21/10/2011, Selat Manipa
Night watch again, and this time I am prepared, headphones on listening to Angela Katerns and Wendy Harmer, 'Is it just me". The podcast playing is about things beeping at you, washing machines that sing songs when finished, cars that bleep you till you put your seat belt on, microwaves letting you know your dinner is ready. On night watch the autohelm also beeps, when the wind direction veers too much from the desired course, or the GPS when it loses satellite connection. So apart from the suggestive conversation about bleeping electronic devices playing directly into my brain, courtesy of ABC Radio National, I have a legitimate reason to occasionally lift the headphones and check my own world's bleeping/beeping status. An unusual squeaking -it is a bleep? - penetrates the Aussie world view to bring me back to the Selat Manipa. It's not the autohelm, and the GPS has full satellite coverage, good grief, what is that sound, should I wake Tony?
I check the sails, I know that special squeak the main halyard makes, it's not that? Crossly I replace my headphones and try to pick up where Ange and Wendy have got to, fumbling with the replay button in the dark. Damn, there it is again - a high pitched squeak, and now fully focused on the dark Indonesian night, I catch a large shape surfacing right beside the boat, out of the corner of my eye, followed by what looks to be an illuminated torpedo track coming straight for Irish Melody. My own startled squawk wakes the Skip immediately (He's been napping on deck, it's just gone 10.00 pm)and in the few seconds it takes for him to reach consciousness I realize we have not inadvertently blundered into night training for the Indonesian Navy, but have been joined by a group of beautiful dolphins, playing and surfing around the boat. Up at the bow we can see 4-5 illuminated shapes as the dolphins swerve backwards and forwards, diving beneath IM to resurface on the other side. They shimmer and shine with intense bio-luminosity, their shapes fully discernible to at least 20 metres depth, their effortless wakes in the water also shimmering. Tony and I watch mesmerized for an amazing ten minutes. Occasionally the dolphins surface to quickly grab a breath, and one of them squeaks at us each time. He/she had been the source of the unexplained 'bleeping'- re-calling me to the here and now.
We have seen many dolphins so far on this trip, a very large pod of over 50 at one stage, but never like this at night, when they are lit up so beautifully. The attached photo is of dolphins swimming at the bow during the day, we couldn't/didn't want to miss any of the magic of that night time moment by diving down into the cabin to get the camera.
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21/10/2011, Underway – to Pulau Ambon
Thursday 20 October 2011
Sailors are like farmers I've decided (an idea already had by others I am sure.) They both 'complain' about the weather - for sailors there is either too much wind, or not enough wind. For farmers, not enough rain or too much rain. Modern living has erased the need to take much notice of the weather for many of us, unless it is going to spoil a BBQ, or disrupt holiday travel plans. Rain, hail or shine we go about our day. Today the Selat Manipa, minus the continuous 20kt winds of yesterday, is calm and smooth. The light sou'easterly is taking us gently southwards, and our decision to rest overnight in Teluk Kayeli, Buru Island, has been vindicated. On passage we have the main meal of the day at lunch. I am making an eggplant/chickpea pasta dish - which should be even yummier tomorrow cold with a touch of sweet Chili Sauce (from Davao, Philippines, so sweet means sweet!). I am looking forward to a cook's lay day on Friday, unless the crew decides to guts the lot in this sitting. Just like farmers, sailors have great appetites!
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19/10/2011, 03 22.929'S:127 07.286'E, Masarete - Pulau Buru
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.
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