Cruising on Diomedea

Diomedea is a Van de Stadt Tasman 48. The name is the species name of the Wandering Albatross of the Southern Ocean.

24 October 2016
26 September 2016 | UK
18 September 2016 | UK
07 September 2016 | Crinan Canal
07 September 2016 | Craobh haven
31 August 2016 | Isle of Rum, Scotland
31 August 2016 | North and South Uist, Outer Hebrides
31 August 2016 | Skye, Scotland
31 August 2016 | Sinzig, Germany
31 August 2016 | Plockton, Scotland
31 August 2016 | Outer Hebrides
03 August 2016 | Loch Fionsbaigh, South Harris
30 July 2016 | North Uist island, Scotland
30 July 2016 | Isle of Rum, Scotland
30 July 2016 | Isle of Mull, Scotland
30 July 2016 | Jura Island, Scotland
30 July 2016 | Belfast, Northern Ireland
30 July 2016 | Bangor, northern ireland
21 July 2016 | 55 57.75'N:05 54.55'W
15 July 2016

Bali

15 October 2014 | Lovina Beach, North Coast
Wet and wild! Diomedea dropped her mooring at 0400hr, leaving the stillness of Medana Bay for the fierce Selat Lombok. We soon found ourselves beam reaching into 25-30 knots from the south with three reefs in the main and only half the jib and still zipping along. The moon laid down a path for us to follow through the spray, swells and waves. By 0550 the sun was beginning to rise over the flanks of volcano Rinjani astern and its red glow brought into view the stunning symmetrical cone of the volcano Agung on the eastern side of Bali. At 3100m high this peak is very sensual in its curves, but of course occludes the wind flow. As we entered its lee it was time for the diesel and in fact we motored the entire north coast of Bali in calms, heading for Lovina Beach (08 09.556’S 115 01.302’E). The anchorage is quite open to the north but holding was excellent in 17m sandy bottom. Mild sea breezes came and went during the day, and the night had some offshore land breeze. Lovina is a tourist destination but is quite understated compared to reports one receives about Kuta beach in the south. There are a number of restaurants including the very excellent Spice Beach Club with its tourquoise and white themed livery and staff uniforms. Su at Shop 7 on the beach successfully relieved us of the burden of cash by selling us some nice batik shirts. Boat boys came out in their spider boats, here made of fibreglass. We were initially greeted by Peter Pan, then his brother’s boat Full Power. Many other fanciful boat names were seen and indeed the fleet was vast, transporting westerners to snorkelling, dolphin watching etc. Our boat boy Daman brought us diesel (solar), petrol (benzin), bananas (pisang), laundry (laundry), and provided a below the waterline scrub for the hull ($50 for 3 guys for 2 hours or so). The town of Lovina beach has commemorated the dolphins in a kitschy monument and there is even a dolphin gate through which traffic enters the town. About 15km east is the large town of Singaraja with a Carrefour supermarket and many other facilities. One always thinks of Bali as being a cheap destination for yobbo Australians but in the north this did not appear to be the case, although admittedly the season was well advanced. We decided to take a vehicle south for a day tour of the island to sample the Australian tourist factor elsewhere. A conscious decision was made to avoid Denpasar and the south coast. Our driver and his nice air conditioned car were hired for $60 for the entire day and it worked out very well. Up and up we went over a pass to a cluster of three lakes probably at about 1000m altitude before we descended toward the large southern plains of Bali. Along the way we stopped at the fascinating Coffee Break establishment to sample a wide range of coffees and teas. This included the remarkable Luwac coffee. The processing of this particular blend initially involves feeding coffee beans to a mongoose. The mongoose eats them and excretes them whole in its faeces. The scats are collected and the beans harvested and cleaned. They are then roasted, ground, and served in the usual manner. Reputedly the pre-processing of the bean renders the flavour exquisite and makes the product the most expensive coffee in the world. Did we try it? Of course. Was it worth $20 for a 200gm bag? No. In fact the flavour was very mild and the caffeine content low so for us hardened Mosmanites it was really anticlimactic. Nonethless, their other coffees were excellent and again our wallets were strip-mined by this effieient organisation. Our journey took us further south to the bustling arty town of Ubud. This place was definitely a tourist trap and was absolutely chockas with western