www.gipsymoth.org

Voyage Log

Date: Wednesday 11th October

Position: At Anchor, Off Kupang, West Timor.

I will keep this brief, for reasons that should become obvious. Our bacon has been saved for the time being by a fellow Blue Water Rally yachtsman. Christophe Rassy (yes, that Rassy) has pulled alongside in his Halberg Rassy 62 and our shore power cable is plugged into his enormous on-board generator.

While he can maintain station our battery will be topped up and we can resume some sort of normal living, hough if the wind or swell increase he will have to pull away. Nevertheless, things are already better - we can boil the kettle, at least (our diesel cooker needs electricity to run it).

So the message for all at home is that we're fine, just love having problems
to solve. Great to have people to help us solve them, too. Crew will
probably go ashore to visit the town this afternoon but first we need to
sort our immediate problems. That's life at sea.

John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Sunday 8th October
Position: 11 deg 12 min South, 127 deg 40 min East, 30 Miles South of Margaret Harries Banks, Timor Sea


Today has been quite eventful, well as eventful as it can get in the middle of nowhere, our first dolphin visit was last night at 9:30, Vikki and I were on watch, and Swampy. who couldn’t sleep. They seemed to just appear, making us jump. They were only small. It was to dark to see them properly. The night watch was very dull, with nothing going on and crew members trying to stay awake. The only thing special was the romantic full moon, lighting up the waves. The day was a completely different story. With extreme winds of 0-5 knots we have been motoring all day which does not seem to bad, until you go below decks and the noise is savage. There has been a fare few animal sightings today, more dolphins none which stayed anywhere near the boat. What we think was a swordfish, birds and a number of other fish. The main excitement and entertainment for the day was when skipper john walked on deck with the plotter manual, which he does not have any more! He tripped up and it went overboard! Well it was either him or the manual that went over. We think he made the right choice! We turned around and tried to fish it out, Vikki with a boat hook and me with a bucket. No luck. We came around again for a second attempt and the manual had sunk! There was no sign of it anywhere. Just have to press buttons and see what happens now. (Not to worry, the astro nav is working out just fine – JJ). Alice had her first go at helming the Gipsy Moth IV today! Quite a challenge as she steers like a brick. The good thing is that we just have to point the boat at 280’ and go in a straight line. Alice was on mother watch all yesterday, cleaning the boat and cooking the meals. Today Swampy took the role. Making on of the best tasting spagbols I have tasted!-

Jay Shirlaw

Voyage Log
Date: Saturday 7th October
Position: South West of Bathurst Island, Australia

Well, we finally did it. Next stop Indonesia. We have spent a full day at sea after sliding out of the lock at 0700 hours this morning. Vicki got a little more than she bargained for when she filmed us going out then sprinted round to the lock to catch up. Not allowed to climb down to us, she went outside to be picked up from the deck of a conveniently placed ferry; then we were on our way.

A powerful spring ebb tide carried us well out to sea despite a lack of wind. Several Blue Water Rally colleagues passed us under engine, but we hung on in hopes and sure enough the expected sea breeze kicked in and we were off like a rocket. Not quite in the right direction, mind you, but that’s sailing.

With Genoa, staysail, main and mizzen set, Gipsy Moth IV must look a picture from the outside. She certainly feels magnificent. But there has been no one to see and admire us. We wondered if the ever-vigilant Australian authorities might pay us a visit – we’ve heard they do a lot of checking on boats in these waters, usually looking out for illegal immigrants. But the only visitor we had was a large black and white seabird who settled on the guardrail. I tried to feed him and the ungrateful blighter bit my finger, but didn’t fly away, so we guessed he was probably tired. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist, so we couldn’t ask him what breed he was. (Anyone out therte throw any light?)

