Already in Langkawi for a week and a half, we've settled in for a stay at Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. Later this afternoon we'll be inundated by boxes, the big DHL shipment from the US scheduled to arrive today, and I decided I'd better post a quick position report before the chaos descends.

We made a couple of interesting observations of late, notably that even if we could tolerate the heat at single digit latitudes, which we cannot, we'd never get anything done living too close to the equator. Regardless of the season, days and nights are generally twelve hours long at this latitude and I'm noticing that we sleep much more here than at higher latitudes. Living at sea has made both Robbie and me into decidedly diurnal creatures, going to sleep when the sun sets and rising again with it on the following morning. I don't believe I need twelve hours of sleep each day, but if it remains dark I tend to snooze on until daylight shakes my eyelids open.

I'm trying to find a good list online of Malaysian fruits and vegetables, but so far no luck. I had such an animal in Indonesia and it was immensely helpful in separating for me the yams from the sweet potatoes from the kumera from the spuds whose taste we would recognize, and it saved a great deal of marketing and cooking trial and error. So far, I've not found such a list in Malaysia and it took me many long thoughtful moments at the store the other day to select what I thought was a cucumber (victory} and to distinguish between firm pale green heads of something that all looked like cabbage, heaped in nine separate bins under nine different names. More research is required on this one. It is my suspicion that several of them are cabbage and the differences among the many varieties may elude me for the rest of my days.

Last week when we arrived at the rally farewell dinner, held at the rice paddy museum, we walked to the museum and pavillion across an elevated boardwalk, thoughtfully constructed several feet above the swampy paddies of lush green rice plants. It struck me at the time that this was the closest I've ever been to a rice paddy, having driven past them on many occasions, but never having actually walked through one, listening to the rustle of the plants, smelling their fresh woodsy fragrance. A water buffalo had been standing nearby, too, chewing on whatever it was that was in his mouth (I hesitate to guess), dragging his tether through the muddy water, posing for pictures. As the final applause died down after dinner and at the end of the traditional dance performance, I suggested to Robbie that we make a quick exit before others left their seats. I'd noted upon arrival that it was going to be difficult with my low vision to traverse the open boardwalk later after dark and, rather than slow down the entire procession, I thought it a good idea to leave by ourselves a moment or two before everybody else. A man stepped in front of us as we started down the boardwalk. "You can't go this way!" he said.

"But it's the way we arrived. Why not?"

"The water buffalo is on the path now and he will not let you go by."

Sufficient reason to divert, we agreed. Robbie and I obediently turned around and allowed him to lead us back to the parking area via a safer path.

You know, this is something that never happened to me before. I was so enamoured of the fact that I'd sashayed through a rice paddy that it was days before I realized this was also the very first time I've had to cross the street to avoid a water buffalo.

As we settle in at Langkawi, we're beginnning to turn to the some of mundane tasks of daily living. I've placed an order with the local purveyor of imported foods who serves hotels and restaurants. He's also willing to deliver to me whatever I want of the nice impossible-to-find items he sells, like cheese, caviar and taco sauce. I try hard to listen carefully when I speak with locals on the phone, hopeful that I can avoid asking them to repeat themselves too many times, but I hung up after placing my order with Amir, not entirely sure what POK Brothers is going to deliver to me tomorrow. I sincerely hope I don't get another order of 72 cartons of UHT whipping cream. That happened in Fiji two years ago when I had ordered "3 250ml cartons of Anchor UHT whipping cream." One of the two boxes delivered to us at a remote island was decidedly heavier than I thought it ought to be. Inside I found not three little individual cartons of cream but three cases! Seventy-two cartons of whipping cream, all needing immediate refrigeration! I went around the anchorage like a local fisherman, peddling whipping cream to all the other yachts, filling our own fridge with all that I could squeeze in, then selling the remainder to the local resort at a loss. They don't buy little tiny containers like that, I was informed by the manager who offered me the price they wold pay their regular provider for liter containers of cream. No idea what surprise is in store for me tomorrow when the delivery arrives. If it's amusing, you'll hear about it.

I signed up for Medicare this morning, not that it's going to do me a bit of good in Malaysia. I've been 65 for three months now and I keep forgetting to sign up. I suppose there's a joke there.

Unless something very exciting and newsworthy occurs in the next ten days, this will be the last YIT posting before Christmas. Robbie and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Happy New Year! May 2017 bring you joy, laughter, good health and all the best experiences of life. Bev

Finally! After months spent in marinas and crowded anchorages we feel like we're cruising again! We've arrived at Langkawi Island near the Malaysia/Thailand border where the islands are high and scenic, covered with forests and sheer rock faces rising out of the sea to elevations that protect us from the chop and swell of the developing NE monsoons. Our first stop was here, together with 6 or 7 other yachts, but none of us was within a quarter mile of anybody else, as good as being alone.

We don't know what the fishermen are fishing for here, but they're out at night in droves shining brilliant green lights on the horizon. It looks like Christmas, but I don't imagine they've chosen green just for my amusement. It must attract their quarry and nearly everyone seems to be fishing for the same thing. Must ask about this in town once we get settled.

We're particularly delighted that Langkawi is so scenic because we'll probably be here for a while. The farewell dinner for the Sail Malaysia Rally group will be held at Rebak Marina on December 8th and we've booked a berth at Royal Langkawi Yacht Club for several months beginning on the 10th. We'll cruise this charming area for the next while, receive dozens of parts and supplies from the United States, already on their way, install new batteries, and sort a few repairs while in Langkawi. And we'll fly to other parts of SE Asia to visit places we dare not miss while in this neck of the woods. We'll study over the seasons, and the sailing routes to Europe and make a plan for moving on late next year. Except for periodic cruising between here and Phuket, Thailand, Mersoleil will probably stay put at RLYC for the next twelve months. How thrilled we are to be amongst such gorgeous surroundings! Bev

Home to about 1.2 million people, Penang is an island state just off the west coast of Malaysia, it’s skyline dominated by highrise condominium buildings, all constructed in the last thirty years. Georgetown, charming, historic, filled with British colonial architecture, forms the city core, flanked north and south by those highrises and the ubiquitous stylish retail shopping malls that dominate the CBD of many large SE Asian cities. Penang is Malaysia’s second largest city after KL and you’ll find it on every list of “best places to retire” either because of its affordability or its interesting multi-cultural lifestyle.

Despite our inability to tolerate this hot humid equatorial climate, we felt we had to have a look around. The FRP, you know. How can we rule out Penang, near the top of the ex-pat retiree preference list, without giving it a look? Newly wealthy Chinese buyers have swept into Penang, as they have dozens of other attractive Asean cities, purchased property and driven up prices. Still, a lovely condo with ocean and city view is quite affordable from our point of view. We asked the real estate agent about landed property outside the city (must have my garden) and were referred to a 4400 sq. ft. stucco tract home, 5 bedrooms, 2 storeys, in a developer-special neighborhood one hour outside the city. No view, no charm, no thank you. Might as well buy in Ahwatukee.

One evening we attended a movie about urban planning, followed by a group discussion, at the Penang Institute, a local government sponsored think tank dedicated to keeping Penang at the top rung of the cultural and livability ladders. Of the 50 people in attendance, we being the only tourists, most were young and committed to protecting Penang’s traditional charm, but powerless to do so and unclear how to act. They expressed their views nonetheless, all fearful that Penang is on the road to becoming another Singapore, certainly a valid observation. There are worse fates for a thriving city, we think, but they do have a point.

Change is occurring here at a fast past. South of town around the airport exists a high tech corridor filled with groomed campuses and new lowrise office and manufacturing buildings whose signs read like a list of the technology stocks. There is lots of money here, great talent, and still a low cost of living.

We spent the week at anchor outside Straits Quay Marina, a handsome complex with hotel, restaurant and a retail mall where one can buy gold-stamped wine glasses at high prices or choose one of a dozen spas for one’s next pedicure. Plenty of retail spaces are available for rent and shoppers seem to appear on weekends only.

We liked Penang very much, even though it holds no long term appeal for us. The Rich Wives Market, a traditional open air meat, fish and produce market, so named because prices are a little higher than at the dirty smelly old wet markets and in the old days only the well-to-do shopped there, is the most wonderful wet market we’ve seen anywhere. I found some gorgeous thick-cut pork chops for US$3.00 apiece, quite a prize in a Halal country. I would be delighted to be able to do all my grocery shopping there.

Still, the charming little farmhouse we have in mind for ourselves does not seem to exist in Penang, and, as mentioned before, it’s hotter than heck, so the Final Resting Place will not be here. We’ll keep looking. Bev

I’m feeling a little better, but was no help on the water today and left Robbie to negotiate the hundreds of fishing boats nearly alone this morning before dawn. Each time we experience one of these fishing vessel crises it’s different! Today’s twist was that at 6AM, still in inky darkness, there were more boats going OUT to the fishing grounds than there were fishing or coming back to port. Passing through busy traffic in the dark, traffic that fails to appear on AIS, that sometimes shows the tiniest blip on radar or even none at all, traffic moving both left and right across Mersoleil’s bow, is memorable and exciting to say the least. Our little green laser rescue light enjoyed an extensive workout this morning, notifying approaching fishermen our presence, tapping them on the shoulder in case they weren’t expecting a sailboat to be crossing their path back to the barn, generating an occasional green flash in reply from a well-kitted fisherman who has his own green laser flare, using it for the same purpose we do.

Anchorage here is a very temporary stop for Mersoleil and Doggie1 won’t even come down into the water. We’ll remain on board, catch up on Internet activity, having had poor connectivity at Pangkor, I’ll get a bit more rest, and we’ll be ready to resume planned activities on Monday when we reach Straits Quay. Bev

What happened to the update from Pangkor, where we were treated royally by James Khoo and his Pangkor Island Marina operations? I fell ill after only the first day of tours and festivities, spent the entire remainder of our visit in bed, except for a quick trip to the local klinik, was dismayed there to learn it was not dengue fever, only the flu. At least, if it had been dengue fever, I’d be enjoying the lasting souvenir of immunity. As it is, I am recovering gradually and have completed the whole of Vanity Fair by Thackery, another classic I’d not read before. Bev

We've stopped for a few days at Port Dickson and have remained at anchor outside the marina to enjoy the privacy and a better breeze. Took a bus tour into Kuala Lampur yesterday, the capital of Malaysia. I wonder if I will ever grasp the reality that the world is such a big place... KL, with a metropolitan population of around 7 million people, is a stunning Asian city, justifiably proud of its glass and stainless steel Petronas Twin Towers, designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli. The complex held the distinction of highest building in the world from 1998 till 2004 and is still the highest twin tower structure in the world. The thing that wonders me is how this could all be going on completely escaping my awareness until yesterday.... and how much more is out there of which I am totally unaware. It's certainly humbling to get yet another brilliant glimpse of the obvious, how much there is to know in this world, and how very little of it I know! We enjoyed a brief visit to the National Mosque, too, where English copies of the Quoran were distributed to foreign visitors and I thought it interesting that Malaysia has a national mosque at all. Then I remembered the beautiful national cathedral in Washington D.C. and realized yet again how provincial is my point of view. Tomorrow we'll shove off for points north and we'll day hop up to Pangkor Island about 140nm away. No, we were not in Africa again for a couple of days. YIT is interested to know whether Mersoleil is at 102 degrees east or 102 degrees west. Since I failed to share that bit of pertinent information in my last position report, I guess it just dropped us at the proper latitude right on the Greenwich meridian, right Mike? It's hot and humid with exciting T-storms once or twice each day. Phenomenal lightning!! Bev

Singapore is in the rearview mirror now and stopping there for two weeks was a marvelous choice! It's a not-to-be-missed destination and we marvel at the gutsy architecture, the kindness of the people, the cleanliness of every square inch of their country, and the rampant consumerism that exceeds even that of the United States. How a country of only 5.6 million people - even adding in the tourists - can support so many multi-storey high end retail malls, each only six blocks from the next, is incomprehensible to us.


We're motoring up the Malacca Strait this afternoon on our way to Port Dickson Malaysia and are accompanied by twenty or thirty tugs, barges, cargo ships, tankers and cruise ships, with an occasional small fishing boat thrown in for good measure, all in sight of Mersoleil. Busy traffic, not as busy as the Singapore Strait, but there's lots of standing right at the helm going on during watch today. We rarely use radar during daylight except to watch the weather, but it's on now just to catch the vessels that don't send an AIS image. A few vessels appear on neither radar nor AIS, and they alone are enough to make interesting the task of figuring out who's anchored, who's coming straight at us or crossing our bow, and who's traveling in the same direction as Mersoleil.


I've begun researching the currents, weather and geography that will take us around the Cape of Good Hope and up through the Atlantic Ocean. So far, I've learned, I think, that the time to jump off for this journey seems to be December, so it looks like we'll have twelve months to enjoy more of SE Asia. Malaysia is a great base for land travel and we may leave Mersoleil in Langkawi while we fly to other Asian destinations. They'll never be closer than they are now! Lisa and Fabio, you'll be very happy with Keppel Marina. New, attractive, well located, staff is very helpful. Diesel was S$0.79/L, the lowest price we've paid anywhere, equivalent to US$ 2.12/Gal.


Don't miss Singapore! Two weeks at Raffles Marina costs no more than two nights in a hotel in the Singapore CBD. And that was worth every penny! Bev.

We are loving Singapore. Arrived at Raffles Marina on 25th October and have been on the run nonstop. You know, we could sit on the boat and do emails and the other stuff of daily life.... but if we were going to do only that we could have more wisely chosen the less expensive Malaysian marinas on the other side of the channel! So we've run ourselves ragged, and gotten a lot of necessary boat things done, but disappeared from the cyber radar while we did it. Something had to give way!

Bought two new computers, identical ones this time, so we can have critical navigation software on two identical platforms. Robbie's laptop was old and the sound quit working long ago. Mine was not so old and I forget actually what was wrong with it, but something wasn't right..... And I bought a new camera. Our old teeny one from 2012 was also on its last legs, it had quit zooming, and had begun to think its little batteries were not charged. It may have been right about the batteries - they were old, too. Robbie bought a camera at Costco last December, but it's too big and we frequently don't carry it, then find ourselves wanting a photo of something. So I found a very small Sony Cybershot DSC-HX90V, and will eventually - soon - make effort to learn to use it!

I've been feeling guilty about not even getting a YIT post saying that we've arrived in Singapore. But.... geesh.

Had Doggie1, the dinghy, repaired. He had, it turns out, six holes and needed all 4 valves replaced in the hypalon tubes.

Our wind instrument has been on the blink so we went up and down the mast at least half a dozen times testing and trying to fix it. Finally bought a new instrument, found it didn't work either, so we pulled the cable out of the mast and replaced it, one of the more onerous tasks on a boat. That didn't do the trick so RC spent an entire day while I went shopping with Cheri Slotta replacing the cable from the bottom of the mast to the display head at the companionway, an even bigger task than replacing the mast cable. That involved emptying every single hatch, bin and locker along the route of the cable, just to find and pull out the old cable and the boat was quite a disaster for a day and a half till we got it all reorganized. But the result was an unqualified success and now we know the wind speed and direction, information that we've been denied for the past few months! It's good data to have on a yacht.

We've also had guests for two and a half days, visited the Asian Civilizations Museum, gone to the Singapore River Festival, taken a day long private driving tour of Singapore and I've seen a glaucoma specialist who found my condition stable, very good news. I found a post office, too, so my sister's October 2nd birthday gift will arrive before Christmas! And we went with a group of 14 to the grand old Fullerton Hotel (originally the Singapore post office) for drinks and watched sunset the other night from the Skypark at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. (Be sure to see an image of the hotel exterior!):

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...then walked to the Gardens by the Bay to watch the lightshow on the supertrees. Of course, I wanted to get into the two conservatories there, but I was the only gardener in the group and it didn't happen.

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We've dedicated a substantial number of hours in the past week to the task of ordering things from the United States to be shipped to us in Malaysia before December; Crocs and floating rope, a new microwave, spare parts, hose clamps, shirts, a rainjacket, LED lamps for our light fixtures, even new undergarments, a crazy assortment of things we can't buy in SE Asia. They're piling up now, filling our "mailbox" at MyUS.com in Sarasota and will be air freighted to Langkawi when we press the button.

The train system in Singapore is great, simply tap on and tap off with a prepaid card that buys travel on both trains and buses (exactly like the systems in Sydney and other big cities) and, despite Singapore's rep for having the highest cost of living in the world, we can travel from Raffles Marina at the farthest west point of the island to the CBD for about US$2.00. Trains run never more than five minutes apart so there's no schedule to study. We've been all over the place, using the MRT nearly every day. Taxis are very inexpensive, too, and a free shuttle bus runs from Raffles to the nearest MRT station. It 's remarkably easy to get around Singapore.

I've had no time to port all my files to the new computer. Are you surprised? There's an awful lot going on! And we're leaving the day after tomorrow!

Love Singapore. We could happily spend a month or two here as visitors, but would not care to live here. Too many people, all living in highrises. Where would I garden???

