Slight detour

Kupang. 17/9/2017

Leaving the lock at Bayview Marina. Photo courtesy of Monique off "Dream Catcher"

It felt great to be heading to sea, leaving the land behind, with no pressure to get anywhere before dark.  I wasn’t sure how I’d go with sleep management, but soon found a comfortable rhythm, waking every 30 minutes, then back down.

I knew from the Gribs to expect light winds until well away from Australia.  The first day out was glorious sailing, doing an easy 6 knots across smooth seas.  By 1800, that had dropped to only 1.5 knots; time to turn the key, being very conscious of my scarce fuel supplies and the many miles ahead.  Still, I was prepared to sacrifice half a tank if necessary to get clear of the calms. 

I took advantage of the lull to change the dynema lines and pulley arrangement on “Min”, the Fleming self steering; because I had noticed the rear lines were over-riding the front ones and getting jammed.

On day 3, the wind was up to 25 knots and we were flying along. Halelujah, we must have reached the trades, I thought.  Wrong!  By midnight there was nothing, not a breath of wind to shake the velvety carpet of sea to even a ripple.

The next day was more of the same, though with a large ocean swell rolling Shanti from ear to ear.  And it was so hot!  Around 45 degrees in the cabin.  Even harder to handle than in Darwin because there, at least I could run a fan.  Here, it couldn’t stay on its feet with the rocking and rolling. I decided to stabilize the base by screwing it to the breadboard.

How long was this going to last?  A sat phone text to the outside world confirmed my fears – no wind below 11 deg S, 123 E.  Almost as far north as Indonesia, which was 200 miles away.  After much deliberation and calculation, I decided that the best option was to burn off the rest of my diesel and head for somewhere it could be replenished. 

Also I was having issues with power.  It seemed as if my batteries weren’t charging or holding a charge.  This was confirmed when after 16 hours of motoring, within a short time, "Tilly" the autopilot was squawking, the voltage down to 10.7V.

So fuel and new batteries were top priority.

 

Motoring over a glassy sea to Kupang. 

Indonesia was not a planned stop, so Australian Border Force had to be advised of change of destination. Thank goodness for satphone!  They were great about it.

Entering a foreign country with no idea how was interesting.  I found an old cruising guide that said to report to the Harbourmaster at the port, so I motored up and down in strong head winds, calling constantly on VHF Ch 16, but got no reply.

I gave up and returned to an anchorage, where luckily a couple of Australian cruisers were able to direct me to an honest and reliable yacht agent here, Michael, ($US250), who became dedicated to the cause.

After several trees worth of paperwork and many hours of practising patience in some interesting government offices where no one seemed to be working, I was finally checked in and out. At least the taxi and offices were air conditioned and the locals friendly.  I got some kudos as a solo female sailor and many wanted their photo taken with me.

Getting the diesel was easy – a longboat and Michael's boys to deliver it to Shanti.

The batteries were a bit harder – no deep cycle batteries are to be had here, so I have had to make do with wet cell car batteries. Not ideal, but a temporary measure which hopefully will get me to S Africa.  I spent the last two nights after the wind died off and the boat stopped pitching, fitting them in.

It was great to have Michael to run me around to get battery cables and a suitable length of wood for the job. Carrying all this on the back of a moped amongst hundreds of others in heavy traffic was an exhilarating experience.  You see many a family zooming about on these motorcycles, always with youngest perched up front as the sacrificial lamb. The women pillion riders often sit side saddle, and never a helmet to be seen.

Kupang is a fascinating blend of old and new world. Going from the grubby outdoor market to the huge shopping mall, all shiny and immaculate with military precision in the rows of stock on shelves and checkout chicks in smart uniforms like airline hostesses, was something of a culture shock.

Friends off  “Dream catcher” arrived a couple of days after me and we enjoyed eating out at the traditional night market. So I did get to see a few sights in my short stay here.
Also divested of almost my entire stash of US$.
 

My intentions are to continue on as per plan, just as soon as possible, heading to Cocos Keeling, Mauritius then South Africa, hopefully before Christmas - this year.

Sunday, September 17, exactly 10 days after leaving Darwin, I’m ready to go again.  Unfortunately, after it blowing the crabs off the rocks for the past few days, we are lolling listlessly in a breathless, mist-enshrouded morning.

I shall row ashore with my rubbish and see what develops ......