That's why they call it sailing...

The terrain of the Komodo islands is a bit desolate
during the dry season.

...and not getting places. Cause just getting places is easy.

Based on the wind predictions, we left Kupang in the late afternoon so we would get to Komodo during daylight hours after a couple of overnights.

Beach near Teddy's Bar in Kupang

But before we left, we got to try the famous local smoked pork (babi se'i). Which we found interesting as it was the first day of Ramadan. Indonesia may be the world's most populous Muslim country, but there are certainly non-Muslim pockets here and there. Kupang, for instance, is primarily Protestant. The smoked pork was super yummy as was the crispy pork belly.

Good pork or not, we were not sorry to leave Kupang because the anchorage continued to be uncomfortable the whole time we were there. A side swell originating from who-knows-where kept the boat rocking non-stop. Also, there is no good place to leave a dinghy. The beach near where we anchored goes completely awash at high tide and the next beach over is frequented by touts who demand a high price to "watch" your dingy. There were even some reports of dinghies being damaged if the "watching" fees weren't paid.  Luckily, a gentleman named Lambert lives on the beach and for a small fee will watch your dinghy, including taking it out to a mooring and swimming back in (which he manages pretty well considering he only has one functional leg).

With Kupang in the rear view mirror, we started on a nice downwind run with 7+ knots wing-on-wing (main triple-reefed again because the winds were strong once again). The strong winds lasted until the following day and we expected we would need to slow down in the evening to have a first light arrival.

Around dusk on the second day the winds started to moderate.  Forget about slowing down, it was looking like we might be in for a late morning arrival. Finally, after losing even more steam, the wind went completely AWOL in the evening and died. From 25 knots to nothing in the span of about 4 hours. Because the waves were still up and banging the sails around, we turned on an engine and motored until the wind decided to reappear a few hours later and picked up to a brisk pace that got us to Komodo in the early morning after all. We picked up a mooring (made challenging by the howling wind) and the wind has been blowing like stink ever since.

On the plus side, we saw our dragons. When Matt was little, he saw Komodo dragons on Wild Kingdom (the original one with Marlin Perkins--yes, we are old: there aren't reading glasses everywhere on our boat for nothing). He was very disappointed to learn that they were on the opposite side of the world because it seemed impossible that he'd ever get to see one in real life. And yet here we are. So touching--excuse me, I have something in my eye.

Do they look nervous? Yes, yes they do.

But for real, Komodo dragons are very cool, in large part because you know they could kill you with one bite (in the absence of good medical care, which around here is scarce). We stayed in our dinghy when these guys came swaggering out of the undergrowth at the sound of the engine ('Um, Dad, maybe we should back the dinghy up...' was heard more than once). Anyway, they are huge, menacing and prehistoric-looking. The non-stop drooling and tongue flicking doesn't make them look like puppy dogs, either. And it turns out that they can swim, which we didn't realize until we read more about them later because they gingerly avoided the water's edge like they didn't want to get wet. Fortunately they hadn't felt like spanning the three feet of water between us.

It's crowded here. Two Phinisis tied to the back
of our moored boat.

Fast and hard or slow and easy?

Matt and I sometimes talk about whether we would prefer fast and hard or slow and easy (Talking passages here. What did you think I meant?). What we got for a passage from Darwin to Kupang was fast, hard and a bit uncomfortable. The wind prediction wasn't wrong per se. There was just a lot more of everything.

The direction was downwind, so that part was good. We were wing-on-wing pretty much the whole way (our whisker pole has certainly earned its keep). The speed was much higher than predicted, reading 30 knots apparent on our instruments. The waves also couldn't make up their mind. We spent a lot of the voyage on a relatively shallow shelf that extends a long way out from Darwin and seemed to make the seas confused. We had 8-foot waves hitting us every which way.

It felt like we were in the heavy-duty wash cycle on a washing machine, with a little less water and more banging with what felt like a giant sledgehammer on the bottom of the boat. But what we lacked in comfort, we made up for in speed. We averaged over 7 knots the whole trip (even with a double-reefed main and jib) and at one point we saw 17.5 knots as we surfed down one wave.