Next, up the west coast of Malaysia to Langkawi and then Thailand. We've put a tremendous number of miles on Mersoleil this year, from Sydney on New Years Eve, to Hobart, to the Great Barrier Reef and Darwin, then through much of Indonesia. Probably more than 6,000nm! It will be nice to relax in Langkawi for a while. Posted by Bev.

One could run across a busy freeway. Or simply enter Singapore from the south as we did this morning. It would be much the same experience.


With Manjit Singh preparing the paperwork and emailing it to us in advance, this was the easiest entry procedure we've ever experienced! No traipsing dusty roads from one district office to another then waiting three days for rubber stamps on a cruising permit. Mersoleil simply entered the Singapore Quarantine Anchorage, called Immigration on VHF 74, "wait a few minutes, please, you are vessel number two," then moments later they invited us to motor to a specific waypoint. As we approached, a law enforcement boat pulled up alongside, one of the officers reached out a landing net at the end of a 2 meter pole, and I deposited our passports and paperwork in the net. The immigration boat dropped back momentarily, then returned with our approved documents and passed them back to Mersoleil in the outstretched landing net. Welcome to Singapore! Raffles Marina doesn't have a berth for us until tomorrow so we've anchored at the location shown on the image above and will enjoy a spectacular city lights view tonight. Atlantis is anchored a hundred meters away and Robbie and Stedem have just taken Doggie1, our faithful dinghy, ashore where they hope to score some Singaporean dollars, telephone SIM cards and cellular Internet access.


There's a long list of boat tasks awaiting our attention in Singapore. In addition, I have a doctor's appointment on the 2nd and the exciting Singapore River Festival (see srf.sg) is scheduled for the 4th and 5th November. Gee, I hope two weeks will give us enough time to sample the delights of this fantastic country! How very exciting. We've never visited Singapore before. My dad once told me this was my parents' favorite country. We can't wait to find out why! Posted by Bev.

It's a treat to be at Nongsa Point Marina. Several of our friends (but only a fraction of the rally group, a manageable number!) are here with us and we are enjoying shore power, delicious cuisine at the resort/marina restaurant, showers with unlimited water and quiet evenings as we prepare to say goodbye to Indonesia. The marina will handle our exit procedures for a modest fee and all we need to do is hand them passports, crew list and the document received when we cleared into Indonesia at Kupang, gee was it three months ago? We've only stayed four nights at Nongsa Point, Batam, but Singapore, currently shrouded in mists to the north, is so close and so enticing! And, of course, we passed up the opportunity to extend for another 30 days in Indonesia, so must make ourselves scarce by the 25th October. That's OK. As the stay here dwindles from days to hours to minutes, our sights set upon Singapore, and Malaysia and even Thailand... and the itch to move on becomes irresistible. New countries, new weather patterns, even new seasons! The excitement continues. We are healthy, happy, deeply grateful... thank you Indonesia. And ready for new adventures! Posted by Bev.

After passing up an opportunity to stop overnight at the mouth of the Kumai River, Mersoleil turned right and sailed straight for Belitung, Teleg Kelayang, where amazing granite boulders decorate the anchorage and the beaches. Hard to picture a glacier grinding through here, but... I guess times have changed.

Our intent was to extend our Indonesian visas once more, a process that takes a few days, but after a three or four day visit we made the quick decision to skip the visa extension and make straight for Singapore, making our stop there two weeks instead of one.

Highlights of Belitung were the people. People on every Indonesian island clearly demonstrate their various cultures, tribes and ethnic personalities, but they all seem to have in common that gentle, loving, welcoming manner that we will always remember from Indonesia. Harun, whose name and phone number I found in a cruising guide, has moved to the city, opened a hardware store and passed off his yacht support activities to Ervan. Nonetheless, Harun drove out to the cape to meet me and spent half a day escorting Cheri Slotta and me to town for the usual need A mechanical engineer who obtained his education in Germany, Harun is a fascinating conversationalist, and we decided it would be fun to get together for dinner with his entire family before we sailed away. Harun met us at a beachfront Indonesian restaurant at seven one evening. He had made the reservation and ordered the meal beforehand and we spent a pleasant evening chatting with him, his wife Jenni and their three beautiful daughters.

Aside from the lively and interesting conversation, I came away with two impressions from our evening together. First, and our recent visit to Tanjung Puting National Park confirmed this, Harun told us, no, he and his family have not traveled much to other Indonesian islands. Most Indonesians never see their native orangutans! We encouraged them to go there and give the girls the memorable experience of watching oragutans swinging above them from branch to branch.

I was also deeply impressed by the fact that two of Harun's three girls wear eyeglasses. This doesn't sound like a big thing to a westerner, I know, but optical care is completely unavailable throughout much of the third world and prohibitively expensive where it's available at all. At first I thought that the peoples of the South Pacific Islands were blessed with excellent eyesight, weren't they lucky. Gradually I came to realize that, no, many of them can't see. They just go without eye care, the same as they go without dental care and other personal luxuries that I have taken for granted all my life. It's the rare and privileged parent, in Indonesia or elsewhere in the southern hemisphere archipelagos, who is able and makes the effort to protect his children's eyesight. Harun and Jenni want their girls to excel in a challenging and changing world - and these girls are wearing glasses.

We enjoyed meeting Abdul, too, a Brit formerly known as Rodney who has settled in Belitung, adopted the Muslim faith, and enjoys the company of yachties who appear at Ervan's restaurant near the Tg. Kelayang jetty. Abdul generously offered us a lift into town anytime we needed one and we arranged a reprovisioning run just before our departure. That little trip was far more interesting than anticipated for Stedem and me when we arrived at shore as planned and learned that Abdul's engine had blown up the night before. Thus he accompanied us on the ride to town in Ervan's car, waited with us at Terry's house (another Brit living in Indonesia for the past twenty years, a retired Boeing engineer) while we watched Russian satellite news TV, "they won't tell you these things in America!", and eventually were delivered to the traditional market.

While at the market, an emergency call from Terry's wife put a hurried end to our fruit and veg browsing and after a few minutes of speed-provisioning we rushed back to Terry's house where a 60-minute search failed to produce the required documents regarding their 21-year-old heart-throb son who continues to star in an Indonesian TV show thanks to the privileges of some work release program. Nor could the lawyer produce them as he was rushing himself to the hospital for painkillers, his back, I believe, and Terry drove us back to Kelayang at a speed that made the trip remarkably exciting.

Really, it's absolutely amazing how quickly one can meld into the daily life of the people one meets! Will I remember these things for the rest of my life? Yeah, probably. How can you forget watching the news from Russia telling you what your own government is (possibly) doing behind your back!? Posted by Bev.

This posting was delayed by a computer crash, another passage, watermaker failure and repair, and lack of Internet access..... Sorry for the wait.

Well! The River tour up the Kumai and Sekonyer Rivers to see orangutans was definitely a lifer! At least two in our traveling group, Mark and Robbie, declared it possibly the best cruising experience yet.

Nature and wildlife viewing aside, just weaving lazily up and down these tiny little rivers, banks so close in places that the pandanus leaves scraped the sides of our 4m wide boat, was so peaceful and relaxing that our little group of six was merry and mellow. There are dozens of these small narrow vessels, klotoks, Indonesian riverboats, available to carry tourists from the town of Kumai into Tanjung Puting National Park, one passenger or two (lots of honeymooners, it seemed) at a time or a group as large as fifteen, and the boats crowd cozily together at various points of interest, rafting up three or four deep, jockeying in the narrow streams to turn around or to move off a dock so the next boat can come alongside and its curious visitors can step off and disappear into the rainforest in search of memorable sights, sounds and experiences.

We were a group of six, all in agreement this is the perfect number for an intimate short trip with friends, and spent most of our time on the covered upper deck of our handbuilt ironwood klotok, named "72," Sekumpul in bahasa Indonesia. There's a table for six, plenty of room for two mattresses constantly ready to indulge the urge for a kip (Aussie vocabulary for what we used to call a nap, now we're partial to having a short kip ourselves), our bags and duffles lying in an occasionally orderly row somewhere out of the way and low rails that make one move about carefully in the dark but are exactly the right height for resting outstretched legs while gazing at the passing scenery and scouring treetops for swinging primates. At the forward end of the klotok, an open deck overlooks the bow and is furnished with two chaise lounges and a coffee table. We made good use of these when the sun wasn't too hot, squeezing two or even three of us onto each chaise and cluttering the tabletop with beverages, binoculars, hats and the Birds of Borneo book, thoughtfully provided by our lovely and knowledgeable guide, Rini.

Further aft, the poop deck was elevated several steps and open to the sky and stars. Delicious Indonesian dinners magically appeared up there each evening and we remained around the dinner table enjoying the sounds of the rainforest going to sleep until our own sleepiness drove us below. While we dined up above, the crew transformed the main deck into multiple double bedrooms, each fully enclosed with mosquito netting. A little effort to avert one's gaze provided everyone with sufficient privacy and, mercifully, no one snored at night (unless it was me and nobody told me so).

It was such a pleasure to cruise with Rini that I found it difficult to remember she was our paid tour guide and not just another fun and adventurous sailor. She's young and pretty, always smiling, quick and witty, fun loving and delightful company. We might have forgotten entirely that Rini was a professional guide were it not for her extensive knowledge about the Park, the animals, the ecological challenges facing Borneo, and her ability to translate and communicate our every desire to the chef and crew. Being with Rini for three days was a great privilege and we will long remember her as a special friend.

Daus captained the klotok with calm, good humour and expertise that belied his age, proudly installing the trophy we awarded him on the bow of 72, removing it each time we came into close bumper-car quarters with other vessels. The prize, acquired by the "Longest Couple on a Yach" at a previous rally stop, had already become a travelling trophy, and has now come to rest, the new figurehead at the bow of 72.

Daus' wife, Waritas, created fantastic Indonesian meals. She makes the best fried whole fish I've ever tasted, and served us so generously that we begged her after day one to reduce quantities by 30%. We didn't want to waste a single morsel and simply couldn't eat enough to complete the task! Everything was marvelous, the fresh veggies were crisp and spicy, mie goreng platter was heaped with savory noodles cooked in a rich broth and seasoned with finely chopped herbs, spices and vegetables, boiled eggs swam in a rich red sauce, a chicken soup steamed with noodles and minced chicken meatballs, a platter of deep green 'water spinach' tasted very much like the spinach I remember from America, tender chicken hind quarters were served stewed in a rich brown gravy, and wedges of pink or yellow, light green or deep red fresh fruit rounded out every meal. These luscious mealtime offerings and snacks served twice or thrice daily along with cold Bintangs and iced tea protected everyone from the slightest notion of hunger. Pampered. We were definitely pampered, and everyone responded well to it.

Now, about the animals! The animals were the big event for sure! Making our way slowly up the river we passed huge clumps of pandanus hanging over the river's edge leaf tips dipping into the brackish water. At first there were no trees, but as we motored deeper into the rainforest our klotok climbed imperceptibly to higher elevation and gradually fresh water replaced the salty seawater. Broadleaf trees appeared, tall and lanky with small leaves and loose leafy tops where monkeys were readily visible. First, we'd notice a quivering treetop or branch, sometimes the slender branch would bend slowly to one side or the other and a greyish brown proboscis monkey with his huge nose and funny face would leap to a different tree, leaving his branch to spring back upright with a rush and a noisy rustle. More examination, "Oh! Look over there!" would reveal half a dozen monkeys together in their afternoon perch, snoozing, looking at us with curiosity, swinging from limb to limb or bickering about whose branch was whose. We saw macaques, too, quite commonly seen on Borneo although I am not yet prepared to call the sighting of any monkey a commonplace occurrence.

Three times we stopped near research stations where the real work goes on at the orangutan sanctuary and hiked a short distance, only a kilometer or two, to a nearby feeding station. Orangutans are extremely endangered, their existence is threatened by habitat destruction (gold mining, the palm oil industry, and other human activities encroach on their natural home) and scientists from around the world come here to Borneo to study the great apes and to support their population with mild intervention. Once each day at several different feeding stations throughout the Park, food is provided, bananas, sugar cane, milk, and the rangers loud hooting calls advise the orangutans, "it's feeding time, come right this way." The orangutans are not fed enough to live upon and they must forage in the natural way for the remainder of their food, mostly fruit and young leaves.

Ropes erected around the feeding stations keep observers a safe distance from the animals, about 15 meters, and wooden platforms elevated a meter or two above the earth protect both the food and the orangutans from ever present, always hungry, wild boars who prowl around beneath the platforms hoping for falling bananas or a baby monkey. Signs in English and Bahasa Indonesia remind observers to practice "silence please" and "respect the orangutan."

Rangers climbed up to the platform and dumped huge sacks of bananas onto the wooden planks. Then they walked away hooting and making loud calls announcing 'dinner is served.' We watched, waiting expectantly, looking through the rainforest treetops for the signs of brachiating locomotion, the shaking of leaves, snapping of twigs, breaking of branches.

And then they came. Females, one at a time, with babies clinging to their hair, would look carefully to make sure the platform was safe, hesitate, then drop down onto the wooden floor, continuing to grip the last branch for several moments, ready to beat a hasty retreat if a superior animal should be there unnoticed or if some other danger was present. Then, eventually, both feet would come down, the branch was released and both hands became involved in grabbing bananas. One strip of banana peel was carefully pulled off by hand, just the way I do it, then (unlike me) she would bite the banana lengthwise in the middle and using only her teeth, lips and tongue slip the rest of the fruit into her mouth allowing only the peel to fall to the ground. Neat trick. I don't think I can do it. Borneo bananas are smaller than we're accustomed to in American markets, only about one third the size, but they are sweet and tasty and orangutans have perfected a quick and effective peeling technique that leaves both hands free to grab more bananas lest a bigger ape should appear and drive one away before his or her appetite is satisfied. While mom grabs and eats as rapidly as she can, babies grab mom's hair in a tighter grasp with one hand, stretch out the other and take whatever bananas they can reach, too, and even the little ones already know which part tastes best and how to get it out of that bitter husk.

Usually only one animal, perhaps with a juvenile attached, occupies the feeding platform. Others watch from nearby trees, some close, some high up or further off. But when the alpha male arrives lumbering onto the scene, serious hierarchical rules spring immediately into effect! Unless the orangutan already on the platform is his latest favourite squeeze, the orangutan currently eating scrambles up the nearest tree and keeps a respectful distance, perhaps hoping to return and finish lunch later if anything is left.

The King, as Rini refers to him, came crashing onto the first feeding platform we visited. It was obvious from his size, easily twice as large as the females, his deep and loud vocalizations, the enormous fully developed cheekpads and his generally self-important demeanor that he's firmly in charge and he'll have what he wants when he wants it thank you very much. Accordingly, he grabbed the nearby lady, one presumably attractive to him and without a baby in tow, pushed her onto her back and proceeded to have his way with her face to face and with a fair amount of satisfied grunting. Everyone gathered around the crowd control line was quite astonished. These animals are so human in their behaviours and facial expressions... it was a bit hard to believe he had such a weak sense of decorum. Of course, that's human thinking, human convention, my value judgment. I saw no indication that the female had volunteered for this duty, but she did not resist, submitted quite readily, in fact, and we were further astonished when after relieving his tension, the male looked tenderly into her eyes and stroked her hair gently and affectionately. It was really amazing to see such human like behaviour and such animal behaviour in the same individual at the same time.

On day two of our tour, at another feeding station, the king dropped in, stuffed his mouth with bananas, then lept to the ground, grabbed another female by the ankle and dragged her off into the bushes. The snapping of twigs was followed by grunting of the type mentioned above, then he climbed back up to the feeding platform and continued his meal. Definitely a guy with varying tastes and moods.

Another highlight of our observation at the feeding stations was the visit of a mischievous gibbon who knew he shouldn't be there. He made a quick and sudden dive to grab a handful of bananas and then scampered back up to safety, pleased with his catch, and departed with his prize swinging happily through the trees hand over hand in great looping arcs with a bunch of bananas hanging from his mouth.

I could go on and on. I already have. It was great fun, wonderful company, nature is amazing, and tomorrow we'll move on to a new place, grateful for these wonderful memorable experiences.

Look here for orangutan photos, but also further below for other new pics, finally posted. Bev

Motoring up the Kumai River through Tanjung Puting National Park we just couldn't help feeling like we were part of a National Geographic filming session. I swear I could hear David Attenborough off in the corner speaking in hushed tones, "... and if you watch carefully, there, just there, through the bush, you might catch a glimpse of the mother brachiating through the trees, swinging from tree limb to tree limb using only her arms, with a young offspring clinging to her stomach. The infant will travel with its mother this way until its five years old..." There's something unique about motoring into the rain forest up a muddy river through the swamps, knowing that orangutans, bearded pigs, snakes, two kinds of crocodiles, proboscis monkeys and other equatorial exotics are peering at you from the river's edge! This is definitely nothing like a bluewater passage and we're very excited about our stay here.

