Benoa Outbound Day 2

Hi everyone,
We currently sailing directly towards Dampier on a course of 172 and with a very nice speed of 6.3knots. Current position is 11 45.8S 115 37.2E. The wind has been E to ESE for the last 24 hours, ranging from 10 knots to about 20 knots.

Zen Again

Last night there were a few thunderstorms about but we managed to stay out of their way. Otherwise there were only a few smallish cumulus clouds to spoil our view of the stars and planets. There was only a small sliver of moon which set a few hours after sunset.

Twilight Approaching

Kakadu slowly caught up to us yesterday, passing us just after sunset. We could see their sternlight all night but they're now about 20 miles ahead of us I expect. They had an eventful exit from Benoa harbour, snagging a large tarpaulin and attached ropes on their propellor. Graham had to dive to cut it away.

Sunset

Today the winds gradually increased during the morning and then decreased in the afternoon. At one stage we had two reefs and a partly furled No 2 and were still doing over 6 knots. It has been a hot day with the fans working overtime down below. Everything's now cooling down nicely now the sun has set. We've only seen four vessels in the last 24 hours - a big chance compared to the Java Sea!

The weather outlook appears to be a similar day tomorrow with winds decreasing after that. We'll see what actually happens.

Trust all's well where you are.

Bali Stay and (eventual) Departure

Hi everyone,
We had a great four days away in the Bali hills with Graham and Anne from Kakadu. We stayed in a villa near Klungkung for two nights, then another villa near Sideman for the next two. Both were very nice in different ways.  Here are some photos...

The pool at Puri Pondok Villa outside Klongkong

There be dragons at the Klongkong markets

and spices too!

Klongkong temple guardian (one of many)

Klongkong temple art

Tanto Villa near Sideman

Trekking around the rice paddies near Sideman

Sunbrellas in the grass

Twas a long walk with fantastic scenery

A River Somewhere

Well tended rice paddies

View from our lunch restaurant

Climbing up to the temple

Worshippers at the temple

A beach at Candidasa

We returned to Benoa on Monday, stopping at Candidasa for lunch. That proved to be a bad idea since 3 out of 4 of us got bad food poisoning and we've only just recovered fully from it. Y'aint been ta Bali if ya ain't had da Belly...

Yesterday we did our final preparations and cleared out of Indonesia. Clearing out requires visits to 5 separate offices and it took nearly 3 hours but was uneventful which is the main thing. This morning we settled up with the marina and departed at 0930. We had 1.5knots of current against us in the Benoa harbour channel as expected, but then found the main current in the Lombok Strait was running north. It's supposed to be running south by now (and actually was a month ago).

It took until 1400 to motor-sail through and out of the area of contrary current. The wind gradually built and we are now sailing along close-reaching under full sail with a very nice 12 knot ESE breeze. Lovely blue sky, clear horizon (no haze) and isolated Cumulus clouds. Champagne sailing and heading for home!

We are aiming towards Dampier and expect the passage to take about 6 days. This morning's forecasts showed nice easterlies pretty-much all the way, which of course won't come true but one's gotta have a dream!

Trust all's well where you are.

Aboard again in Bali Marina

Hi everyone,
Nicki and I flew north from Perth to Denpasar on Sunday evening, stepping back aboard Zen Again at midnight.  On Monday we caught up with Graham and Anne on Kakadu.  They arrived from Lovina Beach a few days earlier.  Twas great to see them again.

On Monday and Tuesday we got our main boat jobs done, including:

• Test ran the engine
• Checked provisions and drafted shopping list
• Fitted new blocks on the mainsheets
• Lashed and fitted 4 loops of hose clamps around the boom vang mast bracket
• Climbed the mast (with Graham's help) and checked everything aloft
• Visited Carrefour supermarket for provisions
• Purchased "pulsa" (credit) for our Indonesian SIM cards
• Loaded GoogleEarth imagery of Western Australian coast onto Kakadu's laptop

While we were away a local man Herman looked after the boat, including scrubbing clean the hull, keel and rudder.  The boat is looking good.

Unfortunately the weather outlook isn't good so we have decided to wait here for at least a week.  The forecasts show a tropical low (perhaps a cyclone) developing north of Darwin later this week and heading west.  The winds prior to its arrival (even if we departed immediately) are forecast to swing southerly and die so we'd have to motor at least half of the way.  And if the engine expired we'd be in the path of a potential cyclone - no thanks!

Once the low (if it does appear) moves past Bali we may well have some nice northerlies to get us going towards Australia in style.  That'd be nice (ie "dream on").

Every cloud has a silver lining, and ours is that we get to relax in Bali for a week!

Trust all's well where you are.