Saturday 6 October 2007

Darwin to Timor 8th September

Darwin to Timor

Hi Folks, well I have done heaps since my last postings so to start I will finish off with Darwin.

The crew of Mystic blue hired a car together (aircon of course as it was 38 degrees outside) and head off out of Darwin. We drove about 100 kms out to the Adelaide River and the Frogland Wetlands. Well worth the trip. The wetlands were everything I expected from the Northern territory, billabongs covered in lilies, an amazing array of water fowl and wading birds such as brolgas and herons and magpie geese. Lush and green amidst an otherwise dry brown landscape.

We were warned to be wary for crocodiles and sure enough after some searching we spotted one. He was floating ever so slowly creeping up and some ducks like a floating log just beneath the surface. Fortunately the ducks were wise to him and lived another day.


The Adelaide River involved a boat tour to see the jumping crocodiles and we certainly saw heaps. A great tour, not to touristy and they definitely knew a lot about crocodiles. Safety was paramount and twice they stopped the tour when idiotic Americans tried to get too close to the crocs. There are so many crocodiles in the muddy waters of the Adelaide River that I cannot imagine anyone has ever swam there and lived to tell the tale.

Back to the Darwin yacht club for a farewell party as many yachties were leaving when we were. Some to Ashmore reef others to Christmas Island and some to Bali direct. Only one other boat was heading to Kupang, West Timor like us and he left before us and we never saw him again.

We purchased our last minute duty free grog and duty free diesel then returned to our anchorage. Officially we are not meant to go ashore but it is standard practice to go to the Yacht Club for Happy Hour and drinks with the other yachties. We decided to leave early the next morning with a favourable tide. The other yachties told us we were in for no wind the whole way but our weather sources said otherwise and Ian was optimistic of a quick trip.

As it turned out the others were right. In fact some of them had no wind at all and motored the whole way to Christmas island. At least we departed in a 15 knot SE trade wind. Ideal! Once out of sight of land the the land breeze died down and soon we were crawling along to just 5 knots which was to stay with us the whole way with even less at night. In fact we were becalmed several times for hours on end. The swell never seems to stop though despite the entire region being windless. This meant the boat was still lurching, the little wind we did have was flung from the sales every time a big wave hit. Progress was slow, it was hot and to make matters worse the humidity was kicking in. In Darwin the locals had told us to leave now as the humidity would hit 100% in just a few days as it does every year at that time. Looked like we were now experiencing it here in the Timor Sea.



The Arafura Sea near Darwin had turned green now we were back in beautiful clear blue waters again. Often colourful large sea snakes would float by on the surface just mms away from the hull. This surprised me as we were now 100 kms away from anywhere and over very deep waters. Regular pods of dolphins would accompany us surfing our wake and diving under the boat. On one occasion when all of us were really hot and sticky, harnesses were allowed to be removed as the boat was upright and we were not moving at all, we contemplated diving in for a swim. We talked about the movie “Becalmed” where a group of yachties did just that then the wind picked up and the boat sailed away from them. We made our plans then just as one of us was about to test out the 80 degree F waters several sharks appeared as if they knew already our plans. Then more arrived. In all about twenty sharks circled the boat for more than an hour. We gave up any idea of swimming after that.

We saw several turtles and lunchtime one day saw a school of humpback Whales swim by and put on an amazing show for us double breaching, spraying water from their breathing holes and slapping the water with their massive tails. The power was astounding. They had young ones with them too so it could not have been a mating ritual.

With no wind the strong currents were taking us off course. Despite planning to avoid the Oil Rig area we ended up heading right into them. This made for some interesting night time navigation. Lights appeared every where. To add to the menace several uncharted reefs were also in this area. Luckily we had been warned and given their co-ordinates but it did mean keeping a sharp lookout for breaking surf and on the depth finder and radar. Normally these are switched off when on passage to conserve the batteries. Each day though we motored for 1 hour to re charge them anyway.

In addition fishing boats started appearing. After studying them with the binoculars we noticed they were long lining, laying out several kilometres of baited hooked lines behind the boats dropping tiny markers every few 100 metres. We had to avoid not only the boats who seemed to criss cross right across our paths but also the extensive lines and nets behind them. Not easy with no wind so the engine was used when it was necessary to take evasive action.

Some distance on and several days later no boats had been seen until we saw something on the horizon. We took bearings and found it was closing on us but heading parallel. As it eventually neared our location it made a sharp turn 90 degrees towards our beam and charged straight for us. At the last moment it changed direction but only after all the crew started appearing one by one. The area was marked on the chart as having experienced pirate attacks here so we were quite concerned. Relief as it moved away flowed over us and we did not see another boat until close to Timor.



