First day's sunset
The Crossing.
Today is the day. 673 nautical miles of sailing across the Arafura sea to reach Uf Mar on Kei Kecil Island, Indonesia.
The day dawned beautifully, with clear skies, moderate winds and optimistic sailors all around us. An auspicious start for 'The Crossing'. My brother Stu had joined us here as crew to put his sailing skills to work for said crossing. As we pulled up anchor and motored out of the anchorage, we joined the procession of yachts heading to Indonesia. Sails up, 15 knots of wind, and out of the channel we sailed. 12 nautical miles later and we had officially left Australian waters.
introducing my brother Stu
The sea was blue, the Sth East wind was behind us, we were finally heading to Indonesia and life was great. By 9am, just 2 hours into our voyage, we lost the wind. So, yesterday's weather forecast was for 15-20kn winds for the next 3 days. Mmm, how wrong they were. Again. We wallowed in 3-6 knots of wind before we gave in and dropped the mainsail. That left the headsail, and eventually the ironsail, to keep us moving forward.
Besides the magnificent weather, we had a huge pod of dolphins swimming with us for quite a while. They were jumping high out of the water, surfing the waves next to us then torpedoing to the bow to ride the bow wave. It was so special to see these beautiful creatures frolicking along side us.
jumping dolphin
The biggest highlight of that first day was the huge spotted mackerel Hubby caught. It is hands down the biggest fish he has ever caught. It put up a great fight, then sacrificed itself to provide us with many meals of fish steaks. The cockpit looked like a blood bath had taken place and the huge fillets Hubby cut of it were impressive. Stu indulged in sushimi dipped in sweet soy sauce. He offered to share but I was more the happy to leave him to it. Raw fish is really not my thing.
Finally, by 9pm the wind picked up to 10-18 knots and we started making good time. It was a slow but gentle first day. Hubby was on the helm when I got up at 3.30am so I had just missed the first sighting of the fishing nets at 3am. We had been warned about the fishing boats and nets but didn't expect to see them on the first night.
second day dawned beautifully
The second day rolled in with steady 10-15 knots winds, heavily clouded skies and seas building to 3 metres. The fishing nets continued and the challenge was to get around them as the fishing boats dropped them out. Several course adjustments on our part and absolutely none from the fishing boats meant that we were often adding miles to our voyage.
The night brought the same conditions. And then we ran right over the top of a fishing net. An anxious few moments for Hubby whilst he imagined the worst. Who was going to jump in the water, in the dark, in big waves, to cut us free? Then we were clear. Phew! That was nerve wracking and not something we want to do again. From stories we had heard, we got off lightly.
Night three got more interesting. Extra wind and bigger seas, dark clouded sky, then rain. The elements threw everything at us. Add the extra nets dropping all around us and it was all happening. Brother Stu on the helm lapped it up. It was a challenging few hours for him, doing 11knots down 3-4 metre waves in 30knot wind gusts. He would like to be known from here on in as 'The Champion Round the World Sailor'. Self-dubbed title, of course.
Whilst he was busy being a champion I was being rolled around in the v-berth, and how Hubby didn't roll right off the couch, I don't know. With some sail adjustments made, Watusi settled back to 6-8 knots. Not the same adrenalin pumping speed, but fast enough for us.
grey skies and building seas
The fun didn't end there. There was another fishing net experience, a blow out of a water hose - we lost a third of our fresh water- and a fault with the depth sounder. We had to alert a cargo ship that they were bearing down on us at a fast rate. They asked where we were to which I replied "Right in front of you".
Then there was the motoring local boat who wouldn't respond to my repeated radio calls until I told them we were on a direct collision course with just a few hundred metres to go. Suddenly they spoke English, asked where we were heading, told me "I love you baby" then still didn't adjust their course. Had to drag Stu out of an exhausted sleep to quickly jibe and we passed them with just a 100 metres between us. We suspected possible pirates or maybe they were bored so they played 'chicken' with us. They won that game.
We sighted land just on sunset on day 5. Those last 10 nautical miles seemed to take a long time. We arrived at Kei Kecil Island in complete darkness still with big seas, rain, 20 knot winds and no idea of what to expect of the bay. The navigation beacons were not where the chart said they should be and the green one was not lit up at all. Luckily another yacht, Tamina, answered our radio call and gave us some much needed information to guide us in to the Uf Mar harbour.
Hubby and Stu did an amazing job between them to keep us sailing northward dodging the various obstacles whilst I kept up a steady stream of food and drinks. I spent alot of my time trying to stay in the galley, and alot of my time being thrown out of the galley. I even managed to bake a loaf of bread one day. Stu nearly drank me out of coffee. He did drink us out of beer. Hubby stretched out his cigarettes and his freddo frogs until we hit land.
All up, thanks to diversions for fishing nets, we sailed a total of 700 nautical miles in 4 days 14 hours, arriving in Indonesia at 9pm. It was an exhilarating, challenging and tiring voyage. It was my first experience at overnight sailing and long passage sailing all wrapped into one trip. It wasn't as bad as I had envisioned but it's also something I hope not to have to do again too soon.
Bring on the day sailing around wonderful Indonesia.
Until next time - Watusi Woman - proven galley wench, out.
Uf Mar in the light of day
Wow.. such an interesting read.. usually this would have been something in a novel.. Wow.. it must indeed be pretty scary to be on top of the fishing net.. if I did not read it wrongly..
So do the winds help in moving the boat at speed? Like if it's an advantage to know the direction of the wind blowing the sail. I've never read about life so adventurous.. How much is a full tank worth of fuel in Australian dollars?
You read correctly, we ran overv2 separate fishing nets and were lucky enough to not have them catch on the rudder or propeller. We are a sailing yacht so the wind speed and direction are very important to us. Fuel is very expensive in Australia, about $2.60au per litre. Our boat holds about 400 litres. Makes for an expensive fill up so we sail whenever possible.
Welcome to Indonesia, by the way, don't you get by the Indonesian seaguards when entering the area?
I like the mackerel.. that will be tasty dish ..
Thanku @lebah. Who are the seaguards, the Indonesian immigration?
Wishing you a safe journey to Indonesia.
Thanku @positivesteem. We arrived safely and are enjoying the hospitality of the beautiful Indonesian people
My husband just telling me about you. That’s looks so amazing and all the pictures are beautiful. I wish you have a safe journey to Indonesia. Have a beautiful day.
Thankyou @sreypov. We have arrived in Indonesia safely. Time to explore.
Fantastic.. that's all I can say for the three of you, when reading your whole story, there is the beauty of a group of dolphins jumping on the water, there is romance between you and your husband, but there is also tension there because of your ship was on a collision course with a cargo ship unit, and thankfully that didn't happen.
Btw, welcome to Indonesia my friend @watusiwoman. Enjoy all the natural beauty and hospitality of its citizens while you are in our country 🤝🙏
Thanku @abizahid , we have been officially welcomed in the most beautiful way. The local village put on a ceremony, there was dancing, singing, a giant snake dance and a delicious meal at the Regent's house. We feel very special and very spoilt by the welcome we have received.
Congratulations @watusiwoman! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 1000 comments.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
I was amazed that you guys caught a big mackerel and spotted a dolphin. You are so welcome to visit the Philippines as well. That's a great experience for you mam @watusiwoman.
We may make it to the Philippines one day. We actually saw about 30 dolphins riding the waves so was very special.
Oh my! That's plenty mam @watusiwoman. The Philippines can offer you great islands and sea life, too.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Sounds like some tense moments at times, but all in all in a pretty safe journey, glad you've got some extra hands on deck for this passage.