Well, I'm writing this tale of Darwin at 5AM on watch as we make our 500 mile passage across the Timor Sea to Kupang, Indonesia. Our stay in Darwin was quite pleasant with pretty much perfect weather--80's days and high 60's nights with a nice breeze. Our arrival was noneventful and there was plenty of room in the anchorage which was nice as you have to use tons of chain, because the tides are as much as 25 feet. Some guys (Scorpedo from Seattle)we had celebrated St Patrick's day with on that Irish boat in Sydney dinghied by just as we got the hook down. Filled us in on the protocol and what was going on. So, ready for some civilization, we dropped the dinghy and headed to shore. The crew wanted to check out the city--nice size at about 80,000, and the captain wanted to check out happy hour at the Sailing club, unofficial HQ for the rally.
So I was having a beer and chatting with a guy whose wife was off in the states when a PA announcement was made that a dinghy was awash down on the beach--no dinghy docks here due to the height of the tides. As I prayed it wasn't mine they mentioned it was the tender to Rendezvous. SHIT!! To make a long story short,it was totally flooded, but a couple of guys helped me get it afloat and bailed out. Unbelievably, it started. Thank God I have a gel cell battery, and I got back to the boat and got the bilge pump working. Anyway,what happens is, with the large tides, if there's an on-shore breeze, some pretty good waves can build up and wash into the boat. We solved the problem later on with, at first, anchoring a ways out and using the kayak to get to the beach and then, after somebody clued us in, using the club's boat trolleys to put the dinghy on dry land.
The next day was Sunday, an action packed day. First, because the city proper is a $12 cab ride away, we knew we'd need a car and headed to town. Nothing available, even through the tourist office which books those kinds of things. Seems there was some car race going on. Okay, back to the boat and then, later in the day a long walk away towards town was a famous market with the usual tourist goodies, tons of food and entertainment. Actually, the walk wasn't too bad as Joey packed a few beers in his backpack. Unbelievably, you can't buy beer at the market. I managed to find a Chinese massage place and had the full treatment. Before we hit the market, I tried the same trick on cars I used in Sydney. A quick check of the internet (which we finally had back on board) got us a car first thing Monday. Unfortunately, rates here are about double those in Sydney, but a cab ride or three pretty much makes up most of the expense.
Monday was also action packed. We got the car first and then hit Aussie customs. It's necessary to "pre checkout" for the rally, then off to the Indonesian consulate to surrender our passports to get visas--that takes four days. Tons of boats came in over the weekend so we thought we'd be waiting around in lines, but we hit both offices just right and avoided a lot of wasted time. Then it was the grocery and generally checking out Darwin which is a really nice size--big enough to have all the amenities and small enough not to have traffic problems and other big city hassles. We also dropped off the tridata (speed, depth and odometer) at the Ray Marine dealer. It had crapped out on the way to Darwin.
Until Saturday, our time was spent generally checking things out and socializing at the Club. Thrown in there was learning the tridata was irreparable. Seems, the yahoos in NZ who charged me $350 to replace the screen had stripped the screws on the back allowing water to get in, cooking the electronics. A new one here would be over $800, but good old Port Supply came through again, delivering a new one to Darwin for $550. Complaints to Ray Marine Asia, HQ'ed here in Sydney fell on deaf ears, but I did get an apology. So Saturday AM is another, more traditional market with veggies, etc., just up the road from the club, and it was on the way to the camper van place where Joey and Olivia needed to go to get the vehicle they were using to visit Kakadu National park--yes, boat to myself. So we did that and they took off until Thursday. Of course, earlier in the week we went out to the airport to get our duty free booze--getting the paperwork for that is one of the reasons you see customs 2 weeks before you leave. We ordered massive quantities of booze and purchased wine at Woolworth's, because Indonesia in Muslim and it's hard to get anything but beer there.
I'm sure they thought I would pine away on the boat. No way. Another boat, the guys from Windbird, who are American, heard the casino had a good and cheap, breakfast buffet, so Sunday we, including their Canadian buddies off Scot Free II, headed over. It was pretty good but not as cheap as we'd heard. Undaunted, we decided to stop at the beach where they hold the Sunday markets as the famous "Beer Can Regatta" was being held. This is a real deal where they make boats out of empty beer cans and then race around. There was only one beer tent (better than the normal Sunday market with none) so Jerry (off Scot Free) and I found a couple if comfortable chairs in the shade and let the rest of them report on the festivities. there were thousands of people and this is an important annual event in Darwin. Okay, enough of that. People had stuff to do on their boats, so, about 1 or so, we headed back to the club. It was a hot day so we decided to have a beer before returning. Oops. Too late now to get anything done, so we decided, wisely, to walk down to the Darwin Ski Club, a bar on the beach about halfway to the market. Well, anyway, I think we got back to our boats about 8:30. No work was done. In fact I think not too much got done on Monday either.
