After 4 weeks of really hard work, lots of planning, applying
for Indonesian visas and boat entry permit, completing Australian departure
documentation, exporting Sirocco documentation, obtaining blue water insurance
for Indonesia, having Sirocco surveyed, buying a heap of new gear, we departed
Perth and flew into Darwin.
Sirocco was fine just where we had left her, but very dirty,
covered in flying fox shit and ash from all the fires burning around the area.
Darwin was so hot and with only a large fan, we both
struggled with the heat and were profusely sweating.
Dave from MV Fonster was there to meet us and it was nice
to catch up again and we chatted for an hour and a half while we had some
lunch.
When Dave left, we unpacked and got stuck into cleaning the
boat, sorting out gear and getting supplies for the trip to Indonesia.
As we had a hire car, Putu went off to buy all the food and fuel
while I slaved away in the stinking hot engine room removing the starboard raw water
pump, as it was leaking badly and required rebuilding as well as a new drive
belt. Once I had the pump out, (breaking a mounting bolt in the process) I washed
and cleaned the entire boat.
When Putu came back we unloaded all the food and fuel and I
poured the diesel strait into Sirocco and then we headed off to get more diesel
and to find someone to rebuild our raw water pump.
I left the pump at Wilkinson Engineering who said it would
be ready to pick up just before they close at five, then we went and got more
diesel, some fuel additive, went to Bunnings for a few supplies and then headed
back to the boat.
While back on the boat, I realized I had left my bloody reading
glasses on the plane. After a lifetime of flying all around the world, I picked
a great time to lose my glasses for the first time. This was serious as I would
have difficulty reading charts and navigating without them, so I will have to
go back to the airport tomorrow and see if Qantas has kept them.
Some of the new gear we bought up from Perth included a
printer, new charts, fans, bug zapper, new topping lift, flags, locks, some
fake CCTV cameras and a heap of other bits and pieces to make improvements or
repair things that broke in the Kimberly.
I didn’t get a call from Wilkinson Engineering to say the
pump is ready, so I called them only to find out that it won’t be ready until
tomorrow now, so that will set us back a bit and we have been desperately
trying to obtain blue water Insurance all day sill without any luck.
We both worked until late in the evening and we were both
suffering heat stroke and exhaustion by the time we went to bed. Without the
small bedroom fans, I bought, I don’t know how we would have got to sleep as it
was so still and hot all night.
Next day we were up early as we had a meeting with Border
Force to clear out of the country which went very smooth and quickly. They
didn’t even want to inspect Sirocco before our departure. Then it was off out
to the airport to extend our hire car for another day and then off to Qantas
who had kept my reading glasses for me. Thank you Qantas, then it was back out
to Wilkinson Engineering to pick up my repaired pump, back to Bunnings, back to
the servo to buy more diesel, then back to the boat to face my worst nightmare;
installing the raw water pump.
These pumps are so hard to get to as there is very little
room at the front of each engine, and its stifling hot hanging upside down in
the tight confines of the engine room. After several agonising hours later,
(and the odd swear word) I pressed the start button and it worked perfectly.
I spent another couple of hours cleaning each engine bay,
checking oils and fluids and making sure nothing was going to give me any
troubles during the upcoming voyage to Indo.
I had previously arranged for a marine surveyor to inspect
the boat at 08:30 this morning (to satisfy all the insurance companies), but he
called to say that he was so busy, that he would now be coming around 17:30.
The four-hour survey ended up only taking about an hour as
the boat was so clean and in such good condition and everything was easily
accessed, so there were no issues and it was quite strait forward.
At six thirty I was completely knackered and I had to get cleaned
up to go out for dinner with Putu’s friends. After a hand full of headache
pills washed down with beer, I started to feel half reasonable again, but very
tired.
Dinner was nice and it was great to catch up with Claude and
his partner, but we STILL had no boat insurance and have less than 48 hours to
depart the country.
This morning we both staggered out of bed quite late, both
very sore and tired. We still had a few things to do before returning the hire
car.
I spent all morning and half the afternoon on the phone and
email trying to get the insurance sorted. Blue water insurance is very
difficult (and expensive) to obtain and it seems no one is willing to insure
whilst in Indonesia.
Fonny, Dave’s wife flew into Darwin this morning and she
bought with her our new folding solar panel that didn’t arrive in time for us
to bring, so that was good news.
Dave & Fonny stayed with us for several hours until I
got that sweet email with our new expensive Indonesian marine insurance policy.
Once the payment went through, we called up the lock master to book our exit
for 16:30.
It was now a frantic effort to get all last things ready,
remove all the mooring lines I made up last month and prepare Sirocco for the
four-day ocean passage to East Timor in Indonesia.
While in the lock, we had a near disaster. After tying the boat
to the side of the dock, I went down stairs to close all the hatches and port
holes while Putu stood talking to the dock master. As the water level went
down, the aft mooring line got hung up, taking the full weight of Sirocco and luckily
the mooring line snapped before the mooring cleat ripped out of the
superstructure. I hope it wasn’t a bad omen.
We sailed off into the sunset and about eighty miles out we
caught up to and pasted another cruising catamaran Lyre (46-foot cat) who was
poorly lit up, very difficult to see on the radar and who’s AIS was dropping in
and out and was only working out to several miles.
Late in the night a large cargo ship passed us several miles
off to the starboard side. We motor sailed for most of the night, then we sailed
for only an hour or two and then motor sailed again in the light winds all
night.
In the early hours of the morning, the sea got sloppy and a
big wave came through the open saloon hatch and drenched Putu while she was sleeping.
I stayed up all night taking the Jib in/out a dozen times as the lite winds
changed from a tight reach to right on the nose.
It was a long night, but it was warm and conditions were
fine.
That bloody raw water
pump
Track Sirocco’s
progress
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