A few days ago we arrived in Kupang, Indonesia, where we cleared in to Indonesia and planned to stop for a night or two to rest. Kupang is a bustling city on the island of Timor, and a popular destination for sailors crossing from Australia to Asia.
But what I thought was going to be a peaceful nights rest or 2 in Kupang was exhausting. I quickly realized that Kupang was not a place for relaxation.
We decided leave as soon as possible. I had enough of Kupang and we wanted to get back on the water and continue our journey.
The next morning, I went to do my routine deck walk to inspect all the sails, lines, blocks, pins, clips and look for anything else out of place. Everything looked good. The yacht was ready to sail again.
We weighed anchor and set sail for Marina Del Ray where we could fill up with water and fuel before heading to Sabang on the last long leg of the trip before hopping over to Phuket, Thailand. Sabang is about 450 nautical miles away, which will take about three and a half days of sailing.
It's amazing how quickly things changed from the rigid shipping channels of the Torres Strait to the complete opposite in Asia. As soon as we left Torres behind, we entered a different world of sailing. A world where there were no rules or regulations on the water. A world where there were no aids to navigation, no traffic lanes or separation schemes. A world where there were only fishing boats, fishing nets, fishing buoys, and fishing villages.
It's a challenging but exciting world of sailing. We have to rely on our eyes, instincts, and common sense to navigate it. We have to dodge the fishing boats, avoid the fishing nets, and steer clear of the fishing buoys. We watch out for the shallow waters, the coral reefs, and the rocks. And deal with the wind shifts, the current changes, and the tide variations.
It's a completely different experience from sailing through Torres Strait, this is the life is a yacht delivery skipper!
