Cleone - Leg 15 Day 4 - No Wind at All

No, it's not a mistake.  We've still had no wind at all.

 

What makes it hurt even more is that most of the fleet have reported adequate breezes and very few engine hours during the last day.  Grrrr.  So we've switched the engine off, put up our new sails and are now sitting back, gritting our teeth and pretending we are sailing.  Hopefully the wind that is propelling everyone else closer and closer to Bali will now oblige us, and we will be able to conserve some of our Australian diesel. 

 

Apart from that, there has been a couple of interesting events.  Alex was able to photograph his first at-sea dolphins, which played in our wake for half an hour or so yesterday afternoon.  They were smaller than most we've seen, but no less active.  They put on a fine show for Alex, which we all enjoyed.  Last night we were motoring under the stars, as good as gold, with Alex on duty in the cockpit, and Norfy and the Skipper sleeping soundly down below.  A sudden cry alerted the skipper, who joined Alex to try and resolve the mystery of an aparently abandoned boat which we'd neary run in to.  There was a faint light flickering down below, which showed through one of the port-holes.  It was a strange and spooky looking craft.  About seventy feet long, it looked like a small ferry, but not of any design that you would find in Europe or Australia.  There was no sign of life apart from the ghostly flickering light, there were no masts and it looked as if the storage for liferafts and lifejackets was empty.  Floating just in front of the bow was an orange mooring buoy; the boat seemed still to be tied to it.  We rang the MRCC in Canberra, who pondered and then rang us back.  Like us, they felt it unwise to approach too closely (the danger in the dark of getting tangled in any fishing or mooring gear hanging overboard was obvious, and there was also the real possibility of it being a pirate trap).  Like us, they felt that since there was no sign of life, and no obvious signs of distress and no report of a missing vessel there was no further sensible action we could take.  So we sailed on, and they reported the matter to the Indonesian Authorities.  Who knows what had happened - broken moorings and swept out to sea, maybe - and I doubt if we will ever hear.  We were glad to get away.

 

Since then, there has been little excitement apart from sighting two unmarked and very small fishing buoys, and seeing a couple of fishing boats in the distance.  Finally, just before the morning radio schedule, we spotted a yacht in full sail heading on a reciprocal course to Cleone.  Australians returning home, we suspected.

 

The Skipper is gnashing his teeth - he's cooking tonight.  Alex has done a considerable amount of eating already, even though it's early in the day, and Norfy is looking pleased that the engine is off and we are sailing again, even if it's only at four and a half knots.  We are all thinking windy thoughts in the hope of a freshening breeze!