With the barren coast of Northern Territory on our left and the equally bare landscape of Bathurst Island on the right we headed for the setting sun. Seem romantic? You bet! As darkness falls, first Jupiter appears and then Antares. More stars come out in quick succession, but then the full moon rises. So the Scorpion won’t be as spectacular overhead as it can be, but the compensation is that the night watch have bright moonlight to help them on their first night sail aboard Gipsy Moth IV. Pure magic.

John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Friday 6th October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Not quite gone yet, but poised like a coiled spring! Bob the Radar was due to finish the cabling attachments on and around the mast, but it was late morning before he appeared. Even after he was done there was a good deal of clearing up, with swarf from his drilling scattered on the deck, and sticky stuff (Sikaflex) to be cleaned away so that it didn’t get onto the mainsail. We’ve lost count of the number of journeys various people have made up and down the mast.

What do we have to show for it? Well, a spanking new radar, which is better than anything most of us have used before. The chart desk is beginning to look like a Star Trek set (giving my age away there). Pity about the purple colour on the screen, but although I know it can be changed I haven’t reached that page in the manual yet. The trick will be to stop the crew relying on it to tell the whole truth about what’s outside, without bothering to look for themselves. With such an attractive display it’s soooooo tempting to goggle at the screen to the exclusion of everything else; finding a sensible balance will be an interesting exercise.

By the time everything was done, including final provisioning, it was mid-afternoon. The crew are champing at the bit, but I decided we should enjoy Vicki’s tasty sweet and sour pork dinner tied up alongside, and to stay put for one more night. The usual fresh afternoon sea breeze was making the sea lumpy, and there was only a short time to get used to being on the open sea before the sudden tropical sunset would have plunged us into what is, for most aboard, a very strange environment. Dawn tomorrow will find everyone fresh and rested, the wind will be less blusterous, the tidal stream will be running fast in our favour. What better way to start the next leg of an adventure? And since I’m insisting on my own way in everything today, I’m forcing the crew to listen to the Rolling Stones. If they complain, they’ll get Johnny Cash. Never did me any harm.

John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Thursday 5th October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

A day of slow but steady progress. The refurbished fuel injectors arrived as soon as breakafast was over, and were being fitted when the VHF burst into life with an unfamiliar language. “That’s Turkish” said the engineer. I wasn’t expecting to hear Turkish in Darwin at 8 in the morning – or any time, come to that – and I was even more surprised to find someone who could understand it, working on my engine. “Are you Turkish?” I asked. “No, Egyptian. I’m from El Gouna, on the Red Sea. When Gipsy Moth sails to El Gouna next Spring, you must visit my cousin Mustafa there ”. What a cosmopolitan place Darwin is, and how the Gipsy Moth IV message gets around.

The radar expert turned up soon after, keen to get started (weren’t we all!) in the relative cool of early morning. His first job was to fit a bracket to the mast, just above the lower spreaders, to hold the radome. Getting this bracket made was just one of the things that have turned this project into such a marathon, but the end seems to be in sight now. We had already put the display into place at the chart table, and led the cables from the back of it through a series of nooks and crannies – work that might normally be left to the fitter, but we preferred to do it ourselves. Not only should this save us time and money, but also we felt that, if anyone was going to tinker with the insides of Gipsy Moth IV, we’d rather it was us.

The bracket didn’t fit, so it was back to the workshop for modifications. I took advantage of the enforced break in proceedings to whizz off to the Indonesian Consulate to pick up the crew’s passports and visas. Quite a handsome document, the visa; good, it certainly cost enough. Then on with the radar work, with all hands taking it in turn to winch the none-too-tiny radar expert up the mast yet again. Below decks, we were fitting a new GPS aerial (the radar is one that also doubles up as a chart plotter, so it needs its own GPS input). In fact, fitting an aerial is not a big task; the problem comes in finding a route for the cable between the aerial and the set. It was dark by the time we were putting the last panel back into place, and Bob the radar man had still not finished. All through the day there were calls from other yachts pleading with him to come to solve their problems, but we made sure he stayed on our case; however, although the set is now in and working, the cable is still draped loosely down the mast, so we have to wait for Bob to come and fix it first thing tomorrow. It’s not obvious that we’ll be ready to leave tomorrow.

