Horn Island – Darwin, August 2024
The 750 nautical miles passage from Horn Island to Darwin, crossing the super shallow Gulf of Carpentaria, ranked as one of our most unpleasant, with a hideously confused sea state making life aboard fairly miserable. Sailing mostly dead downwind, we covered the distance in 5 days, with a very brief stop at Cape Don to time our entry into the Dundas Strait. The region experiences strong tidal streams that can run at over 5 knots, making for turbulent waters and tricky navigation. We were therefore delighted to be spat out of the strait into the sanctuary of Darwin’s main anchorage at Fannie Bay.
In contrast to our joyless passage to Darwin, we loved the city; highlights included a music festival, night markets, some cool museums, galleries, croc encounters on the Adelaide River, Litchfield National Park, and a very sweaty Parkrun.
As one of the main ports of clearance for yachts departing Australia for Asia, we got to hang out with lots of the sailing families we’ve met along the way, some of whom we’ve travelled with for over 2 years. Sadly, this meant that we also had to say farewell as our onward paths diverge. We were especially sad to say goodbye to the gorgeous Miles Aways, and the Salty Gingers.
Beer Can Regatta, Darwin, August 2024
Such was the epic-ness of this event, that it deserves its very own post.
As many of you will know, Angus is a talented and competitive athlete. Over the years he has completed some impressive sporting feats, including Ironman events, marathons, sub 17-minute 5ks, and was (briefly) the World record holder for the half marathon whilst pushing a double buggy.
None of these feats however, come close to the scale of the victory he achieved in Darwin in the Beer Can Regatta, a triathlon comprised of a swim, kayak and run.
With fellow ‘athlete’ Marcus, he rocked up 5 minutes before the start only reluctantly entering against a field of strapping young Aussie blokes in budgie smugglers. Remarkably, he dominated the field from the gun, storming home to take the Gold medal. Bringing it home for the middle-aged, British man and winning an embarrassment of prizes. I’ve never been more proud.
Darwin to Indonesia, August 2024
With the clock ticking on our Aussie visa, it was time to reprovision, fill up our water and diesel tanks, have a final flat white and head for a new continent.
With the situation deteriorating in the Middle East, our onward plans were uncertain. Reluctant to travel through the Suez canal via a war zone, and yet also not keen on the extra miles/ additional year a trip around South Africa would demand. Another option was to sell up in Asia, though the demand there for second-hand monohulls is pretty moribund. So, in true Mowzer fashion, we opted to wing it and head to Indonesia and make it up as we went along.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is composed of over 17,000 islands and is home to 280 million people. The country spans the equator, with diverse landscapes, cultures and ecosystems.
The nearest clearance port to Australia is Saumlaki on Tanimbar Island, 300 nautical miles hard on the wind north of Darwin. Another rough passage over a couple of days saw us anchoring off the fishing port alongside stilt houses and an impressive mosque. The call to prayer made for atmospheric welcome.
Bureaucracy in Indonesia is riddled with baffling obstacles, so it is not surprising that sailing there requires that you jump through multiple hoops, ones that frequently change in form without notice or explanation. Obtaining a visa prior to arrival requires IT mastery, immense patience, and a large dose of luck. Similarly, checking into Saumlaki was a day long challenge, requiring visits to the Quarantine team, Harbour Master, Customs, and Immigration. All of whom had offices in different locations, some of whom were sleeping, all requiring copies of passports, crew lists, boat ID etc in triplicate. Much stamping of documents ensued.
Once checked in we went to explore, hitch-hiking on the back of a pick-up with a gorgeous family eager to show us the sights.
The local pasars or markets were immensely vibrant, with colourful mounds of spices and fruit, unrecognisable fried things, buckets of tofu and exotic leafy veggies. Cheerful hawkers were keen to get selfies with the boys and to know where we’d come from. Semi-feral cats, chickens and the occasional obese rat further enhanced the sense of foreignness. Woolworths in Darwin felt a long way away…
Another startling observation was the amount of plastic waste – the gutters, alleys, rivers and beaches all clogged with single use plastic bags, water bottles, instant noodle wrappers and nappies. Indonesia is drowning in plastic waste – each year producing 8 million tonnes of plastic, much of which is being dumped into the ocean. Worryingly, Indonesia also imports hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste from Europe North America and Australia.
From Saumlaki, it was an overnight sail to the neighbouring island of Tual. Here we met with Hans and Lisbeth aboard DanceMe who we first met in Spain in 2021. Despite being robbed at gunpoint in Colombia and dismasted in the Pacific Ocean, their enthusiasm and positivity remains undinted as they continue their voyage back to Europe.
Just as we were acclimatising to cruising life in Indonesia, we received some worrying news from home, potentially requiring an emergency visit back to Europe. With no international airport nearby, we had no option but to leave immediately for Darwin.
A significant hazard in the seas around Indonesia are the fishing boats many of which operate at night with no navigation lights making them hard to detect. As we left Tual that night, we had two very near misses with fishing boats. The first we knew about it was the sound of an engine and under the beam of our torches, we were suddenly confronted with a wooden boat almost upon us. We took avoiding action and luckily no harm was done but it made for an unsettling passage.
Back in Darwin, we cleared customs, caught up with friends with whom we’d had a teary goodbye only a few weeks previously, and set about planning for a different future.
Sailing Mowzer 