Amazing Wayag - Raja Ampat

After an awesome night sail of stars, dolphins and steady breeze, we fought the current into the picture postcard inlet on the western side of Wayag - in northern Raja Ampat (or West Papua if your still lost). Not far into the first bay we spied a small hole in the rocks which Thyme would fit through and entered a maze of clear turquoise water and small karst islets. You could get lost in here! 

The scenery in Wagieo is spectacular – an afternoon walk (read scramble and climb) up Mt Pindito says it all.

Dying to get in the water, we couldn’t wait for the weather to clear and headed out to some outer rocks where Scotty and I were lucky enough to dive with mantas while Simon manned the dingy in the swell and rain. A morning was spent weaving Thyme in and out of the small bays and lagoons while Scotty played spotter from the spreader with Gadfly in pursuit.

The weather soon cleared and our blissful days were filled with exploring – diving, kayaking, hiking, eating coconuts, waving about heavy artillery… The local policy paid a visit – Simon doubtful as to their true identity asked where their gun was. When they brought out a nice big machine gun, Simon asked if he could hold it – “Sure!” was the reply as they happily handed it up.

Stern problems seem to be catching and with some recent experience a boys afternoon was spent making some repairs on Metana. With so much more still to see we dragged ourselves away and headed for the equator.

The Navy, The President and The Stern Tube - Morotai 2012

Getting into the groove of being on time, we arrived in Morotai for the start of the festivities with a dinner and some local dance performances. All the days and evenings were taken up with a new event, our favourite being the lobster bake where BBQ’s lined the streets of Morotai for as far as the eye could see to grill more than 2,500 lobsters.  Our new aussie crew, Scotty was lucky enough to arrive this evening slap bang in the middle of BBQ’ing. The festivities culminated in a sail by including navy ships, yachties and local boats. We sailed past the war memorial and podium where the president was – was being the operative word – with Thyme being near the end of the alphabet by the time we reached the podium the heat was too much and everyone had cleared off!

While the day time festivities were taking place, we were distracted, busily pumping the bilges and working to try and fix a leaky stern tube. No, Simon did not have the runs – the shaft which runs from the engine to the prop outside the boat was leaking. We were using a Manecraft Deep Sea Seal – only half of the mechanical seal running on a bronze plate. This had worn a groove in the bronze over time, and with a change in engine alignment the groove shifted allowing water to leak. With the Australian Navy (warship Sirius) in town for the festivities we thought – why not ask them for help, they will surely have a lathe onboard to reface the bronze plate. Turns out their lathe was out of order but their Chief Engineer and team couldn’t have been more helpful, coming over to Thyme with a bunch of tools and parts to help fix the problem. What a great help – we finally managed to revert to the old stuffing box after pulling the shaft back while still in the water – a nervous few hours!

With the leak fixed, the president departed and the town slowly winding down we sadly farewelled Chamois and Basia to the land of Nasi Goering and bugs and sea sick free travel, Scotty jumped aboard surfboard and all and we set sail for Halmahera, stern tube all nice and dry.

Sail Morotai 2012

Each year a couple of hundred yacht sail through Indonesia, a good majority sail as part of the Sail Indonesia rally. A different region is spotlighted each year, this year being a combined Sail Indonesia (www.sailindonesia.net) and Sail Samal (www.sailsamal.com) rally highlighting both Philippines and the Davao Gulf – the first ever rally in the Philippines and Morotai which is in the northern Muluccus. To show his support for the event and to promote tourism in the area this year the president attended Morotai. In order to encourage yachting tourism, rumour has it that next year CAITs and clearances will be even easier with CAIT applications being available online. Anyway, for us once again it was a hassle free clearance and CAIT process and a wonderful event organized by Sail Indonesia and Sail Samal – thanks!

A Hookah in Kota Kinabalu

This is the time of year most people never envisage when they imagine a sailing adventure, so we thought we would share with you why we have paused in KK for 2 months. This is time when the jobs list is too long and you need to stop for a while to catch your breath and prepare the boat for more adventures. I naively thought I was escaping this, my most hated time of year but upon my return, sadly realized, despite Simons hard work the job list was still growing… not shrinking.

