Yacht Delivery Blog

Well, the weather hasn't exactly been great since we left the Torres Strait. Yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster – squall after squall with moments of flat calm in between. Then, from early afternoon, we were in a non-stop squall-fest for hours! Thankfully, around midnight the wind finally eased off, but now it's barely 5 knots, which is pretty much like trying to sail uphill on ice. So, we're playing a delicate game right now – trying to make decent progress in the right direction while also keeping an eye on our fuel consumption. Oh, and let's not forget the ever-present challenge of dodging cargo ships, tankers, and those dense clumps of fishing boats and nets!  And a quick note to everyone on the Lewmar design team: the name "captive winch" kind of implies the rope is being held against its will on the drum and not allowed to bunch up and fall off. Maybe "unconfined winch" would be a more accurate name?

We finally popped out of the end of the Torres Strait! I'm so pleased to have that part of the trip over – it feels like a huge milestone is behind us. For the last week, the weather models have been showing we'll get wind "in 2 days," but then the next day the wind is still 2 days away. So I was very encouraged as we stuck our nose into the Arafura Sea and felt a tickle on my face. We got the mainsail up, and the tickle remained, but not from the same direction! We've been chasing the breeze around ever since. We also had a lot of squalls blowing through last night, which kept us on our toes. The wind would shift and increase, then fade away, before increasing and shifting again. A bit of a wild ride! It appears that the sunrise is bringing light headwinds, which I'm not going to complain about at this stage. The big plus is that we're able to head directly where we want to go. And the bigger plus is we aren't burning any of our precious diesel.

We're almost through the Torres Strait and hoping to reach the Arafura Sea this afternoon, as long as we don't have to struggle against more tide. We had a nice ride last night with a few extra knots of speed, but we're paying the price for that now. Yesterday we had a couple of interesting encounters. First, we had some visitors who flew over and announced themselves as ABF (Australian Border Force). And we had to quickly check in with them and confirm our last port, next port and registration number. Interestingly we've been having issues with authorities not being able to see the name of the boat when they check our AIS as for some reason its not transmitted. ABF knew the name! Then, we had some other visitors who swam around but didn't announce themselves – they appeared to be false killer whales. It's a little unnerving navigating through the Torres Strait. There are scattered reefs and islets for hundreds of miles, and we're essentially using a tablet ...

Well, after a few days of calm since leaving Port Moresby, we've finally made it to the entrance of the Torres Strait. We'll be passing Bramble Cay soon and weaving our way through the reefs and islets. It's a bit of a navigational challenge with all the tankers and container ships, but we're keeping a sharp lookout. Hopefully, the current won't be too strong against us. On the bright side, the moon is getting fuller and should be full in a couple of days. That will be a welcome sight as we start heading towards Sorong. A full moon will help us keeping an eye out for Indonesian fishing boats as we get closer. Last night, we noticed a lot more ships on the horizon, all heading towards the same waypoint as us. It seems like a popular route. The wind was pretty light last night, only around 2 knots, but it picked up to a whole 5 knots this morning. The weather models suggest we might have a few more days of these calm conditions. This was taken at midnight and shows ...

Well, yesterday didn't quite go as planned! We lost the wind early in the morning and ended up fighting a bit of tide, which meant we arrived a little later than expected. We dropped anchor around 3:30 PM and were told the boarding officers had been notified. At about this point, I started glancing at my watch and wondering what the chances were of actually getting cleared in late on a Sunday afternoon. Turns out, the chances were zero. Around 17.00 they told us they'd come first thing in the morning (i.e., in a few hours). So, we had a choice to make: leave and go back out to sea for the night, then return in the morning (far safer, but a bit of a hassle), or stay put. The yacht club assured us it was safe to anchor outside the marina and that they have security monitoring the seawall. Which, of course, made me wonder why they have security if it's so safe, and what exactly a security guard on the seawall is going to do if something happens!  Anyway, since we were alread...

Well, I'm sure you can all guess what finally happened, judging by our course and speed! After some frustrating, slow, and far-too-hot days, the wind has returned. It's still easterly, but we've got around 15 knots over the deck, giving us a good, healthy push – even if it's not quite in the direction we'd prefer. Either way, it's good news! To the north of us is a long chain of islands and reefs called the Louisiade Archipelago. Somewhere in there, there must be a gap wide enough to fit two ships side-by-side because there's a veritable highway of traffic coming and going from the east coast of Australia (and probably New Zealand) heading to Korea, Japan, and maybe Hong Kong. They're all heading north or south, and we had to cross this busy shipping lane last night as we're making our way west. It's quite an experience having a cargo ship that could be over 600 feet long and 100 feet wide heading straight towards you at nighttime at 30kph! Typi...

Well, it seems the wind gods are still having a good chuckle at our expense. No significant change in the wind to report, I'm afraid. It's still hovering around 10 knots and stubbornly parked right behind us. We did have a few moments of excitement yesterday when it decided to liven things up a bit. It picked up (and by "picked up," I mean it reached a dizzying 14 knots!) and shifted to the north - so from the side, giving us a nice little push in the right direction for about an hour. But, it was just a tease, and then it was back to the same old story. Last night, we almost had an "all hands on deck" situation. The wind seemed to be picking up, and we were ready to hoist the mainsail and make the most of it. But just as we were about to spring into action, the rain started, and the wind promptly died off completely.  So, yeah, not exactly the most thrilling blog update, or the recipe for a fast passage as I had planned. But hey, we're still moving ...

It's been another challenging night on board as we make our way to Phuket. The wind has been playing tricks on us, changing direction and speed without warning. Sometimes it dies off completely, leaving us with a sluggish sail and a quiet engine. Other times it picks up suddenly, filling the sails with a gust and pushing us along at a brisk pace. We are currently sailing at 7 knots with a little over 15 knots of wind over the quarter. That's not bad for this time of the year, when the monsoon season is starting to kick in. But for now, we have to head a little further west than I would like, to keep the apparent wind up and avoid banging sails. The sea state is moderate, with some swell and chop. Nothing too uncomfortable, but enough to keep us alert and on our toes. The boat is handling well, with a balanced helm and a steady course. The autopilot is doing most of the work, but we check it regularly and make minor adjustments as needed. The night sky is clear, with a bright mo...

I’m happy to report that we have finally made it through the Torres Strait , It was not an easy feat, but we managed to do it with some luck and skill!  The last section of the strait is extremely narrow and shallow, with many reefs and islands to avoid. I had been concerned about getting through in daylight, as the visibility is crucial for spotting the hazards. I had considered anchoring for the night, but eventually decided to push on and we made it into clear water before sunset, leaving just a couple of shoals to navigate through into open water. Generally, I would be very cautious of a 9-meter patch, but when the rest of the depth is 13 meters, it doesn’t seem too bad. Of course, the strait is not the only danger we faced on this voyage. Since I have so far been attacked by birds and several vicious flying fish, I am very cautious of what nature can throw at you. After reading today a catamaran that was sailing from Vanuatu to Australia sank after being attacked by sharks I ...