It's a little known fact that Arafura means "beautiful jade colored water that kicks your ass.
The wind never lets up that we've noticed, and since the water is only 130 feet deep here... well it kicks up a bit. About 5.5 meters this morning. A bit less now. Argh.
A couple of nights ago we were struggling on in heavy winds. 30 - 35 knots for 24 hours and 16 foot seas. We passed 20 ships last night. One close encounter. Mostly they were Asian fishing fleets. No sleep for Carrie or I, five minute lookout schedule. Yesterday we angled northwest to stay in Oz economic zone so no Asian fishing fleets. No rest for the weary.
We miss judged how much quick food to provision. By quick I mean crackers, instant anything, and simple canned meals. This is partly because money is as always tight, but also that Port Moresby is very expensive. Triple what you would pay back home. Must have something to to with the 20 billion dollars for Liquid Natural Gas development in the last two years. Our shortage is also, in part, due to the great hospitality we experienced from James Baker (his youngest is the rapper Machine Gun Kelly - go figure. James is very proud of him). Anyway... as a cumulative oversight we are now out of crackers and almost everything else easy to make. Thing is it is still too rough to barely cook. So...Argh. Again.
James was really great. He took Carrie and the kids into his home and wined and dined us. I stayed on the boat because of the heavy winds in the area (notice a pattern?). James also was our guardian angel in Port Moresby, driving us around town - it's not safe to walk anywhere. Four Chinese nationals were decapitated while we were there. Port Moresby is a bit like Beruit in the 1980's. Kidnappings and murder are rife. Unless traveling with James and his bodyguards Tamsyn and Griffyn never left the yacht club. Within the last year a young white girl was abducted and murdered 100 meters from the yacht club. I made many solo trips into town to deal with clearance and Indonesian visas.
Brian Hull was also generous with his time and assistance, letting us participate in his ritual TV nights with close friends, and driving us around on a couple errands.
So thanks guys. You were great.
So we're headed west.
Oh, and Happy Birthday Mom!
Owen and Carrie
9 57.425 S
137 20.555 E
272 degrees true
4.5 knots
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
This is the blog for SV Madrona and her crew Griffyn, Tamsyn and their parents Carrie and Owen, as we navigate new waters for our family.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Madrona has exited the Torres Strait and entered the Araufura Sea
Just a quick note.
Madrona has completed the passage through the Torres Strait. The last 36 hours were among the most tense we've ever had on this voyage, and all on board are thrilled to be past that leg of the journey.
So since the Solomon Islands we have sailed the Coral Sea, to the Gulf of Papua New Guinea, and then through the Torres Strait, and now into the Arafua Sea, and ultimately into the Timor Sea, where we will touch at Kupang, our first stop in Indonesia, roughly 11 days from now.
The Captain and the first mate need a couple days of rest before we become school teachers once more.
Owen & Carrie
10 33.289 S
142 06.451 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Madrona has completed the passage through the Torres Strait. The last 36 hours were among the most tense we've ever had on this voyage, and all on board are thrilled to be past that leg of the journey.
So since the Solomon Islands we have sailed the Coral Sea, to the Gulf of Papua New Guinea, and then through the Torres Strait, and now into the Arafua Sea, and ultimately into the Timor Sea, where we will touch at Kupang, our first stop in Indonesia, roughly 11 days from now.
The Captain and the first mate need a couple days of rest before we become school teachers once more.
Owen & Carrie
10 33.289 S
142 06.451 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Friday, July 5, 2013
Made our turn! 4 hours until Prince of Wales Channel
Ma and Pa Kettle here,
We made our turn, and are now sailing on the beam. Ride much better. Last night was like trying to grope ones way along a knife edge ridge when holding only a candle against the complete darkness, while at he same time the ridge is the travel path of very large elephants who may, or may not, deign to step on you. Oh, did I mention the high winds threatening to topple you into the chasm? Suffice to say we were very very tense.
Four hours to the entrance of the Prince of Wales Channel and the remaining twenty miles of the Torres Strait. In this upcoming stretch we were warned yesterday of 9 knot currents. Such currents could easily sweep one into a rock or island, so we must have steerage from either sails or engine; or both.
So in about 3 hours I will check he engine fluid levels, and we'll get ready for the next part of the big show.
Kids up eating wheatbix - Carrie and I too.
Owen
10 20.449 S
142 45.942 E
5.3 knots, 245 degrees true
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
We made our turn, and are now sailing on the beam. Ride much better. Last night was like trying to grope ones way along a knife edge ridge when holding only a candle against the complete darkness, while at he same time the ridge is the travel path of very large elephants who may, or may not, deign to step on you. Oh, did I mention the high winds threatening to topple you into the chasm? Suffice to say we were very very tense.
Four hours to the entrance of the Prince of Wales Channel and the remaining twenty miles of the Torres Strait. In this upcoming stretch we were warned yesterday of 9 knot currents. Such currents could easily sweep one into a rock or island, so we must have steerage from either sails or engine; or both.
So in about 3 hours I will check he engine fluid levels, and we'll get ready for the next part of the big show.
Kids up eating wheatbix - Carrie and I too.
Owen
10 20.449 S
142 45.942 E
5.3 knots, 245 degrees true
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Passed Trancred Pass - Holding our course in 30 knots wind and strong current
Hi again,
So we've managed to get back on our line and have held it for many hours, and were able to pass Tancred Pass (our escape hatch from this route) and are proceeding SW, and expect to make our turn into favorable sailing winds in about 20 miles (or 8:30 am local time).