While I was assigned the usual array of sanding, varnishing, polishing and larder building and assistant jobs Simon was tackling building a new powerful hookah dive unit in a foreign country with 40kgs of goodies I lugged back from Aussie, parts ordered on the web from India, Malaysian sourced bits and bobs and a Honda motor we brought from the Philippines - fingers crossed they go together.

Loaded down with parts and much to the bemused stares of locals, we boarded the Inanam bus headed to Fast Fit where Mr Pung had agreed to allow Simon to build his machine. It took 3 days to weld and fabricate the body to Simons design with the boys speaking no English!

The drawings, scribbled notes and photos copied from the web slowly became dishelved…

as the unit took shape. Thanks to Alwyn and Ben in the workshop, they did a wonderful job!

With the build complete, we had better test it works so out to Gaya we sailed with plans to clean Thyme’s bottom while testing the hookah unit. It would be silly not to look at the reef too…

What is a Hookah?

Many commercial dive operators the world over use surface fed air compressor units – which is what this is – commonly called a hookah – a little like the power dive units you see but more grunt, reliability and safer fittings. A compressor at the surface, in this case McMillan 19cfm (alloy and stainless for the salt water environs) is belt driven by a petrol motor (Honda GX200). Compressed air is delivered into a reservoir – in this case the stainless steel frame and filtered before being sent down air breathing to a regulator used by the diver. All the fittings are special double action locking TEMA fittings. The filters meet international standards. The unit is capable of getting 2 divers to 40m, or 2 to 20m or so and 2 to 10m, although diving without back up tanks is with no deco within limits. We are always attached to the dinghy when diving, good for when we are diving new and unknown locations, particularly with current.

But wait there's more... the compressor can be used for spray painting, which is what Simon is about to start on – spraying the cabin sides after his port hole repairs. No more leaks!

In between jobs, we have managed to see some strange and interesting sights. A building on fire one morning, staff in a nearby restaurant badly burnt cooking on a grill that was being cleaned at the same time by someone with petrol!, sipping Dom Perignon overlooking the waterfront with some wealthy locals, an amazing fireworks display over the boat to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan, and we also squeezed in time to form a nice friendship with a 2 meter fish. He would appear under the hull every morning and evening and even let us swim with him. From the fish book we can only guess he is a Cobia?

Now the new VHF is installed, the dive machine complete, all hatches and port holes resealed, interior re-varnished, the V-berth painted, the engine cooling pipes re-welded, new coolant in the engine, oil and filter changed, water tanks cleaned out, bilges clean, new timber on back handrails, exterior varnishing complete, brass polished, larder re-stocked, timber where the port holes leaked replaced, cabin sides almost filled and painted now it’s time to start thinking of distant shores – Moluku and Raja Ampat dreaming…

Bach'ing in Kota Kinabalu

Once safely anchored in our old spot out the front of town, Amanda caught her flight to Sydney to visit family while my project to re-seal all the portholes could get underway with total disregard to where the dust went.

My diet also took a dramatic change, sheep and 3 vegetables being a highlight (lamb is a real stretch of the imagination). Amanda was enjoying all that comes with a house kitchen.

On Thyme sloop and I are lying in paint flakes. Amanda in rose petals.

The saloon also had a spa with the windows out and the constant rain showers. Didn’t bother me although Sloop was a little annoyed a leak was above his day bed.

Once the weather cleared I managed to get some paint on. In Sydney Amanda was getting on new swimmers in the winter sales.

3 weeks has gone past and Amanda is preparing to head to the airport. I’m off to purchase my secret weapon to avoid being strangled by a new bikini.

Return to Kudat

After farewelling Peter who was off to Oz we lay around the pool for a few days R&R. The resort with wi-fi and swimming pool is right next to the lovely protected anchorage.


