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Free & BrEasy - Half The World Away



We are only twenty four hours from Bali, Only twenty four hours from another home (Thank you Gene Pitney!). The passage from Darwin across the Timor Sea and the Indian Ocean has been slow and stately. We have experienced light winds and have made good use of our mechanical crew member (the motor of course!). In anticipation of Free & BrEasy's performance in light winds, we left Darwin two days earlier than the rest of the fleet and will arrive with them, 8 days later. We are not winning any races but we are not losing out on the all important Bali experience.

When we arrive, Annabelle and Alejandro will be waiting for us as they flew from Darwin. Alejandro has been celebrating his big four O birthday with his mother and sister. Happy Birthday Alejandro! Roger and Michael sailed (and chugged) the boat on their own and tried out a 6 hour watch system over night. This worked out really well under the benign conditions we experienced. The first watch was 7pm to 1am and allowed the off watch person to get sufficient sleep to keep going from 1 to 7am. As long there is a plentiful supply of coffee and biscuits, all is well. Arnott's "Scotch Fingers" followed by "Ginger Nuts" are by far the most popular but we have had to start exercising during the watch to avoid developing "biscuit belly"!

The sun and moon have been busy again chasing each other across the sky. Every evening we have watched a big orange ball sinking in the west in front of us as the smaller silver ball rises behind us in the east. During the night the silvery ball then goes over our head and sinks slowly below the horizon in front of us. Something very clever then happens as the orange ball magically reappears rising behind us in the east at dawn and the whole process starts again! Add to this the different lighting effects of the sun and moon on the sea and waves, as well as the stars running around the clouds, and you have quite an amazing spectacle to keep you company on the watches. In between long periods of simply staring at the sky and ocean, thinking of ……(I can never remember but it's very important), we have been gorging on our reading material. World Without End by Ken Follett, Ripper by Isabel Allende, Pickwick Papers by Dickens and The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark are a few of the eclectic selection of books being consumed.

We are now beyond the range of whales but can't stop watching, just in case. Our diligence was rewarded by the brief appearance of a turtle and soon afterwards, Roger spotted a sea snake sunbathing on the surface before it took fright and "snaked" beneath the waves. Earlier this morning we spotted what looked like a yellow life raft coming up fast on our starboard bow. Visions of recuing thirst crazed mariners were soon forgotten when we realised it was a big metal buoy which was attached to a long string of nets. Luckily we had time to alter course to port and avoid hitting the buoy or entangling the nets. At night we would not have known it was even there! This is the "Russian Roulette" aspect of sailing which could be worrisome if you let it! In the end you have to be fatalistic and recognise that the chances of hitting a floating object in the ocean are very, very small but if it's got your name on it…..

Roger has been trailing a lure but has only caught a very small Tuna! We let it go with the following advice "live long, prosper and avoid hooky things" Dolphins playing by the boat are frequent and very welcome friends and at least once a day a seabird, usually a Boobie, flys by to check we are OK. They get help from the Australian Marine Agency whose planes have been following and buzzing the fleet. After a plane goes by we hear on the VHF radio a stream of requests to World ARC boats for ports of registration, departure and destination which they are presumably following with AIS (automatic identification system). The Australian tax payer is certainly looking after us!

This passage is a historic landmark in our circumnavigation. We are half way around the world. We started off in St Lucia at Longitude 61 degrees West and completed 180 degrees of westward sailing when we passed a Longitude of 119 degrees East on the 6th September. For Oasis fans we are "Half the world away, I've been lost, I've been found but I don't feel down" Very appropriate!

Start and end with a song. Life is just a long wonderful show on Free & BrEasy!


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