As we got closer to Kupang, we started to slow down the boat so as not to arrive in the middle of the night. We triple-reefed the main and put out a tiny scrap of head sail for stability. The wind responded by picking up and we continued to go over 7 knots. We finally took down all the sails and the boat finally slowed down to 5 knots. It is amazing to me that the boat could go that fast with no engine or sails.

Even after slowing down, it was dark when we reached the channel. It's a big, wide open channel but we were worried about FADs and unlit bagans. However, we didn't have a lot of options, so we turned on the radar and made our way forward, keeping a close watch on the water. There was no moon but the lights from the city helped and we had a big spotlight. Other than a couple fishing floats with tiny flashing lights that were towards the edges of the channel, we didn't see anything. The easy to see bagans were lit up like Christmas trees and were anchored along the side of the channel.

We finally made it to the anchorage. We didn't get the nice calm conditions we were hoping for and are rocking and rolling as we speak. But a good night's rest cures a lot of ills. We spent yesterday checking in (we have found that checking into or out of Indonesia takes a whole day). You have to take taxis to navigate the process in sprawling Kupang, so there were many taxi rides to Immigration, Quarantine, Customs, and the Port Captain. Quarantine and Customs also wanted to visit the boat, which meant more travel back and forth (they couldn't go at the same time, of course--there's a process). Quarantine got to the beach where we had our dinghy, looked at the waves and wind and our boat bobbing around and decided not to actually go on the boat ('tidak mau'--Bahasa Indonesian for 'don't want').

Kupang is the biggest Indonesian city we have visited so far. It is packed full of people, cars, ojeks, and merchandise. Charming, no, but there is an energy and at least an effort to keep garbage off the streets. Plus, we saw a troop of monkeys crossing the street (they live in a nearby cave). Matt's busy reinstalling the port rudder quadrant, which came loose during the passage (that's what that banging noise was...). And thus start the, 'If we were in Darwin, this would be so much easier' conversations. We'll leave soon for Komodo. There be dragons.

Ooroo Australia

Apparently Ooroo or Hooroo is Aussie slang for goodbye. I haven't actually heard anyone here say it though. G'day, on the other hand, is common. And 'mate'. That part is satisfying, as is the occasional sight of a man (usually an older gentleman) dressed in a Crocodile Dundee hat, safari shirt, and very short shorts. It reminds me that I'm in Australia and not the U.S.

Just when we're getting the rhythm of the way people talk here, it's time to go. We sold our car (we did much better this time by not wrecking it at the last moment like we did the one in New Zealand). We've checked the engines and performed a myriad of last minute fixes (such as unwrapping a huge tangle in the anchor chain caused by a broken shackle, bleeding air from the fuel line, and fixing the stop solenoid).

Our boat is again stuffed with First World provisions, including a freezer full of meat. Matt had to bleed some coolant from the freezer, re-add some, and then bleed it again to get it back to its old self. On the plus side, messing around with refrigeration is one more aspect of boat life that he's become comfortable with. The last few trips to the store to pick up specific supplies also devolved into the familiar "oh, maybe we need just one or two more of [take your pick]."  And that's how we now have enough tortilla chips and Whittaker's chocolate bars to last a lifetime or two.

Part of our check-out procedure with the Australian Border Force involved handing over a big stack of receipts. Australia is one of the few places that make it relatively easy to get back local taxes paid by tourists for purchases made within the 60 days before departure. Of course, some countries make it even easier by not charging visiting yachts the tax in the first place (at least on yacht-related purchases).

Hopefully this tax refund will help to defray some of the massive bleed out of funds from our bank account. Unfortunately we couldn't get back all that we paid since some of the parts we had imported were over $1000, had a 10% import tax imposed, and there is no way to recoup it (we paid several hundred dollars just in taxes to bring in our engine radiator assembly). I feel sorry for the poor Border Force representative that has to enter all the amounts though.

