It has been a fascinating journey through this lovely country. At this moment we are heading west along the coast of Sumbawa, towards a place called Badas Harbor. This will be the tenth island village we have visited. As in so many of the other places we have been there will be a Government Welcome for our rally fleet. These usually consist of performances by all the local kids, dancing, singing and generally showing off their local culture. That will consume the better part of Saturday and will conclude with a meal, hosted by the Regent or Mayor at their official residence. Details beforehand are often sketchy but for the most part it works out just fine.
Usually there is something special about each village. Badas apparently has Buffalo races, which we have been invited to participate in. Not sure if we ride the buffalo, sort of like a horse or camel. We do that on Sunday after which we will have a tour of a �"weaving village�". One thing we learned a while back (in Passar Wajo) was that all the Indonesian native costumes are made from locally woven cloth. If you want, for example a shirt, first you go to the weaver and but the fabric, then you take it to the tailor who constructs your garment. Sounds expensive, yet like everything else here it is not. I think it costs about 300,000 Rp to make a three-quarter length jacket or coat. That is about $20 USD. After the weaving village we can tour a coffee village and participate with the local populace in picking beans,
Day three there is more local cultural activity, topped off with a music party. There is an early morning tour organized to allow us to swim with the whale sharks. Apparently whale sharks are relatively docile, especially if they have another source of food. Many of us questioned the 02:00 departure for this tour, however it turns out it really is in our best interests to go along with the plan, based on the following explanation of why the middle of the night start.
�"Whale sharks are attached to the spitter boats that work through the night and when they are around one of their platforms, they feed them to keep them there for a couple of hours so you have to be there by an hour after sunrise�" Unstated is the idea that they will not be hungry therefore you will not be breakfast. Some may be wondering what a spitter boat is. Well, I have no idea but one of the unique characteristics of Indonesian fisherman is all their boats are purpose built. Many are quite bizarre looking; none have any navigation lights even though they do much fishing in the dark.
Actually, the unlit boats are not as much of a problem as we feared they would be. Some have small flashing lights, some are adorned with Christmas tree lights and most have a large, very bright torch. We do too, and what we have found is the custom is to shine your light at what you see, the fisherman will shine his light back then wave it in his direction of travel. Crude, but it seems to prevent collisions.
From our arrival in Indonesia July 13, 2022 there have been a couple of constants. The people are the friendliest and most helpful I have encountered anywhere. Everything is inexpensive at least in terms of US dollars, getting ashore is never easy, almost always involves concrete stairs that are not in good shape or something worse, which involves in-elegant moves to climb over rocks, on to temporary floating docks, etc. If not a pile of rocks it is a beach. Getting in and out of the dingy entails walking in the water, sometimes a few feet, sometimes many meters. The tidal range here is not huge, maybe a few feet, the issue with landing on a beach though is the slope of the beach often results in walking in the water for a good distance and moving the dingy and outboard back to the water when the tide has gone out. It is always a challenge and each place is different.
I did not finish this as the watch schedule had me on deck. We arrived in Badas two days ago, and decided to leave this morning, heading to Lombok. Why would we pass up swimming with whale sharks and racing buffaloes you might ask. Well, to start with when we arrived, we discovered Badas is a small commercial port which was loading or unloading three cargo vessels that were no more than 100 meters away from the anchorage area. Loud, noisy and dirty.
Next, we found out that the reason we were in Badas, and not the original destination was the local Government decided it would be so. The original destination, which is the location of the whale shark experience, is quite lovely. Anchoring is off a white, sandy beach and there would be no need to leave at 0200 to drive four hours in a bus to swim with the sharks. The first story we heard was it would be easier for the government officials to welcome us if we were in Badas. So, reason #1 for leaving is dirty harbor, and not very thoughtful government officials.
Number two. Yesterday I needed a couple of things at the store and as is normally the case the rally coordinator has arranged for English speaking local tour guides to direct us, arrange transportation if needed and help out with stuff like where is the ATM or grocery store. The local guides were at the appointed spot, a government dock which we could not use and a beach to land the dingy on. Knowing they were there; I did some stuff on the boat and headed in about 1500. No local tour guides; it turns out they left about the time I was headed in. After wondering around a bit, a young man came and asked if I needed something. Saying yes and describing my needs he came up with the idea that I would need transportation as it was a long way to the shops and ATM. More about ATMs will follow. Anyway, he arranges transportation with a guy who has a motorbike. I take a half hour ride on the back of a motor bike, do my errands, and another half hour back. Very exhilarating.
OK, ATMs and motorbikes. In virtually every place we go the first thing is to find an ATM as the entire country runs on cash (at least where we have been so far) Generally we might need 2 to 5 million Rp. Sounds like a lot, however 1 million Rp is about $65 USD, the difficulty is the ATMs dispense in 50000 Rp bills meaning for each million you have a wad of twenty bills.
Motorbikes are the main form of transport for many people. There are cars, trucks and busses sharing the road with swarms of motorbikes. You frequently see a mother with a small child in front of her, and two kids behind. We figured out the reason they are so skilled at weaving through traffic is they learn at a very young age. There are few traffic lights, few rules, few signs, no speed limit and blowing your horn is apparently the way, that you signal your intentions. The people are still lovely, and they are really good drivers.
I digress. Reason #3 is we found out the rally coordinator will not be here because of a government decision. The bottom line is we were in a place that was unpleasant, our connection to the activities and arrangements would not be here and driving eight hours to swim for a couple of hours seemed a bit much.
One personal note. Before the Covid lockdowns and stuff I was writing on a pretty regular basis. It has been difficult to get back to that and this leg of our journey is very different from what we have done before. The rally schedule has 18 different places to visit, over a four-month period, we have visited ten so far. That is a pretty busy schedule considering this journey will involve sailing a couple of thousand miles. That is not really an excuse but its all I have. More later�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�.....