Seven of us will begin a 3 day tour on Monday in a klotok, a local wooden boat, to see the wildlife, visit the orangutan sanctuary, trek through the jungle both by day and at night to see what's there and to learn about life in the Park. I'm already planning long pants with the cuffs stuffed into my socks, a hat (I never wear hats), a long sleeved shirt and serious doses of Bushman 80% DEET, that to save me from being eaten alive by the mosquitoes, the rest to save what little blood remains from going to the leeches.

Although I grew up on the Mississippi River and spent summertime on the water with my friends, anchoring in those days was never my responsibility and I now see that I under estimated the skill required. The village of Kumai where some 20 Rally yachts have gathered, is home to a large and active port, large by Borneo jungle standards anyway, and there are tugs hauling barges up and down and anchoring them in the channel. Barges swing in the currents and tides to their own beat, not as the nearby yacht swings. In fact, yachts in the current of the channel don't behave the same as other yachts less impacted by the river's flow, and there have been some exciting moments for several of our group. We moved this morning, ourselves, having spent two anxious nights watching the 100m Barawit, behind Mersoleil, swing too close for comfort. Now we're off by ourselves, well downstream of the rest of the group, still with barges nearby, but not dangerously so, and we'll feel able to leave Mersoleil for a few nights with a hired hand on board to sleep in the cockpit shooing away anyone who comes too close.

Borneo. Here we are in Borneo! Never ever thought I'd hear me say that! Wow. Bev

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gret! We love you! You are the best sister in the world!

Yesterday we departed Karimunjawa after a wonderful, but brief, visit. More on that below. We sneaked off, only 15nm, to the NW to anchor off tiny uninhabited Pulau Kumbang and enjoy an evening of splendid isolation. We thought we might stay another night at Kumbang, but 92F with 65% humidity and deathly still air yesterday discouraged that plan and we departed around noon today just to feel the breeze from the apparent wind as we motor to Borneo! Karimunjawa offers less in terms of scenic beauty than many of the places we've visited, and the official Sail Indonesia Rally events consumed only a single day. But what a day it was! Very early in the morning all the local boats, meaning some twenty or thirty of them, had motored away from the island out of sight. This isn't unusual, as they often go out fishing just before dawn, but this time each boat was overflowing with people. The town must have been nearly deserted! Suddenly an hour or two later, one of our yachties called on the VHF radio, "Here they come, everybody! Racing through the anchorage! Come up and greet Karimunjawa!" We hurried up on deck, as did everyone in the anchorage, and watched and jumped up and down, waving and cheering as they raced through the anchorage to the town wharf. like kids running an obstacle course, yelling greetings and all waving their arms in the air to welcome the us to Karimunjawa. We responded in kind, tooting our horns and waving and greeting them in return as they sped past! Local boat owners had spent days painting and decorating their boats with flags and banners and, crowded with happy shouting villagers, they created quite a spectacle! It was very exciting! They tied up at the end of the wharf, rafting up the way they do in Indonesia, as many as six boats deep, in long colorful rows, hulls bright red, blue, green, white, purple, pink in the morning sunshine with red and white Indonesian flags flapping proudly in the breeze and vertical multi-coloured festival banners swaying with the movement of the boats. (Photo coming when we get Internet access.) Robbie and I had agreed to attend a focus meeting (some things are the same in every country) organized by the Central Java Tourism Department and we appeared as promised at the wharf at 11:30 together with three other couples. Yodi and Arul, smiling and handsome, picked us up in an SUV and delivered us to the Karimunjawa Inn where a traditional Javanese orchestra and dancers were waiting for us. After a wonderful presentation of Javanese music and dance (yes, photo, as soon as we can) we stepped inside for a delicious buffet luncheon of fish, fried squid, white rice and nasi goreng, chicken, green vegetables (the spiciest dish of all!), people crackers and that pink coconut drink that accompanies all festive occasions here. It's made with very young coconut, so young it's usually gelatinous, coconut water, coconut milk, sugar, ice and don't ask me what makes it pink but it's a colour that does not appear in nature and I usually make it a practice not to eat things in colours that do not occur in nature. This pink drink is impossibly refreshing despite its colour and I enjoy it every time it's offered! After luncheon was finished, the meeting was called to order, the dignitaries were introduced and for about fifteen minutes not a single word was spoken in English and I suspected that we had been duped into attending a political photo opp, a group of white people apparently incomprehensively hanging on every word uttered by the officials sitting before us on late 19th century Dutch sofas and gentleman's chairs. But I was mistaken. After lengthy opening remarks, we received a synopsis in translation, and then we were asked to fill out a form, "Is this your first visit to Indonesia?" "How do you find the beach?" "What infrastructure could be added that would make your visit more pleasant?" "How likely are you to visit Karimunjawa again?" What beach? I didn't see a beach.

Then, the nice people from the Central Java Tourism Department took notes, furiously copying down our comments, as each one of us thanked them for their warm hospitality and made a few suggestions as to how Indonesia might attract more yachting tourists.

Karel Dimitri had the very best suggestion for infrastructure improvements. She said that we really need a dinghy dock in order to make it easy to get ashore from our yachts, and every yachtie present 'hear-heared' Karel's recommendation. Our greatest horror stories are not about trouble with Mersoleil, but about getting the dinghy to and from shore, or about getting in or out of it in difficult conditions! I still have a big bump on my left shin where I went down on one knee on the expanded metal dock at Gili Air three weeks ago. And I laugh till tears come to my eyes every time I recall how one night in Fiji another woman made a diving leap into her dinghy and then disappeared altogether as it bobbed up and down in the surf. Ben, the Fijian bartender, and I had tried to help them hold the dinghy still in the waves so she could make that leap, we looked at one another in disbelief wondering where she had gone! We'd seen her take flight over the inflated port tube and both felt sure she did not have enough momentum to carry her right over the dinghy and past it to the sea on the other side. We looked at one another, then at the dinghy, then at one another again in horror. What happened to Barbara?! The next time we looked back at the dinghy, Ben and I dissolved into peals of laughter, weak in the knees and leaning on one another in an effort to remain standing. Barbara's legs, pointing upwards from the knee to the foot, were performing a rapid scissors kick above the center of the dinghy as she lay on her back in the middle, wedged between the two seats and unable to get up. Gosh, I hope Barbara never reads this. It may have been the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life! For Ben and me. Barbara probably was not amused.

Sometimes we have to beach the dinghy, pulling it up onto the sand and tying the painter to a nearby tree. This is never a good solution for us - our dink is too heavy to lift and, with its outboard on the transom, moving it around on the beach is out of the question. Once while we enjoyed a long evening at a beachside pizza bar, the tide turned, waves slapped the stern of our dinghy and filled it with sand, building our own personal little beach right inside. It took an hour to get the dink cleared out and off the beach, back into water deep enough to put the propeller down.

And more than once we've tied our dinghy to a fixed pier, climbed up onto the wooden deck and returned two or three hours later to find that nothing short of a death defying leap or a graceful swan dive was going to enable us to board again before the next high tide. (I've made the death defying leap so many times it doesn't alarm me anymore. Have yet to try the swan dive, but that always seems high risk at low tide.) Anyway, Karel is absolutely right. Cruisers love to visit places where it's safe and easy to go ashore and a floating pontoon with cleats for tying dinghies is the answer to that need.

All eight of our group made good suggestions, I thought, and it was gratifying to see the officials scribbling down notes as we spoke. This did, however, make me wonder why we were translated after our comments. Maybe it was more culturally acceptable for us to speak through an intermediary.

My suggestion was that, after the dinghy dock and a spacious anchorage with proper depth, expensive infrastructure was not necessary at all, that it's the people of the local community who make our visits to new places special, enjoyable, memorable. Our fondest memories are of the people who have invited us into their homes, taken us fishing, shown us how they weave a basket, shared a meal with us or laughed late at night at the beach while launching dinghies in the dark. I told the tourism people that if they would just assign a family to each yacht and have that family help us top up our phones (something we NEVER get right without help) or show us around the local produce market, that we would never ever forget our visit to their village.

At the completion of the 'what do the yachties want' session, the same SUV whisked us back to town again in air conditioned comfort. We arrived for the end of the 'dress up in traditional Javanese clothing' fashion show and, to be truthful, did not understand exactly what was going on. But after I was dolled up in a sari with pleated front and contrasting jacket tied around the middle with a long sash, and Robbie in black pajamas and a headscarf tied like a skullcap, we proceeded across the stage and down the steps to take our seats amoung the group. I stopped at the top of the steps suddenly when hooting and hilarious laughter erupted amoung the crowd, yachties and locals alike, and turned to see Robbie hastily pulling his pajama bottoms back up over the cargo shorts underneath (thank God). The nice ladies who tied and pinned and buttoned him into his Javanese costume must have overestimated the girth of his skinny little butt, to the amusement of all.

We returned to Mersoleil for a little midday nap, then picked up Stedem from his yacht and returned to the wharf for the Sunset Jazz performance. Karimunjawa had spent two days setting up a stage, professional lighting and an impressive sound system at the outer end of the wharf. We toured past the local boats still rafted together in a riot of color, streamers and banners fluttering over the stage and the crowd, then rather than going ashore, we drifted in the shallows fifty meters away along with Fabio and Lisa (clever enough to bring their dinghy anchor!) and enjoyed the concert from there. This was serious jazz, too, top quality music like that you'd expect at an international jazz festival, and we bobbed happily in the water as the sun went down, sipping scotch and enjoying the sound.

Ashore after the jazz, we wandered the night market. Karimunjawa boasts only a couple of restaurants, but every evening as it grows dark pop up food vendors gather around the grassy football pitch in the center of the village. They spread tarps on the grass, place sturdy low tables on the tarps, and sell Indonesian delicacies from their carts for diners to carry to the tables and eat in the company of others. When the food runs out, someone just gets up and goes out for something more, marinated quails eggs on a skewer, or deep fried tofu stuffed with meat and spices, or vegetable fritters with a hot dipping sauce, or satay. Serious main dishes are available, too, at every stop. You choose your fish or squid and it will be barbequed to perfection over hot coals then delivered to your table.

We ran into our friends Arul and Yodi, again, the young men from Tourism, and Yodi used incomprehensible magic and his own Telkomsel account to top up our phone. We gave him the money and we are now able to make phone calls again and send SMS messages, something we'd been mysteriously unable to accomplish in forty five minutes at the Telkomsel shop on the previous day.

Before returning to Mersoleil late, in the dark, we made a plan for Yodi and Arul to come out to Mersoleil for coffee the next morning before they returned to Semarang by fast ferry. Robbie collected them from the wharf between raindrops the following morning (scrambling from a tiny sharp-edged concrete promontory, over a frayed wire of unknown voltage, down into the dinghy - see why we appreciate dinghy pontoons?) and we spent an hour or two together touring Mersoleil, comparing cultures, restringing Arul's jade pendant with whipping twine so it wouldn't choke him to death and agreeing that we should all remain friends by email even if we might never get face time together again. Both Yodi and Arul have subscribed to Mersoleil in YIT (they blush as they read this, I know) and will be following our travels here on this website, even as we travel away from them to other parts of the world.

How wonderful it is to know that we have loving friends in Indonesia. Yes, this is what we came here for!

21 September 2016

We passed a time zone, two days, two nights and about two hundred fishing boats between Kangean Island and Karimunjawa, where we arrived at 7:30 this morning. Actually, 6:30, as we discovered when we recognized the time change. Eventually, we'll explore the island, and enjoy some Sail Indonesia Rally activities scheduled to begin in a few days. Today, however, a nap will be the big event.

At one point during last night's 02:00-06:00 watch, I had 10 MARPA targets on my radar screen at once (and those were just the important ones, I didn't bother to acquire targets on the nonthreatening blips) showing boats (presumably) scurrying in all directions, some right at us, some away, some crossing our path. At the same time I had visual contact with more than 15 boats with bright lights shining on their catch and I knew they couldn't see me, not that they were looking. they were too busy fishing. Both of the last two nights were like this and we've never had such challenging nighttime sailing before. None of these vessels, we learned ages ago, responds to a radio call, so there's no point trying to hail them, one just has to assume all the responsibility for dodging them all. Imagine being the ball in a pin ball machine, trying to get through the maze without scoring any points or , God forbid, tilting the machine! Today's nap has been well-earned.

OK, I was mistaken about the early morning departure, but we did leave Bali yesterday at 4PM. It made more sense to clear the coast in late afternoon daylight, sail open deep water all night, and approach a new and unknown island by daylight today, which we did, arriving at Ketapang Bay, Kangean Island at nine this morning.

Last night's sail was true bliss! We had to go slowly in order to avoid approaching hard surfaces before daylight, so in flat seas with 8-10kts of easterly breeze we glided along all night at less than 6kts, sometimes as slowly as 3.5. It was quiet, the moon shimmered above and sprinkled the sea with welcome illumination, and Mersoleil stole silently through the water from island B to island K.

Yes, there were the ubiquitous obstacles, the fish traps, and those continued to appear out of the darkness until about 3AM keeping us constantly on our toes. It's especially challenging for me, my low vision requires me to learn and use all the nav technology resources available to us. Without radar, AIS, digital nautical charts, and a GPS image of Mersoleil superimposed directly on a Google Earth satellite photo of the area we are sailing, I would not be safe at the helm at night or in busy harbours. I still watch for the obvious visual cues as well, use my binoculars more than most people, and have to find the little fishing boats the hard way when they fail to appear on radar. Last night I learned that the bamboo fish traps, lashed together with coconut fronds and usually flying a ragged flag visible only by day, all seem to have some sort of radar reflector, a fact for which I am exceedingly grateful. We must have passed fifty fish traps last night, after dark and up to 18 miles offshore, some in more than 3,000 feet of water! And didn't hit a single one!

After careful consideration we headed east, out of our way, to avoid the military practice areas, "firing danger,' it says on the charts, and the minefields and ordinance dumping areas. Then we turned north and were rewarded with the most delightful sail in recent memory!

We've just had lunch - I HAD to puff up some people crackers, of course! (See yesterday's posting.) They are amazing! And when I get better Internet access, I'm going to show you some photos of these hysterical things! Honestly, little fingernail sized bits of mysterious papery flakes, spring to life in hot oil and transform themselves in about 5 seconds into delicious 3" salted snacks! Robbie and I were so entertained we puffed up batch after batch of them, more than we really wanted to eat, in just a few tablespoons of oil. "Amazing," we kept saying to one another. "Let's do that again!" There was an egg salad involved, too, avocado, tomato and the first lettuce we've had since Australia. But all I remember are the krupuk, the crackers! They only last about 5 minutes before they begin to go soggy, but just fried they melt on the tongue and are, well, amazing! And really, it requires only a matter of moments to puff a batch. Added plus, we find it highly amusing! (I think they were shrimp flavoured. Next we'll try the onion/garlic.)

Tomorrow we'll move on, either to Karimunjawa, the next scheduled destination, or to Besar Bawean, halfway there. More fish traps certainly, but we'll stay north of Java altogether to avoid those nasty minefields. Tune in again in a couple of days to see where we stopped.

Happy Birthday, Cyn. Can't wait to see you and Terry!

Bev

Mersoleil will depart Lovina , Bali tomorrow morning at o-dark-thirty. We'll head for Ketapang Bay, some 70nm N of here. Ketapang is not in our intended direction of travel but the charts show a huge "military practice area" with "firing danger" between here and our destination to the NW and since further information is not available to us, we thought it wise to avoid that area. Don't worry. Ever cautions, we also intend to refrain from anchoring in the areas marked minefield. We avoid underwater cables, too, but that's not nearly as exciting.

We hired a car and went to nearby Singaraja today to the big supermarket, a Carrefour, a French chain. Yes, they had cheese, but we didn't buy any. A 4 oz. wedge of edam, or cheddar, or havarti with caraway was $15-20 US! You just can't want cheese that much!

I took an Indonesia cooking class the other day where I learned that the yummy shrimp crackers they serve with every meal in Indonesia are actually made on the spot from wee little flat chips that look something like potato chips (or crisps if you're British). The cook heats some palm oil sizzling hot and tosses in a small handful of the crisps which immediately puff up to twenty times their size and take on that suspicious texture of Cheetos that makes you think Cheetos must be an industrial byproduct. I can't wait to try it.

Have you ever considered how long it must take to shop in a store where every product is labeled in a language you do not understand. Shopping consists of a great deal of picking something up, looking at it, trying to peer through the packaging at the contents and saying to yourself, "I wonder what this is."

We needed coffee, know the name - here it's kopi, but had to pinch every package to figure out which ones had beans inside, then deal with the question of light or dark roast. Why is coffee so hideously expensive here? Isn't Java just the next island over?

We bought lots of cookies, too. Robbie likes cookies and if we chose well, he'll be in good shape for weeks. You buy those by the picture. I tried to buy some crackers, too, and I think I may have done so. The word 'asin' is on the package, that means 'salt' and the little picture that, on an American product, disclaims itself as a 'serving suggestion' because the cucumbers are not inside this package, shows cheese and meat and veggies stacked on these little bickies. But I've gone this route before and been surprised, like the time I bought salted crackers with a sugary lemon cream filling. There was only this one product that said 'asin' and showed meat and veggies perched on top and I hope I guessed right because we have eight packages of the things.

