We have arrived...

After many months of preparations we were ready to take off for Indonesia. The immigration process if very different to when leaving by boat almost resort like.

Everyone arriving for the customs clearance. A bit different!!!

The clearance - very relaxed !

 We left our safe anchorage after saying good-byes to friends we have made in Darwin and proceeded to the start line of the Sail Indonesia Rally. The Australian customs visited us unexpectedly with couple of very cuddly sniffer dogs and gave us an all OK to leave the shores of Australia on this unbelievably HOT day.

Last minute visit from customs

Drug specialist and firearms specialist

Not always comfortable because of rough weather still excited

to see the land after 3 days and nights

The all important flags. On the left Newhaven sail club burgee polish flag signifies that there is a polish crew member on board. On the left a yellow flag meaning that we need customs clearance and indonesian curtesy flag

"Men at work"

We believe to be the first to have crossed the line : )) The weather forecast was not the best with high wind warning.Some yachts decided to leave later.Robert was happy with the expected conditions.The crossing was at times uncomfortable and overall smooth - to the credit of Robert's meticulous attention to detail.We all participated in watches and arrived in Kupang safely after 3 days and 3 nights. A small electrical fault delayed us  somewhat.
What proceeded later was an unending paperwork with amazing amount of smiles to allow us entry to Indonesia.All so well organised. Robert was a bit of celebrity as apparently he looks like one of the actors from the movie "Renegade" so all the immigration officers wanted a picture with him.Funny really.

Starting our land clearance and "Bobby's" momenta of fame

The 16 tables...

Our arrival day was a lot of things...full of anticipation,amazement at this place so full of hustle and bustle, meeting friends-everybody is your friend here,the scenery,the money - well hard to imagine that we paid 85 000 for dinner at the local market with the rooster watching our moves...all that and more.
We have all had an amazing time so far and will share it with you as often as we can. It might be more of a picture story from now on only I have lost all the pictures I have downloaded over 2 hours and than lost them as the power went off.Sorry. We might have to wait until we get to Bali.

Cape Don to Darwin - delayed due to network coverage

Pay attention to the line on the sea surface - tide change

Relaxing in the early afternoon at Cape Don

 17th June  Arrived in Cape Don early afternoon to enjoy a little rest before our -we thought than second last stop before we reached Darwin.Cape Don is a tricky place in terms of very strong tides that are actually visible on the sea surface. There are time of the day when the currents can reach up to 6 - 7 knots and that meant that we had to be well informed and very certain of our moves. The position of Cape Don is also a little tricky with reefs and rocks on both sides which leaves little space to manoeuvre the boat. Our plan was to leave during the dark hours around 4 am to get the best tide configuration to get us to the next place - Hotham.
Knowing that we would be sailing trough a very narrow passage full of rocks and reef Robert decided to sail trough it during the day which meant that we would have clear line to follow on the GPS in the dark.

Looking tired at 4 am...our last night sail before reaching Darwin

That was indeed a brilliant idea and one that helped enormously. The plan worked in part.The tide was much stronger than anticipated and it swung the boat very strongly sometimes 90 degrees from side to side. I was getting a little concerned and in situation like this we both had to stay focused and alert. That is where experience comes in handy necessary. It can be very disorientating when faced with a situation like this at night.Robert decided to use much more power and just power trough the short stretch. IT WORKED ! The rest of the sail was reasonably fast that day so much so that a decision was made to continue to Darwin as the tides were absolutely perfect for this.

Pay attention to the colour difference...that is tide change.
 Tides are very strong around this area.

Once we entered the light blue water we have slowed down quite considerably.

We were hoping to reach Darwin before dark as it is a large port with reasonable traffic - just like your city traffic. We much preferred not to do it at dark.Well it did not quite worked out like that. As we were approaching Darwin the Northern Territory sky welcomed us with the most amazing colours at sunset - so appropriate for this part of the world. We had our way point worked(this is like your map points) out so that we knew where we were going to anchor for the night. All was going well and than Robert decided to stop/slow the boat as he could not match what he saw on GPS with visuals. After working trough all the markings again it was a matter of marina being tucked in behind land which gave different visual impression.

Tinker tired and being supportive. Got into a little trouble for taking pictures.
This was a self portrait.

Robert working out the confusion in the middle of the port

This is the very first we could see of Darwin.Fires burning.

Just look at the welcome sunset The Northern Territory has put on for us.

Absolutely brilliant colours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and so NT

We arrived in Darwin at Fannie Bay which is the most popular anchorage on the 18th of June. There was another little dilemma to contend with before we anchored in total darkness. Not even one boat had anchor lights on! We were not sure if that was a NT rule and it made it difficult to find our way around all the invisible to us anchored boats very difficult. The city lights made it more difficult too. Our friends from Night Rider assisted.BIG THANK YOU. We celebrated the end of a long journey with some champagne and salami being really pleased with ourselves and our achievement. We still had to move to the marina in the morning. It was not exactly a breeze. There were boats  triple mored (parked) in the channel ( that is like  triple parking a car in the middle of a busy road ).Some of these boats swayed around.Not exactly a perfect picture.

Darwin welcoming us - on the way to marina

Have a look at the big boat supposedly owned by Gerald Depardieu
and compare the size to Golden Legend.

The marina lock from the outside. It looked very narrow and it was very narrow.
The lock keeps the water from flowing out of the marina
therefore keeping the water in the marina at a certain depth.

We made it to the the lock. This was our first experience with a lock. The friendliest lockmaster with his companion a little dog with the presence of a man guided us trough the process which I found nerve wrecking. We finally arrived and even managed to get in to a very tight 15m berth with a 17.5m boat.