Normally dragon flies herald the start of the dry season but not so in Kudat. In between rain storms we managed to get a few jobs done - one of them being patching the dinghy cover with some left over curtain fabric - damn we really look like cruisers now... I also finally found a hair dresser by asking all the girls in town with nice hair where they go - and entrusted her to chop it all off!

Our evenings we spent with the locals enjoying some social snooker in town. The Navy also came over to visit - very surprised at how "complete" the boat is, this being the first Kapal Layar (yacht) they have ever been on.

Unfortunately there was also an accident during our stay where 2 women and a child were tragically killed in a fishing boat explosion. Simon was there to capture the aftermath.

Bottom Job in Kudat

Kudat is a small town near to the northern most point of Borneo that has a well priced and run ship yard. The weekly snorkeling bottom scrubs were becoming tiresome and it was Thyme for some anti-foul. Simon donned his OH&S approved workwear and got stuck in with the grinder – yes he is wearing over his head a satin nightie with cat whiskers drawn!


While Si and I worked swearing and cursing the heat, Sloop was having a grand time. He had all the local dogs and cats bowing to him and even seduced the local children into all day patting fests. The facilities were not 5 star, but we did have our own bathroom and a shared laundry – No 5 was about 3.5stars after a few hours of scrubbing!


After Hari Raya was over, life became easier. The shops and restaurants opened, we finished the last coat of anti foul and were up to final jobs, buffing and running the wires for the new depth sounder.


Before we knew it we were back in the water sparkly and new, marking Hunter’s arrival from Seoul. We collected some final coconuts from the golf course, farwelled the friendly town of Kudat and set sail for some island south.

Departing Johor

After 5 weeks of meals out and taking care of some odd jobs only a few parts from NZ to re-assemble the Furler were holding us up.

Our parts and our new crew arrived in time for the planned departure on the 15th. We almost lost our bike but recovered it without having to enter the water. I think if that were necessary it would have stayed there.

Traveling down the river it was noted that the engine was running hotter than normal. After anchoring at the entrance an inspection reveled the barnacles had moved in covering some areas of the hull and prop. After a swim and scrape in the murky water to clean the prop, sunrise saw us making our way around Singapore.

Once clear of the shipping and oil Riggs the water started to clear up and soon we were swimming at the mainly deserted islands.

The barnacle scraping job when viewed in clean water turned out to be a big one so using the dingy pump and some stuff off the power dive unit (which wasn’t working) I managed to make a Amanda powered unit. It was only a matter of dodging jellyfish after that.

Palau Tioman is our destination for clearing out before the 400 miles to East Malaysia.

Locals in Johor

We now call home Johor Bahru (for the next few weeks anyway) and are starting to feel like locals, jumping on buses around town, making friends and finding favourite stalls at the market.
We're spending our Thyme Out industriously, working on some boat jobs. First on Simon's agenda was repairing the damage from Thyme's battle with the wharf at Ambon.



I on the other hand practised my baking skills, fattening up our neighbours at Danga Bay - apparently Simon thinks he's sweet enough...



After lots of advice from well intentioned fellow yachties we've succumbed to the pressure and replaced our forestay - or at least are in the process.



Sloop, the snoop of course is up to his old trips, collecting lots of goodies from neighbouring boats, much to our embarrassment!

Ambon in the rain

Our trip to Ambon was fairly uneventful, catching no fish again but managing to hook up a floating fishing platform in the dark.
We were greeted by friendly locals, who pointed us in the right direction.


The night of our arrival was a cultural performance put on for the rally boats where cups of tea were served in typical Muslim tradition. My favourite.


We decided that despite the wet season and continuous rain we better check out the sites. The guys off Finale and Aria decided to also come along so we contracted the services of a guide and charted a mini van.
Apparently the beach was the first stop.


We then traveled to the hot springs. After sending in Bruce as our Guinea Pig, the braver ones of our party went in.


By this stage an appetite had formed, so we were taken to the port for lunch before going to see the sacred Eels.


After stopping at the markets for some partridge eggs and local produce, we jump started the van in peak hour traffic.



We finished our day with the war memorial . Thanks Abha and Angel for a fantastic tour of Ambon!