We're headed for Kupang, Indonesia to check-in. It should take us 3 or 4 days of sailing to get there. The forecasts predict a pleasant downwind sail. So we are hoping for a gentle transition to getting our sea legs back. Obviously, our weather and sea condition predictions are never inaccurate. As our friend Mark (previously of Amelie IV) used to say, 'What could go wrong?'

Back in the wattah

Perry with nifty new shades done by
our friend Rachel. The old ones were disintegrating.

Perry is back in the water. After a fitful night of sleep with rabid nooseeums attacking and the noise of the boat lift groaning at random intervals, we got up bright and early to be launched at high tide.

Our new strut and shaft decked out
in PropOne antifoul 

We got the rudder back in place the night before, which is why we spent the night in the lift. We are still floating and the port engine seems to be running well (knock on teak). We plan to do a shakedown cruise in the area before leaving for Indonesia.

Because it is so like the US here in many ways, we sometimes forget that Australia is actually a much smaller country in population. Like small enough where the national news broadcast on the radio does a traffic report for the ENTIRE country.

We managed to visit Kakadu National Park, which was a very long drive to do in just one day, but well worth it. We swam in beautiful waterfall pools (that had just opened the day before after being closed for the season) and saw interesting Aboriginal rock art that is thousands of years old. We finished out the day with dinner at the Mindl Beach Sunset Market. It is the place to be on a Thursday or Sunday evening. There were food stalls with almost anything you would want, craft vendors, and street performers.

Lightning Man (on the right)

We have mint again. Mojitos anyone?

Watcha doin'?

Our new strut/P-bracket

Since we arrived back in Darwin after our awesome road trip, we have been busy trying to get through our checklist of boat fixes. Matt's been making impressive progress on the 'Big 3' Projects that we need to get done while out of the water. He is also sweating an impressive amount (as are we all). Warning, boring boat work blah blah blah ahead.

Our new counter top (not even one of the
'Big 3' but it had to be done)

The critical projects were/are:

1. Replacing the bent/broken strut and remounting the engine.
2. Replacing the windlass.
3. Repairing the generator engine.

Old windlass carcass. Rest in pieces.

New windlass--ooh, aah

Let's start with the one that is done. The windlass has been replaced but it was more complicated than we expected. Of all the boat work we have done over the years, 99% of it seems to be more complicated than expected. Just getting the old one off was a chore. We were hoping to simply replace the seized bearing that was causing the grief, but getting to the bearing proved impossible.  The entire upper unit had basically corroded itself into one single piece--no amount of heat or penetrant would get the lock-nut to move. In the end it literally had to be sawed in half to get it out. 

OK, out with the old, in with the new! We purchased a newer version of our old Lofrans windlass specifically because it is supposedly a 'drop-in replacement'. Our definition of 'drop-in' is a bit different from the manufacturer's. The holes for the four bolts that hold the windlass in place line up, so that's good...but that's about it.

New windlass base that Matt had to fabricate and
drill and epoxy and paint

Everything else was different: the way the wiring is routed (requiring new, longer wiring to reach the motor), the footprint of the windlass (requiring a new, bigger base and another hole or two), and the profile of the windlass (requiring that we grind out the lid--that one was easy). Also during the process, which involved Matt pretzeling himself into the tiny anchor locker with a big comfy pile of chain to sit on, the up and down buttons decided to stop working. So we got to add rewiring the buttons into the mix. Anyway, we have a new and improved windlass and can go back to anchoring in deep water without holding our collective breaths. Anyway, now we're selling a perfectly good windlass motor that we don't need anymore.

The next big project and the whole reason we're in Australia, was repairing the mayhem caused by that Indonesian log. Speaking of holes (sorry, we're doing homonyms in school), this is the hole that the strut came out of. The original strut was fiber-glassed into place with a ton of epoxy and fiberglass, unlike being bolted on as with some boats. It is very strong but also not so easy to replace.

