08:27.51S 132:48.01

Day 5 of passage

 Sunday 29^th August

Captain’s log: Hopefully our last day at sea for this passage at 0900 we have 99 miles to run to Yamdena! The morning is partially cloudy with a following of between 21 - 28 knots.  Found about 8 flying fish on the deck this morning all a good size so decided butterfly them and shallow fry them in a little olive oil - surprisingly good.  Just as I had finished cooking them the autopilot decided to go off course and we chinese jybed, so it was all hands on deck to reef the mainsail, yankee and staysail, get the boat back on course and re-set the sails - never a dull moment only problem - I had to share my fish with everyone!!!  We have been listening Stephen Fry narrating Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix most afternoons only problem is we should be in port before the story is finished!!  Still a problem with the cooling water supply for the generator boiled over after running for 2 hours. Valerie making mushroom risotto for lunch washed down with a nice cold bottle of sauvignon blanc.

Run noon to noon 177 miles Total 923 miles

More dolphins to watch as we cross from the shallow Arafura sea into the deeper Sea of Timor

This time David joins us too, the cruising chute behind us did not go up again, as the winds just remained strong and we were powering along at 9 knots without it.  It’s hardly visible in these pictures, that we are having quite a strong breeze.

These herring are what the dolphins are after

And these flying fish were lying on the deck next morning, which David fried up for breakfast!

We’d had an easy night, no fishing boats and no ships!  An easy days sailing, with no sail changes to worry about until we arrived at Yamdena that night, just seeing land on the horizon at dusk.  We threaded our way into the deep bay of Yamdena at night, trying not to bump into the brightly lit floating fish farms on either side of the channel.  We were glad to have a safe anchorage for the first time in 6 days and nights, and have a whole night’s sleep without being woken up to take our watch.  It had been a lot easier the last 4 nights as Ollie did his 2 hours watches for the first time, giving David and I a good 4 hours sleep each between watches, rather than just 3 hours.

Captain’s log:  sunset with only 25 miles to run.  Quite breezy for the entrance black as your hat  - the moon hasn't risen yet! But managed to feel our way into the harbour with a lot of fishing rafts anchored in the harbour which don't show on the radar.  So we decided to drop anchor off the oil terminal and wait for daylight before moving to the main anchorage. So it's good night from me and good night to you!

Total distance run 1025 miles.

Average speed 7.7 knots

Total time 5 days 13 hours

Total engine hours 28 21%