With the inside of the yacht looking like a bombsite, it wasn’t practical to cook on board, so the crew went off to a restaurant while mate Noel and I tidied up. At the last minute, a neighbouring Blue Water Rally yacht hailed us – “Come for a drink”, then “Have another”, and finally “Stay for supper”. More hospitality – we must just be loveable people. OK, we know the truth, it’s Gipsy Moth they are interested in, and of course what we are doing with her.

John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Wednesday 4th October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Throughout our time here, we’ve been showing lots of interested local people around the yacht, and it’s great to see their enthusiasm – may of them have clear memories of the original voyage. Even those who know little or nothing about the yacht are friendly and hospitable, and there’s general endorsement of what we’re doing now. Visitors have to take us as they find us, though, because the yacht is very much “Work in Progress”. We do our best to keep it decent, but there’s always Humphry.

For those of you who have been asking “Who’s Humphry?”, here’s the story. When 6 people live in one another’s pockets, stuff happens – lights left on, lids left off food containers, cups on the chart table, ropes not made up securely . . . . Well, you can point fingers at one another, and get defensive and/or ratty; or you can keep the temperature a little lower by blaming Humphry, just asking him nicely not to do it again. Every crew, and every household, could find a place for a Humphry.

Ours has taken a day off today, probably exhausted by his day trip to the Territory Wildlife Park and his shenanigans the night before. No such luck for the rest of us. We continued installing the cabling for the new radar, starting work as soon as it was light enough to see. That’s the only way to get at least an hour or two productive work in before the temperature in the cabin reaches Turkish Bath levels. We used the last few minutes of the 24-hour hire car so generously donated for our trip yesterday to visit an out-of-town Hardware emporium for suitable wood and supplies. Then came the moment of truth when Noel finally drilled a hole in the sacred timbers. No thunderbolts struck, so we carried on and the display is now installed, ready to connect to the radome just as soon as it is mounted on the mast.

That’s the hold-up at the moment. The radar expert has gone away to get a bracket made, and hasn’t come back. Just as the engine expert has gone away with our fuel injectors and hasn’t come back (though at least we know they’ve been serviced). This is a pity, not least because I had to insist the crew stay around ready to winch fitters up and down the mast, a job that didn’t materialise. Part of the problem is that, with the Blue Water Rally in town, which means 20 plus yachts all wanting jobs done by Friday, the normally relaxed pace of Darwin is being stretched to the limit. With enthusiastic engineer Noel on board, we’re doing our share of self-help, but there’s a limit to even his awesome capabilities.

Being part of the Blue Water Rally has a very positive side to it. People literally rally round, with advice and practical help. Although when VALHALLA dried out on her marina berth today, there wasn’t much any of us could do except stand around offering sympathy. This marina is connected to the (very shallow) approach channel by a lock, and the water levels outside aren’t enough to fill the marina at the moment, so things can only get worse until we start moving away from Neaps. With Gipsy Moth IV drawing nearly 3 metres, getting out is just one more little challenge to look forward to. Trouble is, High Water on Friday is in the dark . . . .

The evening was yet another great cultural experience. Dianne and Steve Vine, whose generosity had allowed us to drive around seeing some truly spectacular parts of the hinterland, invited us to their home for a genuine Aussie BBQ. Not only did we enjoy some fine hospitality, I’m sure that sitting around in comfort just talking (and listening) helped the crew learn a few new things about this familiar yet different culture. A large part of what this voyage is about, I like to think.

