Nadezhda: Darwin to Indonesia

3^rd September 2008

We left at 08:30 this morning for Flores, Indonesia with no wind and, after a brief foray with the cruising chute, we are again motoring across a flat calm sea. Hopefully, the wind will fill-in later otherwise we shall never get there!

We got the full effects of the tide out of Darwin with 2.5 knots under us at times. Now, we have over a knot against us but we are hoping that the tidal streams will dissipate as we move further from land.

Fliss....

We are late in leaving so it comes as no great surprise to us, but we're ever hopeful that we may get some wind even though our GRIB files have been showing zero winds for weeks now.

4^th September 2008

Pete ............

We have motored all but about 4 hours and the swell has built so that we have had to put 2 reefs in the main to stop the shock loads of it banging back and forth. Not a very pleasant sail so far.

All the World ARC boats left Darwin just after us and we watched them steaming full ahead past us last night. We spoke to one this morning and they had more wind than us (we had none) but they were heading on a course slightly further South towards Bali. I noticed that there was a band of distinct Cloud just South of us and we motored towards it and past it to find some breeze that we are now using to get us along at just under 3.5 knots - unfortunately, the tide is now turning against us.

Well, we are about 1 month late leaving Darwin and expected to be without wind (end of July should be the latest time). It still does not help knowing that there will be very little all the way. We are now in two minds as to whether we still head for Flores or keep South where the main winds are towards Bali. It would be a shame to miss the best part of Indonesia but historical GRIB files show us that Bali is about the only place where we can probably sail to. We have looked back over past e-mails and the trend of the winds seems stable.

5^th September 2008

Fliss .........

Dead calm again! Absolutely no wind at all.

When we were in Darwin we decided to buy some new lures to try our luck at fishing. Most sailors we meet are stunned at the fact that Pete & I are not keen on fish so we thought we would give it another go.

We stuck a line out the side and had a bite within the hour but when trying to land it it somehow managed to get away.

Pete and I were downstairs trying to work out what we should do when we noticed that the rod's line was bar taught and almost at the end of the reel, we had another bite!

We both felt really guilty reeling the poor fish in & hated watching the fish swimming down to try to get away, I really don't think Pete & I are cut out to be fishermen.

It turned out to be a beautiful Yellow Fin Tuna about 2 foot long.

Yellowfin Tuna

The theory is that you pour some good strong spirit into their gills and it knocks them cold but I think that has to be an old wives tale since all it did was waste our good rum. Instead, Pete clubbed the poor bugger over the head a few times with some heavy-duty stainless steel piping showering himself and the boat in thick red blood in the process. Having pulled its innards out and fed the sharks, we had tuna steaks marinaded in soy sauce, garlic and ginger seared on the barbecue (the sea is now calm) with a bit of fresh salad. It was very good even though we are not really fish eaters.

Barbeque!!

6^th September 2008

Pete .........

This afternoon, we managed to get the chute working and it gave us about 3-4 knots until the wind came too far from the stern. I therefore rigged it up like a spinnaker with the tack attached to the pole and we successfully ran like that at up to 5.5 knots with hardly a breath over the decks until the sun set. Rigging such a large sail like that is not something that I would normally attempt since it would be impossible to handle if the wind picked up but the biggest gust we have had in days is about 8 knots!

Cruising Chute rigged as a Spinnaker

Fliss managed to catch some wind goosewinged during my off-watch and was managing to keep a good 4.5-5kts boat speed but it has died again and, after a few hours of flogging sails and 2-2.5 knots boat speed I have turned the engine on (to charge the batteries of course!).

The World ARC reported winds today of strengths of up to F4. They have motored hard so far and, although leaving after us, they are now about 18-24 hours ahead. I suppose they have to hit their schedules although they must be starting to worry about fuel. We are hoping to get some more wind tomorrow as we move away from the big lobe of barometric indifference that stretches out this way from Darwin.

We are headed South of Roti Island but have decided to continue our original plan to go to to Flores rather than catch the stronger winds on the more Southerly route to Bali. With the calmer seas, we are more able now to get sail out and make the most of the light airs during the day and run Naz at, or just below, actual windspeed. Also, the forecast for 5 days time shows that winds may pick up a bit and this means that we may also be able to sail the less-windy area North of Sumbawa in order to get to Bali from Flores without too much fuel use. Let's Hope!

7^th September 2008

Land ahoy! but were not stopping... Another windless night as we ghosted past Roti Island.

8^th September 2008

Well, the wind died this morning and we did our best with the cruising chute but it refused to fill for more than a few seconds at a time. It is absolutely still here and steaming hot as a result. I think that 2-3 knots of wind blows in the gusts that manage to ripple the water. So, it's back to the donk and I imagine that we will be motoring all the way from here. Unfortunate and very expensive.

Morning Calms

We are hoping to get to Rinca tomorrow in enough time to put the hook down before it goes dark. The alternative is to bide our time overnight wallowing just off Rinca awaiting sunrise since the passage into Labhuan Baja will be by eyeball mainly and only aided by GPS since nothing we have is corrected to WGS84. The tidal streams are apparently quite ferocious and we are hoping for some favourable current but, like the Torres Strait, we don't know when the streams turn. Unfortunately, we cannot assume 6 hours each way as the tides have a short period overnight (3 hours each way) and a long period during the day (9 hours each way). Fortunately we are on neaps so if we have to bash it then it will be a little easier than springs.

9^th September 2008

We arrived after motoring all day and all night and we are now on the second tank of fuel. Finally, we got some wind but had 3 knots current against us as we passed South of Rinca and so had to keep the engine on highish revs and have sails set as well to make good headway. We wanted to get to Lehok Ginggo bay so that we had an easy stab at Labhuan Bajo tomorrow (it now being 16:45). I found some tidal information in one of the guide books and it bases tide flows on Moonrise and set. WX-Tide gives this information and I calculated that we would get some favourable as we came around the West of Rinca but the East flowing current in the main channel meant that we did not get there in time and had tide against all the way. So, we are still pretty unsure of what the flow is going to do tomorrow - we shall have to suck it and see.

Fliss....

It was a VERY difficult ending to the trip. Whilst on watch I had a difficult time trying to keep Nadezhda on course as we were seriously being kicked about by the 4 knots of tide against us.

The coastline is stunning with tall peaky mountains shrouded in the early morning mist.

Pete was immensely frustrated which resulted in name of our father being taken in vain. It seemed that the elements were conspiring against us & no matter how many calculations Pete made we just couldn't work it out.

The main concern was whether or not we would make it in before it got dark.

We dropped anchor in a picturesque bay an hour before sunset, lovely setting by two limestone
stacks.