Robbie spent the entire time - while I was stowing bickies, dipping capsicums in the bleach dilution, and stuffing packs of dried noodles in every small space I could find (who cares if you break them?) - putting Google translate to work on the crisps. We have some that are either onion or garlic flavoured (it translates as onion, but the picture is of a garlic head); shrimp flavoured ones (glad about that, that's what I wanted); a bag of cassava crisps, most unfortunate but maybe with enough salt or if we get desperate enough...; one package that he couldn't figure out the flavour,he thought 'Space Shuttle' was probably the name of the company and not the flavour, but the picture of a space shuttle on the pkg does indeed confirm his translation; and another unidentified flavour that can't possibly be people crackers, can it? Anyway, I now have enough ready-to-puff crispy things to fill many enormous bags once they are puffed, and I'm happy about the fact that I don't have to stow them in puffed form.

We'll let you know when we arrive somewhere after having dodged the minefields and fishtraps, which, being right on the surface, are actually the far bigger hazard. We've had a grand time in Lovina, have stayed here long enough to get to know some of the locals, to try many of the tempting restaurants (it's too darned hot to cook on the boat and things are so inexpensive here it's actually more affordable to eat out!), and to enjoy the four-day Lovina Festival just finished with much singing, dancing and speechifying.                                                                             

7 September 2016

We arrived this afternoon at Lovina Beach on the NW coast of Bali. Bali is a gorgeous island, stunning really, with its mountains, many of which are clearly volcanoes, rising straight up from the shore to peaks nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. Why no photos? Because as beautiful as Indonesia is, she is also an equatorial country, perched at the very top of the SE trade winds where both temperatures and humidity soar in the bright sunshinne. Today the air temp was nearly 100F and the humidity hung very close to 70%. With so much moisture hanging suspended in the air, there is little incentive for more to evaporate from the skin, so we perspire and we feel it! Then we perspire some more! I remember when, living in Phoenix, Arizona, the dog days of summer, beginning in early August, really slowed me down. I've never been a napper, but I could honestly see why the siesta cultures developed their habit of napping through the hottest hours of the day and then resuming their activities with new vigor and carrying on into the cooler wee hours of the morning. I wonder if I could divide my day into two periods of sleep and two periods of activity, but I can see that if I'm ever to reside permanently in a climate like this I would have to find a way to adjust to it. That didn't explain why no photos, did it? See? My equatorial mind wanders languidly from the point, eventually returning to the moisture hanging in the air, whose tiny particles reflect the sunshine resulting in a visible haze over everything. I'm sure there must be some clear days when the air is drier and the landscape sharply outlined against the sky, but neither we nor our camera have seen such a day in the five weeks we've been in Indonesia. I can tell you she's lovely, and the pictures wouldn't do her justice. It's true.

Mersoleil is a Hyals yacht, built for Hylas by a boutique yachtbuilder, Queen Long Marine, in Taiwan. Queen Long builds only a few yachts each year, 2 or 3 of each Hylas model, of which there are now 5. Mersoleil is an H46, a 46 foot monohull, the smallest yacht Hylas offers. You can see Hylas yachts at hylasyachtsusa.com and if you click on the H46 you'll see a lovely deep blue H46 with teak decks, Gaviota of Cowes, now sailed by Brits Syd and Lisa Payne. Gaviota, Hylas' featured H46, is here with us tonight. She pulled up next to us about an hour after Mersoleil anchored this afternoon. What's more, Bella Vita is here, too, a 1996 H45.5, the model that preceded Gaviota and Mersoleil, with our Seattle friends Brett and Stacey on board. And right behind is, Wakaya, a 1994 H49, owned by Gary and Jan Macie. All four Hylases are anchored together and I'm going out tomorrow morning to capture a family photo, all four yachts together at the island of Bali to memorialize our being here together. At five, we've all agreed to go ashore together for sundowners and to find dinner somewhere and to hold the International Hylas Owners Association Meeting at Bali, Indonesia. We'll take pictures to send to our dear friends at Hylas and at QL who have taken such wonderful care of us over the years and who have bent over backwards to explain how things work, where to get parts - or even provided them themselves - and have shown a genuine and enduring interest in us and in our yachts, their babies. I'm enthused at the thought of sending pictures of all our yachts anchored together in Bali. I know Jane and Joseph of QL and Dick and Kyle of Hylas will be thrilled to see them and to enjoy the moment with us, even if only vicariously.

We came from Gili Air to Lovina Beach in two hops, stopping last night in a rolly anchorage whose name I am blotting from my memory. I will never need it again! Rather than return last week to bumpy windy Medana Bay, we hung at Gili Air which was much more amusing and a group of nearly thirty of us hired a local water taxi to ferry us to the official rally events five miles away. (See previous post about abandoning plan to anchor at Medana Bay.)

It's been another fantastic week aboard SY Mersoleil and we hope you are as happy and having as much fun as we are. We'll be here for perhaps 10 days, till visas are renewed, passports returned, fuel replenished, provisions obtained and all the festivities are, what is it they do in Oz, done and dusted. Bev

We'd like to be reporting to you that we arrived in Medana Bay and reunited with Sail Indonesia rally colleagues. but that's simply not how it happened. The trip to Medana Bay, sneaking up the west coast of Lombok, went precisely as planned. It was perfectly effective for avoiding the southbound current, in fact we enjoyed a little help along the way from a countercurrent that boosted us along. Until we arrived at the pass between Lombok and Gili Air. There, at about one o'clock in the afternoon we were blasted on the nose by 20-25kts from the north and we remembered something we'd read last week about a little weather microcosm created by the 14,000 foot high Mt. Rinjani volcano which towers over Medana Bay on the island of Lombok. It's not unusual for the sunny N side of the volcano to warm up in the afternoon sunshine and as the resulting warm air lifts into the upper atmosphere cooler sea breezes rush in to fill the void - hence brisk winds from the north are not uncommon in the afternoon. Those stiff breezes created a nasty chop on the sea surface and we looked longingly at the Medana Bay anchorage, filled with our friends - there were some 15 yachts already there - and we dared not enter. SY Site, a sizable catamaran, entered just ahead of us and we watched Beth and Mitch bounce around like a bath toy in ways to which cats are most unaccustomed, and we decided not to follow. A radio call to Site went unanswered (they were probably busy anchoring) but we got a reply from Bob who owns the little marina in Medana Bay. "This wind just came up this afternoon," he said. "I don't recommend that you come in now. Why don't you drop the hook and wait for it to calm down around 4PM." We did that, but in 85 feet of water with a reef right behind us we could only let out 2.5:1 scope (6:1 would have been better) and we did not anticipate a leisurely afternoon. After about twenty minutes, we agreed to pull the hook, abandon the outskirts of Medana Bay and to go back, just 4 miles, to cute little Gili Air which we'd enjoyed so much ten days ago and which has protection from northerlies. Friends are here, Bamboozle, Det Gode Liv and Gaviota of Cowes and the island has lots of good restaurants. Yeah. This is much better than sitting in a bumpy anchorage, stuck on the boat! We'll mosey on over to Medana Bay in a few days when the weather behaves, but for now, we are happy residents of Gili Air!

As expected Mersoleil picked up speed on the downhill side after rounding the top of Lembongan. A breeze came along, too, and contributed to a 7-8kt run across the rest of Selat Lombok and we arrived at Gili Gede setting the anchor well before dark. Dinner in the cockpit consisted of snake beans, chicken satay (no, I don't have the lemongrass yet) and a tossed salad, Mersoleil surrounded by lush green islands, heavy grey clouds overhead (it's been raining at night the past few days) and a luxurious silence. Now a quick note to you and we're off to bed. It was a long day! Bev.

Motoring back from Bali to Lombok across the Selat Lombok against a 5kt current... There's been no wind to help us and the south setting current is a constant here regardless of what the tides might be doing. We're grateful not to be fighting the 8 kts that sometimes flows through here! Egad, I've just measured our progress and discovered that we've made only 18 miles over the ground in the five and a half hours since departing Bali Marina this morning at Benoa Harbour. We knew this would be the case, and have just made the turn over the top of Lembongan Island which should soon put us in favourable current for the balance of the trip to Gili Gede. Still, and I haven't told His Robbiness this yet, I don't see us anchoring before dusk. Dusk if we're lucky. So many of you have asked, so I will report here that Robbie survived the dental work at Bali 911 Dental Clinic in Denpasar and he was pleased with the clinic, the professionals and their services. How they can do so much work for USD$200 is beyond me, but they run a nice, clean, organized operation and they are busy busy busy working on Australians who come to Bali with dental tourism on the itinerary. On Wednesday we hired a car and young driver and made our way up into the mountains to the village of Ubud, the arts capital of Bali, and to nearby Batuan, particularly known for its paintings. 24 year old Tio drove expertly, weaving in and out among the motor scooters, autos and pedestrians, delivering us first to a huge Denpasar batik factory where one can stop on the huge covered tile portico at the entrance and watch the artists, all ladies as far as I could see, drawing their wax resist designs on new fabric, then enter the store to admire and purchase the finished product. I was happy to pick up a few new sarongs in soft blues, greens, purples, my tropical garment of choice ever since we were in Mexico, and I am now at liberty to discard a few old ones that are reduced to tatters from constant use and catching on the refrigerator door. The village of Batuan is similar in character to Mata Ortiz, the famous arts community in Chihuahua, Mexico, where everyone is an accomplished potter, but the artists in Batuan are painters all. Dutch painter Arie Smit spent time in Batuan in the 1930s and encouraged the gifted local painters. even teaching youngsters to paint in a simple naive style that has become known as the Young Artists School. We purchased an acrylic on canvas, "Rice Harvest," by I Ketut Soki, now in his eighties, reputed to be the most accomplished of Smit's original young artists. Finally, something to hang on the only wall in the boat, the space above the dining settee. It's been vacant now for six years. About time. As soon as we have Internet access, I'll show you a photo which, though it doesn't do the painting justice, gives a glimpse of the interesting, colorful, intricate style. We visited at least eight galleries, several in Batuan and a few in Ubud itself (Oooo boood). Each village has several schools of painting with unique styles, Ubud artists produce jewelry and sculpture in addition to paintings, and we saw some fantastic art, resisting additional purchases only by applying a healthy measure of disciplined restraint. Luncheon at Swept Away riverside restaurant tucked in a scenic mountain valley at The Samaya Resort was leisurely and delicious - next time I make satay I'm going to skewer them with lemongrass stems, what a great idea. The Sacred Monkey Forest was another obligatory and highly amusing stop near Ubud and I regret not having allowed the monkeys to climb on me. I was so tempted, decided to act like an adult and keep back from the monkeys, and I've been sorry ever since. Next time I see wild monkeys who are accustomed to humans I'm going to have fun. Don't even bother to lecture me, it will fall upon deaf ears. IAnd if I ever return to southern Bali I shall make straight for Batuan and Ubud, hole up in a mountainside villa or boutique hotel with fresh air and cool breezes, eat great Indonesian food, buy more paintings and give Denpasar a pass. Will reunite tomorrow with Sail Indonesia Rally friends in Medana Bay. Bev.

Selat Lombok, separating Bali from Lombok, is a busy place! Tankers and cargo ships pass north and south through here, ferries run constantly back and forth, this being the center of Indonesian tourism, and local boats are out as well fishing, sailing and going about their own business. The cargo ships run like a freight train up and down the traffic lane in the center of the selat one after another after another. We took advantage of the constantly south flowing current for the sail down to Benoa Harbour at Denpasar, Bali's capital, and made the 55nm trip in less than seven hours, arriving Saturday afternoon at 4:00. The return trip to Medana Bay next week is going to be a much longer haul during which we'll hide in a counter current, if we can find it, along the west coast of Lombok. We'll pay for Saturday's speed by taking two days for the return. Bali Marina is a bit isolated and we've hired a car to drive us into Denpasar for the big dental appointment this afternoon, Monday. I've memorized the map of the CBD, or if I haven't I'll be in trouble, and find that several things I wish to see in Denpasar can be found within a 2k walk from Bali Dental Clinic. This will be an interesting day! Bev

While it would have been my preference to anchor at Gili Air, we trust our own ground tackle more than anybody else's, this anchorage is so crowded that we picked up a mooring instead and settled in at 9:30AM. The plan for the rest of the day is simple. A nap, the siesta lifestyle is a must in these hot humid climes, followed by a trip to shore around three o'clock. We'll take a walk, stretch our legs, then find dinner among the fine restaurants reputed to cover the island.

We've just turned SW from a course of 270 and have had fine sailing for the past many hours. Nice to have the engine off for a change! The only sail is a double reefed genoa and even that's a bit too much in this fresh breeze - don't want to get too close to land before daylight and a boat speed of 6kts would be preferable to 7.5. The moon is still high and bright, also a welcome condition for night passage! Winds will probably die at 05:30 and Mersoleil will arrive at Gili Air mid-morning. A little traffic every night: cargo ships, fishing boats, passenger ferries and the occasional dive boat (fewer here than back at Komodo National Park). It's all good! Bev

Yesterday we enjoyed three wonderful dives at Siapa Besar, just 8nm from Rinca Island. The dive boat picked us up at Mersoleil and we had a delightful day with private dive guide Stefano, who sees everything down there and makes sure we see it too! Thus we saw sea turtles in abundance, green and hawksbills, colorful eels, a lovely jouvenile stingray about a foot across,seahorses and not just seahorses, mind you, but mating seahorses! Also a couple of very cute little white flounders, how did he see those in the white coral sand, and a flamboyant cuttlefish. The flamboyant cuttlefish caused much enthusiasm among the marine biologists on board. Frankly it was lost on me, I've seen cigar butts sticking up out of the sand in ash urns that looked exactly like that, and no one ever calls those flamboyant. Some Internet research is clearly in order so the next time I spy a flamboyant cigar butt I can get as excited as the others This morning we moved some twenty miles to Loh Serau, a deep bay on the NW tip of Komodo Island surrounded by high steep hills, still green despite the dry season, and with water supporting abundant coral and fishes. We came here on the tails of Bamboozle and Soudade, Vision rolled in a bit later. After an hour long snorkel right off the boat, we rinsed off the salt and spent the evening with Jamie and Lucy (Bamboozle) and Jimmy (Vison) in the cockpit of Mersoleil. Now its 8PM and we'll pick up the hook and depart at 9PM for Gili Air at the west end of Lombok Island. That's a 36 hour sail and we must always consider where we are during dark and approach land only during daylight. The evening departure (from this isolated location where there are no villages and presumably no fish traps near shore) puts us closing in on Gili Air as day breaks on Friday. It's Independence Day in Indonesia. We didn't see very many Indonesians today, only Frenchmen, Brits and an Irishman, but we're flying a bigger than normal Indonesian courtesy flag and we wish everyone here a happy Independence Day! Now, up to the cockpit. I'll be on watch for the first few hours.