We have been in Indonesia since July 14th. The first stop, Kai Island UF Mar 0d0id not look too impressive when we sailed in there at first light on the 14th. First impressions are generally found to be mostly accurate, but not this one. True, the harbor at UF Mar was initially populated with two coast guard vessels and ultimately with the 25 or so yachts participating in the rally. No other boats.

However, the lack of a marina or harbor full of boats was overshadowed by yhr Indonesian people. They are the warmest, freindliest group I have ever encountered. Most do not speak english, some do and some more profeciently than others, but the language does not matter. Everyplace you go all the people are smiling and waving and taking selfies with you. They all want to help. From the first time we landed our dingy on the beach, where there was a swarm of kids willing and eager to help to the day we departed, they were always there and always helping. Unlike some other places, not one of these kids had their hand out. They were grateful and delighted if you gave them a few Rupiah, maybe worth about a dollar. The adults were the same, always willling to help, always with a smile and their cameras.

It had been nearly three years since any visiting yachts arrived and it appeared that the arrivalmof our rally group was a very big deal. The rally organisers sent out a message inviting all the boat'screw to come to the opening ceremony. Ten AM, meet at the beack, so sounded pretty casual. Not so. There were literally hundreds of adults and kids from the town, lots of officials, and thousands of cameras. There was a fairly breif (by Indonesian standards) ceremony on the wharf, several officials spoke, most in Indonesian, but the gist of their welcome was clear. Once the Regent finished, we were told to walk down the road a bit, along with the throngs of local folks. There were a couple of dozen private cars waiting to take us in to town. That is where the big celebration was. We were off loaded from the cars and pointed towards the King's house.

Almost six hours later we straggled back to the beach, having been fed an incredible meal prepared by the local women, had performances of dancers and singers, were encouraged toi dance and sing with the locals and all had a grand time. Several of our group commented on the numbers of times they had pictues taken with the locals. I would venture to say that at a minimum 50 to 60 people asked to take photos with each one.

The opening ceremony was almost outdone by the Gala Dinner the night before our departure. Dinner and beer at Six the notice said. About 11:30 we got back to the boat. More of the same, food ,dancing, singing and many many speeches. The Regent even wrote a song and sang it for us. Of course we all had to join in. The incredible part of that event was when we went to leave.

We had all been facing towards the stage with our backs to the water. It was not until we were leaving that we realized that virtually the entire town had turned out. Again hundreds of local folks there simply to join in the singing and dancing and take more pictures.

At the moment we are sailing through the night to Banda Island, where we will spend a few days. It is one of those incredible nights, the ones that make you forget all the hassles and bad weather, simply because they are perfect. Clear skies, filled with stars, the Southern Coss to the port side and zillions of stars all around. About 15 kts of wind coming just aft of the beam, less than 1 meter seas and not anything else in sight, No local fishing boats and no commercial traffic. There is a pretty deep ocean trench just about where we are. Water is over 25,000 feet deep.

Yesterday and earlier today we encounterted about 50 local fishing boats all doing something either with nets, or long lines or traps. Interestingly, in addition to the boats we encountered black scraps of flags, flying on poles apparently marking the ends of lines of nets. We also encountered some flat, bamboo traps floating just at the surface, barely visiable. That was no place for night sailing.

Banda apparently has a bit of everything, some shops for food, internet, a bank and some restaurants. Eating out here is incredibly inexpensive. You might pay the equivalent of $10.00 USD for a good dinner. The other aspect of Banda is the extensive reefs and crystal clear water, along with the long white sandy beaches.

