Darwin
JJMoon Diary
Barry and Margaret Wilmshurst
Thu 16 Jul 2009 03:13
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The passage from Thursday Island to
Darwin took a little under six days, much as we expected, and once again the
weather was benign. The last leg through Van Diemen Gulf saved a few
miles on the route round Melville Island but there was a risk of
encountering fierce tidal streams, particularly through Clarence Strait at
the bottom of the gulf, which can sometimes necessitate anchoring for a few
hours to wait for the stream to turn favourable. We were fortunate (again,
more by good luck than judgement) and were whisked through without
pause. We arrived at the crowded anchorage in Fannie Bay just as the Sun
was coming up on the Friday morning.
  Two sea birds
which hitched rides over night on our passage to Darwin. First is an
unknown species to us; on the right is a Brown Boobie.
The Boobie
flew smack into our wind generator, turning at speed, while looking for
somewhere to roost. It gave him an awful battering knocking him down
into the cockpit. He clambered out and decided enough was enough for one
day. In the morning he was very reluctant to leave, spending much time
checking his wing feathers and looking balefully at similar birds wheeling in
our wake. Eventually he summoned up sufficient energy and staggered off to
join his mates. He wobbled a bit but seemed able to cope.
He had made a terrible
mess on deck!
Throughout the trip our progress had
been followed closely by Australian Customs. Every day their
Coastwatch aircraft would pass overhead and either note our details
from the AIS or call us for confirmation. To my surprise, Grumpy
Old Man that I am, I did not resent this close attention but rather welcomed the
daily visits and the feeling of security engendered. Close to Darwin we
were called up by a purposeful looking Customs cutter but it did
not reduce speed or approach us. After taking note of our
details the crew wanted to know whether we had "noticed anything of
interest to Customs".
Fannie Bay is a good safe anchorage right
opposite the Darwin Sailing Club and within fairly easy reach of the city.
However, the bottom shelves gently and the tides have a fair range at springs so
some boats have over three quarters of a mile to get to the shore
where there is much work to be done dragging the dinghy up the sand. Not
too good if the object is a major provisioning trip. We crept in as
closely as our relatively shallow draft would allow. The holding is good
and the anchorage is protected from the elements but that is not to say
that there are no risks. You don't swim because box jellyfish can kill you
and salt water crocodiles, salties, learn the route taken by your dinghy
and lie in wait. That is not alarmist nonsense - it happens in other parts
of Australia and used to be a problem in Fannie Bay, but the authorities say
that they have persuaded the crocs to go elsewhere. However, the animals
are now protected from the depredations of greedy handbag manufacturers and are
increasing in numbers. They are territorial animals so any increase in
population means a geographical spread. We kept our toes and fingers well
inside the dinghy.
Available marina berths are like hens'
teeth at this time of year and the word was that the marinas did not take
bookings. However, friends who arrived earlier had been beavering away on
our behalf and to our surprise and great satisfaction one of the contacts
came good and we were offered a place in Tipperary Waters marina from the
Tuesday. We were particularly glad because we had Ross and Sue from Y-Not
coming up from Perth to stay with us for a week and we wanted freedom of
movement.
Once again Customs were
helpful in that they arranged clearance for us from
"Quarantine". We had arrived from TI in Torres Strait, so carried the
potential risk of contaminated and bug-ridden foodstuffs from Papua New
Guinea. In this case verbal assurances over the radio that we had followed
correct procedures were sufficient. But before we were allowed to
enter any marina we had to be given the once-over by "Fisheries". They
arrived on Monday, dived under us, searched for marine
pests, inspected the state of our anti-fouling and poured pesticide into
all our seawater orifices. We were congratulated on our nice clean bottom
and the odd shape of our keel and were enjoined not to disturb the
chemicals for 14 hours. No problem, we were now free to visit the
Custom House ashore and start exit formalities. These will be completed at
the sailing club on Friday, when we shall be issued with outward clearance
documents and our cruising permit for Indonesia.
We met Ross and Sue in the excellent club
house. Darwin Sailing Club is really most impressive - nice
buildings, good facilities and everything done in the relaxed Aussie
manner. On the Saturday the club was running an international
regatta for Tornado catamarans, hosting 2 weddings, each with meals, music and
all the usual paraphernalia, as well as providing good food for numerous members
and visitors. That needed a big staff and a professionally
run kitchen.
On Tuesday morning we were up at 0600
ready for the one-and-a-half hour trip round to the Tipperary marina lock where
we had been booked to go through at 0800. All went smoothly. Since
then we have had a great time with our visitors, hired a car, seen a bit of the
city, had lunch at the home of friends of the Y-Nots, applied for and
collected our Indonesian Social Visas, attended the official rally barbecue at
the club and a concert performance of La Traviata on the lawn beside the
casino. Between times we have been briefed officially and
unofficially and tried to get up to speed with cruising in
company for 3 months in a strange new environment. Most of 1 day was
spent locking out of Tipperary Waters, motoring round to the fuel berth, waiting
for sufficient rise in the tide and locking back in just after sunset.
Having additional skilled support on board during these manoeuvres was
very helpful.
We have enjoyed the city of Darwin more
than we expected. It has a population of 120,000, about half that of the
whole of the Northern Territory, and is clean, leafy and friendly. There
are very good facilities for yachts, all necessary spare parts and plenty of
skilled assistance if required. Of course, with 130 visiting boats in
town, skippered by 130 idiosyncratic egotists, resources are currently strained
but the impression we get is that everyone will get off, more or less on time,
and more or less ready for sea. At present it is good fun bumping into old
friends again and being part of a purposeful community. We'll see how long
it is before we all get a bit ragged!
In preparing this post I realise I have
been remiss in failing to explain that we are joining The Sail Indonesia
rally. The fleet sets off at the weekend to cruise
through the Indonesian archipelago for three months. Many boats will go on
to Singapore and Malaysia. One reason for joining the rally, but not
the only one, is that it is supported by the Indonesian government and the
rally organisers are able to help significantly with the complicated paperwork
and clearance into the country. It is not necessary to stay with the rally
until the end or to keep together at all times with other boats but our
present intention is to stick to the programme for the early weeks and see
how it goes. We leave for
Suamlaki on the island of Yamdena at 1100 Saturday. We
are booked to lock out of here at 1000 so may miss the starting gun
but it might be wise to avoid the melee on the start line anyway; I should
not be at all surprised if there were minor collisions and damage.
The first hop should take us a couple of days or so, and after that......who
knows? We have been advised that there is little point in wearing a watch
in Indonesia and that "things will happen when they happen".
We expect to be in e-mail contact with
everybody as usual during the next three months but might not have ready
access to the web. One consequence is that we shall be able to put up some
blogs, without pictures, but will not be able to view them or correct the
spelling mistakes and other howlers. The country is very different from
anywhere we have visited so far on our voyage (although Mags has been before, 30
years ago, and loved it). It should all be very
interesting.
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