John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Tuesday 3rd October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Last night was “interesting”! Me, Jay and Alice slept out on deck, but were again interrupted by the rain, only this time it was a little heavier; proper torrential rain! After a quick change of plan, we returned to our proper bunks to settle down for the rest of the evening hoping to get some sleep.
But oh no! Humphrey had to spoil it by landing a harrier jet on the deck, right above my head! When no one went to investigate, Vicki braved the weather to venture out on deck and find out where all the noise was coming from. We found out that the windlass had short circuited itself and turned itself on. Problems arose when the on/off switch had corroded so there was no way we could turn it off. Noel soon got on the case and pulled the wires out of the back of the solenoid, so it’ll never be turning itself on again!
Finally, peace at last, apart from Noel’s snoring, and we al got back to sleep.
Yet another early morning greeted us as we had to pack our picnic for our expedition.
Everybody showered and breakfasted, preparations were made for our trip to the Northern Territory Wildlife Park!
`John went to collect our hire car (hired for us for the day by a lovely Australian family) whilst every body else made the picnic, tuna and spam sandwiches, drinks and crisps. We eventually left at about 9:10 am and it took about 40 minutes to get to the park.
We took the shuttle bus around the park to see what was there and our first stop was the aquarium. This was rally cool, the best bit was the tunnel that you walk through with the fish swimming around over your head. Our favourite fish was the sawfish, which were laying on the top of the tunnel on the glass showing off their big smiles!
Next stop was the picnic table for lunch, with the giant spider webs, and the kuckooburra! Then we went to watch a display about birds of prey, which we all found very interesting.
We moved on to the nocturnal house where we had a guided tour of what all the animals were in each tank. It was full of mostly owls, pythons, rodents and frogs. Jay’s favourite was the hopping mouse “ it was so sweet”
Went to find the reptile house, which Vicki wasn’t too keen on, and found the snakes and lizards and even some freshwater crocs, which all though were small, were still impressive.
All together, it was an excellent trip out, and everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, even John!
But the day wasn’t over then! We went over to Berry Spring National Park for a swim in the lakes and waterfall. This was fantastic, warm water, lovely weather all good apart from the company in the water, swimming with fish, other wildlife, but worst of all Jay! Everyone went for a swim except for Noel who was given the job of chief photographer.
All back on board now, Alice is cooking dinner, pasta with either tuna and sweetcorn, or tomato sauce type thing. No plans for this evening, just hoping for good weather and no rain so we can have an uninterrupted nights sleep on deck. Till next time, #
Swampy Kendall

Voyage Log
Date: Monday 2nd October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Slept outside again last night but big mistake, wind picked up and then the rain came. This is not like our rain but really big droplets so very heavy. So back to the Woke around 6am, all sticky so we all got up and showered and some clean clothes (not that they stayed dry for very long in this heat).
Breakfast of cereal and a hot cuppa tea with some bic’s were great. Although the milk is UHT it isn’t too bad, it’s the best thing we have as no means of fridge.

Now for the hard work, finding out what is in each locker, trying to find the oceanographic experiment equipment. Very exhausting even though only 8am in the morning. With lots of bodies down below not comfortable. So lots to drink, to keep us hydrated. We found more food underneath Jays bunk, so really dodgy looking cans and packets. Chucked anything that was out of date or cans that were rusty, not a nice thing. So we cleaned out all the lockers, reorganised the food so we knew what was in each and in some sort of order.

Carrying on with the rest of the boat, still hunting for the equipment, and sorting the lockers. Swampy and Noel fixed the dinghy pump and pumped up the dinghy, looking for leaks, thankfully none found.
Sorting out sails, especially the trysail and where it goes. Finally the guy to service the engine turned up, had a bash then disappeared to get a tool and then came back later to fix it all.

Lunch, we all made a decision of beans on bread with ham and crisps. And it went down a storm, just what we wanted. Lots more drink. Then relaxed for a little to settle out tums. Dishes done and tidied up, then back to sorting and cleaning of cupboards.

Eventually we found the kit in the cockpit locker, surprise surprise batteries dead. So another hunt for batteries. Got it working and then we made sure what we were doing for when we do the experiments. We have made a cover over cockpit to keep us all cool, especially in mid day heat.

