Benoa Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,
We're having a very pleasant sail this afternoon under full sail and a sunny sky. We are currently at 13 43.2S 115 49.0E, sailing at 5knots on a course of 170 in about 10 knots of wind.

Yesterday afternoon, overnight and this morning we had easterly winds of 20-25 knots and spent most of the time under single-reefed main and staysail. We were moving along at a comfortable 6 knots, occasionally getting up to mid 7's. We were taking plenty of spray aboard and an occasional "greenie". We each spent most of our watches below, just poking our heads up once every 10 minutes to check the world outside. During slightly quieter patches we'd lay on our backs in the cockpit watching the stars - very spectacular and nice and cool compared to down below. Twas nice to doze there and wake up to a cold slap in the face (from spray) and see the milky way above. We had our lifejackets on and tethers attached - just in case.

The wind gradually eased late this morning and by the afternoon we were gradually increasing sail in stages. It is nice to have a break from the abrupt motion of beam reaching in a lumpy seaway. I just hope the wind doesn't ease further! The forecasts say it should remain around 8-15, occasionally up to 20 at times. We'll see.

Nice sailing

We're seeing large schools of small flying fish from time to time. Whenever we sail near one they all burst from the water and fly away. We're also seeing large flocks of sooty shearwaters (we think) and have seen one tropic bird (we think).

We should reach the half way mark sometime in the next 24 hours. That will be good!

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.