Port Essington - delayed due to network coverage

Hmm...sailor's warning.Not comfy!

Monday 14th of June  Leaving our great memories and new made friends behind today it almost feels sad. It has been such an amazing trip and an amazing journey so far. Each island and each new place we see or visit are like different worlds. Some we like a lot and wish we could stay longer others we are ready to leave as soon as the morning comes and the sun rises. The day started with a red sky today which is sailors warning as we are making our way to Coburg Penninsula 11 Degrees 21.49 and 132 Degrees 52 and than to Port Essington 11 Degrees 13.47 and 132 Degrees 05. 97 in 20 knot winds and very unasonable swells. Three "Sea Musketeers" on the move again. Wonder what the next few days adventures will bring for us all?

Hot cup of coffee on the go in our sailing cup

After a quick and uneventful stay at Malay Bay we sailed comfortably to Port Essington(15th and 16th June) a large inlet.

Port Essington views with that amazing"red"coloured soil

Stop - Victoria Ruins

It was the site of an early attempt of the British to start trade with Asia much like Singapore. It now exists as a remote series of ruins of what is now left of the idea. Interesting as all that has happened in the 1800's.
We decided to visit what is known as the Victoria Ruins.With our calculations it was going to be a 4 hours round trip ( Port Essington is verly long  indeed ).So why take 3 boats when we could have more fun on one not to mention the depth issue.We need more water on Cognac than a catamaran.So we all assembled on "Night Moves" again and off we went.

View from the edge

We walked all the way up to that edge...
and have not realised that we stood on the edge

Scenery was breathtaking and the day perfectly HOT. We arrived at the Victoria Settlement not knowing what to expect.We even thought that maybe there were opening hours with an entry fee. No entry fees just another warning of crocodiles and a path. "Bobby" was our leading scout checking the "turf" and making sure all were present.
The ruins were larger that we expected. There were many separate buildings scattered around over a reasonably large area.There were private houses a hospital nurses quaters a store couple of wells cemetery and much more.

We wondered about the fireplaces...
Would one ever need one here?

Private homes

From memory that was part of hospital

We walked trough this part very very quickly...croc land

Convict markings on bricks

This place was certainly very remote very hot and we were wondering how anyone could have survived here. Indeed they have not. Most of them died of malaria and some managed to leave. The English government did not support the small collony it sort of left it there. Interesting who would sign up for this experience. In today's world this experience would probably be called "Survivor" and screened once weekly with 1 million prize. So long ago  was it a way of life or a chance one took to advance in life or circumstances? Interesting. Imagine what it would have been like here -  heat all possible sea creatures to harm crocodiles no electricity and totally remote...hmm.We were certainly ready to "take our hats of" for all those who lived here.

Stunning views

There was yet another very low fly over visit from the customs. Really great to know that someone is always watching over us.

Customs helicopter looking over us

and more

SOUTH GOULBORN ISLAND visit to Warrui community- delayed due to network coverage

Approaching South Goulbourn in the glistering sun-amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Spectacular ochre coloured cliffs.

13 th June After a spectacular sunrise send off from King River and catching an early morning fish we sailed in 25 knots of wind to South Goulbourn Islands 11 degrees 40.34 and 133degrees 21.01.  With an invitation from Ralph one of the elders of the Aboriginal owned land and home to Warrui community we approached the island in the glistening sun - breathtaking view!

We were welcomed by horses feeding on the hills - most unexpected.Apparently these horses are wild and are the direct ancestors of World War I.They fend for themselves and are eaten occasionally when the locals have a feast like a funeral etc.The other welcoming party were our friends we met in King River.It was truly lovely to be expected and welcomed. They have extended us incredible hospitality for which we are very thankful.We were picked up from the beach and transported in a police car(the type with bars) to the Warrui community of some 300 people with school medical centre supermarket art gallery( which was closed and apparently well worth a visit) and a police station.

Warrui is a "dry" community meaning there is no alcohol allowed on the island at all.There are severe fines for anyone who breaks this rules.The Aboriginal people in the community were all very friendly and pleasant.The womenn children and dogs were shopping in the local supermarket where we were welcomed to shop as well.We did not expect to see a supermarket in this remote area.The way this supermarket was set out was a bit different.There were prompters on all products which were "not healthy" to say - "This food will make you fat" The price would also reflect this.One small chocolate was $5.90 and 1kg of prime beef around $12-.

Our transport...with a smile from all

Our friends awaiting our arrival

The local people have different lifestyles to ours.They fish in the dark of the night catch turtles and dugongs( large dugongs are around 500 kg mammals looking a little like very cuddly swimming elephants). Actually they hunt dugongs on a moonless night each month and than have a community feast. They do not sleep at night. Women don't have strong maternal instincts and children are taken care of by the "family" They live to about 46 years of age- women a little longer.

Lifestyle in the Northern Territory is quite unique.To add to the hospitality we were gifted some wonderful fish by the "fish whisperer" who relaxes by fishing and will catch a fish where other's can not.In the evening we extended our hospitality and spent a pleasant time with great company and great tales.We also met the smallest resident Taco the cutest dog very proudly sporting his crocodile skin collar.

Everything is clearly marked

Thank you all on the island your hospitality is something we will remember for a long time to come.Strangely enough it felt like a home.

Pleasant circumsatnces

It was the most amazing and unexpected sight.

Going to Cognac

Local kids swimming and laughing until they saw a large group of fish fly

it was out of the water and fast....