We are now well on our way to Darwin, (with Red Island some
560nm behind us) and all being well we should arrive in Francis Bay, all set
for de-lousing (more anon) at around lunchtime on the 23rd September.
Current position 10:44:33S 133:29:24E
One of the features of this passage and in fact the one
before it, to Red
Island has been the Australian
Customs “Coast Watch aircraft”. These turbo prop aircraft cover
the whole of the Australian coast, but seem to be the most active on the Northern Territories, where Australia’s
neighbours Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia are a relatively short
distance away. Sometimes they fly low, from stern to bow and using powerful digital
imaging photography, they will call your vessels name on VHF channel 16. They
then ask you to go to Channel 72 and have a “chat”. This involves
such matters as port of registration, call sign, last port of call and next
port of call. They are always polite and courteous. Other times, I guess when visibility
is poor, or even in the dark, they will call you up on the radio by vessel description
or Lat/Long position. They obviously have on board computers that are linked
back to a central data base, and it is obvious, based on a couple of supplemental
questions that we have been asked, that they do track your movements. All the
way from your first port of entry, to make sure you are complying with the
route approved in your cruising permit. What particularly impresses me about
this service, is that they are looking after the interests of
Australia/Australian’s, and this is a HUGE country. Yet GB, by comparison
has a tiny coastline. But we have never been over flown by British Customs and
the only time we have ever been stopped by customs in the UK was off the
Mull of Kintyre when they were looking for IRA gunrunners. (1999). If perhaps
the UK government adopted this
same procedure, it might help cut down on illegal immigrants into the UK. British
Customs officers could also learn a thing or two about how to address and treat
people as well!!
One of the altogether surprising things about this passage and
indeed most of the passages across the Pacific has been the pollution. The air pollution
has really surprised us. Especially in the Pacific. Because it is such a
massive area of the globe, and very sparsely populated, you would expect little
or no pollution. But no, we are constantly cleaning grime off the boat and all
of the standing and running rigging is filthy. We washed all of the running
rigging in Mackay, and it is already dirty from air pollution. Similarly, water
pollution. The waters on this passage have been covered, admittedly in patches,
in a beige slime. Not sure if this an oil and detergent mix from Tankers
flushing out their empty tanks, or if it is some for of algae. But what ever it
is it is spread over hundreds of miles of otherwise pristine ocean.
The seas here do seem to be abundant with fish. But all we
have been able to catch since leaving the Great Barrier
Reef is Tuna.
This would be fine if we liked them. But, unless you “bleed”
them we find the taste not to our liking. So although I can usually catch one
within minutes of deploying a lure, they just get thrown back again. In fact I
could swear that I caught one of them twice! Still it is a useful distraction
sometimes. But for now we have given up. I may try again once we get closer to
land and reefs, in the hope that there might be some Wahoo or Dorado out there……………………..
The winds for the second half of this passage have proved to
be fickle, and mostly light airs. But now and again, we will get period of
strongish winds, from a different direction to the prevailing or forecast wind
direction. These seem to co-inside with night fall and dawn. Right now we are
motor sailing. Which is a bit of a bummer, because the cost of diesel in Australia is about the same as the UK, at Petrol
station forecourt prices. So it costs us about a pound a mile to motor.
It has also been interesting to see how much hotter the sea
temperatures are here, compared to Mackay. In Mackay and indeed most of the Great Barrier Reef coast line, the water temperature was
a constant 22°C. Now, even though it is currently in the wee small hours, the
water temp is up to 28°C. This may account for the algae we have seen. What it
most certainly does mean is that both the engine and the Genset run much hotter
because they are cooled by a sea water heat exchanger system. This in turn
contributes to the interior of the boat being very much warmer…and it’s
warm! Another side effect of the higher water temperatures is that the keel
coolers for the fridge and the freezer are far less efficient. So the compressors
have to wok much harder, so they too contribute heat to the inside of the boat
and more irritatingly, hammer the batteries.
One of the delightful and entertaining parts of this passage
has been the birds. I mentioned them in the last blog entry. Now, one of the
Sooty Terns has “moved in”.
This chap now stays on the boat full time. Except that is
when he “pops out” for a spot of fishing. Once he has had his fill,
he returns to his favourite roosting spot, on a teak platform in the pulpit.
It is astonishing to see him there in the full midday sun. Especially
when I tell you that it is now so hot in the middle of the day, that the solar
gain on the teak desks is melting the bitumen based caulking between the teak
strips, I now have to sluice salt water over the decks each day. Sooty as Jennie calls him, even stays put
when we are reefing or letting out the Genoa,
a mere six inches from where he is perched. So tame, and cheeky with it!
We also had an Artic Tern on boat for most of the day. This
one looked completely knackered poor thing………….
That said, in flight, and when you watch the agility of their
flight,, and landing antics, it is a very beautiful, graceful and (dare I say it) up lifting sight.
So not much else to report. We are both quite tired now. It
has been quite rolly on this passage and quite hard to sleep when you are being
rolled around you bunk. That coupled with the heat. But we will be there soon
enough and then be able to catch up on the beauty sleep once again…………………..