I am not sure what I expected to find in Indonesia, it is renowned for it's incredible natural beauty, wonderful animals, like the Komodo dragons and wild monkeys to note but two. It is also one of the best surfing spots in the world, has untold numbers of great dive sights in crystal clear water. And the people are truly amazing............More later

Three years, one month and 4 days. That is the length of our visit to this incredible country.

As I write this. we are headed out the channel from Thursday Island, into the Torres Straits. We are bound for Indonesia and will make landfall at UF Mar, in the Kai Islands. The passage will take us through the straits, into the Arafura Sea, past the coast of Papua New Guinea and into the 17,000 or so islands of Indonesia.

We are looking forward to seeing that incredible part of the world. However, some words about our time in Australia are needed. When we arrived in June, 2019 our expectation was, we would head for Indonesia in June of 2020. Clearly that did not happen for the same reason the entire world was put on hold for nearly two years.

That two-year hiatus from out travel plans sometimes feels like time stolen. We really could not see much of the country, were limited for much of the time to our little enclave in the northern beaches of Sydney. It was a great place to be stuck during the pandemic. We made friends at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, which had welcomed us with open arms. We zoomed with family and friends in the US and around Australia. I had a personal trainer at the club and could work out six days a week.

So, I am reluctant to say it was time stolen, more to the point it was time spent in ways other than cruising the world. Would we have preferred a different situation; of course. We would have preferred to be able to visit much more of this vast and rugged country. We would have preferred to spend more time in person with our friends instead of Zooming. We would have preferred lots of different outcomes, yet we lived with the hand we were dealt. All in, it was very good.

One last point about Australia. We were lamenting the issue of the expiration of our Control Permit and what would happen. There were stories about boats and people being shown the door. Our experience was different. We were treated with courtesy and understanding. Ultimately, we had no issues with getting a Port to Port Clearance which got us to Thursday Island. When we did our outbound clearance yesterday it was easy and straightforward. Australian Border Force has an entire continent to protect and they have some pretty strict laws around border security. They do an amazing job and deserve a lot of credit and respect.

It has not really sunk in that we are leaving this country, though if I look up at the chart plotter, it is pretty clear. And, I don�'t really know what to expect in Indonesia. Some thoughts are in order. We understand most of the smaller islands are not well endowed with stores, shops and services, but they do have the essentials. Maybe we are in for a simpler life for the next few months. Not a bad thing.

We know that except in a couple of places we will not be able to pull up to a wharf and take on diesel from a hose. We will need to lug jerry cans of fuel from a local station back to the boat. We have been led to believe that there are lots of eager and willing young men that will help for a few Rupiahs. When you consider that 100,000 IRDs is equivalent to $6.65 USD I am guessing it won�'t be too bad. For the next several days all we can do is speculate, when we get there, we will have a better idea. By the time we leave, we should know what the country is actually like. What a grand adventure! More later�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�....

We are well and truly on the move. We left Newport, the northern beach area outside of Sydney on April 15, 2022. Twenty-three months after the lockdowns for Covid started. I well remember the early refrains from leaders around most of the world. A couple of weeks to stop the spread etc. We all remember, how terribly wrong they all were. A disaster of human tragedy and suffering that will be remembered forever.

Got that off my chest.

We sailed north along the coast stopping most nights as it takes awhile to reacquaint one self with how to sail and what routines are used in which circumstances’ Our friend, mate really, Russ sailed with us. He flew down from his home in Bundaberg and we sailed back to his pontoon (dock) in front of his house. Russ is one of those really solid guys who can do most anything. A great sailor and an engineer by profession he is a great asset on any passage. He grew sort of fond of Bob the Cat on the trip, so when we got to his house he designed and 3-D printed a fully gimballed water bowl for his new pal.

We took advantage of his pontoon, and did some repairs to the boat. Some were regular maintenance and some were to fix stuff that broke on the trip. Example would be one of the primary electric winches had developed a water leak from somewhere. Water had gotten in the motor and destroyed a couple of bearings and seals, that required removing, rebuilding and re-installing the winch. One deferred maintenance project was our galley stove. After only 23 years, the oven and broiler had failed, one of the three burners had failed and a second was exhibiting all the signs of impending doom. An eight-hour drive to Brisbane to pick up a new one, and the return trip ate up a couple of days. Lots of other stuff needed attention and the most important got it.

A funny thing happened on the trip to Brisbane. There had been quite a bit of heavy rain in the preceding couple of weeks, causing some road closures due to slips (land slipping down slope onto the road) and flooding. Trusty Google Maps comes to the supposed rescue. I am driving along and my phone says take the next exit due to road closures ahead. Being obedient to Google I followed the instructions, and before long I am in east nowhere going along country highways. These highways start out as nicely paved 2 lane roads where the speed limit is 100 KPH. Soon the nicely paved 2 lane road starts to narrow. Some places, such as little bridges crossing creeks and small rivers there is a warning sign indicating said bridge is only wide enough for one vehicle. Yield. A bit later some of the pavement is not there, either never was paved or got washed away. Don’t know. After awhile I realize there are cows grazing in the pastures along the road, a bit later there is a strange sign, one I have never seen.