Humphrey (our 7th crew member) has managed to hid Jays shoes, eventually we found them. He keeps doing lots of naughty things, like leaving lights on and the cabin messy. This is hopefully going to resolve soon, as we keep telling him not too.
Not a lot more to do now, so we took a vote about going up to the bar for some nice cold drinks, (strawberry daiquiri was fantastic!) well deserved.

John suggested we go to the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery for Northern Territory. This place was really cool, and interesting. The main attractions being ‘Sweetheart’. The 17 foot crocodile. Now the story behind sweetheart, was that she was terrorising the people of Australia in the 70’s. So much so that when she attacked two dinghy’s with people in them, they decided to catch her. Now obviously this was an easy task, and stressed her out so much that when she was trapped, she drowned and died. Now this croc is absolutely massive, stuffed and on show in the museum. There was also lots of wicked aborigine art, one that was made of pegs. Lots of history on Australia’s animals and sea creatures. Including the deadly box jelly fish, this is the main reason why we can’t swim in the sea. Really frustrating as beaches are gorgeous.

Now another main attraction at the museum was about the Cyclone Tracey, which destroyed most of Darwin. It showed before during and after the cyclone. Quite devastating, but it showed all the rebuild. Then the place was shutting, so we took a walk down to Fannie Bay beach, which was beautiful, so took a few pic’s on the camera. Another long walk back to the boat, and a well deserved rest of the feet. Dinner consisted of Irish stew and mash and a cheesy rice for Alice. Whilst we were away John and Noel fixed the wires for the radar so that it didn’t take too long for it to fix later. Jay was muttering about putting his boxer shorts up the mast to see whether anyone would notice. Lets see in the morning! Nice relaxing evening and maybe pud and drinks in the buzz café later.

Vicki Blackmore, Crew Leader

Voyage Log
Date: Sunday 1st October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

After a pleasant night sleeping out on deck this morning we were all awake by about 6 o’clock. I started off the day with a breakfast of Weetabix, and shortly afterward all us crew received a safety briefing on the use of lifejackets, the life raft, and fire extinguishers. It had been my job to find out where the fire extinguishers were and how to use them and then brief the rest of the crew on this. However, I didn’t do too well at this task because I forgot about an important fire extinguisher in the cockpit locker, oops!
At about 1045 am we were heading to sail out of Cullen Bay Marina and into the lock which lets you out into the sea. This was quite exciting for me as I hadn’t been in a lock before and it was interesting to see how it worked. We stayed out there for a couple of hours practising sailing towards Darwin Harbour, practising tacking, jibing and the man overboard drill. Swampy and Jay prepared me a very nice lunch of jam rolls and crisps. We got back to the lock at about 2.15, and we were moored up again by 3.00. But there was still work to do “Washing up, stowing sails etc” so the poor overworked crew weren’t completely finished until around 4 o’clock.
At about 5 o’clock we left for the Mindil Beach Market, about a mile away from the marina. This really was a great experience with all sorts of arts and crafts, a huge variety of food and clothing for sale – they even had real sharks teeth and jaws. There was also some rocking didgerido music going on “electronically amplified didgerido”. The atmosphere was lively even though it wasn’t very busy. The Mindil Market is Darwin’s favourite community event and its biggest tourist attraction.
Looking back on today I’d say it’s being very busy and very interesting. I’ve just come to the end of my second full day here and I’m still thinking “Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually here, on the Gipsy Moth, in Australia”. I have already experienced a couple of things new to me, such as sleeping on the deck of a boat, it really was amazing, and in the weather it wasn’t even cold at all! Also eating kangaroo on Friday evening which even though I’m a vegetarian I felt I should do. I don’t think I will be doing it again, though.
Before I go I‘d like to take this chance to say hello to family, hope you’re all OK, XXX to you all.

