12:26:910S 130:51:016E
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Sat 23 Aug 2014 07:44
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We were all disappointed not to have got back in
the water to view more of this underwater gem We had given The
Great Barrier Reef our best shot at Lizard and Horn Islands and Topaz
and Shives Reefs but the strong winds had kept us firmly on Shaya Moya. Our
tender had not even been put in the water. It was sad to leave without
exploring further this natural asset. The Reef is a vast and very well protected
conservation environment and the Australia authorities need to be
commended.
 
The weather did produce some spectacular scenery.
>From storm clouds and rainbows.....
   .....to
sunrise, sunset and a beautiful full moon. There were lots of
highlightsTrapped as we were we got busy doing the domestic
thing. Don had given me a haircut but would not entrust the shaver to
Shorty Shakes so did the DIY version and Tom came in to finish the
back. Probably safer that way.
  We have also been playing the iPad version of
Scrabble which was interesting to start with. You see it allows you to test to
find out if a word is ok. This produced words like gloze (gloze in the
dark?), noh, syren, koan and vug before we changed the rules. Now you
cannot use a word if you do not know the meaning. This of course is a very
different game and Tom is Scrabble King for the moment.
We had been in some pretty big
seas.....
  .....but, as Tom explained we sailed past Thursday
Island without the scheduled stop and continued through the Torres Strait
directly into the Gulf of Carpenteria for our non-stop run into Darwin.The winds
were lighter and the sea calmer which made for very pleasant sailing, by
comparison. One notable statistic about the Gulf is the sea depth
is at 50 to 53 meters the entire way across. The seabed must resemble
a table top. Quite surprising.
We had a visit from a Brown Booby on our deck at
about 11:00 pm. He took a rest to ablute, preen and sleep before flying off
at first light the next day. Tom had to clean up (again) after he had
left.
The yacht has other uses too - this is the sun deck.
  After the Gulf we entered the Arafura
Sea where the wind softened up significally to the point that we
motored for most of our 4th and last night. The sea was so flat that at times it
felt like we were travelling on a bus. Wierd. A highlight was the
appearance during the day of dolphins who were agile and very playful. They
swam along with us for ages.
  We have certainly eaten very well on the
trip and as Tom had caught another Blue Fin Tuna we were teated to a
dinner of grilled fish, egg fried rice and snow peas. Quite the chef
our
Tom.
Don
has also perfected the one-hour loaf in the bread maker -
delicious.
That means fresh bread even on the long
crossings.
  Arrival in Perth was too late for entry into the
Marina so we anchored at the Yacht Club and took the tender to find
somewhere to eat. The following day we refuelled early and headed around
the wharf to Tipperary Waters Marina.
  Entry to this Marina is unusually via a lock.
It was a close fit for the 56 foot yacht to fit into the 22 meter lock but we
made it.
   Darwin was reached two days before expected
but this has proved to be fortuitous. The crystallized salt from the sea spray
had become a major issue. So washing down the entire boat, cleaning everything
inside and out, polishing stainless steel and brightwork and doing loads and
loads of washing have kept us more than occupied since
we arrived. We also did a lot of repacking, sorting out the tender and a
full shop to resupply in preparation for the next leg. The fridge and freezer
were defrosted too.
In between Don has
tackled a replacement ball valve for the tap on the deck wash system and
fitted the chain counter sensor we received while here. All fiddly time
consuming jobs in temperatures way over 30 degrees during the day.
People have been very friendly and the Marina
Lock Master, Keith has gone out of his way to help. From gas and petrol for
the tender to plumbing fittings and trips to Customs.
The local Customs authority have also gone out of
their way to help us leave on Sunday 24th by putting on special staff to
clear Ted (Dons brother) as he arrives by plane from Sydney. We will depart
Darwin and sail non-stop to Indonesia as
soon as he steps on board.
Darwin has been great. Larger than we all
anticipated it is modern, vibey and pretty city.
 Teds cabin bunk ready for the septuagenarians
arrival. See you in Bali.
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