Passage from Thursday Island, Australia to Debut, Indonesia…. Keeping “Storm” close!

The weather and swell looked good for an early morning departure on Saturday on July 21st from Thursday Island, Australia….10-15 knots of wind from the SE with gusts up to 20 knots.   We left with 3 other boats: 2 participants of the Sail 2 Indonesia rally (SV Starry Horizons and SV Storm of Lynton) and Thom on SV Fathom who was headed to Darwin, Australia.  We anticipated downwind sailing the entire 675 miles and estimated it would take us about 4-5 days at the most going about 6 knots per hour.

SV Storm of Lynton – However….early into the passage we were hailed by SV Storm of Lynton (SV Storm) who said they were taking on water and had a tear in their jib/head sail.   We discussed them turning back to Thursday Island but they were indecisive.  We decided to hail them on on the VHF radio (range of about 1-10 miles) every hour until they felt comfortable.  Ultimately, their bilge pump was keeping up with the water and they reduced their head sail to minimize further damage and seemed to be moving along quite nicely.  

UNTIL…the first night we got a frantic call from them stating their boom had snapped in half.  Trevor and I have never experienced this ourselves nor have we ever really discussed what we would do if our boom snapped in half…so the best thing we could do was ask if anyone was hurt, try to have them stay calm, secure any loose sheets or ropes or lines and make sure the boom was secure enough so that no more damage to the boat could happen, and if they could drop their main sail.  They confirmed all of this but could not drop the mail sail as it was stuck and it was in the middle of the night.  They decided to wait until daylight to try to unfurl the tangled mess of the lines etc.  We suggested maybe going to Darwin, Australia where they could do repairs and Darwin is well equipped with skilled labor and materials.  Heading to Indonesia, we were told that spares and materials were hard to get and that fixing boats here, for some reason, was more difficult.  We can’t make a decision for anyone else so they had to make it on their own….they decided to head for Indonesia regardless, after some rest, and so it was decided that we keep close to them.

Diesel transfer-epic fail!!! – We continued the passage staying only 4 miles from them so we could give them weather updates every morning.  We also thought it would be a good idea to get them more diesel in case they needed it.  The weather was fair and the wind was predicted to pick up the next few days but the sea state was not great….but today was a good day than any other to try to get them more fuel….what else were we doing?!

DO NOT TRY THIS!!!!

Fishing vessels and nets- If that isn’t enough excitement for you….there is more!  We had heard about fishing vessels being a problematic issue during this passage.  For well over 2/3 of the passage we were in about 150-250 feet of water…nothing deeper until we were very close to the Indonesian islands.  The fishing boats drag nets behind them and of course some of those nets get loose and float just underneath the surface for your propeller to get caught in….we call these ghost nets.  Fortunately, we found these fishing vessels well lit in the dark and generally come up on radar.  However, we found ourselves utilizing our radar during the day to spot fishing vessels miles away so we could keep our distance and charge course if need be.  The other factor was that these fishing vessels did not come by themselves….they were in huge fleets.  SV Starry Horizons said they were surrounded by 47 boats at one point…we were also surrounded twice of about 15 or so.  One day SV Storm ran over a net…to their defense, the fishing vessel was making very erratic movements, they were turning left and right and at one point headed straight for SV Storm.  We all tried to hail them on our VHF radios to see what their intentions were but there was no answer.  No damage came but it is still very unnerving to be that close.

Slow Fight sailing – For most of our passage, we were only sailing about 4 knots during the day.  We kept the main double reefed and the mizzen reefed and would use our jib sail to control our speed….mostly sailing with a wing on wing sail configuration as the wind was mostly behind us. At night, to keep a 5 knot average speed, SV Storm would crank up the engine and motor.  We were able to keep up with them just sailing…we would just let out our jib sail.  Our days were spent rolling in/rolling out our jib sail to keep SV Storm within our agreed 4 miles range.  It was the most work we have done on a passage to date…calculating our speed compared to thiers and getting the sails trimmed to keep us from turning on the engine.  Generally we just set sails and go…this was much different for us.

Making landfall and checking in – We arrived near the Kei Islands and our destination was a small village named Debut.  We were pretty much the last ones to arrive on July 26th.  Our waypoint to anchor that was given to us by the rally was way off…it was actually on an uncharted reef, but since we were late….we were given that information and was able to set anchor in 27 feel of water with no hassles… the benefit of not being the first to arrive : )

It’s been an interesting transition into South East Asia….it’s always fun.. and an adventure!  One of the most incredible qualities about sailing/cruising is the community and the willingness to help out other fellow cruisers….be it at sea or on land.  Trevor and I have been huge beneficiaries of this type of kindness and generosity over the years as we started out on our journey and it was time to pay it forward.  Andy and Leslie on SV Storm of Lynton were appreciative of the company during their passage….Leslie cried twice when we saw each other on land…I totally get it!  Just pay it forward : )

Next up…Debut…our first Indonesian village and the slight chaos of the rally….Welcome ceremonies and wonderful new foods!