Late afternoon winds
19 October 2011 | 03 22.929'S:127 07.286'E, Masarete - Pulau Buru
Andy
Thursday October 20 Masarete - Pulau Buru
It's a Wednesday afternoon, about 3.00pm, and I can't help thinking about friends and colleagues in Brisbane. Around this time at work, many are looking for that afternoon tim tam pick up, wondering about the wisdom of another cup of coffee so late in the day, or furiously finalising a ministerial brief, due COB. We too are looking for a chocolate lift, an Orange Kit Kat, to give us an energy boost until the anchorage. Here we were in another choppy sea, with 20-25 kt winds and waves to 2m, kicked up by the clash of wind and current. Never again would I feel restless at my office desk, right now it looked like a pretty good place to be!
The previous night, (Tuesday, one loses track of time so easily!) we had sailed/motored across a large part of the Ceram Sea. The predicted easterly had kicked in again and we had managed more than 50% sailing time. After dealing with a 30kt squall and brief rain shower at 1.30 am that sucked up all the wind, we reluctantly fired up the diesel. With the autohelm taking care of the course, Skip was happy and even had some sleep, while I did the graveyard shift, 2.30 am - 5.00 (all that practice with early mornings feeding babies comes in handy eventually!).
Even though we had had a good run, we were both feeling a bit tired, and instead of another overnight, thought we would pull in to Pulau Buru, a former prison island which had been opened up to visitors 9-10 years earlier. It was not on our CAIT (Cruising Permit) but we weren't planning to go ashore, (the dinghy was all packed up for the sea crossing anyway) and figured we could explain we needed a rest if asked by any authorities. Even so, it would be another tight arrival, ETA 7.00 pm!
And now here we were, heading straight into the teeth of a consistent wind, as it rushed towards the thunderstorm building to our stern. As advised by the Sailing Directions, showery weather occurs frequently during much of the year in the Ceram Sea, and the direction of the wind is much affected by the islands. The Selat Manipa (Manipa Strait) has strong currents, as we were finding out, with some small boats preferring to use the Selat Kelang to the east when continuous winds caused a high sea. Would we be considered a small boat, should we have taken the other strait?
The chocolate perked us up, and we decided to head on to Masarete, even with the after dark arrival. Rounding Tanjung Karbau seemed to take forever, but finally we were in Teluk Kayeli, and the winds started dropping. With GPS and Max Sea to guide us we motor/sailed slowly towards the Kayeli Roads, looking for the mud/sand anchorage promised by the sailing directions. We turned parallel to the shore, and in the rapidly fading light we could just pick out a jetty and Indonesian boat - no jetty noted in our guide! Skip Tone wanted 15 metres, but with what sounded like excited yelps coming from the shore, I lost my nerve and asked him (politely, he is the Captain after all)to settle for 20 metres. The reassuring pull of the anchor grabbing at 7.10 pm and the silence as I cut the diesel signaled another safe harbor reached.
Cruising Note: Drying reef on E side of the Kayeli Roads Bight well marked on Max Sea and our GPS, but not visible due to late arrival - final anchor in 17m - nice calm anchorage, no drag. Jetty extends out approx 50m at eastern end of the bay. Not shown on our current satellite photos.