Darwin to Kupang, Indonesia 27th. July to 31st July Lat. 10 degrees 9.7' S Long. 123 degrees 34.3' E

We had our appointment for opening the lock gates at Tipperary Waters Marina at 0745 and said our final goodbyes to Keith, the Lockmaster who had been so helpful with information on Indonesian anchorages etc. Our friend, Neil had been to see us the day before and we thanked him again for making his car available to us at times. It was an invaluable help. We slipped out through the lock into Frances Bay Creek and headed for the channel buoys. No concern about water depth as the tidal range had increased to about 6 metres and the tide was coming in.
We motored around to Fannie Bay and were off there at 0900. The official "start" was not until 1100 and we were not keen to be part of that bunfight with 80 odd other boats all in close proximity. In fact there was a collision between 2 of the yachts at "start" time. So we simply kept going in a smoky haze - caused by the incomprehensible Aboriginal habit of starting large bush fires. Course 284 true. Very light winds all day so motorsailed. Darwin dropped astern in the smoke.
Day 2 28/7 - still very light wind, albeit behind us. Motorsailing but during the afternoon the wind picked up to 10 knots! Sailing with the genoa poled out on port side. Wing and wing. We are still under the influence of the strong Northern Territory tides even half way to Timor in the Timor Sea so when the tide turned in the early afternoon we motorsailed again to counteract the tide.
Day 3 29/7 - wind seemed to be slowly increasing all the time so moving somewhat better - back to 4-5 knots instead of the previous 1-3 without the motor! Using the UPS at sea for the 1st. time and we seem to be going a bit better. However, had to change back to the genoa as the wind piped up to 17 knots in the afternoon.
Day 4 30/7 - not a good day. The engine died with air in the fuel. No matter how many times Jim bled the system it would run for a few minutes and then stop again. Changed a fuel filter which wasn't necessary but even then it still wouldn't run. Helpful advice from other yachts and one - "Calypso" - even came alongside and threw us a bag containing extra fuel lines with the suggestion that we jury rig a header tank but the thought of an open 10 litre container of diesel (even lashed down) in the cabin with all the rolling we were doing wasn't an attractive one! So, we just decided that as there wasn't a huge distance to go (53 miles to our first waypoint), we would just sail - as a sailing vessel should!! But not much wind for some hours.
Day 5 31/7 - in the early hours we saw a large ship ("Ocean Swagman") on our AIS coming up astern at 17.5 knots and we were somewhat concerned until we made contact on VHF and established that they had seen us. As the dawn came up we could see Timor ahead and very relieved that the passage end was in sight. We continued sailing towards the strait (selat) between Pulau (Is.) Timor and Roti and then at 0900 turned to starboard for the 15 mile sail up the strait. By then the wind was increasing and for the rest of the 15 mile distance in Selat Roti we fair screamed along - over 7 knots at times. Very deep water over 200 feet. Passed a couple of other rally yachts as we hooned along. Tiare (or "Reflections of Wellington" as she was then) was reliving her old racing days in Cook Strait out of Wellington!! We enjoyed the sail which would have been good if we were just out for the day, but with the ocean passage just behind us and what was to come we were KNACKERED!!! We also could not come head to wind to reef the main as we had no working engine so just had to continue hooning along.
However, the real sailing test was yet to come because we had arranged to be towed into the anchorage as we had no engine. We had to tack as the wind was starting to head us and then came around the point before the anchorage. We had to beat out to sea to come abreast of where the other yachts were and then came around onto port tack as the wind built to over 30 knots!! We had thought we were arriving in windless Indonesia. We furled the genoa on the way in but still couldn't slow the old girl down. Anyway we came head to wind to allow someone from another boat to come on board to help Jean with the main and then continued in. As we approached the outer part of the anchorage we were told to drop the anchor after the main was doused which we did. But, it turned out to be in 35 metres of water and we only carry 100 metres so not a very good scope ratio. It was very choppy with a big swell and we were very unhappy with our situation. We were soon to become very much more unhappy. An Australian 56' yacht upwind of us with no-one on board suddenly started to drag down towards us. This has never happened to us before and it is somewhat terrifying as the drama all unfolds in slow motion and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. If we'd had an operative engine maybe we could have manoeuvered sideways but of course we did not have an engine on call. For a few seconds we thought there was a chance she would drag across our bows and come clear on our starboard side but as she came across she started closing the gap and we were then trying to fend off a much bigger yacht than us in 30 knot winds and at least a 1 metre swell. As she rose and fell on the waves she struck us several times. It was a highly dangerous and fraught situation with huge potential for serious injury. We'd both been up since the small hours and then had sailed in strong winds for some hours and were not equipped mentally or physically for this horrendous situation. Fortunately Jim had put out a distress call over the Sail Indonesia net on VHF 77 and so as she moved down our side several dinghies appeared with powerful motors. They managed to force her away from us otherwise our solar panel and our self steering gear on the stern would certainly have been smashed. It was a very close thing. They then managed to board her and let out more chain which took her clear. Then we had the almost certain situation where her anchor chain would have been across ours and maybe the anchors entwined as well. We ended up quite traumatised as you could imagine. Jim went onto the VHF again and lambasted Sail Indonesia for using Kupang as a rally anchorage. He said it was highly dangerous and should never be promoted as a rally stop - much less for clearing in. These comments are absolutely true and will be repeated on other cruising websites. We then spent a very anxious and sleepless night which was exactly what we did not need after the days we'd had.