Bev

Komodo National Parks encompasses several islands, 5 I think, and Komodo Dragons populate most of them. We've come to Rinca Island, much smaller than Komodo where nearly half, more than 1300, of all the lizards are found. Mersoleil is anchored just 100 meters from the jetty at the ranger station at Loh Buaya. We tied the dinghy to the jetty along with about a dozen local boats who bring tourists from nearby towns to visit the park. Signs on the jetty warned of crocodiles, a macaque played on the jetty and its railings, and even hopped onto one of the boats which excited the crew into shooing him away with the universal back-of-the-hand gesture. We walked, unescorted, from the jetty up a long crushed granite path wondering if we had missed something. Where is the guide? We thought this was dangerous. Should we go back and wait for someone to issue an engraved invitation to enter the dragons' domain? But a five or ten minute stroll delivered us to the ranger station itself, the admissions office where it takes two or three people to sell a ticket, and much discussion seems to ensue with each purchase because the price never seems to be what was expected. We had purchased our tickets yesterday in Labuan Bajo, so our transaction was simple, but still there was the request for local tax, 210 Rupiah, which amounts to 21 cents and I was happy to hand it over with a big smile. The cashier deserved the big smile after the grumpy reception he received from the couple before us who had presented tickets for Komodo Island and not Rinca and were convinced they were being unfairly required to pay twice. Silly. Robbie and I were assigned a naturalist guide named Bony whose English was excellent and who has worked at the park for five years, ten days on and ten days off when he goes home to his family on Flores Island. He took us on a 2 hour walking tour of the island whose flora and fauna, except perhaps the largest lizard in the world, reminded us very much of Mexico. He even talked abut the trees being mesquite and ironwood, and mentioned that the forked stick all the rangers carry is from the ironwood tree. Immediately next to the office two eight foot Komodo Dragons were... um.... laying there like slugs on the ground. They move slowly most of the time and seem to require good reason to muster up the energy to go anywhere or, God forbid, to hurry. Many people are afraid of them, but I don't get it. I mean, I didn't see one jump out at me in ambush, as they are wont to do when hungry, and that certainly might have changed my assessment, but we both had the distinct feeling that the dragons are quite happy to tolerate our presence, pose for photos and if we don't bother them they're not motivated to bother us. Up the track we saw a female on her nest incubating a clutch of eggs, and we treated her with due respect. Our walk included other dragons, too, and a pair of scrub fowl pecking in the forest undergrowth, more monkeys, highly amusing to watch, a few Timor deer and another nest guarded by the female and surrounded by her decoy nests, extra holes dug in the vicinity of the real thing in order to confuse and mislead predators. Komodo dragons are definitely big, and interesting, and dirt-colored, so they're not easy to see in the dry grass or the bare rocky soil. Bony, our guide, thumped the ground with his stick as he walked along and I asked him about that. No, it's not just play, he's doing it to alert the snakes that someone is coming so they can slither off without confrontation, a grand idea in my book, and whenever he stopped thumping I felt a twinge of concern. The green viper lives on this island, So does the hissing python, which sounds treacherous to us, and one or two other poisonous snakes. It was our pleasure to encounter none of them. After our lovely walk we stopped at the handsome concession pavilion, all the buildings including this one are built up about 4 feet above the ground so the dragons can't enter easily, where we were able to resist the carved dragon statues and tee shirts but not the cold beverages and we sat for a bit watching monkeys playing on the ground and in the trees and a deer cutting the grass around the welcome center. Water buffalo were not in evidence except for the enormous piles of buffalo doo strategically placed here and there on the pathways, nor did we see any wild horses. Returning to the jetty we found at least a dozen local boats rafted together, fanning out on either side of the jetty, all hung from only two berths, a common docking practice throughout Indonesia, Hopping down onto Doggie1, fortunately it had been an easy step up when we arrived at higher tide, we motored back out to Mersoleil, raised the hook and moved about 8 miles to our dive site for tomorrow morning. More about that anon. Komodo dragons, hmmm. Very interesting. But not particularly scary. It's hard to get my head around the fact that this is the wild, this is nature, not a zoo. Yes, we have pictures. But no Internet. Pictures will come later. Biggest impression for me? I love the plants, the trees, the smell of the forest, even the dry smell of an arid environment. I miss the earth and the trees in this life at sea and each time I have a chance to wander on land I'm thrilled.

Bev

Just arrived at Labuan Bajo. Busy place, filled with activity and local boats, all of whose outboards make the put-put-put noise we remember from cartoons. We'll go ashore shortly with the French family from Soudade, a yacht with whom we sailed last night, five miles apart, and all night long. We'll explore together, have lunch, find the Komodo Nat'l Park ticket office and see what's doing in Labuan Bajo, clearly a happening place! Hot here, and dry, arid. Feels a bit like Mexico. Bev

Approaching land just as the sun rises and will stop at Labuan Bajo for fel, tickets to Komodo National Park and, if we're lucky, we'll find some fruit and veggies. Passed through a big squall line for the first time in eons just about an hour ago. More rain would have been better for our dirty decks. Then the wind returned to an uncooperative 7-10 directly on the stern, so we continue by motor. Can't wait to see those dragons. Never did get a look at any crocs... except the ones on our feet.

ev

Even on the way to the dentist, Robbie's first appointment in Bali is on 22 August, there's a little time to play. We day-hopped to Kroko Atoll, nestled beneath a towering, and smoking, volcano, and have spent two fine days here socializing with the five yachts who were already anchored when we arrived. This afternoon we enjoyed an exploration of the reefs by dinghy, then jumped into the water for a nice leisurely drift-snorkel, an hour and a half floating with the current, painter in hand to keep the dinghy nearby. Several corals were new to us, especially an interesting selection of black and yellow strappy ones, maybe they're plants and not corals at all, that look like they were designed by the safety equipment company. When we pulled our dripping faces out of the water and looked around, there were eleven boats in the anchorage, described in our cruising guide as accommodating five. Inspired by the crowd, we weighed anchor at 16:00 and made a dash for the sea in an effort tog et all the fish traps behind us before they are consumed by darkness. Next stop, Labuan Baju, 235nm away, where we'll make arrangements to visit Komodo National Park. Komodo Dragons! Only discovered (by Europeans, anyway) in 1904, these animals were the original inspiration for the 1934 movie, King Kong. Can't miss the Dragons! Biggest lizards in the world. Yikes! Bev.

We've taken a detour! Rally festivities begin at Kalabahi, Alor, in the morning, but we're on the fast track to Bali for some unplanned dental tourism. Robbie has an appointment on the 22nd, so we have time to stop at Komodo National Park and ogle at the Dragons. Will rejoin the Sail Indonesia Rally on August 28th at Medana Bay. We moved only a short distance today, might stop tomorrow at Kroko Atoll, renown for its great snorkeling, then we'll press on to Bali in earnest.

Mersoleil arrived yesterday morning in Kalabahi, Alor, Indonesia, after a wonderful sail from Kupang, Timor. Once we reached 124 degrees East and turned due north, the winds filled in at 10-12kts and we enjoyed a beam reach over calm waters all the way up to Selat Pangar (selat means strait) which separates Alor from islands to the west. We're anchored with other Sail Indonesia Rally yachts right off the town of Kalabahi, up a deep fjord-like inlet with steep hills, deep water right up to shore and very still air. Smoke from cooking fires on shore rises lazily straight up to the sky. Mosquito net went up over our berth yesterday and we're applying Bushman 80% DEET in earnest now. Party on board Atlantis last evening was crowded and great fun even though we were a bit weary from the overnight sail. Now it's time to go ashore and familiarize ourselves with the town and its people. We can already tell three months isn't going to be a long enough time to stay in Indonesia! While Fiji will probably always hold the prize for 'Happiest People,' it looks as if Indonesia is going to win the Love Award. (Just like Elizabeth Gilbert said.) The warmth and affection demonstrated by the Indonesian people we've met is sincere and remarkable. Whereas the Fijian "Bula!" is accompanied by an enthusiastic slap on the back and a wide grin, The Indonesian "Senang bertemu denangmu" usually includes a handshake, a look direct into your eyes and the greeter's other hand pressed to his or her heart, implying this is not just a superficial greeting, but a greeting with love. Life is good, all's well on board, and the dream continues. Bev.

Mersoleil arrived yesterday morning in Kalabahi, Alor, Indonesia, after a wonderful sail from Kupang, Timor. Once we reached 124 degrees East and turned due north, the winds filled in at 10-12kts and we enjoyed a beam reach over calm waters all the way up to Selat Pangar (selat means strait) which separates Alor from islands to the west. We're anchored with other Sail Indonesia Rally yachts right off the town of Kalabahi, up a deep fjord-like inlet with steep hills, deep water right up to shore and very still air. Smoke from cooking fires on shore rises lazily straight up to the sky. Mosquito net went up over our berth yesterday and we're applying Bushman 80% DEET in earnest now. Party on board Atlantis last evening was crowded and great fun even though we were a bit weary from the overnight sail. Now it's time to go ashore and familiarize ourselves with the town and its people. We can already tell three months isn't going to be a long enough time to stay in Indonesia! While Fiji will probably always hold the prize for 'Happiest People,' it looks as if Indonesia is going to win the Love Award. (Just like Elizabeth Gilbert said.) The warmth and affection demonstrated by the Indonesian people we've met is sincere and remarkable. Whereas the Fijian "Bula!" is accompanied by an enthusiastic slap on the back and a wide grin, The Indonesian "Senang bertemu denangmu" usually includes a handshake, a look direct into your eyes and the greeter's other hand pressed to his or her heart, implying this is not just a superficial greeting, but a greeting with love. Life is good, all's well on board, and the dream continues.

We motored the first 12 hours out of Kupang en route to Alor, 130nm to the NE.� At 124 degrees east the wind filled in and gave us a fantastic sail overnight, so fast we had to dump some air to hold our speed down below 9kts.� Fishermen in small unlighted boats are a nighttime hazard in Indonesia and Mystic Moon, just behind us, saw one with weak little lights at 2AM 20 miles offshore.� Dawn brought us in view of Alor and her neighboring islands, high peaked beauties in the rosy morning light.� And it stole away our nice 10-12 knots of wind, too, so we've revved up the iron genny again.� we could call this motor sailing, I suppose, because we haven't taken down the main.� But, really, we're motoring along.� Will drop the hook at Kalabahi Bay at midday, give or take a few hours for the south seting current we anticipate in Selat Aor.� We are loving Indonesia for her people.� Open, warm and loving.� More about that in the� next post.� Bev.

Mersoleil arrived in Kupang, Timor and dropped the anchor at 09:30 this morning. There was no wind on Saturday. We motored. There was no wind on Sunday, but we sailed anyway, lazing our way quietly through the water and it was good. There was no wind on Monday, ditto Tuesday and we motored again. We tried a few clever sail combinations, but realized fairly speedily that when there isn't any wind, there's really nothing you can do with sails to change things. For example, we could have set the spinnaker which weighs nothing and fills with the tiniest amount of wind, with a pole to hold it out in the breeze. But with wind speeds as low as 5kts, if the spinnaker did, perchance, fill with air and press Mersoleil forward at 6kts, the apparent wind would be higher from the bow than the true wind would be from the stern... and the spinnaker would back and just slow us down or impale itself on the rigging. And so we motored some more. But we slept well, and were able to enjoy meals, something one can't always do on passage, and miraculously (as often happens for us, thank you God) we arrived at the Roti Strait just as day was dawning this morning. We wouldn't have negotiated this strait in the dark and were very glad we didn't. Daylight enabled s to miss the pearl farms, fishing traps and bobbing floats marking who knows what, and we passed through uneventfully to the anchorage at Kupang. Then two interesting things happened, at least we think they were interesting. Things that make one wonder why one ever bothers to make plans. First, as we were setting the anchor and snubber the wind picked up, and not just a little. It's been blowing about 25kts since we anchored, Mersoleil is bouncing around more than she usually does in 2m seas and people on several other rally boats are reporting seasickness at anchor. One boat, behind us fortunately, has already dragged off into distant deep water and was rescued by other cruisers who boarded, unfouled the anchor, started the engine and brought her back to the flock. The foresail of another yacht at anchor unfurled by itself and tried to flog itself to death on the bow, the expensive price one pays for leaving that cute but purposeless little triangle of sail exposed rather than furling the sail completely and wrapping it with its sheets to keep it secure. (We'll never understand this practice, we wrap the sheets a full six times around the completely furled sail and secure the sheets in clutches so they can't escape and destroy our sails.) We can barely walk around inside the cabins - it's just like being on a boisterous passage! All this after four days of windless calms. To tell the truth, we admit to being very glad we're not out sailing in this wind. It's a bit too brisk to be fun, and it is exhausting. The other interesting thing, and one we kind of expected, but we did not expect to be the lucky recipients of the perfect arrangements, is the folly enacted by the officials here as they run around trying to clear all the yachts, more than forty, into the country. Kupang is not accustomed to serving great numbers of vessels at one time, nor are they accustomed to dashing out into the anchorage in high winds and three to four foot wind waves, Not fifteen minutes after we had secured the anchor a black inflatable with six officials on board pulled up at Mersoleil's starboard side and announce that they were ready to board our yacht. We weren't ready for them - I was still wearing shorts (a huge no no in these Muslim lands) and I know Robbie wanted a nap at that moment far more than he wanted to visit Indonesia, here they were and it's always wise to respond in the affirmative. I've been rehearsing my meager bahasa Indonesia on the passage, so was able to spout off a cheery ,"Halo, apa kabar! Nama saya Bev," which pleased them enormously and suddenly we had seven laughing and chattering people below and I was frantically searching for paperwork that I hadn't even thought about yet. These bright smiling uniformed officials were young, not a one over thirty five, and they are having a ball today. While those on Mersoleil signed and stamped and printed legibly, the remaining two played in the waves with their rigid inflatable and refused to return to collect their colleagues after the paperwork was finished. They circled Mersoleil, sending splashing fans of water through the air as they cut curves at high speed. Finally, after another half hour of hide and seek, and several photographs of us with them, them with each other, and many chants of happy anniversary (yes, 14 years) the tender returned, collected our officials and they were off. Rather than clearing another yacht, and there are still several who arrived here yesterday and are awaiting their initial visit from customs and practique, they took a few breakneck spins through the anchorage, followed the dragging vessel out to sea for a while before apparently deciding that rendering aid in this case did not fall within their job descriptions, stopped at Bella Vita and announced to Brett and Stacey that they were going to lunch and would come back later. This was followed by some excited conversation on the VHF among vessels who feel imposed upon and ill-served. This is not the way government functions in "our country," and you may substitute nearly any Northern hemisphere country for the "our country," but it is Indonesia, quirky and sweet, well-intentioned but relaxed. There are about twenty vessels who arrived here long before Mersoleil who are still in the holding pattern and we, for no good reason, are now free as birds to leave the boat, stop by Immigration (who wisely elected to meet visitors on land) and then explore our first Indonesian city. Tain't right, tain't just, tain't fair, tain't even logical! But this is Indonesia. Our turn will come to be inconvenienced and I hope we'll accept it with poise and good humor! BTW, just for the record, the engine block chicken was delicious and we have not seen a single croc yet! Although the health guy, surely he couldn't be a physician at his age, told us not to swim here. A couple of crocodiles have been seen in the anchorage today. And so begins our Indonesian odyssey! Bev

It's been a funny passage.� Predictwind didn't do such a good job as we're accustomed to, so we went to all the trouble to head far off to the north, taking a long route with two tacks in order to enjoy a nice point of sail, but the wind never materialized, at least it never stayed above 9kts for more than a few minutes at a time.� We sailed, no, we motored an extra 30nm for no reason!� Oh well.� The weather has been beautiful. the seas flat or nearly so and it was a wonderful few days on the water.� I was inspired to generate a little spreadsheet to analyze our fuel consumption and find that with the Gori prop in overdrive we actually do consume about 30% less diesel.� Mersoleil's motoring range in overdrive is better than 1100nm, as opposed to the 800 we can motor in regular drive, or now that� think about it, the 800 we used to get from the Maxprop, now stored in a sarcophagus in the sail locker.� Good choice, that Gori.� I'll have to run the numbers some day on the Gori prop in regular drive.� Maybe we get better mileage with that, too.� We're approaching the coast of Timor in company with Jenni D, another rally yacht headed for Kupang.� Robbie tells me, now, as part of my 2AM pre-watch briefing, that Gucci is closing in from behind.� We haven't met the Guccis yet.� We'll be anchored in Kupang, well, 5 hours after we reach that pass.� We haven't quite figured out what time it is in Timor, but they run +8 on GMT and are probably not observing a daylight savings time.� Oh boy!� Indonesia! And saya bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia seditkit!� I've been studying a little app on my phone while on passage and that said I can speak a little Indonesian. Bev.

Wind, apparently, is prohibited in the Timor Sea between July 23 and July 26. We've been motor sailing much more than sailing....welcome to equatorial Indonesia. Right onschedule, just as we spend our last 24 hours on passage, we have adjusted our sleep cycles and are feeling pretty good on our watch schedule. I've spent my watches, reading Lonely Planet: Indonesia and "300 Great Bread Machine Recipes". No traffic at all last night. I got a little excited when I saw a distant light, but it appeared not to be moving. Fishing boat? Boat adrift? Nope. Oil platform. Oil platforms rarely move. It will be hot today, a cloudless day like the past three. All well on board. Robbie

Ta ta, wonderful Australia! It's been a most excellent nine months! The Sail Indonesia Rally is blasting off today, well, in fact it would be more accurate to say we're drifting off, or even motoring, in winds below 5 knots. But everybody is excited and we look forward to the new and unknown! The official start was at 11AM, but Mersoleil will lock out of Cullen Bay Marina at 13:00, then find a place to sit at anchor till 9PM tonight. This we think, will bring us to the coast of Timor at dawn on Wednesday morning, giving us an opportunity to navigate safely the rest of the way along the coast and through the channel to Kupang in daylight. It would be such bad form to run down an unlit Indonesian fishing canoe in the dark before we've even checked into the country! Very excited, filled to the gills with provisions we don't expect to see again in stores in the next year, cheese, olive oil, capers, salsa, pickles, crackers, and more. Plus enough mosquito coils to permanently infuse our bodies with the faint aroma of incense. Thank you to all our new and old friends in Oz. We mourn our departure even through the excitement of the next adventure! We'll try harder to update YIT daily on the way up to Kupang, but those of you who are inclined to worry and imagine the worst, A) cut it out, and B) give us some leeway, c'mon! There's no wind and we want to conserve fuel! Maybe we'll just float around out there on the sea for a while. It's a marvelous way to relax after two busy weeks of preparations. Indonesia in the headlights! Woohoo! Bev

Darwin, Australia. OK, I'm sorry. I wrote this nice newsy posting just after we arrived in Darwin, last Saturday, but while I was writing it, unbeknownst to me, somebody took the system down for maintenance.... and my witty tale of sailing the last 775 miles to Darwin was wasted in the ethers. Suffice it to say we arrived after a nice passage and I no longer remember a thing about that. It has been a crazy whirlwind of a week preparing to depart Australia, applying for Indonesian visas and preparing the paperwork for entering Indonesia according to their bureaucratic whims, taking care of a couple of important business matters at home (before that becomes nearly impossible), and performing those boat tasks that are best done in a marina with first world services - provisioning, replacing the freezer evaporator plate, gauging the compression on the genset, renewing medical prescriptions, cleaning Mersoleil inside and out with an endless supply of city water, laundering everything we own, applying lock and chain to everything on deck (so we will still own those things after sailing through Indonesia), filling tanks (diesel, scuba and LPG) and, of course, socializing with friends old and new. It's Tuesday in Darwin, we're sailing on Saturday and Friday is a holiday (no idea what we're celebrating) so perhaps we can catch our breath on Friday. I'll buy provisions on Friday while they're installing the new freezer plate and pray that it works so I can stow our groceries! I plan to buy pork - may never see it again! First stop in Indonesia will be Kupang, West Timor, about 500nm from Darwin. It will probably take us about 3 1/2 days to reach Kupang where, with the brand new visitor visa regulations loosely in place and fully understood by virtually no one, it may take us another three days to get checked in to the country! We've already learned that the visas we went to great lengths to obtain at the Indonesian Consulate in Darwin will be invalid by the time we arrive in Kupang, it turns out they have a seven day shelf life, so I guess we'll have the privilege of applying all over again when we arrive. Welcome to Indonesia, where the solution to everything is to put on a big smile, go with the flow and don't be in a hurry. Organization is simply not their priority and flexibility will be important to maintaining the sanity of European, Canadian and American cruisers. We think it's going to be wonderful! Do you know any elderly people who've become so set in their ways that they get grumpy when the expected fails to occur on schedule? Well. I don't believe there's going to be room for any of that behaviour in Indonesia. We're very excited! And pleased to report that four Hylas yachts will be among the group - that's a gold mine in spare parts! Hurray! Bev.