As I write it's 3:57 am local time (17:57 utc)and about half an hour ago we passes the U.S. naval support ship Wally Schirra. They even saw us on radar :-)
So that's the story here. My package of Oreo cookies is finished (aargh) and Carrie is off watch snoozing, and the kids are sleeping fitfully, as you might expect with engine noise and radio chatter.
Owen
10 01.896 S
143 03.103 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
So we've managed to get back on our line and have held it for many hours, and were able to pass Tancred Pass (our escape hatch from this route) and are proceeding SW, and expect to make our turn into favorable sailing winds in about 20 miles (or 8:30 am local time).
As I write it's 3:57 am local time (17:57 utc)and about half an hour ago we passes the U.S. naval support ship Wally Schirra. They even saw us on radar :-)
So that's the story here. My package of Oreo cookies is finished (aargh) and Carrie is off watch snoozing, and the kids are sleeping fitfully, as you might expect with engine noise and radio chatter.
Owen
10 01.896 S
143 03.103 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Great Northeast Channel - very tough going - currents, wind & swell
Hi,
So Madrona is getting a bit of a tough go coming down the Great Northeast Channel. This passage is seriously not for the faint of heart. We sailed fine until we had to turn SW. Then it was fine until the wind came up to 25 knots out of the SE. The westerly moving current, combined with swell and wind made it so we couldn't make out course, and have had to motor for many hours now.
The currents are fierce and the seas are rough. For a while it looked like we were being swept inexorably towards Warrior Reefs.
As it stands right now we still might not make our course (angle of 206 degrees true, so we have developed a back-door alternate plan where we would escape this narrowing channel through Tancred Pass (10 01.183 S, 142 57.595 E), where we would then pass into the waters west of Sassie Island and then proceed SW until we meet up with the main shipping route down by Beresford Shoal. If we do take the alternate route it wouldn't be for something like 7 hours from now as we are moving very slow against tide and current and wind.
Of course we much prefer to make our course. We will let you know what happens.
We also had to replace the starboard sheet (line to the headsail) today because of a very strange fluky thing. The line got caught in the workings of a "block" (a nautical pulley. Anyway the line was shredded. we just happened to look over and saw it caught in the block's workings. So we had to replace that line with some mountaineering maneuvers.
Owen & Carrie & kids
at 13:05 UTC July 6th
9 45.095 S
143 11.921 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
So Madrona is getting a bit of a tough go coming down the Great Northeast Channel. This passage is seriously not for the faint of heart. We sailed fine until we had to turn SW. Then it was fine until the wind came up to 25 knots out of the SE. The westerly moving current, combined with swell and wind made it so we couldn't make out course, and have had to motor for many hours now.
The currents are fierce and the seas are rough. For a while it looked like we were being swept inexorably towards Warrior Reefs.
As it stands right now we still might not make our course (angle of 206 degrees true, so we have developed a back-door alternate plan where we would escape this narrowing channel through Tancred Pass (10 01.183 S, 142 57.595 E), where we would then pass into the waters west of Sassie Island and then proceed SW until we meet up with the main shipping route down by Beresford Shoal. If we do take the alternate route it wouldn't be for something like 7 hours from now as we are moving very slow against tide and current and wind.
Of course we much prefer to make our course. We will let you know what happens.
We also had to replace the starboard sheet (line to the headsail) today because of a very strange fluky thing. The line got caught in the workings of a "block" (a nautical pulley. Anyway the line was shredded. we just happened to look over and saw it caught in the block's workings. So we had to replace that line with some mountaineering maneuvers.
Owen & Carrie & kids
at 13:05 UTC July 6th
9 45.095 S
143 11.921 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Entered Torres Strait
Hi,
We've entered the Torres Strait about a half hour behind our predicted time. We will turn SW in three miles. Weather is unsettled with rain on and off. Passed, or been passed by, three vessels overnight. The last one was the 500 meter M/V Helene Rickmers - an enormous green container ship. Her Captain agreed to pass the word to oncoming vessels that we are n the straits heading west.
Family is waking up. It's nine in the morning local time and folks are hungry.
So far so good.
9 14.961 S
143 52.973 E
Owen
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
We've entered the Torres Strait about a half hour behind our predicted time. We will turn SW in three miles. Weather is unsettled with rain on and off. Passed, or been passed by, three vessels overnight. The last one was the 500 meter M/V Helene Rickmers - an enormous green container ship. Her Captain agreed to pass the word to oncoming vessels that we are n the straits heading west.
Family is waking up. It's nine in the morning local time and folks are hungry.
So far so good.
9 14.961 S
143 52.973 E
Owen
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Eight hours from Bramble Cay - Torres Strait entrance
Just a quick update.
We are about 8 hours from the Bligh Entrance to the Torres Straits. We should be there around sunrise as planned. Winds light. Just passed a ship that just came through and he advised us of 9 knot westerly currents at Hammond Rock. Wow.
9 9.940 S
144 39.313 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
We are about 8 hours from the Bligh Entrance to the Torres Straits. We should be there around sunrise as planned. Winds light. Just passed a ship that just came through and he advised us of 9 knot westerly currents at Hammond Rock. Wow.
9 9.940 S
144 39.313 E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)