With the Torres Strait astern the Picton Castle is almost halfway between Vanuatu and Bali and under power, pushed along by the big Danish B&W Alpha auxiliary engine. Great sailing all the way from Santo, Vanuatu to Bligh’s Entrance. Not much sailing in the forecast to the west of the strait for now. But onward!
November 30 – The Picton Castle burst out of the Prince of Wales Channel off Hammond Island midday. We are now out of the Pacific and have dipped our keel in the Indian Ocean. The perfect and easy passage of the Torres Strait – 18 hours and caught the tides just right. No seas, light breeze, steering due west, water shallow, and hot at 83F.
December 1 – Motoring westward in no seas and no winds. Stopped the engine to slow down to haul in a fish on the line, a barracuda. Sailmaking ongoing under the awning on the main hatch, deck caulking, overhauling port forward turnbuckles, no wind, motoring same same.
December 2 – Saturday at sea. Flat glassy calm. We see occasional fishing vessels off to the north – look like longliners – and a couple big commercial ships east bound. Sailmaking gang are overhauling the sailmaking gear this morning. Clara overhauling carpentry tools as she is a trained carpenter. Amelia working on serving a piece of wire, Marie-Helene making a rope mat. Eggs getting checked and regreased by Stan and Curtis. There are a few ways of keeping eggs a long time, greasing them is one. From the weather forecasts it looks like we might motor almost the entire way to Bali from Torres Strait. Good thing we had such a nice sail from Vanuatu to Torres. Good thing we filled our fuel tanks in Santo and sailed with 19 metric tons of diesel fuel.
Turns out we have crickets aboard. The cats have dispatched a few and three have been rescued by crew and now 11-year old Dawson (with some help) has created a habitat for these three. A plastic bin with sand and shells and bits of what vegetable matter we can round up. They seem to like to eat the cat kibble dried cat food. Who knew? Well, someone does. Turns out that Zoe knows about crickets and the care of same. Dawson is quite excited about the “Cricketorium.”
Flat calm. We just passed a French yacht steaming east headed for Sydney. They said we should go to Lombok instead of Bali. We saw a small whale this afetrnoon. From time to time we see flocks of birds thrashing about a school of fish on the still surface, making a big fuss and noise. And from time to time we pass by the occasional shark fin lollygagging nearby. No flying fish since the other side of the strait but plenty dolphin jumping. This afternoon a tiny swell has made up, Maybe 6″ and maybe 8-12 feet apart. This from no swell at all. Past by Wessel Islands to our south – too far away to see.
December 3 – A bit cloudy today. Passed an east bound HUGE cruise ship bound for Cairns. This means she must pass through the strait and head down the east coast of Australia for a bit. She was making 22 knots. An east bound tug headed for Port Moresby. Caught a small skipjack. For reasons we cannot fathom a substantial 4-6 foot swell made up from the south for a couple hours, with no wind nor any wind near here. Then it faded. One wonders. Bali discussion this afternoon. Lots to see and do in Bali. I just love it there. We set some sails in very light breezes to have the engine off for a couple hours.
December 4 – Hot, sunny, off Melville Island, Northern Australia 20 miles to port but lost in haze. Had our first flyby of Australian coastal patrol this morning. All very friendly. The plane flew over us low and along our port side coming in from the west. Gave us a call on the VHF radio, asked where we were coming from, where bound and where registered. We told them. Said thanks and wished us a good passage. Dan working on deck planks and caulking, Amelia learning engine checks, Lyra parcelling and serving footropes, Ollie and Clara overhauling port forward rigging screws, Line and Julian overhauling bits and pieces of the faithful Lunenburg Foundry hand powered anchor windlass, the last one ever built new for a sailing ship I think. Kate, Violet and Danielle scraping down long neglected turned oak main fiferail stantions before varnishing. Rachel sewing away on a topsail. Tammy working on accounts in the messroom. Dawson looking after the “Cricketorium” after school. Alex and Lyra playing backgammon in the shade under the quarterdeck. Zoe, Sophia, and Mike reading in the shade as we motor along towards the magical isle of Bali.
December 5 – Aujourd’hui, c’est la meme chose…
December 6 – Passed a couple of oil rigs last night. Some supply boats hovering about. Still no wind – and its hot – water is 87.6 degrees F. About 650 miles to go now. Today seeing Indonesia wooden built long-liner fishing boats. Colourful things. A couple steam by close – to get a look at us I suppose. Sailmaking continues, fiferails getting the first varnish since the Covid years. Bosun Line leading the big windlass overhaul getting finished. Forward turnbuckles feeling lots of love. Plenty small rigging jobs going on – Lyra and Alex working on a piece of wire. Good meals come out of the galley every day. Dan doing some nice plank repairs. The smell of pitch heating reminds me of the days working at the shipyard in Grenada under Bones and with Fitzroy, the Bristol brothers, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Steele, Joe and Mandrake Cox. All fine gents and shipwrights and caulkers who put up with me as a young guy. Dawson getting rigging lessons from Liam. Tammy doing accounts after doing Dawson’s school in the morning. Cats got a soapy bath. Didn’t like it much but seem to like being clean again. Clean and fluffy after rolling around in grease and tar. Another discussion on Bali this afternoon. To be followed by a special announcement. Donald cooking up a bunch of fish for tonight – a skipjack, a barracuda, and a parrot fish.
December 7 – Steering WxN. 26 miles due south of Pulau Rote. 480 miles to Bali. A small southerly wind made up this morning, Force 2. Sends a light breeze across the deck but not much to move us under sail. Because the crew had been working so well, hard and smart for so long and in hot motoring conditions I decided to declare today The Holiday Of The Timor Sea. And apart from our sailor duties, no ship’s work. We still must eat and steer and navigate. Speaking of navigating, M-H brought the sun down near Dustin. Pol is standing the watch by himself. Dirk is looking at small ailments one or two have. Due to the holiday Dawson is off the hook for school. We now have a sea swell giving us a little motion, not bad at all. A light breeze is cooling us some. All are excited about Bali up ahead.
