Darwin, NT, Australia >Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia: Day 2 (2015-07-29 - 04:00 UTC - 10:51.4S 125:19.7E) - DTF 141nm

Aquamante
Vries Peter Pons
Wed 29 Jul 2015 04:22

Overnight the wind came down , but initially the wind waves were still there, making the sails flap, when rolling from side to side. When the waves came down too, we had a more comfortable ride. Now the wind has picked up again, but the waves are not as steep anymore, as we’re sailing in deeper water now, down to 2500m. Going almost dead downwind, doing between 7.5 and 8.5 kn, will have to slow down in the evening in order to negotiate the Selat Samau (the straight between Semau and West Timor) in daylight.

 

This morning we decided to move to Central Indonesian Standard Time, which is UTC+8 hrs, or 6 hrs ahead of the Netherlands. Spotted a group of dolphins, but thus far no whales in sight, which we’ve been hoping to get a glimpse of for some time now. We did see some off the NE Australian Coast, just before the start of the Great Barrier Reef, but they were too far away to get a good view.

 

SY Alaeris and SY Flomaida are still in pursuit, we’re all staying quite close together and well within VHF distance, which makes the trip quite sociable for a change.