Strangely as we closed on Timor the wind picked up. We actually did not want wind as these are coral reef waters so we wanted to be able to see the surface clearly and move slowly. Instead we had 20-25 knot winds the south east trades had re-established themselves. Why did they not do this earlier I wonder?

We had not planned to close the coast at night but by the time we had coasted down the south east coast of Timor to the bottom of West Timor it was dark. On went the radar and we made another night time port entry. This time very hazardous as there were heaps of fishing boats. It looked like there was no way around them. They seemed to stretch the entire way across the channel. Most of them did not carry navigational lights but they were easy to see with numerous neon lights strung around there decks. We got close to quite a few and all were very friendly.

Sometimes the radar would not pick up a signal from the larger wooden boats and both Fiona and I had to join Ian on watch calling out as soon as we saw any shape that looked like a boat. Some were tiny with no lights and right in the channel. The motor was on to give us control in the strong inter island passage currents and suddenly ian proclaimed the motor was struggling. Speed had dropped to half speed. We had obviously picked up something on the prop. Being dark, strange waters, strange sea creatures and boats all around we opted not to dive over and check at that time. Later when safely anchored I jumped over with a snorkel and mask and found a very thich nylon rope around the prop. It took 5 dives to free it as it was well and truly wrapped around. We must have crossed a fishing net after all. Sorry friendly fisher peoples!!

Our destination was a beach bar called Teddy’s Bar where we could anchor off and await clearance. It took a while to find it as there were so many lights on the shore.

KUPANG – West Timor

I was a little nervous about coming to West Timor and being Australian. Fiona used her British passport for the same reason. But, they could not have been friendlier. The Quarantine and Immigration fellows came out to us early in the morning. We were all still asleep. They knocked on the hull and wearing no uniforms we thought they were just inquisitive Timorese or vendors. Kupang is not the wealthiest of places and the officials had to borrow a boat to get to us. After clearance we had to take them ashore in our dinghy. We still had to go into town to the immigration office to finalise our cruising permit and visas. All went well except we got ripped off by the touts who escorted us all wanting a cut of the monies. Even the immigration guy put his hand out for a bribe.

We had been warned not to clear customs here or the boat would be charged import duty or a large bond so we only did immigration and quarantine. Nobody asked us why we were not clearing customs which we finally did later on in Bali.

Kupang at night looked civilized and large by day it turned out to be noisy but lively but definitely third world. Pot holes in every roads, lots and lots of people every where, bemos (small mini buses) every few metres otherwise millions of smokey 2-stroke motor bikes carrying everything you could imagine. Power was unreliable, showers ashore non-existant, phone calls a nightmare and internet took us five bus rides to find then was only two machines and very slow and expensive.

Hygiene was almost non existent yet we still eat out on the street stalls with the locals. Lots of fun and no one got sick. Surprisingly as when we finally got to the fresh food markets there was all the meat, beef, pork, chooks etc all lying in the open Nepalese style, covered in flies in the hot sun. I was sure glad I was vegetarian. We found the Timorese to be very friendly and happy people but always trying to get some money out of us. We had to pay to get our dinghy guarded and a separate fee for the boat on its mooring also. This was a daily fee and we know now that we paid too much. We even doubt if it was even necessary as every seemed to be so honest.

We found a cheap eatery and there met a famous local singer/dancer who spoke English. He got us the local price – 50 cents for a meal including cold boiled water. We made friends and met him that night at teddy’s bar. He brought along a gorgeous friend, Amy, who was stunning yet a little shy and very polite. After just 15 minutes conversation through our new friend as interpreter she told me she wanted to marry me. Ahmmm! Well I thought it was a joke but apparently not. She was Christian and the Islamic government was persecuting Christians closing down churches all over Indonesia. Her future did not look good. Her Muslim husband had left her with one 6 month old boy.

I told her I had to go for dinner with the others in town but would be returning to Teddy’s Bar later on. She apparently waited three hours for me then finally left with a message that she would wait 6 months for me to return and if not would then start looking for another man. All this and I had not even suggested I would marry her. Mind you tempting as she had to be one of the prettiest I had seen, but, she could not speak a word of English. My dancer friend had told me Timorese wives are extremely faithful and devoted. Don’t think I am quite ready for an Asian relationship of this type. I am single but I need to have a partner who can be an equal, can have intellectual conversations and who can share common interests.

We left Kupang after 5 days to sail to the Komodo Islands about a 3 to 5 day trip.

NEXT UPDATE: Komodo dragons, diving in 150 foot clear waters and jumping ship in Bali where I am now living in Ubud in the hills inside a Balinese temple. Not to mention having to bribe Balinese police and exploring the lush jungle valleys between the rice paddies!