Alice Burton, Crew Member

Voyage Log
Date: Sunday 1st October
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

After a pleasant night sleeping out on deck this morning we were all awake by about 6 o’clock. I started off the day with a breakfast of Weetabix, and shortly afterward all us crew received a safety briefing on the use of lifejackets, the life raft, and fire extinguishers. It had been my job to find out where the fire extinguishers were and how to use them and then brief the rest of the crew on this. However, I didn’t do too well at this task because I forgot about an important fire extinguisher in the cockpit locker, oops!
At about 1045 am we were heading to sail out of Cullen Bay Marina and into the lock which lets you out into the sea. This was quite exciting for me as I hadn’t been in a lock before and it was interesting to see how it worked. We stayed out there for a couple of hours practising sailing towards Darwin Harbour, practising tacking, jibing and the man overboard drill. Swampy and Jay prepared me a very nice lunch of jam rolls and crisps. We got back to the lock at about 2.15, and we were moored up again by 3.00. But there was still work to do “Washing up, stowing sails etc” so the poor overworked crew weren’t completely finished until around 4 o’clock.
At about 5 o’clock we left for the Mindil Beach Market, about a mile away from the marina. This really was a great experience with all sorts of arts and crafts, a huge variety of food and clothing for sale – they even had real sharks teeth and jaws. There was also some rocking didgerido music going on “electronically amplified didgerido”. The atmosphere was lively even though it wasn’t very busy. The Mindil Market is Darwin’s favourite community event and its biggest tourist attraction.
Looking back on today I’d say it’s being very busy and very interesting. I’ve just come to the end of my second full day here and I’m still thinking “Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually here, on the Gipsy Moth, in Australia”. I have already experienced a couple of things new to me, such as sleeping on the deck of a boat, it really was amazing, and in the weather it wasn’t even cold at all! Also eating kangaroo on Friday evening which even though I’m a vegetarian I felt I should do. I don’t think I will be doing it again, though.
Before I go I‘d like to take this chance to say hello to family, hope you’re all OK, XXX to you all.

Alice Burton, Crew Member

Voyage Log
Date: Saturday 30th September
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Mate Noel, together with Victoria, Melanie/Swampy, Jay and Alice flew in bang on time yesterday afternoon. Suddenly Gipsy Moth is full of life and bustle again. Although they were tired from the journey, it was easy to persuade them to walk the few yards to the beach for a close up look at the impressive ‘Darwin sunset’ and a view out towards the Timor Sea – our eventual destination.

After a good night’s sleep, work began in earnest. This close to the Equator, it’s important to get started early because the temperature builds up quickly, and by mid-morning everyone had done a fair share of handling sails on deck while still tied up in the marina. Heading into the (relative) cool of the yacht, Alice was soon exploring for extinguishers, Jay searching for seacocks; we’re looking forward to hearing them share their new-found knowledge with us. Vicky and Swampy turned out all the cupboards to compare what we think we need with what we seem to have, and then a raiding party set off into town for supplies. The streets were almost deserted, perhaps because the Cup Final of Australian Rules Football was going on and everyone except us was indoors watching on TV.

Meanwhile, Noel and Jay were busy fitting a new exhaust hose to the cooker, which was ready in time for a pleasant supper of pasta and pavlova – separate plates, of course. A hard working day, with plenty to show for everyone’s efforts; but tomorrow we’re going sailing, which will be just as hard work but, I’m sure, much more fun.

John Jeffrey, Skipper.

Voyage Log
Date: Monday 24th September 1500 hrs
Position: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin, Northern Territory

Not really a log at all; just a note to say ‘I’m here’, having waved goodbye as Steve and the rest of the Leg 17 crew set off for the airport. A Blue Water Rally member offered them a lift in his hire car before they had a chance to call for a taxi - typical act of friendliness.

It’s slightly eerie, having the old girl entirely to myself. Apart from any visitors, and the experts coming in to sort out the radar, it’s going to be that way until the rest of the crew arrive on Friday afternoon. Not that there isn’t plenty to do, but most of it isn’t interesting enough to note down here. That’s life – when things do get interesting, we’ll probably all be too busy to write about it.

John Jeffrey, Skipper.