First the Itinerary change. Rather than sailing to Thailand and then to South Africa next year I bought a mooring here in Bali where I will leave Salsa for about 4 months while I sail to Thailand on a Friends Boat. Then I will fly back here to Bali and hang out a few months before sailing on to South Africa via Madagascar and possibly a few other stops. This saves a few thousand miles of sailing on Salsa and gives me a better angle for crossing the Indian Ocean next year. So basically Sept I’ll be sailing to Thailand from Bali via the west side of Java and Sumatra (off shore avoiding the Straits of Malacca). Roughly October through January hanging out in Thailand and doing some backpacking. Feb-April back in Bali then leave Bali heading west towards Madagascar in May. Read the rest of this entry
For those who responded to the last email, I’ll write back soon, but don’t have internet yet, just borrowing a computer for this update here!
I’m trying something new here. Rather than trying to remember the eventful parts of the passage I’m just going to try and keep a daily log, I hope this doesn’t get too wordy for some of you, and for those that really wonder what life is like underway this should provide a broader glimpse of life on Salsa at sail. Maybe it will even make up for the lack of entries I made in Australia !! If you actually read all this and like the format let me know and I’ll try to keep it up, and if you just want the Bali Approach and Marina details see the last paragraph.
Well… The Website blog is only about two months or so behind, that’s not SOOO bad is it!? I really can’t give this update justice either as I’m only hours from pulling up the anchor and setting sail for Indonesia from Darwin where I‘ve been delayed first from my dinghy disappearing in the middle of the night and secondly by weather. The next stop is probably Bali, but maybe Kupang first, I guess it just depends on how I feel once I get underway. Read the rest of this entry
Just a very quick update from the Whitsunday Islands. Have been of internet range quite a bit, and when in towns have been busy provisioning and tracking down the odd parts needed so I apologize for not posting a more detailed update, I’ll catch up with photos next time I’m back near the coast maybe in a week or so. For now I just left Airle Beach heading back out to the beautiful Whitsunday Islands, contemplating a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef only 20 miles past the Island I’m heading for now, I hear the snorkeling and diving is amazing. It’s been pretty much smooth down wind sailing since Brisbane with a bit of motoring between anchorages around the local islands here where sailing gets tricky with all the mountains around. Anyway, having a great time and expect more detailed updates on the web site asap. For now, planning to sail further north in a few days, next update maybe in Townsville or Cairns. -Kirk
Once again faced with the dilemma of a sail just a tad bit too long to do in one day, combined with tidal restrictions on the entrance, I decided to Leave Mooloolaba around 3 AM in hopes to make the incoming tide to the Wide Bay Bar just south of Fraser Island to enter the Sandy Strait. The sail itself was rather uneventful, I even managed to watch two movies underway something I usually don’t do when coastal cruising, but there was just nothing going on so I just popped my head out every 5 minutes as I sailed along wing and wing on a broad reach. Just inside the bar my good friend Ned from Tanamara was waiting to pilot me in and had plans for me to visit him and his wife Heike at their property about 45 minutes from Tin Can Bay. Read the rest of this entry
Here are just a few Bali Tid-bits mostly from a friends blog, www.theslapdash.com , and from an email. Jaime and Seth are circumnavigating on small catamaran and we met up in Panama and have stayed in touch via email. So many people have been concerned about the check-in for Indonesia so I wanted to forward this info on to my cruising friends heading that way and to a few other that might be just entertained. There is also a section about the price of things in Bali, and it sounds good. FYI he says he has the dollars converted into Canadian dollars (its not their fault they are Canadians) but I just checked the currency conversion and it seems the USD is the same as a Canadian dollar right now, neat. You can get a lot of good factual information on their passages plus heir website / blog www.theslapdash.com is an awesome read as they are having an amazing experience and are great writers as well! Hope somebody finds this useful! -Kirk
