West Timor
Simanderal
Michael Hughes and Ger White
Tue 26 Jul 2011 02:12
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1030 am Indonesia time--Tuesday 26th
July
We're now 10 miles off the coast of West Timor,
with 45 miles to go to the Kupang anchorage. And it's splendid sailing
weather--a very broad reach in 18 to 20 knots wind, good vis and lots of
sunshine--indeed we haven't seen a drop of rain in 6 weeks!!
Until last night I couldn't expect to make the
anchorage before nightfall--generally the wind dies down at night--but around
midnight this stronger wind, and a wind shift, gave us a kick forward--we've
been averaging 8 knots ever since--still are--and unless it all goes pear shaped
over the next few hours, we should be anchoring before sunset. Which is
great! I expect we'll be too late to clear quarantine, so won't be able to
go ashore---but a good night's sleep will be great.
I had expected a slow passage with lots of engine
on this trip--so I'm delighted that we've managed to sail all the way--and at a
good speed--despite some frustrations over the first 24 hours with light winds
and wind shifts which kept us on our toes--and a few broken
off-watches!!
All is well on board, and we look forward to
Indonesia--it will be a great contrast to Australia, despite the
proximity!
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