and I under the boat up to our waists in water

The old batteries on the dock.

A very busy day

We had to leave the quarantine dock at 7 am and then anchor for a couple of hours before we had our appointment to get fuel. Yes you need an appointment. We had to go to a commercial dock and luckily it was a very calm morning so no problem. We then went up to Tipperary Marina and anchored off until 1300 when we went into the lock. It is very tidal here with tides up to twenty feet so the marinas all have locks. When the tide is out you cannot get in or out of the marinas. Entering into the lock we had only .2 of a meter under our keel. We then stayed in the lock as the tide dropped and we grounded. Then we had to wait until four pm for the tide to have dropped to our propeller level. Then is was into the water, up to my waist, to remove the prop, rope cutter, drain the oil, remove the bearing and then replace it all in the opposite order. We used the dinghy as a work bench with all the tools in it. Our friend from s/v Shapirit, Zulu came down into the water at the bottom of the lock and helped me do all this!!! I really don't know if I could have managed without his help. He also has an Amel so is familiar with the systems. After that the lock was flooded and we entered the marina but they have us at a 13 meter dock and we are 16 meters so we will see if they can move us but I doubt it as they are really full with all the rally boat. So it was a very very busy and trying day but it is over and we can now get the boat cleaned up today as we have salt everywhere after the last thousand miles or more of sailing with no rain.

Darwin

We departed Possession Island on July 01st around 0930 am. As we pulled up the anchor we were close to Y Knot who were playing, very loudly, the Canadian national anthem as today is Canada Day at home. It was a nice way to head off to Cape Wessel. The first few hours we managed to sail with the current but when the tides changed we were forced to start the motor. The winds and a few rain squalls came up around 2300 that evening with winds up to 30 knots. As I have said the depth of the waters around here are very shallow with the first eighty miles being in around the ten meter depth and the rest of the way only 30-30 meter range. This caused a very nasty sea with waves coming from all directions which made for very uncomfortable conditions onboard. As a result we got little sleep and it wasn't until noon the next day that the seas sorted themselves out. The wind still stayed in the 25-30 knot range and we did not get into the anchorage, just past Cape Wessel, called two island bay until 10 am. Dropping the anchor at we were greeted by a number of very large Manta Rays who seemed to like to rub against the anchor chain. Once in it was off to sleep for a few hours. It was not a fun passage!

We ended up anchored in two island bay for three nights as the winds were even stronger that when we had crossed the Gulf. Friday morning the winds are down a bit and forecast to drop further in a day or so. There were about eight boats there and we all left on Friday morning at 1100am and for us we headed for Darwin which is another four hundred miles. We had much better conditions and sailed for the first day and a half and then the winds dropped and we had to motor into Darwin for the last twenty four hours. The last day into Darwin was very calm and hot. We anchored in Fannie Bay just after dark on Sunday the 8th of July and had a good nights rest. Up early to set up our visit to the quarantine dock to have some poison put into the salt water intake by a diver to kill any nasties we may have in our lines. We had to then not use any system on board for the rest of the day to let the stuff do its thing. We were tied up along side Sea Mist and our friends from Turkey who live in Sydney and are now travelling by road were here to meet us. It was great to see Ray and Brenda again and they took us to get our Sail Indonesia package and then to Customs to do the paper work to clear out of Australia, which will be on July 28th. They then took us to a number of stores so we could buy some oil and a few bits and pieces. The afternoon on the boat John and I were enjoying a beer when lots of other yachties arrived and we ended up with a crowd on the boat for the rest of the afternoon. Today we are off to the fuel dock early this am and then possibly into the marina at Tipperary Marina.