(AN EMAIL SENT TO KIRK ON March 10 2010)
Bali is relatively easy to check in to. Send an email to Bali Nautical and ask for a CAIT. Tell them which islands you think you might stop in at. Costs the same if you hit one or all. Give them about 4 weeks to process it. Arrive into Benoa Harbour. Walk across the street to customs, immigration, port authority, etc. Takes all day but they are cool. If you get someone who isn’t cool, give them $2 and they will bend over backwards for you. And enjoy. CAIT is good for 3 months I think and can be renewed. Costs about $250 AUD Read the rest of this entry
Well after being here over 48 hours I decided it was finally time to get off of the boat. I was too lazy to put the outboard motor on the dingy so I rowed a 1/4-mile to the shore and then took a walk down the beach. I admit, my primary motivation was the free showers on the boardwalk, I don’t think it’s weird to use soap in the beach showers at all, I cant imagine why no one else does… Then I decided my beer rations were getting too low as I might spend up to a week or more in the somewhat isolated Sandy Strait area, my next stop. The Wind forecast is looking awkward, either too much wind or not enough or the wrong direction, but maybe I could make a sail of it if I leave tomorrow night and sail overnight. Its only 64 miles but that’s just a bit further than I can make in one day, then again I might attempt a night time approach since I’ve already been over this “Wide Bay Bar” three times and once at night One time being on my way south a few months back when I lost my forestay, but that’s an old story now. Back to the beer run, so the cheapest case (24) of beer that I could find was $40 AUD, that’s basically $40 USD these days since all of you back home decided to screw up the value of our dollar, not that I really blame anyone :-). So I skipped the beer and got a soft serve Ice Cream Cone from McDonalds for 50 cents, Extra Value meals here start around $9 just to give you an idea of the price of things… But that’s ok. In a few months I’ll be in Bali sipping $1.00 cocktails at the bar and getting $5 massages on the beach.
I added a few photos of the anchorage here at sunset to the Australia album;
Finally back underway after about 3 months of being moored in the Brisbane River. Here is the log from Brisbane to Tangalooma;
Thursday April 22 2010. Brisbane Australia, Pylon moorings off of the Botanical Gardens in the Brisbane River. Depart, 730AM, 6.5kts,
10:15AM, Brisbane River head, Motor off, 4.8kts. Squally ahead
11:30 Caught 30″ Spotted Mackerel!!
1:40PM Anchor down in 16′ water, Tangalooma.
What the log fails to mention is how good it felt to be back underway! I was hoping to leave Brisbane a bit earlier, but I decided to take the opportunity to do some work on another boat and help re-stock the cruising fund while I could, even if this meant leaving a few weeks later than planned. Read the rest of this entry
Not much to say, other than a very short sail a few miles up the river then right back to the mooring Salsa has been staying put in Brisbane. That’s not to say that I haven’t done a bit of traveling here in OZ without her (Currently I am in Sydney staying in a hostel) but if I get around to updating about non-sailing travels on here that will be a later date. The plan for now is to leave Brisbane within the month (sometime in March) and arrive in Bundaberg sometime in April, and then slowly begin the leisurely sail up the coast through the Barrier reef and then the Torres Strait to Darwin. After that its still a very tough decision between Thailand this winter (adding yet another year onto the circumnavigation) or the more direct route home to South Africa. I will keep everyone posted when I can!
Right now I’m working on a list of equipment on Salsa and giving reviews on those items. The first review is about the NorVane Windvane. It seems to be in high demand. Click on the tab for EQUIPMENT REVIEWS above to read all about it.
Well I finally have something exciting to write about after sitting in Bundaberg for over a month. I have more detailed writing that I will post on the website ASAP but for now I am at an internet café and just wanted to get out a quick (that will likely turn out to be long message!).
