10:32.65S 142:00.47E

Arafura Sea

Day 3 of passage to Indonesia

Thursday 26^th August 2010

Daylight showed us a glassy sea with no wind, Valerie did the washing after Ollie had rigged a line for the clothes to dry on.  It was looking like we would have to motor the next 600 miles. We tried setting the cruising chute but it was up for about 5 minutes before the wind died completely.  Spoke on the radio to our friend on Swanky who is sailing back to Oz; as we should have been doing, if it were not for bloody Oz. customs! He was also in a flat calm!  Valerie cooked a lovely lamb fillet for dinner that was enjoyed by all.

Run Noon to Noon 181 miles Total 389 miles

Just look at this beautiful blue and calm sea!  It’s just 10 meters deep, with the sand below reflecting the blue sky!  Time to get the washing done, here’s Ollie hanging it out for me, to dry in the gentle breeze.  We are in fact motoring, there is so little wind!  The carpet is drying out having got soaked the night before, our fresh water toilet having flooded when the solenoid got stuck whilst we were motoring during the night and spilled water all over our aft cabin floor!

Celebrating the first time Kanaloa has been out of the Pacific since the year 2000! Still motoring into the sunset at the end of the day, surely that cannot last in this Arafura sea, which we know has the protection of Australia and PNG either side of it, but it can also get windy!

Red sunset at night, sailors delight!