On passage from Thursday Island, Queensland to Darwin, Northern Territory, crossing the Arafura Sea. We departed Thursday Island July 4th (Happy Independence Day America!) in the late afternoon after having spent a fair portion of the day repairing our boom. The repair was accomplished only by the superb help offered by our friend Stedham Wood (mv Atlantis) for which we are very grateful. Thursday Island was quite interesting and worth the stop. The tiny community is at the very tip top of northeastern Australia and has a certain "feel" to it which reminds you that you are very far from anywhere else. The community is composed predominately of Torres Strait Islanders, ancient seafaring Melenesians who first came here thousands of years ago. They are not to be confused with Aboriginal Australians, who also live here in Thursday Island. Like Aborigines, Torres Strait people were dispossessed of their homelands by European colonists and only within the past several years has legislation been passed to right this terrible wrong. The community has a small tourist industry and Australians drive or fly in to holiday in what seems like the very end of the earth. The weather is gorgeous and the islands here are verdant rolling hills and craggy cliffs. The passage thus far has been perfect...a lovely downwind sailing delight with 15-20 knot winds and sunshine. All well on board. Robbie

No more going North for Mersoleil! Now it's time to turn West! We've reached the Top of Down Under and are anchored at Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. The winds are constant, the 'developed trades' as they are called, and currents through the shallow constricted waters are quite impressive, 4-7kts. Not wanting to approach Mt. Adolphus Island in the dark, we spent one night recently at Bushy Islet, 40nm south of here. Alan Lucas considers it "abysmal" protection, but we were quite happy there and slept like babies while Mersoleil wiggled in the current but did not roll or snap on the snubber. I think if Mr. Lucas had sailed the Marquesas he might upgrade his choice of words for Aussie anchorages. Mt. Adolphus Island provided wonderful protection, too, the following night with flat water and high hills that made for beautiful scenery. Yesterday morning we passed Cape York on a short run, just 20nm, to Thursday Island where we hoped to score a tool that we need and some fresh bananas. I sat anchor watch in 20-25kt winds and rushing currents, at the helm creating the route from here to Darwin, while Robbie made a fast and wet dinghy ride to shore. No joy with the tool, but he came back with groceries including a cabbage the size of the State of Ohio. There's something iconically thrilling about completing the sail from the southern tip of Tasmania to the tip of Cape York! We have enjoyed every inch of the Australian East Coast and are sorry to see our visit here drawing to a close. This season in Oz has been the best cruising season yet. You must, MUST come visit Australia! Still no crocs, at least none that we could see. Tomorrow morning we'll push off for a downwind run across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Next come new waters altogether... the Arafura Sea... the Timor Sea. New peoples, too, and cultures about which we know not a thing. How very exciting! Charlene Butler just informed me that we are elderly. She read some definition that slaps that label on people at age 65. Well, actually, I still have till September. But if this is what old age is about, I say bring it on! We're having a wonderful time in our dotage! Yes, you MUST come see Australia. We're beginning to read books about Indonesia. Posted by Bev.

We departed Lizard Island ... a lovely stop by the way ... in train with Amandla and Atlantis all bound for the Torres Strait. Whether we stop at Thursday Island to provision is still an open question and of course picking a decent weather window to make the passage to Darwin may require a layover at Thursday as well. That said, we are rather keen to just get it done and spend a little shore time in Darwin before setting off for Indonesia. The weather yesterday and today is, in a word, windy. A steady 25 kts from the SE set in early yesterday afternoon and rose during Bevy's early evening watch to very boisterous 40 kts for a while. We elected to tuck in to Princess Charlotte Bay for the night which is reputed to be well protected in trades. By our lights, this reputation was not deserved the bay being somewhat akin to an open roadstead. The low headland and very shallow bay water weren't quite what we'd hoped for, but we apparently slept through it all and awoke to a bright sun and a SE wind of, you guessed it, 20-25 kts. And now we are sailing generally northward inside the Great Barrier Reef dodging this reef and that shoal and that other small island or sand spit as we make our way to the tip top of Australia's Cape York Peninsula. All well on board. Robbie

We arrived at Cooktown yesterday morning and dredged a wee channel across the muddy Endeavour River bar into the anchorage area. Pretty area, still hilly as we move north. This is the place where James Cook beached the Endeavour after nearly losing her on nearby Endeavour Reef. In an effort to lighten the ship and float her off the reef, Cook jettisoned all cannons, his anchor and everything else he thought he could spare. In the 1960s a research group using magnetometry located the cannons and anchor and they were recovered from the reef after nearly 200 years. One cannon and the enormous anchor are on exhibit at the local museum along with artifacts of early Cooktown, it's gold mining days and early settlers. Kind of hard to imagine this sleepy little town actually needed 168 brothels in the 1860s. There were 30,000 people here then, but... I mean, really? We spent the afternoon today at a local pub celebrating Stedem Wood's birthday and have packed up for dawn departure. We'll go at least as far as Lizard Island and depending on weather forecasts, may decide to stop for the night. Still no crocodiles. We understand they are here, but haven't seen any. I think Debbie wins the certificate suitable for framing with June 4. Did anybody guess later? Reminds me of something Mayor Richard J. Daley said when irritated by criticism from unnamed sources. "Oh, people make allegations," he said. "But where are they? Where ARE the allegators!" Loved da mayor. Another great quote from Mayor Daley was his blooper on the occasion of the dedication of the new Polish cultural center in Chicago. He was crediting the great accomplishments of Polish people, including "Pernicious, the great Polish astrologer," after whom the center was named. Good old Mayor Daley. And the certificate goes to Debbie. Congratulations, Debbie! (This post by Bev)

Pleasant night with very light wind and an enormous, nearly full moon. Calm seas. The charted shipping lanes inside the Grteat Barrier Reef are well used....Cargo ships and numerous fishing boat coming to and from the reef . Wind has stayed to low even to motor sail. Light rain this morning; the rain cleared, but still overcast...looks like this will breakup later in the day. 80% humidity. Iridium Go working flawlessly after installation. I vote to have Great Britain stay in the EU. This will annoy my very good friend Peter Stokes, but as I can't really vote I don't think he'll care much. All well on board.

Departed Townsville last hour bound for Cooktown to pay homage to The Great Mariner. Sunny day, calm seas, wind SE @ 10-12. There will be a nearly full moon tonight. All in all, very nice. Townsville was lovely. Breakwater Marina was superb. Good groceries at Coles and Woolies plus several really great fresh veggie places. Had our fuel injection pump replaced on our genset with no drama. (Shop rate was $110/hour). Installed Iridium Go whioch was fairly straight forward. Sort of buddy boating with Amandla who has had myriad problems and needs someone relatively close by. We're happy to be of help. Recived a wonderful note from Christopher (The Younger) on Fathers Day. All well on board.

We are mourning the death of yacht builder Nick Saull who was killed in an offshore storm yesterday north of New Zealand. What a wonderful man. What a tragic loss.

Motored overnight from Butterfly Bay to Magnetic Island, Horseshoe Bay. What a wonderful place! 2500 people live on Mag Island, just 3 miles off Townsville, Queensland. It's served by a ferry that shuttles back and forth from Island to mainland, and there's just enough commercial life in the litle village on shore at Horseshoe Bay that six of us (from Mersoleil, Exit Strategy, and Mystic Moon) were able to beach dinghies and walk across the street to a delicious lunch at The Marlin. The wind never topped 6kts on our little passage from Hook Island, so we steamed the entire 137nm without ever even thinking about unfurling a sail. Sailing is quieter and nicer, more appealing to the purist sailor in us, but.... there's something to be said for driving the boat across calm glassy waters! Still not a cloud in the sky, nights are cool enough to be very comfortable and days are hot, dry and sunny. The stars at night after the new moon has set, early, well before the witching hour, are clear and brilliant, some set off against a cloud of galaxy in the far far distance. Could it be the Megellanic Cloud? The new fuel injector pump for our generator will not arrive, sayeth DHL, until the 20th, so we'll have ample time to bask in the luxury of Magnetic Island. Will probably hop the ferry one day and go to Townsville for a few fresh veggies, but not today. Today we want a nap more than just about anything else! You'll get it all finished, Jules. And it will have been well worth the years and effort. Fly to us for a visit when you want a little 'simply sailing!'

We've had a glorious time exploring the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and have been at anchor on Hook Island (Nara Inlet), Whitsunday Cid Harbour, now on the way to Hook Island's Butterfly Bay. We don't remember seeing the turquoise of coral reef waters amongst hilly forested islands before. It's a stunning combination of blue and green! The plan du jour is to spend a day or two at Butterfly Bay then run overnight North to Magnetic Island and Townsville. We'll need a provisioning run by that time and hope to receive and install a new fuel injector pump on the generator. (It's always something!) A little computer crash has kept us offline for several days, well, that and the isolation of our chosen hiding holes. Trying to resolve the technology glitch then northing, again.) Weather is fantastic, still loving Oz, moving on toward Darwin!

Mersoleil and Amandla had a wonderful overnight sail from Curlew Island to Airlie Beach. It was painful to pass by so many beautiful islands - we would have loved to stop and spend a day or two at each anchorage we passed! But after we find the supermarket Whitsunday Island is next on the agenda and we're all excited about that! Doing a little online homework now, like trying to find a new satphone and responding to business email, which follows me wherever I go. Then we'll be off again to the palms, the pines and, soon, I suppose, to the crocodiles. No crocs yet.

Written on 28 May (Happy Birthday, Weezie!) this update is posted on the 30th..... We continue to be awed by the incredible cruising grounds of Australia. Lady Musgrave Island and her reef and lagoon were our first taste in a long time of the turqua waters we so loved in the South Pacific. Nice to be back in reefy territory! The famous A-frame on Middle Percy Island provided yet another amusing highlight. Years ago the island resident, for Middle Percy has been leased to residents since the early 1960's, built a spacious hut near the beach at West Bay and it has become the haven of passing cruisers, each of whom leaves a sign with his boat name as a lasting memento of his visit. In addition to the many hundreds of boat signs, banners and burgees, some of which have faded or nearly blown away leaving only shards and shreds in evidence of long ago visitors, there is a garden chaise lounge, a secretarial chair reduced to plywood and a five-star pedestal base, a couple of homemade rope swings, one red plastic patio chair and an enormous knotted hammock lined with a mattress and big enough to rock four playful adults brave and silly enough to test the strength of the jute. A sturdy handmade ladder leads to the second floor loft, also decorated with the banners of visitors and their yachts, from whose balcony one can overlook the sandy beach, West Bay and the scenic Pine Islets a short distance away. It's a beautiful place and filled with the good humor of both residents and passing yachties. Unlike the many woodworker yachties who crafted professional-looking signage to hang in the A-frame - at least one sacrificed the heavy plank from his side rail, the kind we all use to tie jerry cans of extra diesel for long passages - Robbie and I contributed our 2015 Down Under Rally flag to the A-frame's decor. We wrote on the flag in black marker "SY Mersoleil, Robbie and Bev, May 26, 2016" and hung it carefully with screws and washers, well-indoors where we expect it to tout our Australian tour in perpetuity. Then, stepping back to admire our work, we spied not three feet away the Seattle Yacht Club burgee of our friends from home, Brett and Stacey, sailing sister ship to Mersoleil, SY Bella Vita. Brett and Stacey are about a week ahead of us on their way to Darwin, too! West Bay is reputed to be a rolly and uncomfortable anchorage, as is Whites Bay where we stayed the next night, and indeed most of the Queensland anchorages described in our cruising guides. But our experience has been quite the opposite. We've been sleeping like babies each night in still, flat turquoise waters between the outer reefs and the continental shore. Yesterday in company with two other yachts we sailed on a glorious beam reach from Middle Percy Island to Curlew Island just 25nm away. Over sundowners last evening all three crews marveled at the perfect weather, iconic sailing conditions and the mouthwatering tuna carpaccio and poke we shared after Paul (SY Skellum) landed a yellowfin tuna and Fabio (SY Amandla) 'cooked.' Cruising doesn't get any better than this and despite strong competition from Mexico, French Polynesia, Fiji and New Zealand, we have declared Australia the most fantastic cruising we've seen in the five years since we left home. There's bread baking in the galley at this moment, and after it comes out of the pan in an hour or so, we're going to raise the hook and move on. This time, we'll sail overnight to Airlie Beach, contrary to our earlier plan to stop in Mackay. From Airlie, armed with fresh fruits and veggies, we'll visit the much anticipated Whitsunday Islands for a few days, too few, we already know. Truly, cruising doesn't get any better than this!

Going to bed early tonight, hoping we can fool ourselves into thinking that departing at o-dark-thirty is a grand idea. First stop will be Lady Musgrave Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. With 27 travel days and 15 stops on the way to Darwin, weve created quite an optimistic itinerary for ourselves. But the weather has been fantastic and in the morning we'll be off in 15kts from the SE. The trades are active, the skies are blue and we're all excited about new places! Woohoo!

Not to worry, Charlene, we're participating, too. My 18 May guess is out the window, though, because we've stayed in Mooloolaba to wait for arrival of a package tomorrow. No Houdini cage for me. Of course, I'm the only one who knows the real skinny about the prize. In a classic American bait and switch I'm going to announce, well, I might as well do it now. The Houdini cages are all out of stock due to high incidence of shark attacks and the winner will receive instead a certificate suitable for framing. Mooloolaba is a cute little resort community with the most fantastic powdery sand beach we've ever walked. The attraction grew when Common Crossing pulled in yesterday and a text appeared on my phone last night from Amandla, "We're in Moooolaba, where are you?" So our wait here will be highlighted by time with dear friends, something that seems to present virtually everywhere we go. The locals tell us that, after we reach Lady Musgrave reef, just a short passage N of here, we'll be able to day sail and anchor hop all the rest of the way to the Torres Strait. That will be fun, although we'll probably choose at least a few multi-day trips just to make time for longer stays in the spots we like best. So far, Australia does nothing but surprise us with one lovely place after another! Amazing.

OK, Gretchen, Lisa and Debbie and Don are registered to win the Houdini Steel Cage that protects one from crocodiles. Who will be the lucky winner? Had a lovely sail up from Gold Cost Seaway to Mooloolaba overnight. It took a few hours longer than expected as Sbound current was running at 2kts, but we think we're just about out of the EAC now so no whining will be permitted. The Mooloolaba Bar has shoaled and only half the pass in navigable, but that doesn't seem to bother the local fishing boat operators. We arrived at about ten this morning and debated whether to test the depth at the noon high water. With southwesterlies blowing the outer bay is sheltered, flat and lovely, so rather than visit another river, we just dropped the hook off the Mooloolaba Surf Club and enjoyed a superb sunny day. We're tired after a one day passage - we never sleep well on the first night or two at sail - so we'll get a good sleep tonight and strike off in the morning for Bundaberg or Lady Musgrave Island. Undecided. Will let you know when we get there!

