Our voyage from Broome to Timor was our longest single voyage on a yacht to date: 497 Nautical Miles over 77.25 hours trumping the 365 NM over 53 hours from Dampier to Broome.
The differences were that we pretty much paralleled the coast to Broome whereas to Timor we were over 200 miles from shore and in water up to 3 km deep. We had a good routine to Broome taking 6 hour shifts at night with Linda taking the 6-12 pm shift and I the midnight to dawn.
The nature of this trip was such that we took shorter shifts and mostly we slept in the cockpit. Linda was unwell and needed sleep.
The weather as we departed Broome at 10:45 am, Clearance in hand,
was ideal with a 14-15 knot easterly wind on the starboard beam. We were flying, averaging 6 knots plus. Unfortunately our glee was short-lived as at 13:27 the wind died completely and did not return for two days :-( With the exception of a few short bursts we pretty much motored all the way to Kupang. This did not help Linda's sea-sickness at all. There are few things worse than sea-sickness and she was pretty spent by the time we reached Timor. She feels much better without the noise and fumes of the motor.
The scenery however was pretty stunning along the way.
 |
| Feeling relaxed |
 |
Passing Scott Reef in 242metres of water,
260 NM from the entrance to the straight leading to Kupang |
 |
401 metres of water between Scott Reef and Ashmore Reef
(We had to divert around Ashmore. Most inconvenient.) |
We arrived in Kupang at 1600 on the 2nd of September. Given the week delay in Perth for weather, the two days for weather in Shark Bay and the week for repairs in Dampier this was a good outcome schedule wise. Our original intention was to be in Timor by 24 August.
 |
Enjoying Lunch at Lavalan Bar in Kupang listening to tails of
Captain Bligh's arrival in Kupang after his Mutiny.
Our host had acted in the most recent movie of the story |
 |
| A beautiful Evening at 999 Bar and Restaurant |
 |
| Sunset in Kupang. Our Yacht is out there somewhere. |
 |
| The food at the fish market was delicious |
 |
| Do you know there are different ways to say hello in Indonesian depending on the time of day? |
 |
| The Bemos or public transport were an experience to remember with men hanging out the door drumming up business and even the tourists paying just 3000 Rupiah (30 cents ) per trip no matter how long. |
 |
| Colourful boats deck the shoreline |
After paying an agent $200 (2,000,000 Rupiah) to guide us through the Immigration, Quarantine, Customs and Harbour Master check-in processes we departed Kupang, our clearance in completed.
 |
| Always on the look-out |
 |
| We spent a night anchored in a beautiful Bay south of Tanjung (Cape) Gumuk |
 |
| Hmmn, where to from here? |
 |
| Watching Dolphins play off the bow |
 |
Stunning Scenery as we reach our second anchorage in Wini after transiting an enclave of Timor Leste.
The white tower is an Indonesian border post. |
 |
Again the hospitality of the Indonesian people was wonderful
as we sample some local fare with two women who called us up off our beach walk |
 |
| Another beautiful sunset, in Wini |
 |
| Unfortunately the deep anchorage and strong winds caused havoc with our anchor. After re-setting it twice in the middle of the night we decided to make good use of the wind and depart for Kahabili on the Island of Alor at 2am |
 |
We had good winds and a delightful sail until 9am before motoring
through some tricky waters entering the stunning passage to Kahabili. |
Comments
Post a Comment