Darwin to Kupang
Gaviota
Sat 30 Jul 2016 06:19
10:09.531S 123:34.276E
Departure
day and as predicted it was windless, the sun shone and if you were not wanting
to sail 468 miles it would have been a totally perfect day. We upped anchor at just after 10.30 and got
the mainsail up in readiness. The Start
Line was to be marked by the tourist catamaran Spirit of Darwin which was to be
full of Sail Indonesia helpers and guests.
We had hoped to hoist the spinnaker and fly through but the windless day
put paid to that idea! We heard the
first warning signal at 10.50 followed by the hoisting of Code Flag P
accompanied by a sound signal, then at 10.55 there was another preparatory
signal and Numeral Pennant 1 was hoisted.
10.59 Code Flag P was lowered and 11.00 was the starting signal. We got the genoas out quick and headed
towards the start line but were quickly passed by a stream of boats motoring,
so we had no choice but to either put the motor on or flounder about just
trying to get over the start line. There
was a bit of a hiccup when a catamaran in front of us decided to stop and we
nearly rammed it up the back but evasive action was swift and we headed over
the start to a wonderful scene of everyone on the Spirit of Darwin waving and
flashing cameras. The Union Jack was
flying once more and as we were only 1 of 2 yachts from UK we got a big
cheer. Then the fun started as we knew
we would be racing the tide, high tide had been 8.30am so we only had it with
us until the afternoon and we had a lot of sailing to do before we even left
the river estuary which is the entrance into Darwin. We were determined to sail as much as
possible because getting fuel in Indonesia is pretty much a nightmare – it all
has to be jerry-jugged meaning huge amounts of diesel have to be bought to the
boat and dispensed into the fuel tanks – there are no fueling stations to just
drive the boat up to. Add to this is that
fuel is notoriously contaminated, you then have the issue that everything has
to be well filtered before it goes into the tank. We last experienced jerry-jugging in
Galapagos and it was pretty horrible experience!
There was
just about enough wind to get the genoas out on one side so we drifted along at
about 4 knots as the rest of the group of yachts motor sailed into the
distance. We made painfully slow
progress and by the time the tide turned and we realised the boat was slipping
back the way we had come there was no option but to put the motor on. We chugged on for 3 hours then got the sails
out again as there was just enough wind once again. Sails were out until midnight then the wind
more or less died and the motor came on.
Day 2 and
if anything there was even less wind, it was another gorgeous hot sunny day and
on we motored. Syd’s mood was
black!!!!! Night fell and the sea
resembled a lake, the moon shone and on we motored. We went onto our second tank of fuel during
night 2 and as Day 3 dawned there was still no sign of wind. What had happened to the Timor Sea, we had
expected lack of wind throughout Indonesia but this bit was supposed to be
windy!
Day 3 and
still NO WIND, the engine chugged on sounding decidedly unhappy and getting
worryingly hot and Syd’s mood got blacker!
We tried the sails out several times but there was not enough wind to
make us move. Night fell and 3.00am
there was enough wind and at last from the right direction to try again. Pole went out and the 2 genoas were put out. I awoke to a slightly better tempered Syd who
was at last sailing again. The even
better news was we could see land – a faint outline in the distance but Timor
was in sight. As we neared the long
entrance up to Kupang the wind had increased to 20+ knots so we got both genoas
on one side and picked up speed into the channel. We had been warned of the fishing hazards but
were surprised at the amount of them, buoys marking nets were everywhere and at
one point nearly continued from one shore to the other. It was a hairy sail up but eventually we
rounded a point and could see the Rally yachts who had already arrived (the
ones who motored the whole way!). We did
a few final tacks in winds now gusting 25+ knots and sailed right in in true
Brit style.
The
anchorage at Kupang was horrendous, it was mocking us having had to motor
nearly the whole way from Darwin we were now to be punished as 25-30 knot winds
howled straight through and the entire fleet rolled. We dropped our anchor at about 5.00pm and prepared
for our first rolly night AT ANCHOR!
Thankfully
the wind did die and we had a peaceful night.
Day 4 and the wind started building in the horrible exposed rolly
anchorage. We were informed that Customs
and Quarantine were doing the rounds in some random fashion and could see a
dinghy full of people who seemed more excited by the white knuckle ride they
were experiencing in the wild sea than clearing in a load of yachts. So we waited and the wind got stronger. Customs continued seemingly selecting random
boats to visit then disappeared for lunch!
So we rolled around waiting and wishing we had not joined this Rally at
all and had done what we have successfully done so far – made our own plans!
Surprisingly
we did actually get a visit later that day from 2 guys who looked 15 but
assured us they were old enough to be Customs men. Having managed to get on board with help
from a passing dinghy we then had a bit of a problem when the 15 year olds
decided they had seen enough and wanted to leave as their Customs launch could
not get close enough to pick them up because of the wild sea. We devised an interesting plan and sent them
both off in our dinghy with ropes attached, they bobbed around (still smiling)
and eventually they were plucked out of the dinghy and safely dispatched to
their mother ship.
Next day
we went ashore and experienced Kupang for the first time. Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and the
Harbour Master had been organized to all be in one room to speed up the process
so the next 2 hours were spent doing the rounds with endless forms to fill in
and rubber stamps being stamped in a rubber stamping frenzy. One last task for us, Customs had to pay one
more visit to the boat before we were officially ‘cleared in’.
Kupang is
a crazy place, traffic is mad with thousands of little buses operating and most
of the rest of the population on scooters and mopeds, crossing the road is
putting your life on the line. It is
noisy and dirty but the people are lovely, smiling and happy and extremely
curious. English is rarely spoken but
somehow communication works. Moslems and
Christians live side by side and the black market thrives. It is a million miles away from the rules and
organization of Australia.
