Yacht Delivery Blog

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.

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 ...

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 ...

It's your favorite yacht delivery skipper here, back with another adventure on the high seas. This time, we set sail from Port Moresby, but not without a few hiccups along the way. Our plan had been to arrive on Thursday, get settled into our marina berth, do some maintenance on Friday, rest on Saturday, and then head to the fuel dock and back to our berth on Sunday. We were all set to leave bright and early Monday morning and arrive at the entrance to the Torres Strait late afternoon Tuesday. But as they say, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Customs took much longer than expected, so we ended up leaving Port Moresby much later than planned. And now we were behind schedule before we even left. The Torres Strait is no joke - 150nm of congested shipping lanes, reefs, current, tides and strong wind. The first 40nm seems straightforward so I planned to do that at night and arriving at a busy area in the morning so we can navigate through in day time. And...