Fannie Bay Darwin

Ready for the Indian Ocean
It is now 3 weeks that I have been at anchor off the Darwin Sailing Club, in fact 20 minutes from the club. I am one of many Australian and international yachts that sit a good way from the shore in enough water to handle the huge tides – up to 8 metres.

I am now ready to head out to sea again and head across the Indian Ocean.  First stop is Ashmore Reef some 4 days away. You may have heard of this reef over the years as the place illegal migrants would enter Australia. Today I believe there is a strong presence with Customs and the Navy permanently in the area. I have been told by 2 customs officers that beach volleyball is a big activity between Customs and the Navy. They strongly suggested that I join the Customs team as they are always after team members.  I failed to tell them of my hand-eye coordination. Then it is off to Cocas Keeling Island another 16 days sailing away.

Part of the cruising community
Almost every night the cruise community has a dinner or sundowners for boats arriving and others leaving.  Any excuse to get together to enjoy each others company. The majority of boats have a couple onboard, many of whom would be considered the watery grey nomads. I am currently anchored next to 2 boats from Holland and both have young children. In both cases after 2 years at sea these children are impressive in the way they relate to you, the way they entertain themselves and their confidence in running around in their dinghies.

It is a wonderful way to meet people as you are constantly introduced to other sailors who others have met in previous ports. They all have great stories to tell of good times and very little time is spent on talking sailing although the weather is a constant discussion point. As you would expect a common greeting is where did you come from, where are you going, how long will you be in town and how was the trip? Being hammered is a frequent response from those that have sailed from the Torres Strait.

Must also say, the members of the Darwin Sailing Club are good people. Barry, a local, took me shopping, Sara took me to her preferred butcher and Stan gave me an anchor for my dingy.  Nice people. The club has great meals and people flock to the club to watch the sunset over the sea every night. A very special time of the day when all seems to stop for a few minutes to enjoy a spectacular sight.

Big Tides
When you arrive at the beach outside the club you pull your dingy a long way up the beach so you don’t have to swim out to get your dingy after the tides comes in.

The other night I went to dinner with a couple. Arriving back at the club at midnight I discovered the tide was out. In fact some 200 metres with many of the twin hulls sitting on the bottom.  I was not going to drag the dingy that far over rocks and through the mud. As it was a beautiful warm evening I settled down on the lawn at the club to have a sleep and wait for the tide to come in before I motored back to the boat. All was going well till 3am when the sprinkler system started and I was soaked to the skin. A little upset I walked a few miles to the Casino and sat in the lounge bar with one drink and fell asleep again. At six in the morning I walked back to the club and headed home and spent the morning sleeping. It is true that the life of a sailor is governed by the weather and the tides.

Darwin is a buzz
The dry season is a time when the people in the north have a full social calendar and lots of days off. We have had the Darwin Show, a day off, the Darwin Racing Cup another day off. The culture festival is on at the moment. Last Sunday we had the Beer Regatta and yes it is just life you see on the tele. The only difference is that half the crowd stand in the water watching the fun. Part of the day was a tug-of-war competition on the beach. They take it seriously up here. Both the male and female team were built for pulling on the rope. Big strong people who have trained and have their own coach instructing their team to “pull and hold” and shouting “this is your moment of fame”.

Many local market here. Most start at around 4 or 5 in the evening. The local market at the next beach had one stall called “You kill we grill”. You could buy all forms of local road kills from wallaby, kangaroo, buffalo to camel and crocodile.

The locals know how to have fun. The weather is perfect. 30 degrees every day, low humidity, no fleas or mossies. You can see why the tourists flock to this part of the world at this time of the year.

Writing the book
I promised myself that before I left Australia that I would finish writing my new book “The Attractive Lawyer” and I have almost met my objective.  It was a real joy to be able to spend 3 days reading and writing, never having to get off the boat.  Yachties started coming over to the boat to make sure I was okay as I had not been seen. Talk about the neighbours keeping an eye on you. The task was also a refreshing change having isolated myself from my professional life for the past few months.

Getting ready to go
Up until now I knew that I could get this and that fixed at the next port of call. This time it is a long way between ports and you can not do a lot when at sea so I have spent days working on this and that.  The main bilge pump decided not to work again. The second new pump, the last one was put in when in Cairns.  I now know what brand of pump not to buy.  The satellite phone is working well and I am loaded up with diesel in the main tank and several containers enough to get me where I am going. Duty free fuel is cheap almost half price.  The water maker is overhauled along with the steering gear and what is hoped to be the last of the leaks.

The local butcher has prepared small vacuum packs of meat ranging from chicken, steak, mince, chops, corned beef and bacon.  From our trip up the coast we found that the meat will last at least six weeks stored in the fridge. A circuit of Woolworths buying the specials and lots of cans and dried food should last me the 70 days I expect it will take to get to Durbin. I have devised a 10 day menu that will be recycled 7 times.  Variety is the spice of life. I have used the pressure cooker to prepare a piece of corned beef following Nuala’s recipe which proves to be very tasty.

Potatoes, onions and cabbages last well and I would expect the other fresh fruit and vegetables will last a couple of weeks.  Then it is into the cans and dried food. Lots of bar snacks for the long nights and a few casks of chardonnay will be nice as sundowners as the sun sets.

Updates
I expect while at sea the updates will be shorter as I hope very little happens.
You can email me at all@barkeraustralia.com and Ingrid will forward it on to me.
Don’t forget to call; you know I will always be at home. Sat phone 0011 873 761142659.

I am still having the time of my life.