Our last evening in Ambon was marked (permanently) by a scuffle. Thyme and the wharf had a fight with the wharf coming off second best. Let's get out of here and find some sunshine!

Careening at Darwin

After watching the careening poles for a few days, and reading an idiots guide to careening on the web, we decided we were ready to give it a go. For those uninitiated, careening is beaching your boat, or tying it to poles on a high tide, then waiting for the tide to go out so you can clean the bottom.

Despite a good SE’ly blowing we managed to tie up without any hiccups, then sat back with an early morning coffee to watch the falling tide. We calculated we had to leave the poles on the following mornings high, or remain there for 2 weeks so without delay we started wading around the bottom of the boat in thigh high water scraping barnacles. Not the best feeling in croc territory!




We scraped, sanded and anti-fouled ourselves into a frenzy and were able to sit back with a cold beer at the end of the day and watch the tide roll in. All in all a great haul out for the princely sum of $11 to use the poles!

Farewell Unlimited Water & 240 Volts

With the final storm clouds rolling out and a hint of a southeasterly breeze, we decided it was time to drop the dock lines and head out to the bay. We rushed around for the last 2 weeks in the marina finishing off some last minute jobs requiring 240V power, before shedding the air-con and enjoying a last long shower. I now have a nice timber floor in the cockpit meaning I no longer need to stand on tippy toes while at the helm!

Shortly after leaving the marina I also finished up at Perkins Shipping, where I’ve been working for the last 5 months. Freedom again – what adventures will this year bring? It’s just business as usual for Si who managed to dodge the call to work again this year, insisting a full time maintenance man is much more useful.

Motoring North

Well our run of good weather was short lived and the next leg of our journey to Cairns was fairly routine. We’d have a little morning sail from about 5am before the wind died out, we’d then spend the morning being teased by small puffs of wind – out come the sails, in come the sails, up goes the spinnaker, down comes the spinnaker. After all the exertion we’d settle down for lunch and an afternoon of motoring, sail repairs, washing and top end research.


The fish keeps on coming which means we’re back to a brekkie, lunch and dinner fish diet! We’ve had mainly Yellowtail and Mackeral and everyday the lines are out we’ve managed to catch. This one was caught on the lure given to us from Alan and Angela and was quickly cleaned and eaten raw in lemon juice and coconut milk.

In still calm weather we motored into Cairns pleased to be on new ground. After stocking up we hired a car, Simon managed to acquire a pole mooring for the boat trading 2 bottles of Ginger wine and we started planning an inland adventure.

Island Dreaming

We farewelled our good friends Alan and Angela at Mooloolabah filled with dreams of sailing up the coast in calms seas and blue skies. Well none eventuated, the seas were boiling, the skies grey and we discovered we needed to haul out!


After procrastinating for 2 days we finally bit the bullet and pulled out in Bundy at the Port Marina Slipway. It was the best haul out experience we’ve had with a friendly and really competent crew. We thought we would have Sloop foiled being on the hard, but the little devil managed to learn how to climb down the vertical ladder on the side of the cradle to continue his thieving ways. After two days of swearing and cursing the damn bearing in the shaft job was finally complete and we were once again on our way.

We were lucky to catch up with friends Eric and Yvonne on the NZ boat Morning Star VII and sailed in company with them to the Whitsundays. They were fantastic cruising companions and we managed to cover some good miles, 355nm in 6 days. Each morning it was a challenge to get out of bed after some long heavy weather sailing days, but when the lights on Morning Star were on at 5am the challenge to continue was laid. Thyme performed really well with her new genoa and we had our best sailing day averaging over 6.5kts for 60nm. (for the land lubbers that’s about 12km/hr – almost breaking the sound barrier I have you cry).

We were sad to farewell Morning Star VII this morning at Cid Harbour in the Whitsundays but we really needed to re-provision our fresh food stores. From Airlie we plan to keep our skates on until we reach new ground – more long days ahead with sunset (if we’re lucky) and sunrise being the only anchorage views.