Several cruisers who could not mind their own business took issue with Jim's comments and he publicly called one cruiser's comments "BOLLOCKS"!!!! All good stuff.
Day 6 01/08 - come daylight we were still in the same place and the wind had dropped so it was decided that "Kielba" (the boat that dragged down on us) would pick up their anchor first while Gene from an American boat ("Reflections") was lashed alongside us as a tug in his dinghy. The help we had just blew us away and was so much appreciated. Fortunately "Kielba" eventually picked up their anchor without dragging ours up with it and so we began the laborious process of hauling in 90 metres of chain and anchor which severely taxed our windlass. It came up in the end much to our relief and Gene towed us further inshore where we are now. Much more sheltered and a reasonable 7 metres to re-anchor in. It turns out that Simon (the owner of "Kielba") is a diesel mechanic and he has offered to sort our engine problem. He and his wife Kim and young son Jolyn are very pleasant people and it was not their fault that the dragging incident occurred. Just one of those things and probably the result of their anchor landing on a pile of plastic bags and clothes which litter the bottom here. Our damage is yet to be properly assessed but at this stage appears to be limited to a broken top lifeline, a displaced pin rail and a bent stanchion aft. Possible damage to standing rigging but that is much more difficult to assess. We will just have to treat the rig carefully until we are at Bali where there are rigging facilities.
In the midst of all this we still had to clear Indonesian Customs and after we had re-anchored we had a visitation from 6 or 8 officials. Customs, quarantine and immigration. We had been well briefed and told to have heaps of copies of all documents. Boat registration, crew list, passports, vaccination certificates, etc etc. The vaccination certificate was a real hoot because Jean had hers from her visit to India 12 years ago and all official looking in its bound book. They carefully examined it and were really impressed. Anything which has an official look about it and lots of official rubber stamps goes down a treat. We were constantly asked whether we had a boat stamp and when we said no, they were most disappointed. We will get one made however because this country and others run on the remnants of their colonial heritage and the Dutch appear to have done a good job of building up a bureaucracy steeped in the past - pre computer. Our cruising permit issued in Jakarta looks as though it was typed on a really ancient typewriter. They love paper and stamps it seems. After the visitation aboard we then had to go ashore and virtually go through the whole process again moving around a U shaped arrangement of tables giving out copies of everything again. Towards the end it became quite hilarious with Jean having them in fits of laughter!!
Kupang is a city at the southern end of Timor and from what we have seen so far is a dusty collection of ramshackle buildings. Getting ashore on the beach is not fun as there is a swell running which almost capsized our little dinghy. However, once ashore the beach boys come running and hold the dinghy while you jump out in the surf. They then carry it up the beach. 50,000 Rupiahs (approx. NZD6-7) for looking after the dinghy all day and ensuring nothing gets stolen! Teddy's Bar is the rally watering hole and is somewhat expensive (35,000 Rupiahs - NZD4.40) for a 600 ml bottle of local beer - Bintang - and very good. We are looking forward to checking out some other watering holes.
The next rally stop is on the island (Pulau) of Alor but due to our problems still not fixed we have decided to bypass Alor and go direct to Pulau Kawula which is the 2nd stop and will take a lot of the time pressure from us. This cuts out many miles and we don't think we will be missing much. Hopefully we'll finally sail from here in a relaxed frame of mind.
We haven't been ashore today as Simon from "Kielba" has been aboard trying to track down our engine problem. We are getting close and as this is typed the engine has been running for over an hour making water and power. Fingers crossed. It does appear that the problem (for those of you with a mechanical bent) is that the secondary fuel filter is being starved of fuel (2/3 empty) and this causes the engine to stop. Can't see why this is happening but no doubt the morrow will produce some more progress with the problem. The engine has just stopped after an hour and a quarter but will have made considerable water and power so the situation is not so fraught. Hopefully we'll sort it finally tomorrow.
Finally we must acknowledge the help we have had arising from our predicament - certainly NOT helped by Sail Indonesia. Sue on a British boat "Camomile" coordinated the help with getting us into the anchorage although it was unfortunate that we were told to anchor so far out with the consequences that have already been described. Simon from "Kielba" has been a tower of strength and has almost solved our engine problem. Gene from "Reflections" saved us from more damage in the dragging incident and others have offered their help as well. We must also mention Georg and Manuela from the German boat "Sternchen" who, along with their German Swiss friend Peter have made available a power generator which we have been using to keep our batteries up which in turn power everything on board including our refrigeration. This is what the cruising life is all about and we hope that we can reciprocate in the future. We should also mention Peter of "2XS" who typed out and copied sufficient copies of our crewlists in the nick of time. So, there are some benefits of cruising with a rally.
Well, that's it for now. Things can only improve on the morrow.
Lotsaluv from us.............
Jim and Jean xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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