Rig repair was completed and we moved yesterday to a spot near the Gold Coast Seaway in preparation for a midafternoon departure today. We'll sail N to Mooloolaba (moo LOO luh buh, these Aussie words are so hard to predict!), just 100nm away. Don't want to arrive in the dark, so we plan to exit the Seaway bar close to the 5PM low slack water. Excited about seeing new places! Not so much about seeing crocodiles. We made a little bet this morning over coffee in the cockpit. I'm gambling that we'll see our first croc, oh goody, on 18 May. Robbie says on the 1st of June. Place your bets below in a message.

After delivering our friends to their nearby home, we've returned to Boatworks in Coomera, QLD, for a bit of rigging repair. Hope it will be completed on Friday. Boatworks advertises as "Australia's Greatest Boatyard." Maybe that's simply because they have not looked elsewhere. Robbie and I have never seen a better boatyard operation ANYwhere, and we've seen quite a few of them in many different countries! It's a huge facility with about seventy-five tenants offering all kinds of marine services. Painters, engine specialists, brokers, electricians, stainless steel welders, a chandlery, a nice little caf� with good pizza (this quite remarkable), and more. There are dozens of covered sheds available to whichever tenant (or even whichever boat owner) wants to perform work inside, a spacious and impeccably clean paved concrete yard, a 100 ton Travelift and even a Sealift, the low flatbed-like crane that lifts very large catamarans at a special boat ramp. Staff is professional, courteous and capable. A welcome package, handed to us upon arrival, included a nicely bound map of the facility with details of all the services provided and promotional sheets from the tenant companies, our services agreement, and a couple of corporate toys all in a canvas carry bag. Even the amenities provided for the comfort of liveaboard customers (toilets, showers, free laundry machines) are spacious, clean and well-maintained. A small courtesy car sits at the ready outside the office for customers who need to run errands, just reserve it for a three hour period, no charge. The invoice for our antifoul (bottom paint) was handed to us last week bound in plastic sheet protectors together with photos of Mersoleil displaying her new black bum after the completion of painting. And the prices were reasonable, imagine that! There are no derelict boats in this yard, either, and virtually no dirt or clutter strewn about, something we've never seen in any boatyard in the past. John Hembrow said The Boatworks was good. Thanks, John. Thanks, Boatworks!

Picked up Joanie and David again and motored from Hope Island in still air back out to the Broadwater. Our original plan, to spend the weekend up at Moreton Island, succumbed to distance. 75nm is probably too far to go for a weekend trip -- we wanted to be together, not to pass an endurance test! So we dropped the hook on the first night right at the place shown with this posting, in the channel near, but out of sight of, Tippler's Resort, . It's a holiday weekend in Queensland, Labor Day, and everyone who stayed home on ANZAC Day because of high winds has come out to play this weekend. The next morning, we moved over to Tippler's Resort to enjoy the crowd. And so we are.... Joanie is propped up on pillows in the forward stateroom reading cookbooks as if they were novels (I thought I was the only one who did that.) Robbie is in the aft stateroom reading with his eyes closed and David is recumbent in the cockpit alternately surveying the anchorage and snoozing. I've just made dessert for tonight (crepes layered with cooked apples, sour cream and crushed ginger snaps). Joanie is the dinner chef this evening and I think lamb cutlets are going to be involved in the main. Our initial thought to walk, hike would be an overstatement, across the island to the surf beach, seems to have collapsed in favor of lazing about. Everyone here is happy! Yesterday David and Robbie made a trash run to shore. Theywere rewarded with a glimpse of a kangaroo and a joey in her pouch!

After a wonderful holiday weekend at Tippler's Resort Anchorage we've moved back to Hope Island and are at anchor just off Boatworks. Mersoleil will be hauled tomorrow morning for antifoul so her underwater surfaces will remain clean and shiny in crocodile land! We won't be jumping into the water again for the rest of our stay in Oz. Just a little way north of here the crocs patrol the waters with dedication and we don't expect to see the bottom of the boat again for several months! At Tippler's Resort on S Stradbroke Island we had great times with Sue and David (SY Duet, a catamaran) and Jennifer and Kerry (SY Courage, a ketch), taking turns hosting one another, boat hopping and giving tours of our completely different yachts. The ANZAC Day service organized by Gold Coast Boat Club at their island out station was attended by around 350 people. With music, poetry, the laying of wreaths, recollections of the evacuation at the end of the campaign and placing by each participant of a rose or an Aussie flag in the beach sand, the moving service concluded with a moment of silence, then ANZAC biscuits and port wine for all. Biscuits, not cookies, mind you. The semantics are important! We see SY Que Barabra on the dock a hundred feet away - hope we'll get a chance to visit again with Ian and Desley during our short stay at Boatworks. Mersoleil will splash on Friday at 1:30 then we'll paddle directly over to 1120 Beechwood Drive and pick up David and Joanie for resumption of the Gorel/Collins sailing festivities, a long weekend together up in Moreton Bay.

One might think 6 days is a long time to spend in your friends' backyard, but we had a great time with David and Joanie and plan to see them again next weekend! We've come out to South Stradbroke Island for the ANZAC holiday weekend and are anchored early off Tipplers Resort. At this time, Thursday afternoon, there are only four boats here in a tiny anchorage - a narrow strip of ten foot deep water between the channel and the beach. There will be lots of company by Saturday. Everybody in Australia celebrates ANZAC Day, dedicated to the memory of all Australia and New Zealand war veterans, but in particular those who strove and sacrificed at Gallipoli in the 1915-16 campaign. It's moving to see how many people of all ages come out on April 25, both in OZ and in NZ, to celebrate at dawn services. Last night we drove down the coast, south of the Gold Coast, to see an enormous 'waterfall' of poppies, all made from plastic bottles, lighted and draped over Elephant Rock. Poppies are symbolic of the veterans' efforts here, as in NZ and the US. Still loving Australia! CORRECTION. Imagine my surprise to wake up the next morning and find out it's Thursday again. Yesterday, when I wrote this post, was apparently Wednesday, which means we didn't spend 6 days with David and Joanie, we're very early for the long weekend, and we have plenty of time to explore Stradbroke Island and its surf beach. Sometimes I don't know the date, sometimes I don't know what day it is, sometimes I know neither, and very occasionally I know both. It doesn't matter. That's cruising. Yay!

Yesterday our friends David and Joanie came by to provide local knowledge for the move from Southport Yacht Club to their home on Hope Island. They left a car at the SYC (which we picked up much later after a fine Greek dinner) and David motored Mersoleil through the meandering waterways of their Gold Coast neighborhood. Now we're anchored bow and stern in their 'backyard' and will spend a few days together seeing the sights of southern Queensland. What a treat to enjoy their lovely home and hospitality - and to fish in the canal where they tell us mud crabs are so plentiful that they're sick of them! Well. We're not sick of crabmeat, and I think there's a little space in the freezer! I fished for a short while early this morning with my snapper rod, but caught only the dock of the nice Japanese people who live next door and, when I turned and cast toward the opposite shore which has the desirable quality of having no docks, a tree. Recovered the lure both times by dinghy. If I'm going to fish in these luxury neighborhoods I'm going to have to improve my casting aim.

Just arrived at the Gold Coast after a three day (exactly 72 hours) passage from Pittwater. It was a great trip including lots of rain to wash the boat yesterday and during the night. The East Australian Current was kind to us, turning around to run northbound for two of our three days at sea. Yesterday we didn't mind having it against us. It was handy to let the current slow us down in an effort to avoid some of the many thunderstorms through which we sailed. We proved, yet again, that you can't outrun, or avoid, or hide from a thunderstorm. No matter what you do to escape the darned thing, it seems to know, have a good laugh, then get you! Fortunately, the lightning left us alone and that's all that matters. Now, a good nap. Then tomorrow morning we'll move to a berth at Southport Marina.

It would be a shame to waste a travel window as good as this one, so we've abandoned the idea of day hops and are passaging directly from Pittwater to the Gold Coast, slightly south of Brisbane. At this moment we're passing Coffs Harbour in pitch dark at 7PM. There's only a crescent moon, but it sets early and there are clouds. How did Magellan and Cook do it without 'sailing the movie' on a digital chart plotter? Weather is warm, dry and lovely, slthough damp at night and 75 degrees feels very chilly in the cockpit. We're about 225nm N of Sydney and motorsailing. The current, so far, has been weak and favourable! But the winds are light (nothing above 15kts yet) and dead astern, so there is some rolling from side to side. I'm on watch for the next three hours. Robbie will come down for a nap. It's all good!

OK! Progress! Only 2500nm to go. We've stopped at Pittwater, Broken Bay, for one last look at this gorgeous cruising ground. What a nice sendoff we received from Sydney. There were fireworks at the Opera House last night, perhaps not in our honor, but no one told us otherwise so that's our takeaway. Earlier a Sydney Harbour Police boat pulled up alongside Mersoleil and we spent a pleasant half hour chatting with the two officers on duty. They promised to come by later for another visit, but didn't make it before we turned in for the night. I suspect they did come by, though, because the enormous party boat a few hundred yards away suddenly became completely quiet just before midnight - and that group had shown no signs whatsoever of quieting down up until that point! This morning a New South Wales Maritime vessel came to say hello and that kind officer gave us his list of tips and favourite spots along the Queensland Coast. Then, out in the Tasman Sea after we turned north at Sydney Heads, the HMS Endeavour unfurled her sails and sailed along with us a half mile off! Gee! We feel quite honored! Two years ago we visited Sydney. At that time we happened to be reading Blue Latitudes together, Tony Horwitz' award-winning recounting of the life and explorations of James Cook. We spent two and a half hours crawling around inside the Endeavor (replica) which is moored at Darling Harbour when it's in Sydney. Having been inside those cramped spaces, seeing where the cook stove sits at the forward end of the cabin, feeling the pinch in the dark low-beamed space where the crew both eats (at low tables) and sleeps (in hammocks strung on hooks at night), we acquired a powerful sense of what it must have been like to crew a ship in the 1770s. To sail along with the Endeavour, her sails billowing and brilliant in today's sunny breeze, to see her sailing at 3kts while we, babies that we are, motored along at 7, was quite a moving experience. We are grateful for these experiences that touch us so deeply and will, we suspect, remain in our hearts for many years to come. Now, moving on. Darwin in the headlights. Eventually!

Spent the night in Rose Bay on the hook. After coffee we think we'll sail up to Broken Bay. Darwin, Here we come!

Just a quick overnight at CYC of Australia in Rushcutters Bay. My, this is a racing marina! We share a dock with nothing but racing yachts, many of which we followed in the Sydney to Hobart on Boxing Day. Dinner with Lisa and Fabio on board Mersoleil last night consisted of lettuce wraps and I'm pleased to announce I think I've got the P F Chang's Lettuce Wraps nailed. Yay! This morning we all made a mad dash to Costco for a few of those 'you-can-only-get-it-at-Costco' necessities, including new eyeglasses for Robbie which they'll mail to us somewhere, as soon as we light for a few days in one place. Leaving dock this afternoon for diesel, LPG, then we'll anchor at Manly or Rose Bay to await the next opportunity to hop northward.

Departing

Moving onwards, upwards. Today we're only going as far as Sydney Harbour to kiss Sydney goodbye. Also Fabio and Lisa (Amandla). Will have dinner with them, then leave with the next weather/current window. Robbie suddenly realized with a big grin this morning that he's on his way to Indonesia, and all the excitedment of a new adventure wafted over him!

We are safely docked at Cronulla Marina and happy to see friends (marina staff) made the last time we were here...including Kathryn who is getting married in a fortnight and is very excited. Best wishes to her and congratulations to Patrick. The last push up the coast to Cronulla introduced us once again to the East Australian Current, but not exactly like we remembered it as we crossed over from New Caledonia to Australia last October; then the current was fair and shot us southward adding 3-4 knots to our boat speed. Now coming north we met the dark side, a south setting current subtracting from our boat speed by three knots thus making the fifty miles a bit of a slog. Oh well, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. We are now beginning to sort out a few repair issues (genset "making oil", fuel tanks need cleaning, repair mainsail batten, re-wire nav sidelights, and install new drum on one of the winches); in other words, the usual and ordinary stuff of ongoing maintenance and repair. We talked by phone today with our dear friend Angelina, now living on land in Brisbane, and made plans to visit in a couple of months time. We are very excited to be able to see Angel and her daughter Natalie. The weather here is blustery today with 20 knots out of the south and spattering rain. All is well on board.

Where did we get the idea it's difficult sailing in Australia? So far our sailing experiences here have been outstanding, each better than the one before. We arrived at Cronulla Marina (a Sydney suburb) an hour or so ago after a 3 day 17 hour passage from the East Coast of Tasmania. Great weather, wonderful downwind sailing and beam reaching among albatrosses, blue skies and leaping dolphins.

The Eastern Australia Current is strong right now and if there's any whining to be done at all, I might mention that. We pushed for the last 12 hours through 1.7-2.5kt southbound currents which seriously hampered our speed approaching Sydney. But a couple of predawn downpours gave Mersoleil a nice bath and we are now tucked into one of our favorite marinas for a few days.

The early bird may get the worm, but the last guy to leave the anchorage apparently gets the scallops. And really... Worms. Scallops. No contest there. We planned to leave Schouten Passage, TAS, on Wednesday after 5PM to take advantage of a cold front that would arrive between 5 and 8 bringing fresh southerlies. That would get us offshore before dark and as soon as we were settled, we thought, the southerlies would come along and boost us north along the coast toward Bass Strait. To our surprise all four of the other yachts at the anchorage departed early in the day. No idea why. But imagine our delight at three in the afternoon, when the scallop divers came, and we were the only boat there! "Do you want some scallops?"

I demurred, "Gee, we're leaving in just a little while, I can't possibly use them today! How much do you want for them?"

"Want for them? We don't want money, we want to give them to you! We've been diving and we have more than our limit, and we want to give the rest to you!"

Enough said! I spent an hour shucking, cleaning and freezing the most gorgeous diver scallops I've ever seen and popped them into the freezer before we raised anchor at ten minutes to five. What a going away gift from Tasmania! They were so beautiful that I even kept the shells, both sides, to use as little dishes - of course I've done this before and they last until I realize I can't find room for them. I gave the shells a cursory scrub, dropped them in a mesh bag and hung it in the aft shower to dry out.

Two days later something went south in the plumbing in that head and the most horrible odor, urine?, ammonia? filled the aft cabin, then the entire boat. It took us another day to figure out that the plumbing repair was simply to move the scallop shells outdoors till I have a chance to clean them properly!

How wonderful to have been able to sail down to Tasmania! We're both quite tickled that we did it. Sailing to Tasmania ranks up there, for us, with sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and crossing the Pacific Ocean! An iconic thrill. What's more we loved Tassie. The scenic beauty, friendly people, curious tourists from all over the world, picture-perfect local produce and seafood, all surrounded by one stunning cruising ground after another. Why do not more cruisers go there????

Alas, Tasmania is behind us now. And we have progressed the first 600 miles toward Darwin, the jumping off place for Indonesia in July. Mersoleil and crew are ready for the next adventure!

After the quick hop up to Coles Bay we're tucked in at Passage Beach, a short distance S of our previous anchorage. When the wind turns southerly this evening just before dark we'll stick our noses out of Schouten Passage and turn left, beginning the looong trip to Darwin. That albatross? We've learned that Buller's Albatross is rare, breeds in NZ, but summers on the E Coast of Tasmania. Love that face! We expect a nice passage up to Eden and it looks like we may be able to sail all the way to Cronulla, a southern suburb of Sydney, in a single go. Packages await us at the marina there and we're looking forward to new cushions for the cockpit to replace the original, now dingy, ones. The general plan is to progress 1000nm per month during April, May and June. Listen to me. Expectations and plans. The very things that make God chuckle at us and tempt Him to show us who's boss. Stay tuned.

Yes, all those things I said yesterday? All true. We had a nice sail to Fortescue Bay, and upon arrival, found no phone, no Internet, no VHF. But delightful peace and quiet, a stunningly gorgeous bay with forested bush and high dolerite cliffs, waves crashing on the distant beach and some albatrosses who wanted to come stand on Mersoleil and get their feet out of the water. We shooed them away having once allowed a gannet to stay on the rail for a couple of days on the high seas. When he finally flew off it was just to recruit the whole family and then we had six big fat birds to deal with. No thanks. Still, you've gotta love the albatross with that frowning face! Tonight we're at Bryan's Corner, strategically placed just inside Schouten Passage, our escape route to the Bass Strait crossing. We'll probably sail up to Coles Bay tomorrow, visit the wee store there and see if we can procure some fresh fruit and vegetables, then come back in this direction. It looks like there might be an opportunity to sail north on Wednesday late afternoon. We'll keep watching the weather and will decide on Wednesday morning.

A bit premature to tell you this, as we are just departing Quarantine Bay, but we expect to anchor tonight in Fortescue Bay by 17:00 and there's probably no Internet there. We sat out the 990 low at Quarantine Bay without drama, although we kept a constant watch on our clever anchor alarm app, Drag Queen, which tells us exactly how many feet there are between the place we set the anchor and the iPad. Don't want to see that number constantly growing! The baro has climbed to 1024 this morning and we'll take a little swell as we cross Storm Bay, but winds are perfect for the move. Next position report will probably be tomorrow evening from Coles Bay. Get out the hankies. We're leaving Tasmania behind.