The rest of the week, I carefully timed my trips ashore with the tides as the trolley was a multiperson job. Managed to inventory and clear out the foodstuffs on the boat in preparation for the trip to Indonesia which is 3rd world with limited availability of stuff. Also replaced, as my package arrived, the broken running light. Idiot that I am, though, I ordered a "starboard, that's the red one" LED bulb. Unfortunately, the starboard light is green. The proper bulb never did arrive, so the club, at no expense, is going to sent it to Lizzie for forwarding to me. Seems one can only safely receive mail via FedEx in Indonesia and I think the club's largesse doesn't go that far.
So the kids returned Thursday and there was an unofficial BBQ for the rally. They were too tired--wimps--and opted out, but it was a nice affair. Somewhere in here we got a mechanic out to, once again, repair the alternator bracket and a few other things. Seemed to know what they were doing, and the dinghy is running the best it has in years. Unfortunately--- Nah, you'll have to read on for that..
That Saturday was the official Rally BBQ, and we actually got free beer, too. I ate with the adults, and the crew was off at a children's table somewhere. Was able to pick up a bunch of software and a new small USB GPS for a good price that one of the boats was selling. As usual, installing it was a 2 hour mission which I finally resolved, not with a right click but a system restore and just plugging the damn thing in--a one minute install. Seems I already had the necessary drivers and trying to install over them messed up everything.
Almost done!! Our last week was spent provisioning, a pre rally all day meeting and last minute cleaning storing and repairs. We loaded up with about $700 or $800 of food. primarily meat, especially pork and chicken breasts as it's a 3d world Muslim country. I have no idea what these cultures do with white meat, but it ain't easy to find. The spare freezer was cranked up for the first time in a year or two--and works!!!! We even found some room for ice cream. The pre rally meeting, like just about everything else about this rally, was disorganized and generally uninformative. The main Indonesian guy didn't make it (which made for interesting rumors about him stealing the business and up to Oz immigration problems). The daily nets and the meeting were run by two Aussies who don't seem to have a clue. There was some good info there, however, as the Sail Malaysia people were interesting and well informed. They represent a follow on rally from Singapore up the Malacca straits to Langkawi, about 100 miles south of Phuket, Thailand, the traditional jumping off point for crossing the Indian Ocean. Also very good was a guy from Brunei, who talked about off season cruising on that side of SE Asia. We may have to rethink things about leaving in January for the Med and cruise a full year here in the land of good food and cheap marinas. It'll be a welcome relief after the last three years of expensive countries and a weakening US$. Thank you, George. (Joey managed to find an interesting T shirt. On the front is a picture of a chick in a bikini and another of George. The caption is "good bush, bad bush". We are amused!!) i also got my spare head pumps and manged to change one out which hadn't been flushing properly. Yes, cruising is so romantic.
Thursday we fueled up, and the duty free price wasn't too bad, relatively speaking, that is. We paid $1.33 a liter. Friday, we did last minute provisioning and had to check out. Oh, and customs called me on Thursday to return my "firearms" These, you'll recall, were my BB guns and a slingshot. Anyway, they were returned promptly Fri AM and in excellent condition, They put a seal over the locker where I stored them!!!. Check out was for 130 boats at the sailing club, but when we returned the line was gone, and we breezed right through. The customs chick mentioned I was the guy with firearms which I had to correct with a laugh and pointed to the guy next to me. He also protested as he got his spear gun confiscated because it used compressed air!!! Did a last night happy hour with our friends off Windbird and Scot Free as well as a couple other boats, and made it an early night for the big start at 11 Sat on the ebbing tide. Because there is a prize for the "best dressed" boat, Joey, once again, pulled out all our flags and the blow up sheep in an effort to win. Apparently, although it was again poorly communicated, they'll judge at the start line. I insisted it not interfere with raising the sails.
Sat AM, We cranked up the engines to charge up the batteries and it sounded like a belt was loose. Nope. More drama. The guys had stripped the bolt that holds the alternator to the engine when they fixed the wobbling. Well, these guys, I learned on Friday, charged me $100/hour to work on the boat, which is the most expensive rate in the world, so I immediately got on their emergency numbers(it was Sat), got the women who called about my bill, and informed her I would bounce the entire bill on my credit card if she didn't get someone out to tap and thread a new bolt hole. So our mechanic--not the one who fouled it up--called, and I explained what the problem was and to bring the right stuff. While waiting for him, I needed to attend to some mail issues at the club and search for a hose fitting for our propane system which failed earlier that week. So Nafa, the Egyptian shows up about 9, works on the problem, insists it's everything but the bolt until finally, at 10, he informs me he needs to go to the shop to get the right tools and drill something out there. Now we're pissed because the start is in an hour, and it's already ten, and he says he'll be gone an hour. We finally got off at about 11:30 at the very back of the pack, so we don't know if all of Joey's work has gone to waste.
Bringing you right up to date, it's now the morning of the 27th, one day out and we have had light winds and been motor sailing. For some reason, the port engine decided not to start in the middle of the night, but, this AM, after jiggling some wires, we've got it running.
We don't hear much from most of you and would like to hear what is going on in the real world, so an email or two once in a while would be nice!!!
More on the rest of the trip and Kupang in our next missive. In the meantime
Cheers
Tim, Joe & Olivia
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