Enroute Indonesia

We arrived at Debut around 13:00 local time. We had heard from friends that all the officials for clearing in were there, so we decided to head to this town instead of the main one, Tual. We have our yellow Q-flag up requesting clearance. Hopefully it will happen in the morning.

Paul

--short

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Enroute Indonesia

The winds picked and we made good progress overnight. This afternoon the winds got very light. Either way this should be our last night out, with an arrival in Tual late tomorrow afternoon (Thursday our time).

The first class cabins were offered a hot shower today, which was a big hit.

Paul

--short

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Enroute Indonesia

When we left Tasmania earlier this year in he Austral summer, we were passing through the Tasman Sea. Then going up the Queensland coast it was the Coral Sea. From Thursday Island to the Kai Islands in Indonesia it is the Arafurta Sea. Not sure how many of these are part of the proverbial Seven Seas.
The winds picked up a little overnight making our noon-to-noon run 156nm.
In the first class cabins complimentary, chilled grapefruit was served today.
--short


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Enroute Indonesia

The first two days out have been fairly mild. We are taking the long route to the Kai Islands by crossing the Gulf of Carpintaria (the big bite on the north coast, east side of Australia) directly west, then turning north once we get near the Wessel Islands. The reason for this longer route is to minimize exposure to the fishing boats and the 3 to 4 mile long free floating nets on the direct route. The Sail2Indonesia Rally boats left ahead of us and many that took a more direct route had difficulties. One boat was hung up in a net at night for 4 1/2 hours. Another counted over 40 fishing boats in what looked like an offshore village. The boats that took the westerly route encountered a few fishing boats and nets, but it seemed much less than the direct route.
First day noon to noon we did 156 miles. Second day 125 miles in light winds. We just have the main up as we are pointing close to DDW (Dead Down Wind). Looks like this longer route will add a full day to passage.

Paul

--short


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High Risk Shelling

We anchored about 200 yards off of Horn Island, the anchorage of choice near Thursday Island. This croc, or in Aussie terms, Saltie, was laying on the bank. For us whimps, even this Florida boy, it's a little daunting. Definitely no shell hunting on this beach. While the croc teeth look pretty intimidating, apparently they open their mouths to cool off -- at least that's what the Aussies tell tourists. Definitely good dentition.

Here's a gruesome old picture of a local opening the stomach of a 26 foot saltie and laying human body parts next to it. Apparently it still happens.

If the crocs weren't bad enough, this large shark is cruising the murky waters next to the dinghy dock.

 Next stop was the Australian Border Force to clear out. We took the short ferry from Horn to Thursday Island and went to visit Her Majesty's Customs House. A classic building from the colonial period. It took about 40 minutes to clear out, but we are now free to go tomorrow.

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Horne Island was a major airbase in the Second World War and the most northern one for the Royal Australian Air Force. It was also used by the US Air Force extensively. Northern Australia was attacked by the Japanese-- Horn was the second most bombed part of Australia in the war (behind Darwin). We took a great tour of the WWII sites on the island with Vanessa as our guide. Highly recommended. She and her husband, with the assist of the military and volunteers, are slowly pushing back the overgrowth and preserving the sites around the island's airfield. This gun was part of the a circle of three that protected the area.

It took a large team to rapidly fire these guns at the Japanese Zeros coming in overhead.

There are many plane wrecks around the close by islands. This is the remains of a rotary engine at the crash site of a US B-17 Fortress bomber.

A termite hill, taller than Chris, in a land full of termites. Just reminds us of how long the ABF Quarantine officer inspected Georgia on entry to Australia looking for... termites.
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We are off on tomorrow, our Saturday, around noon. We should have about a 5 day passage to Tual, in the Kai Islands, our port of entry in Indonesia. I'll try and post a note to the blog while we are enroute.

Paul