KUPANG to LEMBATA

      
                                                                                                         Indonesia
                                                                                                        July 2011
                                                                                                                      

Selamat Jiang !

 Upon arrival in Indonesia we have our  yellow Quarantine flag up and await the arrival of  Quarantine, Coast Guard and Immigration. You are not allowed ashore until checked in. Despite being organized with the rally the process was tedious and took the afternoon. They don't have computers so you fill out the forms for each division by hand. And of course they want 5 copies each. And no carbon paper. (do you even remember carbon paper??) Once completing this drill aboard Blaze we went ashore. Upon arrival we were escorted to the immigration office. Now the top dogs who flew in from Jakarta wanted us to repeat the process with them. The Wonders of bureaucracy!! Hours later we are "legal" and Indonesia awaits!    
                                                
                                        

Village Life





Spice Island Specialties

Curious Kids

                                                         


 The local people are shy....but warm up if you speak a bit of Bahasa. (for me that would be limited to Selamant siang -good day. Tolong-please and Terima Kasih-thank you. After that it was all sign language. But the younger kids were eager to practice their english.  We attended a dinner put on by Sail Indonesia at the local bar.  We were entertained byTraditional Indonesian dance performances, a local meal along   
speeches by government officials. Much like their  love for " check- in" bureaucracy  everyone must give a speech. (in Bahas. ) We met  other sailors "spinning yarns" of their sea adventures. No awards came our way. (They didn't have one for the "furniture" division).   Today we picked up fresh veggies and fruit at the outdoor market. Despite the charming people we were anxious to leave  the dirty harbor and littered villages. Off to Lembata on Flores!



Selemant Jalan

Captain Molly and Deckhand Peter!           

    

TIMOR SEA

           



Race "Strategy"

 
                 BLAZE
  Darwin to Kupang
        Regatta  



Where is the Wind?

 

Main Up!

 
 

The Chute  Comes Out




Up Goes the Sock

 



Tweaking Again



 



Blaze Under the Sun

                                                         

         




Spinnaker Run

  

DARWIN to KUPANG

                                                                                                                   Timor Sea
G'day Mates                                                                                                 July 2011

Our regatta event starts from Darwin Australia. Capital of the Northern Territory, home to Aboriginal tribes, crocodiles, and tropical bugs! Often referred to as the Top End-it is situated on the North coast. Darwin is our departure point for the Indonesian Rally. This event is sponsored by the Indonesian government to promote tourism. It is welcomed by many yachties for its organization to get you, your boat and crew cleared through custom quarantine, and immigration. Not an easy feat in a country where graft is business as usual.

Day 1

Blaze and crew are ready for the 11am horn signaling the start of the rally. We have an eclectic crew with Aussies, Kiwis, )Yanks and a new addition from Cambodia. The wind is very light and we drift across the start line. It is warm and sunny. Now we just need some wind. We are anticipating 4-5 days of sailing. Hoping to average 6knots.  The helm will be manned 24-7.  Watches are 4 hours on- 8 hours off. These run 6-10pm, 10-2am, 2-6am etc. You have 2 shifts in a 24 hour period. Its nice to have enough people on board to run this schedule. During your hours off you catch up on sleep, eat, shower, read etc. After an hour the wind picks up and we join 10 boat leading the pack. Behind us Darwin and around 80 other boats all heading to Indonesia. By nightfall all we can see is a smattering of lights behind us. The fleet has  thinned out after 8 hours. We set our course just off the rhumb line for a better point of sail.

DAY 2

Sun rises on our am watch. The sea is racing down the hull of the boat. Wind is out of the southeast. The main and spinnaker up and we sweep along at 7-8 knots. A 6 hour spinnaker run today. (Spinnaker is the brightly colored sail). Peter would love to keep the spinnaker up all night if he could. But the 'Admiral' (that would be me) does not allow it. Despite Swabbies' protest the spinnaker is down before sunset. A good day of fishing. Landed 3  Skipjacks. Dinner menu complete! Tonight's sunset is sureal. A giant ball of fire slowly dropping into the ocean. We all sit up top and watch the  spectacle.

DAY 3

6AM.  A brilliant sunrise chases the night away. We have a  morning visit with dolphins dancing with the bow.  A sight we always enjoy. Peter is already forward on the nets with spinnaker ready to go. He is like a little kid with a favorite toy. On Blaze we have the spinnaker in a long sausage shaped chute.  You raise the sail  with the halyard. When you  pull the chute up the spinnaker bursts out and up with the wind. It is an awesome sight for any sailor. We have a very happy swabbie he spends the day trimming the "kite". An 8 hour spinnaker run with 2 jibes. Well done!  Just before we drop her for the night we get a huge gust and the top quarter rips! The massive sail billows out looking to collapse in the water. We all scramble to pull the lower section out of the water and the rest back on board. Luckily our speed has dropped and we reclaim the sail.( Swabbie is very sad his toy is broken.) Time to put up the reacher (another type of sail). We continue  on through the night at 7-8 knots. Wing on wing. We are making good time and loving the sail.

Day 4

7am enter the Timor Sea in Indonesian waters.  7:30 am Land Ho! The sillhouette of the mountains appear against the morning sky. Another hot day with wind steady out of the southeast. The tradewinds have been consistent and make sailing effortless. In the distance we spot three other reggatta boats. Our wind keeps building and by 10am our speed increases to 9-10 knots We are flying over the water.  We roll up the reacher and still we are screaming along at 10 knots with just our main. We discuss reefing  the main. (making it smaller) when we  reach our next waypoint the wind slacks off.  We decide not to reef. Our SOG(speed over ground) is still 8-9knots. We are getting a nice push with the tide. We sailed over 490 miles  on a beam reach averaging 8knots. Warm breezes and sunshine during the days with star studded evenings.  We arrive at Kupang, Timor in Indonesia at 2pm.

Salemant Jalan!

Captain Molly

and Swabbie Peter