The sign says Unfenced Grazing Area-Beware of Livestock in the Roadway. I slow down as I remember my father telling a story about hitting a cow on a Vermont road one night, ruining his car, and the cow. A few miles on and I crest a small hill and there is a cow staring at me, right in the road. After giving it another look (while stopped), I realized the cow was not going to move as it was nursing its calf right in the middle of this narrow road. Took a while, but they meandered off and I got on the way.

We left the pontoon in Bundaberg on May 24th, almost a month after we arrived.

Charlene and I have been sailing the boat on this leg of the trip. Bundaberg to Cairns is about 650 to 700 nautical miles. Since our Control Permit for the boat expires June 5th, we need to be there (the need being specified by Australian Border Force) and stay put until Charlene’s friend Diane arrives June 18th. Russ is also joining us and the four will make the trip to Indonesia.

Once the whole gang is in Cairns, we will negotiate with the border force for a port-to-port clearance which will, hopefully, take us to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait with one intermediate stop. That is about 500 NM from Cairns. We will depart Thursday Island for Indonesia on July 5 or 6. Though I have not charted the course yet it is roughly 1000 NM. By the time that is complete we will have remembered all the routines that make passage making safe and enjoyable.

Pre Covid, I used to write nearly every day at sea, and frequently otherwise. My expectation is now that life seems somewhat normal, I will resume that practice. Anyone who wants to see where we are and what the weather around us is like can look at our tracking site, which is updated every hour or so. It is predictwind.com/forecasts/display/CailinLomhara
More later………………

Not having sailed the boat for a couple of years makes it imperative to think carefully about what you are doing. Tasks that were routine pre covid rely mostly on muscle memory and require a real thoughtful approach. A simple example.

When we raise the mainsail about 150 feet of line ends up in the cockpit. Yesterday after raising the sail, I coiled the line and set it down on the cabin top. When I did the same task today it occurred to me that there had been a place to put it that was both out of the way and secure. It belongs behind a console that houses the wind and navigation instruments just over the companionway. Duh! There are myriad other little things that have to be thought out.

When you have sailed the same boat for nearly 23 years mostly routines for everything have been worked out and are as easily remembered as brushing your teeth. Not so for this sailor after sitting around for two years. Even though the boat is home, not sailing takes its toll on routines and the boat. I will write more about that issue in the future.

One other item I forgot when writing last night was to remind any one interested that they can see frequent updates to our position at Predictwind.com
The full address is:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/CailinLomhara

More later�...�...�...�.....

It’s been nearly two years, waiting for countries to open their borders and it has been nearly three years in Australia. None of the world’s population has experienced anything like the Covid pandemic which not only took lives but took aa big chunk of time from many people. Enough of that, it is time to get going.
To that end we departed Sydney, or more correctly Broken Bay in the Norther Beach area, at 0800 this morning, which is Sunday April 10. We are headed to Newcastle, about 50 nm north. Since we have not sailed in two years it seemed prudent to take a short passage just to see if we remember what we are doing. It is like riding a bike, right?
We have our good friend Russ sailing with us. We met him when we first arrived in Australia in June 2019. Russ sailed the Sydney-Hobart race with us in 2019 and has sailed with us from Bundaberg south to Brisbane before the race. Could not ask for a better mate.
This is the first leg of a journey that will take us to Bundaberg, AU then on up the coast eventually to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. From there, we will sail to Indonesia with a rally to facilitate all the government clearance processes and help with language. Indonesian is a difficult language to understand if you do not speak it, and from what we understand many Indonesians speak little English. The rally leaves July 5th.
I started this earlier today while we were underway, I am finishing it anchored in Newcastle, the largest port on the east coast of Australia. From what I have seen there is a steady stream of large bulk carriers coming and going. Coal is the big export.
The passage today was interesting. Leaving Broken Bay, which is at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River and has been subject to extensive flooding over the past couple of months. The ocean water was the color of tea, with lots of debris. It was many miles before the water started to look like the ocean. There were some fierce storms late last week, so the seas were about seven feet. Fortunately, once we got out of the river, we stopped slamming and simply rolled for about nine hours. The cat was sick but she recovered after a while and now that we are anchored, she is back to being a cat.
We may leave in the morning for Coffs Harbor, a lovely place about 190 miles from here. That will involve an overnight passage, so depending on the weather we may bail out at Port Macquarie, about half the distance. Stay tuned, now that we are back to sailing and have completed a journey half way around the world I will be posting as before.
More later……