Dili

Hi everyone,
We arrived in Dili at about 1130 on Wednesday after a good sail along the spectacular coast. After finishing we entered Dili harbour with our courtesy flag and Q flag flying. We picked up a mooring buoy in the set laid specially for the event. It was great to arrive in Dili after just over 4 days at sea. We logged 512nm, so pushed about 50nm of current since we stuck close to the direct route. We motored for 60 hours which is by far the most motoring we've ever done on a single passage. We used about 100 litres of fuel. Our top boat speed was 9 knots. We broke nothing!

Many of the other boats had various breakages or other adventures so we're happy our passage was relatively uneventful. It was fun running the skeds and many boats have thanked us for doing so. It was good to confirm our radio's performance.

Zen Again Track

After arriving we went ashore and presented our papers for clearance inward. That was straightforward process with the help of the rally office. We never even saw an East Timorese official! We went to dinner with the crew of Freedom Express, being thoroughly ripped off by the taxis but having a great meal together.

On Thursday we went ashore and had a shower at the Hotel Dili, then took our laundry to the Hotel Ventura which provides a service at reasonable cost. Then we taxied to Castaways cafe for a very pleasant time with The Doctor and Nefertiti crews. From there we returned to the rally office area where we found Ano waiting for us. Ano was recommended to us by Urs and Maggie on Better Than Shares. He sought us out and we had a very nice conversation with him.

In the afternoon we joined the complimentary rally tour of Dili which was really good. We visited the statue of Pope John Paul which overlooks Dili from the west, the art school, the Tais markets, the excellent Museum of the Revolution, the beach at the foot of the path up to the Jesus statue (which overlooks Dili from the east) and then to the Beachside Hotel for refreshments.

In the evening we all had dinner at the Turkish Kebab Club, featuring "belly dancing" on the tables by some rally competitors. It was good to catch up with the crews of Scot Free 2, Our Philosophy and Ala De Oro who arrived in Dili today. Great food and a fun time had by all.

Today (Friday) we have the formal presentations this morning and the formal rally dinner this evening. We'll also change to a smaller headsail, top up our water and fuel, and try to sort our our photos and video from the trip so far. So plenty to do - must dash!