Sailing around the World ( Presently about to depart Darwin for Bali.)

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Wed 1 Sep 2010 23:18
WEDNESDAY  1st   SEPTEMBER    2010.
 
Its hard to believe that its September already,
but today we are leaving Darwin and sailing 990 n miles to Bali in Indonesia, so as usual there is plenty of excitment.
 
We checked our emails, had some tea, freshened up before Neill winched the skipper up the mast to change the Tricolour bulb.
We are replacing the LED bulb with a 25 / 50 w  bulb as the one installed in Mackay was only 12w and definatly not bright enough.
Especially when we had passing Ships Captains giving out about it.
We then topped up the water tank , secured the rib and put on the cover, disconected the shore power, and we were almost ready to roll. 
 
08.45hrs,  We manovered ouselves out of the berth and made our way slowely to the Lock gate and squeesed ourselves into the
tiny lock ( barely big enough for " A Lady " )  Keith, the lock keeper and marina manager , lowered us 1m to the river level
and off we went down to a temperory anchoring spot in the bay and had our breckfeast there as the race did not start untill 12.00hrs.
 
11.30hrs We set off again under engine and motored the 2 miles to the starting area, we had the benifit of a 2 knot tide with us, so we
got there quickly.  Most of the other boats sailing today were already at the starting area when we arrieved.
The weather was beautifull, A clear sunny day, 20knots of wind, a bit humid, but who cares,
 
12.00hrs  Bang , and away we went, a broad reach and flat water, with the benifit of the tide we were trucking along at 10.10 knots
and soon were out in front of the fleet.
We picked our first waypoint NW of Darwin and is just about 300 n miles out there.
 
12.45hrs, We passed a big Submarine on its way into the harbour and got some cool snap shots as it silently sailed by.
The wind held steady for most of the afternoon, and we had very good sailing .
It is great to have our E 120 raymarine unit back and working properly again with all its functions,
We examined our route very carefully and its fantastic to see the amount of detail given on the charts, apart from the depts,the reefs, the shoals,
submerged cables etc. but all the oil and gas rigs as well  . and these stretch hundreds of miles out to sea.
 
We had an email from our yanky friends on " Ocean Jasper "  they had only just arrived in Darwin from Mackay,,  Talking about Yanks,
( and Skipper likes Americans )  we had a lovely email from a " Rikke Dreesman  " from  Breckenridge in Colorado. USA.
 who reads oue blog every day, and she and her husband are planning a round the World sailing trip,
Skipper , Aileen, Paul & Christine ( son and daughter in law ) stayed in Breckenridge many years ago for a week or so,   Small world.
 
18.00hrs  We had covered 42 miles,  averaging 7 knots,
 
20.30hrs  the wind died off completly , so we started the engine and motored at 1700 rev,s boat speed approx 7.knots.
 
Dinner consisted of Roast rack of lamb, creamed potatoes, and carrots, no ice cream as the freezer and fridge water pump is acting up,
so lets keep them closed for the moment.
 
22.00hrs,  we lay down on the deck and admired the stars,  Stargazing,,  just such a wonderfull sight. 
 
Night Watches :-      10.00hrs  /  01.00hrs  ............................ Neill
                               01.00hrs  /  04.00hrs ..............................Stephen
                               04.00hrs  /  07.00hrs............................... Aileen
 
 
No booze today, a dry day for a change.
 
Thats it for now,
 
Signed :-    Stephen Hyde,   ( Skipper )