Tiare Taporo III across the Savu Sea - Kupang, W. Timor to Rinja Is. Lat. 08 degrees 47.2' S Long. 119 degrees 39.0' E

We arrived here at the south side of Rinja Is. at 1100 today - it is now 1500. We are anchored in the passage between Pulau Nusakode and Rinja. It was a passage of 237 nautical miles and we covered it in 48 hours. An average speed of 4.93 knots which isn't bad considering that we had very little wind at the latter end of the passage and adverse currents at various stages. The tidal phenomenon is interesting. The tidal effects of the Indian Ocean and Timor Sea extend all the way to Indonesia and then rip through the passages (Selats) between the islands although the tidal range isn't huge up here. These tidal currents occur well out to sea as well and can impede or help to the tune of up to 2 knots which is significant when one's average speed is around 5 knots!!
A blow by blow account of the passage follows:
Day 1 (15/08) - said goodbye to "Poco Andante", "Capricorn Dancer", "Troutbridge" and "Calypso" and at 1100 motored away from Kupang with mixed feelings on a course of 284 true. We had had a very bad experience there where we could easily have lost the boat (had we not been on board) when "Kielba" dragged down on top of us and of course had all our various mechanical problems to sort out. On the other hand we met some great people both locally and off other boats. However, we must single out Matthew Tegger our diesel mechanic. He was a tower of strength and not only solved our fuel problem, but also temporarily repaired our windlass. He's been repairing various outboards as well and has a complete engine rebuild to do on one boat after their engine seized when it lost all its oil. Thank you Matthew. We hope we meet again. The other problem that we have is that our dinghy was trashed by local kids while on the beach at Kupang and so we must try to purchase another. We will probably leave the boat for a few days in the marina on Lombok and go to Benoa on Bali to do just that. In the meantime we are dinghyless which is cramping our style somewhat.
Anyway, back to passage making. We were supposed to have easterly quarter winds of around 8 knots but in fact the wind blew from the SW which meant we were on the wind for the first time for many a long day and we had a very pleasant sail in flat seas. A better angle than off the wind for this old girl. Then that night the wind started increasing so that it was necessary to reef the main! Later it increased still further so we finished the night with a double reefed main. Just how wrong can forecasts be.
Day 2 (16/08) - in the early hours the wind started dropping to below 10 knots so, as we needed to make power and water, we started the engine which ran faultlessly. At 0900 the wind started again from the SE this time so began sailing. Then later in the day the wind dropped again and an adverse tidal current was affecting us so on with the iron sail once again. As sunset approached we could see the south coast of Pulau Flores with some very majestic volcanic cones floating above the clouds. Very mystical and Balihai'ish!
That night picked up 2 ships on the AIS but neither a problem. We saw no local fishing boats - lit or unlit. However, no doubt that's a treat in store.
Day 3 (17/08) - feeling excited as the our ETA Rinja was now in sight. Both feeling very tired after all the exertions of Kupang as well as anxiety about the engine, but on that score we needn't have worried. We motored from the previous day all the way into Rinja. As the dawn came up the western end of Flores was clearly visible to starboard. Very rugged country with deep water (hundreds of metres) close inshore. Indeed all the way across the Savu Sea we had water depths well in excess of 2,500 metres. The volcanic nature of Indonesia was very apparent with many extinct (we hoped!) cones obvious. We carried on past the western end of Flores and soon saw Rinja looming up ahead. There is a horseshoe shaped channel between Rinja and Nusakode and we entered the eastern end at 1100. We had had a 2 knot current against us as we approached which lengthed things out somewhat. A very narrow entrance with over 100 metres water depth. Thank heavens for chart plotters once again although we noted that the chart plotter wasn't accurate here - up to 200 metres in error. The old adage about never coming into strange anchorages at night is so true. Only about 2 miles from there around the horseshoe corner to the anchorage where we thankfully managed to drop the anchor on sand clear of the rocky bottom. A cold beer and a siesta was then very much in order although Jean insisted on doing the washing first!
Nusakode reminded us very much of Kaikoura Is. on Great Barrier near Auckland. Very rugged and steep with a deep channel around 2 sides. Quite uncanny. It's blazingly hot here but the anchorage is delightful in 10 metres.
Tomorrow slight change of plan. We will go to Labuan Bajo on the western end of Flores - about 35 miles from here as we don't have a dinghy and we can probably get a ride ashore and go and see some Komodo dragons on a guided tour. After that we will coast hop ahead of the rest of Sail Indonesia to Lombok where hopefully we can organise a dinghy and final repairs to the windlass.
Keep watching this space........
Cheers and lots of love from us
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Rinja Is.
Indonesia.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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