I left the Burnett Heads on Christmas day and sailed a nice overnight sail to the Sandy Strait at Fraser Island (you can check the satellite tracker on the website for positions). The first anchorage was a little rough so I just took a nap after sailing all night and then moved to a more protected spot. I got word of another traveler here in OZ looking to crew on the boat so for the first time I took a passenger on for only a few bucks to help cover my expenses (this turned out to be a blessing later). We sailed the Sandy Straits for a few days finding some great anchorages and then headed out Wide Bay Bar the day before New Years Eve to get south down to Mooloolaba. A few miles offshore a toggle that connects the Roller furler and forestay to the foredeck chain plate broke and the entire forestay disconnected. I thought we were going to loose the mast. I had Alan (the crew) hold the helm and keep us down wind to take stress off of the mast while I hand furled the jib onto the stay, and then jury rigged a spinnaker halyard as a forestay, plus put a rolling hitch on the furled jib and winched it to the windlass to get it under control and reinforce the mast. I just couldn’t get it secure, as I would have liked considering there was about 4 to 5 ft seas and squalls at the time. It did however hold as we motor sailed under triple reefed main (it was triple reefed when the forestay broke to begin with so the head of the main sail wasn’t above the lower stays therefore not stressing the rig too much). The cause of the break appears to be corrosion and stress, more on that in another update. Another blessing was meeting “Pirate Ned” and his wife, Aussie Sailors from Tin Can Bay, just south of Fraser Island. After a great New Years anchored together they lent us their boat slip and pointed us in the right direction for parts so the repairs were completed quickly (replaced the toggle with a shackle that seems even better than the old toggle but I’ll have to email James for an opinion).
It’s been an interesting time here in Bundaberg. A good combination of fun and work. Managed to get the crucial repairs done, new starter switch for the motor, re-riveted most of the mainsail track and re-attached the spreader bar holders on the mast, replaced the water tank, and a dozen other things I cant think of right now.
The sail here from Vanuatu was, well, interesting seems to describe it well. I started off beating into 20+ knots of headwinds, and by choice. I was trying to get to a little island called Tana to see an active volcano and remote village. After three days of brutal torture and a very wet Salsa (inside and out) I gave up and turned West for Australia, heading down wind everything calmed down a lot and it was a decent sail until the last two days where the wind disappeared and then came back in the wrong direction. Overall I think it took 14 days and I probably could have done it in 9 or 10 easy days had I not tried for Tana, oh well, only used the motor a total of 8 hours, I’ll elaborate on the passage on here some day as I have a pretty good log/journal that will hopefully prove interesting.
Leaving today, hoping to make an unoficial stop at the island of Tana, or maybe even stop in Noumea, New Caldonia if weather is unfavorable to continue on to Bundaberg. I do not intend to take the shorter traditional route going North of New Caldonia, rather head south now since we have Easterlies and have a chance to stop in Tana or Noumea. Will probably be in Bundaberg in about 12-14 days assuming I do stop in Tana which is the intention. I’ll email when I arrive and will try to keep up with the spot-checks! -Kirk
I departed Tahanea atoll in the Tuomotus on 6/17/2009. It was a fairly slow start with light winds but I was still able to sail at a study 3.5kts since the islands blocked the swell for the first day. I chose to spend the first night sailing between the islands on my route in the beginning rather than sailing around them to help eliminate some of the waves and swell, this worked out pretty well.
I left Marquises on June 6 2009, heading for a large group of small atolls called the Tuomotus about 500 nautical miles away. “Charlie’s Charts of Polynesia” (A must have guide for this area) describes the Tuomotus as “78 Islands all but two being coral atolls, spread across 150 degrees of longitude and extends almost 1,000 miles in a NW-SE direction. In contrast to the lush vegetation of the Marquises, the atolls have little greenery except for palm trees and short grass. Together with the marquises and Society Islands they form French Polynesia, and are administered from Tahiti. These islands have justifiably been called the Low or Dangerous Archipelago, because of their low-lying character, making them visible from a yacht only when the vessel is within 8 miles”
About these updates… I started an email list so if you prefer not to receive these updates let me know. Also a few updates are only on SailingSalsa.com, and all the email updates are there, but not some of the recent photos since I have very limited internet for uploading large files they are only going out compressed via hotmail. So if you are reading this on the website rather than via email, you can email me to get on the list and I will try to get you the back emails that have all the photos attached since I stopped adding them to the website. Lastly, if you respond to this email I will get it and respond eventually but sometimes I only have a few minutes to paste the update and pics into an email so I don’t always get to respond to everyone but I’m working on catching up right now!!! Hope you enjoy the update! -Kirk