Working our way back toward the East Coast and eventual return to the mainland. We've tucked into Quarantine Bay to hide during a day of NE winds. They used to stop European ships here, before allowing them to berth in Hobart, to check all on board for small pox. After that epidemic subsided, since facilities were already established at Quarantine Bay, a plant quarantine program was implemented at this location in an effort to protect Tasmanian flora from pathogens not yet found in Tasmania. Nice walks here. Nice walks everywhere in Tassie with great effort having gone into walkways, signage and the protection of historical sites. New Zealand and Australia should be awarded a prize for their infrastructure of hiking and walking trails! Tomorrow before dawn the winds will shift SW and rise to 25-35kts. (That's 29-40mph.) We might move back into The Duckpond or across the bay to Alexanders. And we might not. The wind shift is probably going to occur at 03:00 which means we'll lose half a night's sleep in either place. Anchor watch, what a treat. It's been cold for the past three days and those southwesterlies are bringing a cold front. Yikes. Colder still? I found a ham hock, looks more like a trotter to me, at the butcher shop in Port Cygnet the other day and will make a pot of bean soup today. And we'll have another nice walk on Bruny Island.

We had a lovely time in Port Cygnet during Regatta weekend. Watched the races in which light west winds generated beautiful spinnaker displays to the finish line and spent a fun evening catching up with Brett and Stacey who've been visiting Tassie by car. Michael and Holly, Patanjali, arrived two days ago and we've had time with them, too. Coffee and a walk through the town of Port Cygnet with Mike and Sue, Yaraandoo II, were additional highlights and they gave us all the local scoop on the shops, the races and all things Kettering. Very pretty in Cygnet Bay. Yesterday we moved only a few miles and dropped the hook at Sandrock Bay where we decided what to do about the coming weather. Northeasterlies for a few days, then on Friday a serious blow from the west. More on that from our next location!

It's windy today, but of course the wind was on the nose so we motored from the Duck Pond to Port Cygnet. Many people have recommended Port Cygnet, a spacious bay on the E side of Tasmania's Huon River, rimmed by gently rolling hills, meadows and a small town. As luck would have it, this is the perfect time to be here. Every year on the March long weekend (perhaps someone can enlighten us about why this weekend will be long?) the local sailing club runs the Port Cygnet Regatta - sailing races to and from Hobart, Kettering and Port Cygnet, a local Regatta race on Sunday afternoon, races in sailing dinghies, rowing boats and whatever else they can gather enough of to generate a competition. We're not racers, but we're happy to watch and cheer and will join everyone at the BBQs and Sunday breakfast. It's beautiful here, even under the grey skies of a passing cold front, and we're looking forward to the arrival of another eighty yachts on Saturday. After the Regatta we'll begin watching the weather in earnest for a window that will enable us to start the journey north to Darwin. We'll cross the Southern Ocean on our way back to the E coast of Tassie, then when we can, we'll shoot across the Bass Strait to Eden, Cronulla, Sydney, ... Brisbane... the Great Barrier Reef... Cairns.... over the top and across the Gulf of Carpentaria to Darwin by early July. Fingers crossed. It's 3000nm. Why did no one tell us Australia was so beautiful? So amazing? So hospitable? We are so thrilled to be here! Thank you Australia!

After we returned from Melbourne on Tuesday, Doyle returned our sails and we were free! Absolutely loved Hobart, but we were quite ready to resume splendid isolation after running all-day receiving lines for passersby at Con Dock! We motored out into the Derwent Estuary, overnighted just N of the Tasman Bridge then took advantage of the still morning air to bend on sails and buy fuel. Since Friday we've been anchored at the Duck Pond, a smooth as glass anchorage on the N side of Bruny Island where the grassy hills remind us of the North Island of New Zealand. In fact, all of Tasmania reminds us of the North Island. It's beautiful here and though the meadow is slightly pale and dull colored, it appears they haven't had a drought this summer. These past few days have been luxuriously quiet and solitary and we're catching up on correspondence and those pesky little maintenance items that are forever on the list. That list... what were we thinking? We made a long and righteous list of regular maintenance tasks ages ago, included the frequency with which they ought to be accomplished and then made the spreadsheet highlight them when it's time to act! Good grief. There's ALWAYS something yellow on the list, meaning it's due in two weeks or less, and with some frequency those yellow items turn red, meaning they were supposed to happen yesterday! We do take good care of Mersoleil, but it's kind of like having the nun in study hall constantly reminding us that we should be working! Truly, what WERE we thinking!? After coffee this morning we plan to mosey on to some new location. The choices around Bruny Island are many, varied and all gorgeous! I've serviced the five winches in the cockpit, maybe I'll do the two on the mast, the ones where I'm scared to death I'll drop something, click, click, click, ploop, into the drink. Wish me luck.

Not much of a move, but we're nestled inside Hobart's Constitution Dock and have been here nearly two weeks. Our plan to sail north via Melbourne was modified for the sake of simplicity and we have just returned from a four day visit there - round trip via Tigerair. We had great visits with Marie and Steen Andersen, Caroline Lafargue, and Don & Debbie Robertson. Did the best we could to see all of Melbourne in a bit of a whirlwind and now we understand why Grant Chilcott says it's his favourite city! We returned to Con Dock last night to find Patanjali has arrived and had dinner waiting for us! After another late night catching up with Michael and new crew, Holly, we're making efforts today to slide back into the lazy pace of casual cruising. All we need is a trip to the supermarket and a check on the weather, then Mersoleil will be heading out to explore the charming anchorages around Bruny Island. Next? The long trek up to Darwin. LOVED Melbourne!

Australian courtesy flag was new when first hoisted in New Castle, NSW and did a yeoman's job until we crossed the Bass Strait and sailed down the East Coast of Tasmania. Wow.

Sails have been deivered to Doyle's loft and Mersoleil has taken herself to downtown Hobart. Initial intent was to raft up in Constitution Dock (just to the NW of our currentl location on the other side of the lifting bridge that says Franklin Wharf) but the height of our mast and width of the spreaders gave the Port guy some anxiety. After a short pow wow with the Port Authority and VTS we were invited to tie up at Elizabeth Street Pier where our rub rails will get a workout and we'll do a lot of ladder climbing as the tide rises and falls. But we're in the heart of the action in Hobart's lively CBD and we've already made new friends! Caroline and Alfonso ran over to Elizabeth St. Pier to catch our lines - a first for a French journalist and a Venezuelan geophysicist. After we went out for a beer with them, Cassie and Guy stopped by, announced that they were from Gig Harbor (30 miles from our home in Seattle), and they joined us for a pleasant hour or two in the cockpit where we encouraged them in their own plans to buy a yact and go cruising! It has been a delightful day n Hobart. Another lovely town wins the "Yeah, we could live here" award!

Before leaving Port Arthur we had to spend a little time with new cruising friends. Cocktails on Billaroo with Kerry and Sue were followed at 9:00PM by dinner on Last Vintage with Julian, Matthew and their crew of five. Wonderful times and late to bed, so our planned 7AM departure was delayed a wee bit. Today was the perfect day to move from Port Arthur to Hobart. Blues skies brightened the crystal clear waters of the Southern Ocean. Robbie took photos with his new camera, We motored mostly, but had a nice smooth run up the River Derwent and are now at anchor at Sandy Bay. It's been about two weeks since I've seen the inside of a grocery store. Three maybe. So the conveniences of a city are welcome! This afternoon we wrestled the sails down and into their bags. A local sail loft will pick up the main and the genoa tomorrow morning at eight for inspection and repairing broken stitches and we dearly hope to have them back by the end of the week. It won't happen, but hey! You can always hope. In the meantime, we'll visit the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), Salamanca Market and the CBD. Hobart, Tasmania.

Perfect weather today for the sail to Port Arthur. Northerlies, sometimes very light, carried us south wing and wing from Chinamen's Bay to Cathedral Rock and Tasman Island. We expected the wind to turn westerly at about noon and nature's timing was just right! We furled the genoa (leaving the pole in place) and gybed the full main as we turned to starboard then sailed through the shallow pass on a beam reach with 10-13kts from the North. Just as we come out on the west side of Tasman Isand the wind died for a few minutes, gybed us gently back to a port tack, then blew at 10-14kts from the west as we continued north to Port Arthur. The squared spires of rock (dolerite?) that make up the jagged cliffs at the south end of the Tasman peninsula are unlike anything we've ever seen before. They're fractured vertically in perfect rectangles, leaving bundles of square prisms stretching high into the air. Amazing.

Working our way gradually south along the E Coast of Tasmania. We'd like to stay at Maria (muh RYE uh) Island and do some hiking, maybe hang around in the evening and glimpse a Tasmanian Devil. But tomorrow looks to be a good day for sailing south and around the point, so we'll press on after a short stop here. The anchorage at Chinamen's Bay is enormous and all shallow. Three to five meters everywhere except a "deep spot" that falls to all of nine meters (27') deep. We're anchored in the deep spot, far enough from shore that we hope the mossies won't notice our arrival. Tasmania seems to grow lots of seasweed. Our anchor and chain come up adorned with plantlife every day. Early morning departure tomorrow if the weather looks right.

OK. If you looked at this two hours ago you'd see that we inTENDed to anchor tonight at Chinamen's Bay, Maria Island. But no! The midday weather report predicts tomorrow's cold front and southerly change for the entire State in the morning, which means we'd be rushing for cover while the coffee is still hot in our cups. Nope... that does not appeal. So we turned right into Prosser Bay this afternoon and have holed up at Shelley Beach where we'll probably spend the next three days. Just as well... I remembered that I can't fish at Maria Island, it's a protected marine environment. The winds were light and we motor-sailed until our engine suddenly lost speed for no apparent reason and we set the genoa, then limped to a mooring at Shelley Beach. It was my turn to dive the boat to see what the heck (we both love this job, can't you tell?) and I found a 36" wad of tough strappy kelp wrapped tightly around the prop shaft. It took me half an hour to cut the seaweed off with a knife, but that was an easy and inexpensive fix, so we're quite content. It takes longer to rinse, dry and stow the dive gear than it does to remedy problems like this, but it's always good to visit the bottom of your yacht and let it know it's appreciated! Tomorrow we'll.... no. Nevermind. We'll tell you after we do it, whatever it is!

From a day anchorage in Promise Bay on the west side of the Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania, we went ashore and found the path to stunning Wineglass Beach. A nice 5k walk took Regina, Michael, Robbie and me across to our originally-intended Tasmania landfall. It had been pre-empted by northeasterlies which were still in sufficient roar to make us glad we were only seeing the Bay from land! Huge swells crashed onto the beach - a beach we'd have never been able to visit by dinghy! We returned to Anico and Mersoleil listening to the 'devil's violin,' the haunting choir of happy amorous frogs in the two or three freshly filled inland lakes on the isthmus. And got back to the Promise Bay side well before mosquito hour, when the just hatched little mossies come out in dense numbers seeking their first meals.

Our stay at Promise Bay was only long enough for a hike and we've moved to Passage Beach for the night. Just the night, though. We're moving again in the AM, rather unMersoleil-like behaviour, in order to get further south before some nasty westerlies arrive on Wednesday morning. It's lovely over here along the E Coast of Tassie, but there's so much more to see and we only have about a month for Tasmania. Debbie and Don and Marie and Steen are expecting us to appear in Melbourne in early March and we do want time to visit with them!

Still at anchor in Coles Bay, East Coast, Tasmania. I wonder if you can imagine while reading this post how much we appreciate the messages and replies that we receive from our friends reading of our travels. Thank you thank you thank you! It's wonderful to know that you're following us, especially when we're on passage and any cmmunication with the world outside our hull is sufficient occasion for a party! We looked at the real time lightning map last night, http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en, and were amazed to discover what terrible weather surrounds us. Well, I guess it wasn't a complete surprise. The flashing circles on the sceen certainly seemed to verify the lightning flashing all around. But it was a surprise to see how extensive the storm was, and we hunkered down for a stay of a few days right here at Coles Bay. I see today that there's still plenty of storm activity around, a fact confirmedby the text message from Lisa Dorenfest asking 'Where are you?' Lisa and Fabio, visiting Melbourne, were in the same enormous storm and were concerned for our safety. Thanks, Lisa. We're just fine, snug at a mooring, fine tuning our nifty new water catchment system which can only be accomplished in driving rain (there must be a better word than dry run), reading, doing a little cleaning and watching the next episode of the 1970s BBC production of Graham Winston's Poldark series. Loved the books, loved the series when it first came out, a little disillusioned to see 70s television look 'dated.' What does that say about US?!

Greetings from Tasmania! After all we've heard about the Bass Strait, I was dying to report that the crossing was a walk in the park. If it was, then it was definitely more like a frisky romp than a stroll! I DO think the Strait sometimes offers nicer weather than we enjoyed, but the predicted winds were all from the right direction and we skated across at an average 6.6kts even with a triple reef in the main and only our very small staysail forward. A few months ago Robbie and I watched the 1936 movie of Kipling's Captains Courageous in which a wealthy city brat learns the ways of the sea from young Spencer Tracy on a fishing boat. I laughed at the ridiculous way in which they rendered the high seas, moving an image of gigantic waves back and forth and up and down behind the movie set of a NE fishing schooner. Know what? As I sat in the cockpit the night before last I realized that's exactly what it looks like! The rails and the opposite side of the cockpit sat motionless in my view while the sea tossed and bounced ferociously in the background tilting and tossing the horizon in all directions. A point scored by MGM! Reminds me of Rita Rudner's story about her mother, who once took belly dancing lessons. The family tried to memorialize the lessons with a video of mom belly dancing and, Rita says, "My dad and I had to go behind her and jiggle the sofa to make it look like she was moving!" It also came to mind that Rod Waterhouse made this crossing once with his son on a 14' Hobie. Good lord, Rod!! We're pretty happy to have had all 46' of Mersoleil under us in seas up to 4m and winds of 25-35kts. It was a grey and rainy crossing, and there's a few more days of the same in the forecast. With winds fresh from the NE we packed in the Wineglass Bay idea and continued an additional 20nm to Coles Bay where we have protection from that direction. Yaraandoo II entered Schouten Pass right ahead of us, Anico will be here in another hour or two. We're ready for a nap and then look forward to seeing the sights of Tasmania. We have sailed to Tasmania. My goodness.

We THINK we're sailing In the morning for Tasmania, heading direct to Wineglass Bay on the E Coast. There are a few other yachts also leaving Eden in the morning, so we'll be in good company. Our Inmarsat phone is having issues, so we'll be posting updaes the old fashioned way, by SSB, if we can get decent radio wave propagation. Robbie has spent the last two daYs trying to remember how to do this! Looks like it will be a fast ride. After day one when winds start out variabe and southerly (yuck), they're to come around north and blow 15-30 for the duration of the 325nm trip. Tassie, here we come! Prob'ly.

Another fantastic sail from Cronulla to Eden, about 200nm further south on the coast of New South Wales. We waited Monday till midmorning for the southerlies to abate, then as the trough passed we motored for about two hours while the wind tried to make up its mind about whether to blow from the north. The next thirty hours were pure sailing paradise with 12-22kt breezes coming over our shoulder. Even though the EAC (East Australian Current) seems to have taken the day off, giving us only a 1.7kt boost, we arrived at Twofold Bay and anchored in Snug Harbour well before dark last evening. Had a great dinner aboard SY Margarita (thanks, Bruce and Dinah!) and they gave us all the skinny on Tassie and Eden and passed along a pile of tourism literature for us to study on our way to Hobart. Maybe tomorrow we can catch up with Michael and Regina- Anico is anchored nearby. Based on the latest weather forecasts it will be at least Monday before we can continue on across Bass Strait. Oh, goody. Perhaps this is my opportunity to service the winches.

After New Years Eve in Sydney Harbour - yes, it was fantastic! - we stopped at charming Manly overnight and then couldn't resist another week up in the deep reaches of Broken Bay. Back in Cronulla (we think Cronulla is better than Sydney Harbour for ease and convenience, and an easy train ride to the CBD) we're preparing to sail S tomorrow to Tasmania. We'll stop in Eden to meet up with Bruce and Dinah on Margarita, then when the next weather window(s) appear(s) they'll continue N, we'll continue S. This news for American cruisers: If you miss your Costco, rent a car and visit the one in Casula, outside Sydney. It's just like the store at home. Who knew!? Weather in Sydney summer is more like the weather we remember from home. Beautiful hot sunny days followed by rainy days with downpours and T-storms. The 'southerly busters' are new to us, a sudden wind change in late afternoon with high winds and an impressive drop in temperature, but they're accurately forecast days in advance. One does not want to be caught out by a southerly buster! For some reason, we didn't expect the East Coast of Oz to be so green and lush. It's absolutely beautiful here. But we've not been inland, and I suspect therein lies justification for our preconception of red deserts. There's so much to see and do.... and the people are welcoming, generous and interesting. Love Australia!