10:51:197S 119:47:290E Darwin to Bali
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Thu 28 Aug 2014 07:44
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Darwin was an interesting stop on our voyage
as Rog has written about in his last blog. We were able to get Shaya Moya in
fine condition for the next leg while enjoying the hospitality of the city and
Tipperary Waters marina where we were berthed.
 
Tipperary Waters Marina
Fish
and chips for dinner
Having finally left Darwin with a full complement
of crew we were worrying about the forcasted lack of wind. Shaya Moya carries
1000 litres of diesel. At about 7-8 litres per hour, with an average speed of
7,5kts we could not motor all the way to Bali which is 990nm. The route we have
chosen leads south of all the Indonesian islands. The only dangers being in the
Sahul banks about 300nm from Darwin. Here the sea floor rises up to form a
series of reefs, islands and shallow patches with contrary currents and rough
seas.To further complicate matters this is an area of oil and gas
exploration. We decided to take the more southerly route around them and
cross between the Ashmore and Hibernia reefs. Ashmore reef is an Australian
nature reserve and a caretaker resides there. Must be a lonely job.
 
Half way
NO WIND
The Timor and Java sea's lie in the Doldrums or as
it is known today, the Intertropical Convergance Zone(ITCZ) This marks where the
two trade winds, the NE monsoon and the SE trade winds converge. It moves North
and South of the equator following the sun. This can bring bad weather or very
light conditions depending on where the ITCZ lies. It is at its furthest north
of the equator in August, and should be be good as the SE trades are at their
most regular. Well what do you know, our weather forcast is for light
and variable conditions. Not good news.
This meant motoring which we did for some 40 hours
before the wind picked up enough for us to finally sail. We motored another 12
hours two days later.This can drive one crazy as the drone of the engine
permeates throughout the boat. On watch or off watch sleeping the noise is
always there. Some of our log entries read; motor sailing no wind;still flat
seas; flat calm NEED WIND!
We encounered a lot of marine traffic on our way
into the Timor sea including a oil drilling platform at night. The on watch guys
need to be on their toes. Needless to say the skipper does'nt get much
sleep, constantly monitoring our progress on a multifunction instrument in his
cabin. The Australian customs have flown over us multiple times and call us on
the radio to check what we are doing.
 The watch system we are using is the 3,4,5 one,
with two of us on watch together at a time. Our pairing for this leg is Rog and
Tom, Ted and Don. We run the watch during the night from 18h00-21h00,
21h00-24h00, and so on. The dreaded graveyard shift is from 03h00-06h00 in the
morning. This is when most peoples biorythms are at their lowest. The graveyard
shift then gets from 06h00-10h00(4 hours) to catch up much needed sleep. The
shift after that is from 10h00-15h00 (5 hours) Sounds more comlex than
it really is, but ensures that both watches have long enough off watch periods
to rejuvenate.
 
Off watch thank goodness
Typical night scene below
Life on board an ocean going yacht revolves around
watch keeping, sleeping, cooking and eating, and catching up with each other. As
can be seen from the watch system we only really get together as a complete crew
in the afternoon through to about 19h00 after dinner. Excitement is added by
dodging fishing boats, oil rigs, and other miscellaneous craft and
of course FISHING.
Rog gave a startled cry from deck yesterday, we got
one! There he was fighting to bring a screaming rod under control. We slowed the
boat down and Rog then very skillfully landed his first sea fish, a Mahi Mahi or
Dolphin fish, similar to Dorado. This is a brightly coloured tropical fish that
are attracted to bright coloured lures that are trawled behind the yacht.
     They have delicious firm white flesh, good eating.
Rog gutted and filleted his fish and has presented two superb meals. A cevishe
on coucous salad and lightly fried canapes with tomato and coriander paste,
delicious.
     While Rog was busy with his preparation the rest of
the crew relaxed. Ted for one knows how to do this, but Tom is not far behind.
Talking about which, our saloon table is just too high for Rog, so cushion it
is.
    We have done 780nm since Darwin and are currently
276nm from Bali, expecting to be there by Saturday morning all going well.
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