We found a strut that looked mostly like our old strut and the various measurements seemed pretty much the same. Since the supplier is in England, we couldn't easily compare the two, so we ordered the new one and took our chances. The new strut is very similar but just a bit bigger...unfortunately different enough that the existing hole in our boat needed to be ground out by a few millimeters. Normally this would be no big deal with a grinder, but the hole is small and enough and deep enough that you can't get a grinder in there.  Matt spent several days covered in a cloud of fiberglass dust as he ground out the hole (by hand mostly) bit-by-bit to Goldilocks proportions (not too small, not too big).

Same hole from inside the boat ('the top')

 After getting the hole to the right size and cleaning it up, Matt, with Conrad and my help, got the strut into place (lining it up with the new propeller shaft we had made along with a special collar to help with alignment) and re-glassed the whole thing. The fiberglass skills he honed throughout the islands came in handy.

Matt doing more boat yoga.

Voila! A newly glassed in strut. And
a really grody toe. Pedicure time...

So for that part of the project--yay! The part involving re-seating the engine is in progress. Matt had to harass the metal fabrication guy (both before we left and after we got back) to get the engine brackets done. After two months of having the specs, he finally delivered brackets that, of course, are not exactly right. Right now, Matt is in the engine compartment, swearing a lot, while the engine is suspended from the boom over the hatch in Conrad's cabin.

Finally, that brings us to the generator. As usual, the project turned out to be a bigger deal than we originally expected and we had to pull the whole thing out of the engine compartment to allow the mechanic to work on it. The thing weighs hundreds of pounds and is wedged into a tiny area. Miraculously, we were able to get it out with the help of the trusty boom, a large amount of pulleys and only minor injuries.

The generator mechanic finished work on it while we were away. He actually called us to say it was done (you don't know how rare we have found that here). It turns out that the seal that Rudy said was okay actually did need to be replaced. The fly in the ointment was a new drip tray we were having fabricated. It took over a month and lots nagging for the fabricator to finally get it done (are you seeing a pattern here?). Now we just need to put it in and hook it up, which I'm expecting will be pretty straightforward. You can predict how this will turn out.

The Spectacular Jumping Crocodile
Tour was spectacular

FOR SALE: Lofrans Progress 2 Windlass Motor 1200W 12V

Almost brand new Lofrans 1200W 12V windlass motor for a Progress II Windlass (Part 418a #LWP8251). It may also fit other older Lofrans models (uses a 3 point bolt on configuration).

It has only been in use for 3 months. We installed it because we thought it would help with a breaker tripping issue. It didn't because the actual problem was a corroded bearing. Unfortunately we weren't able to replace the bearing as the rope drum and lock-nut had seized up on the shaft and the windlass had to be sawed in half to remove it from the boat. So we bought a new windlass and you can get a bargain on an almost new motor!

We are currently in Darwin, Australia. We can ship it, but it's a heavy little beast and will probably be expensive. We will also be cruising Indonesia and Southeast Asia in the next 12 months, so we could meet up if we're in the same area.

The cost of a new motor from Lofrans is $1150 US not including shipping. We're asking $700 US.

Pictures from our Australian road trip - continued

I couldn't fit all the pictures from our road trip in one post, so here are the rest.

Our friends, formerly of Jade, and their
awesome Labradoodle Dougal

Grampians National Park

Emus!

MacKenzie Falls, Grampians National Park

Twelve Apostles

London Bridge, Great Ocean Road

Us, acting weird

Cockatoos in Portland. They're Australia's pigeons.

One of the Melbourne Alleyways

The boys with their friend Riley (previously of Miss
Behaving). They have a Spoodle named Dexter. So much
quality time with pooches this trip.

Fairy Cave (Buchan Caves)

Aptly named 'bacon' rock formation.

The fantastic War Museum in Canberra

Luna Park in Sydney

The Blue Mountains

Scenic World in the Blue Mountains

View of Sydney from the home of our friends
Helge and Liz (they have a great Blue Heeler
named Tessa)

Goanna. If one heads towards you, lie down
so it doesn't try to climb you with its razor-sharp claws.

Naracoorte Caves. The only place in the world with
mammalian fossils. Yes, we love the caves.