women. Perhaps driven by the eat-pray-love thing or the quest for the ultimate spa or alternative health treatment we cannot say, but they were pounding the pavements in search of enlightenment. We did not linger in the town but did go to the interesting Neka museum of Balinese art (HYPERLINK "http://www.museumneka.com"www.museumneka.com) established by Suteja Neka in the late 70’s. Works from local and European artists are on display and it is definitely worth a visit. A Dutch painter, Hofker, was quite taken with the naked Balinese female form and he had produced a real homage to same. One work though, painted by another European chap, featured a naked pubescent girl in a sensual pose. Such works I imagine would not be hung in Australian galleries today, and the artist presumably would be hunted down by the AFP. We left Ubud and its countless wood carving shops behind and headed north toward volcano Agung. The road wound up through beautiful rice paddy terraces to crest the pass at 1600m at the village of Kintamani. We lunched with a clear view of Agung and other volcanos, one of which had had a moderate eruption 9 years ago. A large crater lake some km long was also seen. Kintamani also was home to a fascinating Hindu temple in which devotees were actively engaged in their rituals. A loud 30 strong musical ensemble consisting entirely of tympani provided a noisy backdrop. Finally it was the endless descent down the ridge to Singaraja before heading back to Lovina. All in all a great day. Bali is quite different in its religious makeup compared to other islands that we have visited. Whilst there are some mosques, Hindu temples predominate and in fact every house has some sort of Hindu ornaments, be they simple puja offerings to the gods, or more elaborate private shrines. Some private temples occupied acreages! Little umbrellas and other comforts were provided for the god statues in the temples. The ethos being that if you give something spontaneously to your gods they will in turn give you something back. Our Hindu driver dreamt that one day his sect would dominate Indonesia and presumably supplant the Muslims for whom he definitely expressed some intolerance. Dream on.
Vessel Name: Diomedea
Vessel Make/Model: Van de Stadt Tasman 48 See Pix here http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diomedea/index.php?show=gallery&aid=7118&p=1
Hailing Port: Sydney
Diomedea's Photos - Main
40 Photos
Created 22 November 2015
20 Photos
Created 8 October 2015
34 Photos
Created 18 September 2015
7 Photos | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 12 July 2015
11 Photos
Created 12 July 2015
1 Photo | 8 Sub-Albums
Created 8 June 2015
5 Photos
Created 18 May 2015
32 Photos
Created 17 May 2015
69 Photos
Created 20 March 2015
47 Photos
Created 5 December 2014
14 Photos
Created 5 November 2014
Diomedea's Cruise through the Indo archipelago
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 27 August 2014
40 Photos
Created 25 June 2014
Diomedea cruises to NZ
1 Photo | 25 Sub-Albums
Created 3 May 2013
11 Photos
Created 23 April 2012
1 Photo | 13 Sub-Albums
Created 11 January 2011
8 Photos
Created 19 October 2010
Various destinations
6 Photos
Created 19 April 2010
6 Photos
Created 6 April 2010
3 Photos
Created 6 April 2010
Compass Adjustment 2010
8 Photos
Created 21 March 2010
A visit to this yacht.
5 Photos
Created 19 February 2010
Cruising over Christmas
10 Photos
Created 11 January 2010
Some photos of Diomedea sailing
27 Photos
Created 7 October 2009
4 Photos
Created 24 September 2009
9 Photos
Created 7 September 2009
64 Photos
Created 28 August 2009
75 Photos
Created 9 August 2009
2 Photos
Created 14 July 2009
Diomedea gets the big makeover
51 Photos
Created 13 July 2009
4 Photos
Created 17 April 2009
12 Photos
Created 7 April 2009
6 Photos
Created 8 March 2009
18 Photos
Created 14 December 2008
4 Photos
Created 4 October 2008
1 Photo | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 27 September 2008
1 Photo | 9 Sub-Albums
Created 12 August 2008
1 Photo | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 15 June 2008
In Tonga
6 Photos | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 14 May 2008
Doing stuff in the Bay of Islands
2 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 27 April 2008
Fun night at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron prior to departure
13 Photos
Created 27 April 2008
The action shots whilst Diomedea is on passage to New Zealand
13 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 27 April 2008
Photos of the Ship of Steel
12 Photos
Created 28 March 2008